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Chapter 34: Find him, Coulson
🕑 Added 2025-06-17 18:05:35 +0000 UTC
Kakashi materialized in the Kamui dimension. He leaned against a floating block, catching his breath. The fight with the Hulk had pushed him, but he’d come out unscathed, his Mangekyou Sharingan’s intangibility saving him from becoming a smear on the grass.
'Kamui is a lifesaver. My reflexes are still sharp, and timing Kamui just right kept me in one piece. One wrong move, and I’d be picking my mask out of a crater.'
He stretched, assessing his chakra reserves. 'Forty-five percent used. Not bad for tangling with that monster. I used quite a lot of jutsus. That giant Rasengan though was really chakra extensive.'
The Hulk had been a surprise—a hulking beast with speed that belied his size, strength that dwarfed anything Kakashi had faced, and a jinchuriki-like endurance and regeneration that shrugged off most attacks.
'If this Banner guy ever managed to control himself in that state, he could topple armies without breaking a sweat.' The thought sent a shiver through him, not of fear, but of respect for the raw potential locked within Bruce Banner.
Kakashi’s mind turned to General Ross. 'That guy’s playing with fire.' Ross’s obsession with capturing the Hulk mirrored Danzo’s schemes to weaponize Naruto and the other jinchuriki—control the uncontrollable, no matter the cost.
'He thinks he can leash one Hulk. What happens if he makes more? Or something worse?'
Kakashi’s eye narrowed, his thoughts darkening. 'From what I have seen, Banner just wants peace. But if Ross creates a Hulk who wants to use that power to say something like conquer the world… even I might not be able to stop it.' He chuckled dryly. 'Lucky for him, Banner’s a runaway, not a conqueror.'
His thoughts drifted to his old student, Naruto Uzumaki. 'That kid could spam jutsu all day with his chakra reserves. He could do a dozen giant Rasengan and still spam another hundred of those. I’m a little jealous.'
Kakashi’s lips twitched beneath his mask.
'This just tells me how I have failed him as a teacher. I should’ve pushed his ninjutsu training harder after he had masteredwater-walking. A few wind jutsu, maybe some fire or lightning—he’d have been a beast.'
He shook his head, amused. 'Still, he turned out fine. Stronger than me, even. And here I am, using his Rasengan to knock out a green giant. If he saw that, he’d be grinning ear to ear, then yelling about copyright infringement.' The image of Naruto’s indignant pout brought a soft chuckle, a rare moment of warmth in this new world.
But the humor faded as Kakashi’s thoughts returned to Ross. 'That look in his eyes when he looked at me… pure Orochimaru vibes, minus the snake fetish.'
Ross’s hunger for power was unmistakable, the same predatory glint Orochimaru had when he coveted Sasuke’s Sharingan.
'He’ll come for me next, once he figures out what how to find me.' Kakashi wasn’t worried—he had Kamui, his ninja dogs, and the Sukea disguise to keep him off the grid.
---
Meanwhile, in SHIELD’s headquarters, Nick Fury leaned over a conference table, his single eye glued to a holographic screen replaying the Culver University fight.
The footage was grainy, pieced together from soldier body cams and campus security, but it captured Hound’s every move—phasing through the Hulk’s punches, summoning walls of earth, water, and lightning, and that final, devastating blue orb that felled the beast. Fury’s face was a mask of controlled intensity, but his mind was racing.
“You seeing this, Coulson?” he asked, his voice flat but heavy.
Phil Coulson stood beside him, his usual calm demeanor fraying at the edges. “How is this possible, sir? For one man to have so many abilities—earth manipulation, intangibility, fire, water, clones, that… spinning blue thing.”
Fury’s eye narrowed, replaying the moment Hound’s red eye spun with strange patterns. “Thats not just it Coulson. He’s not some lab rat who got zapped by a science experiment gone wrong. Look at him—every move’s precise, calculated. He’s trained, Coulson. A professional. This guy’s been fighting for years. He is like Clint but with....well....powers."
Coulson nodded, his tablet glowing with Hound’s sparse file. “His record’s flawless, but there’s nothing before six months ago. No origin, no real name. Just a string of missions—espionage, assassinations, that Mexican cartel wipeout. He’s a ghost.”
“A ghost we need,” Fury said, his tone sharp. “If we had him, SHIELD wouldn’t be so damn defenseless against the freaks coming our way—aliens, whatever’s out there. He breathes fire, manipulates elements, moves faster than a car and takes out the Hulk without an injury. We get him, we’ve got a one-man army.”
Coulson hesitated, then ventured, “General Ross won’t let him go easily, sir. He saw the same fight we did. He’ll want Hound for his own projects.”
Fury snorted, a rare flash of humor breaking his stoic facade. “Ross? That old bulldog’s gonna chase his tail trying to catch this guy. And when Ross screws up—and he will—we’ll be there to scoop him up.” He leaned back, smirking. “Fire a dozen of those lazy-ass SHIELD agents loafing in the break room. Use their salaries to fund Hound’s paycheck. At least then they’ll be useful for something.”
Coulson coughed, suppressing a laugh. “I’ll… see what I can do, sir. Though HR might have a fit.” He tapped his tablet, pulling up another report. “In other news, sir, Tony Stark’s back. Caused a hell of a ruckus, too. Shut down Stark Industries’ weapons division overnight. Says he’s done building bombs. Board’s losing their minds, stock’s tanking, and the Pentagon’s screaming bloody murder. Guy must’ve hit his head hard in that cave.”
Fury’s eye widened, a mix of exasperation and intrigue. “Stark? Done with weapons? That’s like a shark swearing off fish.” He shook his head, a grim chuckle escaping. “He’s gonna give the military a heart attack, and I’m here for it. But if he’s serious, that’s a problem. Stark’s tech is half our defense budget. We need to know what’s going on in that genius head of his.”
Coulson nodded, his tone serious despite the humor. “He’s holed up in his Malibu lab, sir. Word is, he’s building something new. Not weapons, but… something. Our agents are trying to get eyes on it.”
Fury’s gaze returned to the screen, Hound’s silhouette fading into smoke. “Stark’s a headache for another day. Right now, Hound’s our priority. Find him, Coulson. Offer him a deal he can’t refuse. And if Ross gets in the way…” Fury’s smirk returned, sharp as a blade. “We’ll show him SHIELD plays dirtier than the army.”
