Kingpin was the Iron Fist?
Nobu's mind filled with question marks on the spot. The revelation had hit him completely out of nowhere.
He truly had never imagined something like this.
Still...
If that were true, then it actually explained how Kingpin had managed to uncover the truth about the Black Sky. The Iron Fist knowing the Hand's secrets wasn't strange at all.
Whoosh!
Kingpin had no interest in wasting words.
He moved cleanly and decisively, driving his fist straight into Nobu's chest.
Boom!
A dull, heavy impact rang out as Nobu's body was blasted backward and slammed into the ground. He stopped breathing instantly.
His chest looked as though it had been struck by a giant iron hammer. It had caved in completely. His ribs shattered, his heart ruptured.
And with the added heat from Kingpin's burning fist, flesh and blood had been seared apart, reducing Nobu's heart to a mangled pulp.
Even a god couldn't have saved him.
Kingpin took a few slow steps forward and looked down at Nobu's corpse.
"Wesley, my friend... now you can rest in peace."
"How should we deal with the bodies?"
One of his men stepped forward and asked for instructions.
"Throw them into the sea."
Kingpin answered casually, then turned and left without another glance, taking Bullseye and the others with him.
Splash. Splash. Splash.
In the dead of night, only the sound of bodies hitting the water echoed across the docks.
Nobu, along with the rest of the ninjas, was ruthlessly dumped into the cold black sea.
Once Kingpin's men had all departed, silence returned.
The wind blew through the empty dockyard as if nothing had happened at all.
Then suddenly—
Splash!
Water exploded upward.
The supposedly dead Nobu burst from the surface with his eyes wide open.
That's right. Kingpin really had killed him.
But Nobu had come back.
Though he wasn't one of the Hand's Five Fingers, he was Murakami's disciple, and his status within the Hand was still extremely important.
He, too, had the right to use the power of the dragon bones.
That meant extended life...
and resurrection.
"Kingpin is actually the Iron Fist?"
"I need to report this immediately!"
Nobu swam to shore through the freezing water, his expression darker than ever.
Very few people in this world truly mattered to the Hand.
But the Iron Fist was absolutely one of them.
More than that, the Iron Fist had a deeply entangled history with the Hand. After all, the Five Fingers themselves were traitors from K'un-Lun.
And if they ever wanted to obtain more dragon bones, they would need the power of the Iron Fist to do it.
The Iron Fist wasn't just a weapon.
He was a key.
Because of that, Nobu didn't dare delay for even a second after learning such a shocking truth.
He went straight to one of Gao's secret strongholds in Hell's Kitchen and appeared before her.
"You shouldn't have come to see me."
Gao was elegantly holding a watercolor brush, adding the finishing touches to a lotus painting that was nearly complete.
She was, surprisingly, quite skilled at it.
"To operate smoothly in this place, we all maintain separate identities," she said without even looking up.
Here in Hell's Kitchen, her identity was that of a drug trafficker from Hong Kong.
Nobu, meanwhile, played the role of a Japanese Yakuza boss.
But in truth, they were both core members of the Hand.
"I have something extremely important to report."
Nobu's voice was low and serious.
Gao knew Nobu well enough to understand that if he had come to her in person, ignoring all of their established precautions, then this was no small matter.
So she slowly set down her paintbrush.
Leaning on her cane, she shuffled away from the canvas and walked over to him, looking every bit like a frail old woman who could be blown over by a strong breeze.
But anyone foolish enough to believe that would be making a terrible mistake.
Only Nobu truly understood how terrifying the power hidden inside that withered body really was.
The Five Fingers ruled the Hand not because they were old—
but because they were monsters.
"Well then," Gao said as she settled herself before him, completely composed. "What is it?"
With the strength of the Hand behind her, Gao was supremely confident.
Whatever had happened in Hell's Kitchen, she believed she could deal with it.
"I found the Iron Fist."
Nobu spoke each word with absolute gravity.
"Are you certain?"
For the first time, Gao's calm tone rose.
The Iron Fist mattered too much to them. And they had been searching for the new one for so long without any success that even Gao couldn't remain unmoved when she heard those words.
"Absolutely certain. I saw it with my own eyes," Nobu said heavily.
"No... to be more precise, I was killed by him."
"Good!"
Gao slammed the base of her cane against the floor.
"Where is the Iron Fist?"
"He's in Hell's Kitchen," Nobu answered without hesitation.
"And not only that—we know him. We've dealt with him many times before."
A brief pause.
Then he revealed the truth.
"Kingpin is the Iron Fist."
"Who?"
Gao's brows shot up, disbelief flooding her face.
Kingpin?
Was this some kind of joke?
"I know. I couldn't believe it either," Nobu said grimly. "But he is the Iron Fist. His fist... glowed."
Gao fell silent and began thinking.
Nobu had fought him directly. He had even been killed by him. Gao did not believe Nobu could have mistaken the man.
Still, the fact that the Iron Fist was Kingpin had caught her completely off guard.
But after a moment, Gao forced herself to accept it.
If Nobu had confirmed it, then it had to be true.
That only led to an even bigger question.
Why had Kingpin been hiding in Hell's Kitchen all this time?
Why had he spent so long concealing his true identity while playing games with them?
And why had he suddenly chosen now of all times to reveal himself?
What exactly was this new Iron Fist trying to do?
"There's more," Nobu said, his voice darkening further.
"The Iron Fist may have already discovered the identity of the Black Sky."
Gao's eyes sharpened.
"He questioned me about her whereabouts."
"The Iron Fist actually managed to uncover that?"
Gao was visibly shaken now. She couldn't even stay seated. She rose to her feet at once.
The Black Sky was the Hand's ultimate weapon.
For countless years, they had searched for the Black Sky just as relentlessly as they had searched for dragon bones.
Though they had never successfully found it, every member of the Hand believed the Black Sky would grant them tremendous power.
So...
Was that why the Iron Fist had finally revealed himself?
To eliminate the Hand's ultimate weapon before it could fully awaken?
How sharp.
How ruthless.
This generation's Iron Fist was truly formidable.