"His taijutsu is too rough. It's rare to have such a good foundation, yet he can't even beat these ordinary people who aren't even curse mark users."
Tsunade commented after watching for a while. She felt that Peter Parker's taijutsu was terribly poor; he was relying entirely on his amazing spider sense to deal with Abomination and the five super soldiers who had been injected with the serum.
Strength, explosive power, speed, and spider sense – Tsunade had seen Peter Parker's tests. Based on these alone, he could compare to a chunin-level taijutsu specialist in the ninja world. But now he was using it all extremely roughly, relying only on his suit's AI assistance, constantly switching between power and speed, barely managing not to lose to his opponents.
"We could give Peter some special training when he gets back. There might be more troublemakers later. I can sense that someone wants information about the God Tree – not just one person, but a group..."
Hyuga Mirai put down the grape plate and snapped his fingers. Another virtual projection appeared in the room; it was footage from near the God Tree farm. On a distant hillside, several people were gazing toward the God Tree. After a while, these individuals tried to get closer for a look, but they touched the barrier and vanished into thin air.
Seeing this image, Tsunade asked, "Who are these people?"
"Unknown. Android 18 can't find any identity information on them. Their facial features and heights are completely fabricated. But there aren't many on Earth with this kind of ability – could be those left by the Celestials, or maybe Kamar-Taj magic."
These people hadn't alerted the clone stationed at the God Tree, which suggested the technique was somewhat subtle. As for triggering the barrier, at that farm, dozens of barriers were triggered daily by rats. If those people hadn't been captured by satellite, Hyuga Mirai's clone would definitely have assumed they were rats too.
"Should we find them?"
Kurenai Yuhi finished viewing the footage near the God Tree. She thought it resembled genjutsu, though it was exquisitely crafted – impressive that it hadn't alerted Hyuga Mirai's clone. Kurenai gently turned over; she was now enjoying her status as 'head of the household' again.
Normally, getting Hyuga Mirai to attend to her like this wouldn't be so easy – he'd probably make excuses about research.
"This genjutsu ability – is it innate or acquired? It looks quite exquisite... I don't want grapes anymore, I want melon seeds."
"Innate. Probably abilities the Celestials granted when they created them. Doesn't seem strong, just somewhat subtle... If you like genjutsu, once we obtain the Mind and Soul Stones, I'll research letting the God Tree absorb some power from those two gems."
Hyuga Mirai switched from grapes to melon seeds while speaking to Kurenai Yuhi. At the God Tree's current growth rate, Chakra Fruit might not even form before Thanos arrived.
Could it be related to Tiamut, gestating on Earth?
Hyuga Mirai sensed abnormalities in the God Tree's development and had already sent several clones to investigate – there shouldn't be any mistakes. Too bad Kurenai got pregnant so quickly; otherwise, his next child might have inherited some characteristics of Earth's God Tree, perhaps even some Celestial abilities.
Just as Hyuga Mirai finished shelling a bowl of melon seeds with chakra, Kurenai Yuhi started craving hawthorn. This preferential treatment made Tsunade glance sideways repeatedly; she secretly decided to enjoy such treatment herself tonight.
Brooklyn District
Peter Parker had been entangled with Emil Abomination's super soldier squad for nearly half an hour. Finally, when Pietro arrived, they managed to subdue the first squad members.
Except for Abomination, whose strength could quickly break free from Peter's restraints, the slightly weaker super soldiers still needed some effort.
"Peter, need help?"
Pietro called out loudly from a distance after returning. Peter Parker glanced over and immediately asked, "What about Stark and the others?"
"I left them in an empty house – perfectly safe."
"No, not safe at all. They have companions. Leave this to me; you go watch Stark –"
Before Peter Parker could finish, he saw a red-and-silver Iron Man suit suddenly burst through the roof of a distant building and fly into the air. Pietro then realized he had overlooked Tony Stark's companions – those two had already been rescued.
"Shit, that's sneaky!"
Pietro cursed inwardly, then instantly sped toward where he had left Tony Stark.
But before rescuing Stark and Fury, Hawkeye had already learned about Quicksilver's abilities from Stark. So he set up several obstacles with electromagnetic arrows – if Quicksilver saw Stark escape, he'd definitely rush over immediately.
Soon enough, Hawkeye heard the crackling electricity from his arrows. Receiving this signal, he instantly nocked three arrows and stood up from hiding. But before he could spot anyone, he suddenly felt a heavy blow to his abdomen and was punched flying several meters.
Natasha received the same treatment. She had planned to coordinate with Hawkeye to subdue one person, but without even seeing anyone, both were sent flying in an instant.
Pop!
Pop!
Two shooting sounds – both Hawkeye and Natasha's limbs were bound. These were bio-nano formed shackles, unlike Peter Parker's webbing – brute force couldn't break them.
"Stark's high-voltage electricity barely managed to incapacitate me. The current on your arrows isn't enough."
Quicksilver stopped and gestured at Hawkeye, then instantly used his speed again, dodging the incoming vibranium shield.
After Captain America's failed ambush, he tried to recall his thrown shield, but was punched flying four or five meters by Quicksilver. Then came Nick Fury, who had just grabbed a gun – he had no idea where to shoot before Quicksilver knocked him unconscious.
"Three new ones secured, but one troublesome one got away..."
Quicksilver muttered, then used his ability again, landing several consecutive punches on the struggling Captain America.
Steve felt attacks coming from all directions – painful, but still within his tolerance.
But during a momentary daze from the beating, his hands and feet were suddenly locked. Steve struggled fiercely, but the cuffs were extremely tough – no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't break free.
"Don't bother struggling, Captain America. Even Peter can't break these when cuffed. But sir says you're a bit special, so I'll add two more layers –"
Quicksilver shot two more masses of bio-nano at Steve's wrists and ankles, quickly forming chains that thickened his restraints by three layers.
"Now you definitely won't break free."
With that, Quicksilver left immediately, quickly returning to the other battlefield. Only after confirming Wanda and Peter weren't seriously injured did he relax.
"Shit, Wanda – feels like those two sides have teamed up and we're fighting a two-on-one?"
Peter Parker cursed in the open channel after seeing another ten super soldiers drink the serum and transform into two-meter monsters. This was the most profanity he'd used in his entire life.
At Mirai Pharmaceuticals, watching the show, Hyuga Mirai had already decided to edit together all of Peter's curse words and send them to May Parker.
But seeing Peter Parker getting beaten was still pretty funny – this Peter had been too smooth as a superhero, facing almost no setbacks. This experience with supernatural conflict would be good for him.
"Peter, not two-on-one – it's three against twenty-three!"
Quicksilver used his speed to harass the Hulk while finding time to answer Peter's question.
Tony Stark had probed Wanda's ability range and maintained altitude two hundred meters away. Even when attacked by Wanda's intelligent staff, he tried his best to dodge, stubbornly refusing to descend.
And if Wanda dared fully focus on controlling the Hulk, Tony Stark would use missiles to disrupt her concentration, freeing the Hulk.
Quicksilver could only use speed to slightly inconvenience the Hulk – his offensive capabilities were weak, and his suit lacked weapons that could pierce Hulk's skin.
Peter Parker couldn't provide support either – facing eleven big guys alone, he had pushed his suit to the limit just to avoid defeat.
The battlefield was expanding outward; Hulk and Wanda's group were nearing Brooklyn's commercial district.
"Wanda, leave Banner alone for now. Fly up and focus on Mr. Stark. Pietro, you evacuate the civilians. I'm going to use the suit to take them all out at once!"
Hearing Peter's plan, Pietro and Wanda knew they couldn't continue the stalemate. If the battle moved into populated areas, their mission would fail.
So after Peter spoke, they immediately followed his instructions. Wanda used her powers to lift herself into the air, then sat on her staff. Tony Stark, thinking she was coming for him, quickly flew his suit far away.
Quicksilver moved near Spider-Man, ready to rescue any civilians who came too close.
"If you don't retreat now, prepare to face Spider-Man's righteous judgment!"
Peter Parker webbed himself away from the battlefield, warned them once, then switched his suit to its third mode while activating maximum firepower.
Click, clack, clack!
Peter Parker's spider suit returned to its red-and-blue color scheme, but eight mechanical spider legs emerged from his back. Meanwhile, the webbing patterns on his suit faintly glowed with energy transmission, growing brighter by the second until visible energy flowed into the mechanical spider legs.
Those eight mechanical spider legs stood like eight fully charged cannons, their tips glowing with azure energy beams that made onlookers' hearts tremble.
Seeing this, Emil Abomination suddenly felt something terrible approaching. "Shit!"
He cursed, then leaped high, preparing to strike first.
"Sir, it seems you've chosen to continue fighting!"
As Peter Parker spoke, his eight mechanical spider leg cannons had completed charging.
ZZZZAP!
A beam of light flashed – everyone nearby felt like they were staring directly at the sun. Then came the rumbling sound.
After the light faded, Emil Abomination had been blasted over ten meters underground, a massive wound on his chest gushing blood. He had already lost consciousness, reverting to Emil seconds later.
Seeing this, Peter Parker said quietly, "Karen, lower the power by one level... no, lower it by two levels."
This was his first time seeing the Spider suit at full power – it might have been a bit excessive.
(End of Chapter)