Near the building, Shin also sensed numerous covert gazes, likely the ninjas of the Hand.
Of course, although the Hand's members were also called ninjas, they were fundamentally different from the kind Shin hailed from. Even when he walked in openly, they continued watching, yet none of them noticed anything unusual.
This building provided access to the underground tunnel excavated by the Hand. The dragon's skeleton had to be buried very deep. With just manpower, even after three to five years, they likely wouldn't have made much progress. But now, in the era of machines, the Hand had all kinds of digging equipment.
They dug during the day and transported soil at night. With such large-scale activity, there was no way to keep it hidden, hence their willingness to cooperate with Kingpin.
Shin activated Earth Release and phased into the ground. Given his current chakra reserves and Earth Release being one of his most practiced techniques, traveling dozens of kilometers underground posed no issue.
No matter how deep the dragon bones lay, they couldn't be at the Earth's core. Observation Haki didn't work well underground, so Shin activated his Rinnegan. Though its clairvoyant ability was somewhat obstructed by the soil, he could still see several hundred meters around.
After a while, Shin saw nothing unusual, but he sensed an immense surge of vitality. He quickly shifted direction, heading straight for the source of that energy.
Soon, he encountered intense pressure in front of him. His Earth Release was nearly useless. Surprised, he murmured, "A barrier?"
This caught him off guard. Most superheroes and villains in the comic universe relied on brute force or flashy powers. Aside from magic users and gods, very few employed advanced techniques like barriers or seals.
By all logic, Kunlun was a society of martial artists... powerful, perhaps, but not particularly skilled in such refined arts. As for dragons, while naturally formidable due to their physical attributes, they shouldn't be versed in sealing techniques. This unexpected defense proved otherwise.
Feeling the energy field interwoven with the soil ahead, Shin realized he could break it. As the saying goes, brute force can solve everything if it can't then you are not using enough of it. With his current strength, even without understanding sealing techniques, he could smash through it.
However, such a move would certainly ripple through New York above, potentially causing a strong earthquake.
So, with a calm breath, Shin activated his Kamui. This barrier was just an energy-based defense; it lacked counters for space-time ninjutsu. He easily phased through.
"What incredible vitality," Shin exclaimed, a smile forming as he laid eyes on the massive dragon bones sprawled before him.
As he examined the site further, he made an unexpected discovery. Rather than the remains of a dead dragon, this appeared to be more like a cast-off form, a shed skin, silkworm cocoon, or crab shell.
Shin didn't know that Kunlun had only one dragon, named Shou-Lao, who had long grown accustomed to cycles of death and rebirth.
Each time Kunlun's Iron Fist emerged, he had to defeat the dragon and use its heart to power the Iron Fist technique. With over twenty generations of Iron Fists, the dragon had supposedly died at least that many times. Yet as an immortal creature, Shou-Lao wasn't stupid. He clearly didn't endure these cycles just to empower humans. This was likely a unique cultivation method.
Shin didn't bother trying to understand how the dragon trained. He wasn't a dragon. The method must be exclusive to Shou-Lao and completely inapplicable to humans.
Even though Shin possessed a mutated Azure Dragon Devil Fruit, the differences between dragons in the two worlds were too vast for this kind of cultivation to be transferable.
Still, just looking at the remains filled him with awe toward Earth in the Marvel universe.
The vitality radiating from the dragon bones wasn't sinister, it was fresh and vibrant. That's why Shin believed the dragon wasn't truly dead.
But as a discarded remnant, it naturally didn't contain the full life force of an actual dragon. It was akin to the difference between a snake's body and its shed skin.
Yet even this empty shell held enough vitality to sustain an ordinary person for tens of thousands of years. Just how powerful was this dragon?
Shin couldn't guess, and he hoped he'd never have to fight such a creature.
Still, the energy in the bones proved very beneficial to him. Apparently, due to his Azure Dragon Devil Fruit, he could directly absorb the bone's energy, it was like a massive tonic tailored just for him.
Reaching out, Shin drained 99% of the bone's vitality. The massive skeleton turned to ash. He refined the remaining energy into a white sphere that resembled a relic.
What's that? You say he originally meant to leave 10% for Kingpin? Forget it, he would've wasted it anyway. Fine, let's leave him 1%.
Even 1% of this energy was enough to let Kingpin live for over a hundred years. Besides, it's not like the man would reach the natural end of his life. Whether he had 100 years or 10,000, what difference did it make?
Worst-case scenario, Shin would throw in an artificial Human-Human Fruit and say he transformed Kingpin's life force into potential. That would probably make the guy even happier.
Kingpin sought immortality, but he craved strength more. His bulk wasn't just natural, it was the result of daily life-and-death training. The man routinely fought top-tier martial artists and took on ten at once.
This kind of desperate training, paired with rare talent, allowed him to take on the likes of Captain America and Spider-Man with a purely human body. In a way, Kingpin was the real peak of human physical potential in the Marvel world.
Now, give such a man a One-Piece world physique? Who knew what heights he might reach?
Thinking this, Shin turned to leave. But sensing the outer seal again, a mischievous smile crept across his face.
He knelt and scratched a line of English text onto the floor beneath the now-ashen bones.
"Long live Hydra!"
Whether the Hand took the bait or not didn't matter. If they did, great. If not, no loss. Shin had just scribbled it there for fun.