Undying ninjas—the low-level super-soldiers of the Hand. Each possessed physical strength and speed far surpassing that of an average human. Every one of them was essentially an immortal, or rather, an undead being. They possessed extraordinary power and agility, and because they were already among the ranks of the undying, they felt no pain whatsoever.
"They really don't feel a thing; they won't even let out a grunt!"
Peter snapped the arm of a Hand ninja and was surprised to find that the man remained absolutely silent. This was far more authentic than any "Super Beast." Swinging the ninja like a club, he slammed him into a group of others while striking up a conversation with Matt. "Don't they realize that if they were living people, we might actually hold back a little?"
"I'm afraid their usual opponents aren't vigilantes like us, but types like Bullseye!"
Matt thrust his baton into the abdomen of a ninja, pulled out the segmented staff, and used the connecting wire to garrotte another ninja before decapitating him. The benefit of fighting these undying beings was that you could dismantle them without the slightest psychological burden; the downside was that if you didn't remove their heads or limbs, they would simply keep running around.
"And besides—"
Having said his piece, Matt glanced in Logan's direction. Though he couldn't see Logan, he could judge exactly how Wolverine was fighting based solely on the sound of limbs hitting the ground and the rhythm of the man's movements. Even among superheroes, there were those who played by no rules at all.
That being the case, there was no reason for the Hand to train living ninjas just to benefit from a hero's "mercy." Those living ninjas with special abilities were better saved for more valuable targets.
As the battle raged on, the group noticed something amiss. There were hundreds of Genin here, but they were all undying ninjas. There wasn't a single mid-level officer, and even after fighting for this long, no one like Elektra or any other Hand executive had appeared to help.
It was strange. Had they all fled, or was this place merely a nest for the undying?
"Kitty? Forget those ninjas for a second!"
Realizing this, Peter was glad Logan had brought Kitty along. "Could you please go and see what's actually happening here? Check if there are any other Hand executives or facilities. If there are, we can't afford to waste any more time here!"
Kitty turned and phased into the rock wall. Moments later, Peter's spider-sense flared. He lunged to the side, narrowly dodging a grappling hook thrown by the Prowler. The man actually had the nerve to offer a deadpan explanation: "Sorry, the light was too dim, didn't see you there."
"You could always hang a flashlight on your chest, pal. Honestly, I've been curious for a while—what exactly is that high-mobility gear of yours meant for?"
Peter "accidentally" hurled a Hand ninja at the Prowler. After the Prowler scrambled to dodge the projectile, he provided an answer: "Before I got into this line of work, I was a window washer. This gear is what I used back in my window-washing days!"
"Really?"
The answer was a lie. This equipment had been custom-made by Kingpin back when Otto Octavius was working for him. Kingpin had felt that, in an era where superheroes were everywhere, he needed to bolster the combat effectiveness of his subordinates. However, Otto had mentioned that the inspiration for the gear indeed came from a certain worker who washed windows on the exterior of skyscrapers.
Furthermore, that individual harbored a deep-seated hatred for Spider-Man. Every time Spider-Man patrolled the streets, he would ruin the man's hard work. Employers didn't care that web fluid dissolved automatically after two hours; they only cared whether the glass was clean when the job was handed in. Those webs became the greatest source of the man's fury toward Spider-Man.
Thus, when he heard someone wanted to buy his window-washing gear to deal with Spider-Man, he unhesitatingly sold his self-designed "Prowler" mantle, along with the blueprints and prototypes, to Otto for twenty thousand dollars.
Peter, however, didn't know any of that. He genuinely believed Miles' uncle was a former window washer who had fallen on hard times and was about to chat more. Suddenly, however, the ninjas seemed to receive an order. They swiftly sheathed their blades and began sprinting toward a single direction.
The group exchanged glances, certain that something had happened on Shadowcat's end. Peter tried to contact Kitty, but found that the communication link was dead.
"Something might have gone wrong over there. We need to catch up, fast."
Peter switched his suit to high-speed mode and dashed into the tunnel before the Hand ninjas could fully flood it. He surged to the very end of the path. There, a blue energy vortex was slowly closing, while Kitty was nearby, clutching onto something to prevent herself from being sucked in.
"Peter?!"
"Hold on!"
Peter leaped forward, feeling the powerful suction of the vortex. He jumped to Kitty's side and grabbed her, firing a web line with his other hand to anchor himself to the far wall. Mechanical claws then deployed from his back, digging into the rock as he tried to pull them both out.
At the same time, he had to ask what had happened.
"What's the situation here? Why did a portal suddenly open?"
"I don't know! I saw the ninjas guarding a stone, so I planned to steal it and show it to you guys. But the moment I took the stone, this gate opened."
Kitty clung to Peter with one arm and pulled out the stone with the other. The moment Peter saw the object, he shuddered instinctively. "A Norn Stone?!"
"You recognize this thing?"
"Look out!"
Logan's roar echoed from the distance. Instinctively, Kitty activated her powers, phasing herself and taking Peter with her. The result was that the web line slipped through his hand, and the claws could no longer grip the surrounding rock. Simultaneously, a throwing knife whistled across hundreds of meters, accurately striking Kitty in the forehead—only to pass straight through her body.
Even without her phasing, Peter could have intercepted it. Instead, because they were now intangible, they lost all points of support and were instantly pulled into the blue vortex.
Confident in his skill, Bullseye, who had thrown the knife, grabbed the Prowler and made a swift escape. When Matt and Logan rushed onto the scene, they found only an empty clearing and a single stone lying on the ground. Matt sniffed the stone carefully, his expression turning grim.
"You know where those two bastards are, don't you?"
"That's not the priority right now," Matt said, quickly changing the subject. "They were teleported away by this stone. I heard their conversation; Spider-Man recognized this object. I think the Avengers might know exactly what this is."