At Charles Doyle's base-
Charles had once again left the Sealed Land, this time even leaving Helheim.
He knew that two confrontations alone would not be enough to subdue this Asgardian princess.
Each time his strength increased, he planned to return to the Sealed Land and spar with her.
However, that would have to wait until a month later when the power of blessings could descend once more. By then, he believed he would be able to recruit Shippuden Cursed Mark Sasuke and Rage-Mode Obito.
"Boom!" A puff of smoke dissipated, revealing Parker, the ninja hound, in front of Charles.
"Lord Charles, Uchiha Sasuke sent these items, saying they were something you needed."
Charles looked at the backpack behind Parker, retrieving a sealed scroll from it.
"Thanks, Parker. I've got it."
Parker nodded, "Goodbye, Lord Charles," and with that, returned to the Summoning Realm.
As Parker vanished, Charles examined the scroll in his hands.
"A gift from Sasuke? Could it be something that can be converted into resources?"
Unfolding the scroll, Charles found two items: a document and a staff.
He first opened the document, which contained a description of the staff's abilities. The report detailed how Sasuke had taken this object from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Coulson team.
After reading the mission report, Charles turned his gaze to the staff lying beside him.
"This is the Berserker Staff," Charles remarked, recognizing it.
Seeing this staff brought back memories of when Charles had seen similar items before.
Inside Odin's treasury, there was a rack full of these Berserker Staffs—enough that Charles had considered them standard-issue weapons at the time and didn't give them much thought.
Unexpectedly, Sasuke had brought one of these items to him.
For Charles, this staff's main value was to be converted into gold coins.
While its power-boosting properties were useful, they weren't particularly significant for someone of Charles's strength level—certainly not compared to other weapons in his possession.
However, it could pair perfectly with the Hulk.
If the Hulk wielded the Berserker Staff and stayed in a state of constant rage, the power boost would be terrifying.
Unfortunately, the Hulk wasn't under Charles's control, and there was no point in gifting the staff to Bruce Banner. He decided it would be best to absorb its value himself.
Reaching out over the staff with his hand, a familiar system notification appeared.
"Ding! A rechargeable item has been detected. Would you like to recharge?"
"Recharge!"
"Ding! Recharge successful, 9,800 gold coins acquired!"
One standard-issue piece of equipment from the Asgardian Berserker Legion was worth nearly 10,000 gold coins.
At that moment, Charles decided that Asgard absolutely could not be destroyed. It was a perfect gold mine for him, and if it were obliterated by the fire giant Surtur, he would suffer a huge loss.
After all, the difference between Asgardian refugees on Earth and an Asgard with its own kingdom was like night and day.
…
Meanwhile-
At a Hydra base-
Alexander Pierce sat reviewing the report Ward had submitted earlier, rubbing his temples in frustration.
"A Hydra in the ninja world? Or could it be the same one we've been working to bring back since our founding?"
Pierce knew that within Hydra, there was an ancient faction whose sole purpose was to bring back the alien Hydra. Each year, they sacrificed someone by sending them into the Monolith.
Could it be that these people had all ended up in the ninja world?
Confounded by this possibility, Pierce decided to call a high-level Hydra meeting.
Under the dim glow of holograms, one by one, the leaders of Hydra appeared.
Whitehall, Baron Strucker, Baron Zemo, and Madame Viper's projections materialized before Pierce.
"Pierce," Whitehall began, "Aren't you busy perfecting your Insight Plan? Why call us together? What happened?"
Looking at Whitehall, who had just spoken, Pierce operated the computer, displaying an image of Hydra's mythical counterpart, the Yamata no Orochi, which Ward had handed over.
After examining the image, Madame Viper asked, "Pierce, what's the meaning of showing us this monster picture? Are you saying this creature has invaded Earth? If so, just send the Avengers to eliminate it."
Pierce smiled and responded, "I've been told that this is Hydra—specifically, the one we've been aiming to bring back since the founding of our organization."
Upon hearing this, Baron Zemo remarked, "Pierce, I think other than the traditionalists among us, no one actually wants to bring that being back. Besides, are you sure this is really Hydra?"
Pierce said, "You're all familiar with Orochimaru from the Sound Village, right?"
Baron Strucker replied, "Yes, the one whose forces destroyed the Triskelion. But what does that have to do with this?"
Pierce explained, "This intel came from Orochimaru's subordinate, Kabuto Yakushi. He found one of our Hydra members and told them that the real Hydra exists in the Ninja World."
Whitehall, taken aback, asked, "Are you saying that the people we've sent through the Monolith have all ended up in the Ninja World? Is the Monolith a one-way portal to their realm?"
Pierce nodded, then shook his head, "I don't know what Hydra truly looks like, nor am I certain if the Monolith is the gateway to the Ninja World."
"But it's clear that someone in the Ninja World is aware of Hydra's existence on Earth and has found us."
"And I think we all understand the power of the ninja," Pierce added.
"Now, Orochimaru and his faction from the Sound Village want to collaborate with us to bring Hydra back."
Madame Viper sneered, "Pierce, are you planning on installing a new overlord? Or do you believe Earth can accommodate a creature as massive as the one you're showing us?"
Pierce responded, "According to our internal archives, Hydra is enormous in size but is also capable of transforming into a humanoid form."
"However, I'm not interested in establishing a supreme ruler. What I'm proposing is collaboration with the ninjas."
"Doesn't that appeal to any of you? Especially given Orochimaru's power—the Curse Mark of Heaven, the ninja training techniques. I'm sure you're all intrigued by those."
"And as for the super soldier serum—have any of you successfully managed to replicate it?"
Pierce's pointed questions left the other Hydra leaders speechless. None of them could deny their desire for the ninja's secrets, whether it was their version of a super soldier serum or their training methods.
Pierce pressed further, "Do any of you truly believe the Insight Program will solve all our problems?"
"Those helicarriers might be effective against regular people or weaker enhanced individuals, but against powerful Kage-level ninjas and terrifying summoning beasts? They would be practically useless."
Madame Viper asked, "So, what do you propose, Pierce?"
Pierce answered decisively, "Cooperation. We must proceed with the Insight Program, but also move forward with Orochimaru's plan to bring back Hydra."
"We can slow down the resurrection process, but we can't afford to abandon the opportunity to gain benefits from this alliance."
"In the end, we will need ninjas to fight ninjas."
After Pierce finished speaking, there was a brief silence before Whitehall broke it, saying, "I agree."
Seeing the other leaders fall in line, a smile spread across Pierce's face.