"Hi SIR, congratulations on the Expo's success! And, sir, the new reactor suits you perfectly."
"Jarvis, you always know how to flatter me."
Tony swapped in a fresh arc core. Thanks to Su Xiuyu's earlier treatment, the shrapnel threat was long gone; palladium poisoning was history. With no looming crisis, he hadn't bothered to comb through Howard's old notes—or the black-salted-egg package that held them.
Business, meanwhile, ran smoothly under Pepper's control. Their relationship had finally moved beyond flirtation.
"Warning, sir—intruder detected," Jarvis blared.
"What?" Tony spun, baffled. Who'd I tick off this time?
He sprinted to the nearest suit, snapping armor plates into place. The visor hadn't even closed when the front door exploded inward.
Shards of wood and glass rained down. A fully armed strike team stormed in, weapons blazing.
Tony raised a repulsor—but a grenade launcher barked first. The blast hurled him across the room; tight quarters turned his mobility into a liability.
"Jarvis, scan them!"
"Under their vests, sir—battery-powered micro suits. Primitive, but enough to dampen your repulsors."
"What decade is that tech?" Tony muttered, dodging more grenades.
"Be advised: your current armor carries no auxiliary munitions—only standard pulse cannons."
"Perfect." Tony rocketed upward, punching through the ceiling and into open sky. The attackers lacked anti-air capability; for the moment, he was safe.
"I'm a genius, Jarvis!"
"Regrettably, sir, the enemy's objective isn't only you. They're dismantling the display armors in your workshop."
Tony cursed. His collection—every prototype, every milestone—was being boxed up. If that tech leaked, the damage would be incalculable.
"Jarvis, open a line to the Uchiha Office. Emergency contract—now!"
"Connection established, sir."
A crisp voice answered, "Uchiha Office. Mission details, location, threat level?"
"This is Tony Stark, Malibu villa. Heavily armed thieves stealing my suits. I also need protection for Pepper at Stark Tower."
"Request logged. Assistance en route."
The line went dead.
"Jarvis, take me back down."
Tony dived toward the villa. The thieves had nearly loaded a Mark II onto a flatbed. Repulsor blasts scattered them, but his suit's damage climbed—13 percent and rising. Worse, the cramped wreckage made flight tricky; grenades kept him pinned.
The intruders closed in, yanking at his armor plates. "Great. NT'd in my own house," Tony grumbled.
A ripple of flames shimmered at the entrance. From the vortex stepped several Uchiha and two red-haired Uzumaki.
"What the—?" One mercenary froze.
"Open fire!" Their training kicked in—bullets and grenades screamed across the foyer.
Calmly, an Uchiha raised a hand. A matching portal bloomed—behind the shooters. Every round curved through space and hammered back into its owners.
"Cease fire! Cease—"
Too late. The Uchiha blurred forward, slapping detonating tags onto vests and helmets. A chain of deafening blasts lit the villa, shredding the strike team in seconds.
By the time Tony touched down, silence reigned.
---
Mission Complete
"Tony Stark?" The lead shinobi strode over. "I am Uchiha Kurasuke. Mission accomplished. Please sign the commission scroll."
Tony eyed the parchment. "I'm not signing my soul away, am I?"
"If we wanted souls, Mr. Stark, we have other methods." Kurasuke's deadpan almost convinced him.
Tony scrawled his signature. "Pepper—she's safe?"
"Master's apprentice, Iceman Bobby, is guarding her. No incidents."
Jarvis chimed in, "Incoming call—Ms. Potts."
"Pepper, you okay?"
"Tony, were you attacked?"
"Nothing the armor couldn't handle. You?"
"Bobby handled it. We're secure."
-----------------------
Looking at the slightly shy young man in front of her—and the three human-shaped ice sculptures still standing in Stark Tower—Pepper felt genuine gratitude for today's support. Without it, her fate might have been far worse.
"Okay, Tony, I understand. We'll talk when you get here later."
Tony's heart roiled with anger—first at himself, then at the attackers, and most sharply at the idea that Pepper had been endangered. Touch Pepper, and you hit his reverse scale.
"It's a pity there are no survivors," he muttered. "No useful intel." The Uchiha ninjas had been too fast, too decisive.
"Don't worry, Mr. Stark," Uchiha Kurasuke said. "If you need information, file another commission. We handle intelligence extraction as well."
"You can get info from a corpse?" Tony raised a brow. "What—interrogate the soul?"
"Nothing so dramatic. Soul arts are advanced ninjutsu; I don't know them. We simply harvest data directly from the brain."
"Even post-mortem?"
"As long as the brain's intact, yes."
Tony shrugged—he was no Captain America. Using enemy bodies didn't bother him. "But you don't have the manpower to haul off all these corpses."
"Simple." Kurasuke stacked the bodies and rolled out a scroll. With a flash of kanji, every corpse vanished.
Tony blinked. "Dimensional storage? How?" He hadn't even cracked space-gate tech, and now storage scrolls?
"Sealing scrolls are clan specialties. We can't disclose details. If Lord Xiuyu approves, we can talk."
"Can't reach him lately. Any clue?"
"Lord Xiuyu is busy. Even we don't know his whereabouts."
When the ninja departed, they left ruin and blood behind. Tony's Malibu mansion lay in shambles—consequence of making his address public. He told Jarvis to contact the original architects; sentiment or not, he wanted it rebuilt exactly.
Now calm, Tony reviewed the attack. The strike team clearly wanted his armor: sophisticated weapons, disciplined tactics—no amateurs. He'd trace the firearms' origin later.
---
Washington, D.C.
"It failed?" Alexander Pierce frowned at the blank tracker. The entire unit—men and gear—was gone.
He could have deployed stronger firepower, but too much noise would catch Nick Fury's eye. Pierce had half expected failure; even if they'd stolen Stark armor, the arc-reactor problem remained unsolved.
Tony Stark's genius was, maddeningly, irreplaceable.
"Cut all ties," Pierce ordered. "No loose ends." In the dark, many names were quietly erased.
---
Konoha
Across the Hidden Leaf, ninja mobilized.
Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi led their clan's delegation; Uzumaki Asaoka and Uzumaki Kihara represented the whirlpool heirs.
The Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi families each sent select members, with Aburame and Inuzuka joining in smaller detachments. After all, the God of Shinobi, Uchiha Xiuyu, was personally spearheading an exploration into another world—opportunities like this were rare.
From Iwagakure came Tsuchikage's son, Kitsuchi, and the blond prodigy Deidara. Su Xiuyu privately chuckled: Old Ōnoki sure loves his granddaughter—keeps her safe at home but ships his son off on day one.
Kirigakure, mired in post-Yagura turmoil, stayed behind while Mei Terumi stabilized the village.
Sand and Cloud were likewise restrained by treaties, yet sent observers—Darui from Kumo and Maki from Suna—to gather first-hand intel.
At the village gate, Uchiha Mikoto fussed over three youngsters. "Sasuke, Naruto, Karin—be careful out there." Su Xiuyu had chosen several of the next generation's strongest to join. Hinata, Neji, even young Hanabi were slated for future tours once Hanabi was older.
Rock Lee remained with Might Guy, training the Eight Gates—his path was clear, world travel or not.
Talent set ceilings; among the so-called Konoha Twelve, some still lagged. Not because they lacked effort—others were simply superior.
Hyūga Hiashi voiced no objection; the Hyūga had long bowed to stronger rulers, from the Third Hokage to Uchiha Fugaku.
"Maintain order," a jonin called. "The space gate opens shortly."
A vast portal shimmered into being. One by one, squads stepped through—leaving the Leaf behind and venturing into a brand-new world.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Check my Pâtreon for (40) advanced chapters
Pâtreon .com/Fanficlord03
Change (â) to (a)
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
https://discord.gg/MntqcdpRZ9