As Charles watched Dosu Kinuta shatter into fragments and disappear before him, he understood that when a ninja dies, they disintegrate into ninja fragments and vanish.
Next, he watched the death replays of Kin Tsuchi and Zaku Abumi. Their deaths were similar to Dosu Kinuta's, though they occurred in different rooms.
After watching everything, Charles opened his ninja roster and noticed that the once-lit avatars of the three ninjas had all turned gray.
Clicking on their avatars, he saw the remaining fragment counts: 4, 3, and 2 respectively. He also noticed that three slots in the active roster were now empty.
Charles pondered whether, if he managed to gather enough fragments to recruit these three again, they would retain their memories from their time on Earth.
If it was a fresh recruitment, their previous memories might not exist, and he wondered if recruiting them again would still boost his chakra reserves.
If their chakra could continue to increase, it would give him another avenue to enhance his strength.
Charles exited the system space and instructed, "Red Queen, access the satellite feed and show me what happened at the Sound Ninja base."
"Yes, Master," Red Queen responded.
Soon, the Red Queen displayed the satellite footage of the Sound Ninja base. The base had been reduced to ruins, with a large number of soldiers, armored vehicles, and helicopters on-site.
Seeing the emblem on the vehicles, Charles immediately knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. was involved.
Charles stroked his chin, contemplating the reason behind S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attack on the Sound Ninja base and wondering where Nick Fury had gotten the audacity.
Could it be that he had called back Captain Marvel?
It seemed Charles needed to test the waters. If Captain Marvel had indeed returned, he might have to give Nick Fury some face.
Considering that the Sound Ninja Four were still alive, Charles decided to summon them for some answers.
Charles entered the system space and first removed Tayuya from the active roster, then placed her back in, selecting for her to appear within a three-meter radius of him as the system prompted.
In the next instant, Tayuya, who had been discussing how to inform Lord Charles with the other three, suddenly appeared before him.
"Lord Charles," Tayuya said respectfully, kneeling on the ground.
Looking at the kneeling Tayuya, Charles said, "Zaku Abumi, Kin Tsuchi, and Dosu Kinuta have been killed. Based on my intelligence, it seems that S.H.I.E.L.D. is responsible. Do you know any specifics?"
Tayuya, kneeling on one knee, replied, "It might be related to the mission you assigned to Dosu Kinuta and the others. Earlier this evening, three agents from S.H.I.E.L.D. came to demand Michael. I refused them, and later that night, we were attacked by their missiles."
"Those three weren't with us at the time, so we couldn't save them. Please punish me, Lord."
Hearing Tayuya's explanation, Charles roughly pieced together the reason behind the attack.
However, he still couldn't figure out what had emboldened Nick Fury so much. Did he believe that the Sound Ninja had become weaker after losing Kimimaro?
Or was this an attempt to kill the chicken to scare the monkey and extract greater benefits?
These thoughts flashed through Charles's mind as he looked at Tayuya and said, "Stand up. This isn't your fault."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. will pay for what they've done. You four…"
Tayuya stood up and replied, "My lord, the four of us were in the Summoning Realm at the time, so we weren't severely injured. Seeing that the situation was dire, we used the Reverse Summoning Technique to leave the base after avoiding the first wave of attacks."
Charles nodded, "It's good that you four are unharmed. Go back to the Summoning Realm and regroup with the others. As for S.H.I.E.L.D., wait for my orders—they will pay for their actions."
Tayuya looked at Charles and said, "My lord, we hope you'll give us the chance to avenge ourselves."
"You'll have your chance for revenge. Wait for my signal."
"Yes, my lord."
…
On the other side-
Nick Fury was listening to a report from his subordinates.
"Director, based on our search and excavation of the site with our equipment, we've only found remnants of three individuals. We can confirm that some personnel escaped after the first wave of attacks."
Nick Fury thought for a moment and asked, "Can you confirm who the deceased are?"
"Based on the remaining bells and armguards found at the scene, we estimate that the deceased are Zaku Abumi, Kin Tsuchi, and Dosu Kinuta."
Hearing that they had found remnants of the three, a slight smirk appeared on Nick Fury's lips. So, ninjas can die when bombed, after all.
He then recalled the strange, disappearing gate he saw in the video, suspecting that the Sound Ninja Four had managed to escape, though he wasn't sure how they had left the scene or if they were seriously injured.
Nick Fury frowned slightly, knowing that the attack hadn't completely wiped out the Sound Ninja.
Since the attack occurred in Staten Island, part of New York City, using Tomahawk missiles had already pushed his authority to its limits.
After all, it wasn't an alien invasion of New York—otherwise, a nuclear strike would have guaranteed the total annihilation of the Sound Ninja.
"Continue excavating the site and search for any useful information."
"Yes, Director!"
After ending the communication, Nick Fury thought to himself: Since they hadn't managed to eliminate the Sound Ninja entirely, there was a risk that they might summon reinforcements from the Shinobi World and seek revenge.
The next step was to prepare defenses and issue a warrant for the remaining Sound Ninja Four.
He also wondered whether Hendel Dobi had successfully contracted with the Kirigakure, and if so, what the price would be.
Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.
…
At the Kirigakure base-
Hendel Dobi explained his mission requirements and the potential situations that could arise to Mei Terumi.
Mei Terumi smiled, "You actually bombed the Sound Ninja base? Quite bold of you."
Mei Continued, "It's not that we can't help. After all, Sound Ninja is just a small shinobi village—not worth my concern. However, there's no such thing as a guarding from thief forever. I can't stay at your base all the time."
"We can take on this mission, but you must notify me immediately after you're attacked, and I'll come to support you as soon as possible."
"If you can't even manage a basic defense, then this commission isn't worth taking."
Mei Terumi had heard Charles mention that this world wasn't simple, and she was curious to see what hidden methods S.H.I.E.L.D., this world's one of the powerful organizations, possessed.
Attacking the Sound Ninja wasn't much different from attacking one of Lord Charles's branches. S.H.I.E.L.D. might not know this, but Mei Terumi was well aware that those Sound Ninja were all under Lord Charles's command.
Hendel Dobi considered her offer and agreed, saying, "That won't be a problem. We're confident we can hold off the enemy until your reinforcements arrive."