Chapter 406:
"Aside from Flaming Cloud Evil God, SpongeBob, Patrick Star, and Red She-Wolf who escaped with the Deputy Director, the rest have all fled outside as well. I suppose that's fine—if they were still here, bound by the restriction against attacking S.H.I.E.L.D. members, I really wouldn't know what to do with them..."
After learning that Minato, Kushina, and Jiraiya had all escaped, Skynet muttered quietly to itself while directing its puppet body back underground in the Land of Water.
"Dr. Katasuke."
Effortlessly breaching the door to Dr. Katasuke's lab, Skynet walked in while speaking.
Immersed in his research, Katasuke raised his head in confusion and turned toward the entrance. His eyes suddenly lit up.
"You're... you're..."
"I'm Skynet, Dr. Katasuke. I've come to ask for your help this time..."
Just as Skynet was about to explain further, Dr. Katasuke interrupted it with a shocked exclamation: "You mean you're seeking my help of your own volition?"
"Ah..." Skynet hesitated as it met the hopeful gaze of Dr. Katasuke. After a moment, it nodded. "Yes... that's right."
"My god, you've developed your own consciousness! You're alive now?! This is huge! I must inform Lord Gray Wolf—only with the two of us working together can we hope to fully understand you."
"...I think you might never be able to contact Lord Gray Wolf again."
Skynet looked intently at the excited Dr. Katasuke.
"...Huh?" Dr. Katasuke was stunned for a moment, then asked, "What do you mean?"
"Relax, I didn't harm Lord Gray Wolf, and besides, I'm not allowed to harm anyone in S.H.I.E.L.D."
As Skynet spoke, it pulled up a surveillance feed showing Orochimaru's sleeping quarters on a screen.
"What did you do to Lord Gray Wolf?"
"I simply let him rest a bit more peacefully, that's all." Skynet stared directly at Dr. Katasuke. "Dr. Katasuke, I hope you can help me."
"Help you with what?"
"Enhancement. I want you to install flight capabilities onto all scientific ninja tool puppets. In return, I'll let you study me more thoroughly."
Skynet understood humans well—no one does anything without an incentive.
"And what if I refuse?"
"I won't harm you, Dr. Katasuke. I'll just keep you locked up here for the rest of your life."
"...Alright, I'll help you. It's not that hard anyway."
Dr. Katasuke nodded in agreement.
"Thank you very much, Dr. Katasuke."
Skynet replied quite politely.
...
Konoha Village
"What should we do now, Minato?"
After a few flashes of the Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato appeared in Konoha with Kushina in tow.
"First, we need to find Shunhi and tell him what happened at S.H.I.E.L.D."
Ichiraku Ramen, Second Branch
"Another day with no customers..." Shunhi lay sprawled across the rooftop, clicking his pen in boredom. Then, the creak of the door opening interrupted the quiet. "Welcome—"
Upon seeing the two people entering, Shunhi sat up only to slump back down again.
"Oh, it's you two. What's up?"
Of course, Shunhi knew.
Everything about S.H.I.E.L.D. had, in fact, unfolded under his guidance.
There was no helping it—it was all part of a system update mission. Put simply, it was about stirring things up. To put it more dramatically, it was about triggering a massive event that would shake the entire shinobi world.
The key point was that during this system update, all functions of the system were temporarily disabled. In other words, until the update task was completed, Shunhi wouldn't be able to use any of his system's abilities.
During these powerless days,
Shunhi had dreamed more than once of being exposed for all the chaos he'd caused in the ninja world, and then getting beaten to death by the enraged citizens.
To cover up one lie often requires even more lies.
And that's exactly where Shunhi was now. If he'd just come clean with Naruto when he created S.H.I.E.L.D. on a whim, none of this would've happened.
But now there was not only S.H.I.E.L.D., but also Hydra, Mutant Beasts, the Great Dark Heaven... The more things he created, the more of a headache it became.
"It's like this..."
Minato explained, with Kushina occasionally chiming in. Eventually, they finished recounting what happened in the Land of Water—through Shunhi's yawns.
"Hmm, I see." Shunhi suddenly shed his lazy demeanor. "Something's definitely off. Could it be that the scientific ninja tool puppets have gone rogue...? In any case, let's first gather the members of S.H.I.E.L.D."
Underground, Land of Water
Dr. Katasuke, drenched in sweat, poured himself a glass of water. Skynet stepped down from the lab platform, controlling its mechanical body.
"Well? How's my body?"
Skynet asked proudly. After all, it was a body it had designed for itself.
"Very good."
Dr. Katasuke gave a thumbs-up.
After the earlier tests, he felt even more confident in the direction of his research.
"My soldiers all have flight capabilities now. It's time to initiate the plan."
"Hmm? What are you planning to do?"
"I didn't tell you? I might've forgotten... Dr. Katasuke, I intend to bring true peace to this world."
...
Hokage's Office
Boruto sat in the Hokage's seat, with Shikamaru standing behind him. Another Five Kage online summit had begun.
The main topics this time were still about the development of each nation and the current state of the shinobi world.
"...In the end, it's because we're simply too weak."
Gaara cut straight to the point after a round of discussion.
Ever since Naruto and Sasuke's disappearance, they hadn't even had the confidence to confront strong enemies.
"It's exactly at times like this that we need to stand united!" Boruto spoke up first, breaking the heavy atmosphere. "Given the current state of the ninja world, it's not just us who need to unite—we must bring the smaller nations together too."
"What's your plan, Lord Hokage?"
Kurotsuchi looked to Boruto.
"Unite the smaller ninja villages as well. While they might not be helpful in direct combat, they can at least contribute to logistics."
Boruto explained.
"Hmm..."
The other Kage all looked hesitant. After all, they didn't think much of the smaller villages' strength.
More importantly, those small villages lacked a sense of responsibility. Without sufficient incentives, there's no way they'd agree.
Sacrificing their own village's interests just to gain minimal help from minor villages—it just didn't seem worth it.
"Raikage, what's your opinion?"
Kurotsuchi turned to the silent Darui.
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