Bucky Barnes inserted the key into the motorcycle, preparing to go to Steve Rogers's house for a meeting when a robust blond youth ran towards him.
It was Steve Rogers.
The Captain America has always maintained a high level of military discipline, running long distances every day to keep himself in optimal physical condition.
As Steve Rogers ran towards him, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of the somewhat luxurious motorcycle next to him and the black-haired youth on it...
The black-haired youth had a remarkably familiar face.
"Bucky?"
Steve Rogers unconsciously slowed his steps, looking incredulously at the man sitting on the motorcycle: "Bucky? Is that you? Bucky!"
This person...
It must be Bucky!
Even after seventy years apart, Steve Rogers could still recognize his good friend Bucky Barnes at a glance. He was his best friend!
Steve Rogers trusted his eyes; he was sure he hadn't mistaken the person, and dashed towards Bucky Barnes's direction, stopping beside the motorcycle in a few strides, and placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder!
"Bucky! You're alive!"
"Steve?"
Bucky Barnes instinctively uttered his friend's name.
The blond youth standing in front of him gave Bucky a feeling of even greater familiarity; this blond youth was his assassination target this time.
Steve Rogers.
What the Hydra agent said was true; he and Steve Rogers must have truly been life-dependent comrades, seeing Steve Rogers made his brain involuntarily experience some pain as he tried to recall their past.
And when Steve Rogers heard his friend call his name in the past tone, the joy in his heart almost leaped from his chest!
Bucky's somewhat hesitant call made Steve Rogers lose his sanity completely; he could finally confirm this was his friend!
His friend...
was alive just like him!
"Bucky, you're alive!"
Steve Rogers was so emotional he almost wanted to cry; he forcefully hugged Bucky's shoulder, his wrist was strong enough that Bucky could not escape but could only allow him to embrace.
Unfortunately...
The joy of old friends reuniting only Steve Rogers could enjoy.
No matter how much Bucky Barnes's subconscious missed the feeling of this hug, his rational mind reminded him he couldn't forget his mission...
To kill his former captain...
To kill Steve Rogers, the Hydra traitor!
Regardless of how friendly Steve Rogers's relationship with him was, it couldn't change the fact that Steve Rogers was a traitor!
Hydra assigned him the task of clearing out the traitor!
Hydra's orders...
were ones he absolutely could not defy!
As the two still embraced in celebration of their reunion, Bucky Barnes, brainwashed by Hydra, deftly flipped his palm!
A sharp dagger hidden in his wrist fell into his palm!
The next moment...
Bucky Barnes gripped the dagger in his hand, directly stabbing towards Steve Rogers's spine, intending to pierce through Steve Rogers's body from behind!
"Bucky?"
Steve Rogers sensed something was amiss when Bucky Barnes flipped his palm. Why was his friend twisting his wrist?
Experience from being attacked from behind by Hydra agents lurking in S.H.I.E.L.D saved Steve Rogers's life. As soon as the dagger began to enter his body, the pain from behind made Steve Rogers's body subconsciously start to move!
This feeling of being attacked from behind...
gave Steve Rogers a special sense of familiarity...
Because when he had just awakened and attacked the Hydra base with S.H.I.E.L.D agents, he was always attacked from behind by Hydra spies lurking in S.H.I.E.L.D!
His trusted comrades...
were trying to stab him in the back!
Why does it always happen to him!
Clearly having just reunited with a friend from seventy years ago, who was once his life-dependent comrade, even he was attacking him from behind!
Fortunately, due to the experience of being attacked by Hydra spies, Steve Rogers was actually quite experienced in dealing with life-and-death crises; his arm suddenly exerted force, directly throwing Bucky Barnes away, allowing himself to narrowly escape the danger!
The sharp dagger only grazed Steve Rogers's back, cutting open his clothes, leaving a long incision, blood gushing out!
Intense pain instantly spread throughout Steve Rogers's body!
However, compared to piercing the organs inside the body, merely having a cut made by a dagger; such an injury was still within an acceptable range...
The only problem was...
Steve Rogers's mindset was a bit shattered.
Why does he always encounter such things? Why does even his friend Bucky Barnes want to assassinate him? Are there still people in this world worth trusting?
Steve Rogers forced himself to straighten his chest, allowing the muscles at the wound on his back to contract, preventing excessive bleeding.
"Bucky..."
Steve Rogers's eyes were somewhat hurt, looking at the friend who got up again, feeling a sense of heartbreak: "Bucky, why are you doing this? Who sent you? Bucky, have you forgotten about us..."
"Captain Steve Rogers."
Bucky Barnes calmly interrupted Steve's words, coldly holding his dagger and charging towards him again: "Captain, there's no need to talk about past matters... Steve, today I will kill you."
"Bucky!"
Compared to Bucky's actions...
Bucky's words were clearly more hurtful.
Because Bucky was not unfamiliar with him; instead, he was choosing to attack him despite knowing who he was!
Steve gritted his teeth, suppressing the pain on his back, dodging the sharp dagger, looking at his friend's familiar face, reluctant to go hard on him...
However...
Even so...
Bucky Barnes was still no match for Captain Steve Rogers.
Even if Steve Rogers deliberately suppressed the strength in his fists, he still relied on his superior physique and combat experience to capture Bucky's wrist in just a few moves!
Steve Rogers twisted Bucky's wrist, shaking the dagger free, fiercely grabbing Bucky's arm, and directly performing an over-the-shoulder throw, slamming Bucky to the ground heavily!
Bucky Barnes fled in disarray...
Steve Rogers pursued Bucky crazily along the way, but when faced with a few gun-toting bandits blocking his path, he could only helplessly watch as his friend disappeared before his eyes, before thinking of heading to the hospital to treat his wound...
Brooklyn District.
In a beverage shop
Uehara Naraku held a juice straw in his mouth, gripping his phone as he filmed the anticlimactic drama between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes.
The show he arranged played out the reunion of old friends, a stab in the back, a life-and-death chase, and a desperate escape in various scenes, astonishingly taking less than five minutes in total...
In other words...
In less than five minutes, Bucky Barnes turned from a seemingly dominant assassin to a panicked weakling being chased, leaving Uehara Naraku speechless.
"So weak..."
Uehara Naraku mocked Bucky Barnes's combat ability, shook his head helplessly, and glanced at the photo captured on his phone: "This guy... if he couldn't defeat his opponent, at least reminiscing more with his old friend would do..."
Uehara Naraku sighed faintly, flipped open his phone gallery, and found the first photo of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes reuniting in an embrace.
Fortunately...
He could use this photo to hand over to Tony Stark, letting Tony Stark know that Bucky Barnes is still alive, and there are still connections between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes.
"Hmm..."
"Now, this initiates the manhunt for Bucky Barnes..."
"You're almost about to disappear yourself, aren't you, Captain..."
"Next up, it's your old superior Nick Fury and my two old colleagues..."