Chapter 598: Battle

The birthday party was very successful, with both the host and the guests thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Charles had gathered all the recruited ninjas together, allowing everyone to get acquainted in this setting. Fortunately, the potential conflict that Coulson had been worried about did not occur.

During the party, Charles approached Tony and asked for help in preparing a batch of new elements, to which Tony agreed.

After the party ended, Charles returned to his room.

At that moment, his living room was filled with gift boxes from various attendees. Since they were birthday gifts, they had not been opened, and Charles didn't know what was inside them yet.

Charles sat on the sofa, waved his hand, and a gift box flew into his lap, starting his journey of unwrapping presents.

"No wonder it was so heavy, it's vibranium."

Charles quickly unwrapped another gift. As he opened the box, he heard the system prompt in his ear.

"Discovering a rechargeable item, would you like to recharge it?"

Looking inside the box, Charles saw it contained five samples of a newly synthesized element. Although there wasn't much of it, its value was in the billions.

"Tony, you truly are a generous friend!"

"Recharge!"

"Ding· Recharge successful, obtained 2500 gold coins!"

Charles quickly unwrapped all the boxes. The gifts were diverse, including jewels, antiques, and even items Charles didn't recognize.

Seeing that this particular gift was from the twelve High Table elders, Charles understood that they were trying to find items he might need for recharging, though unfortunately, it couldn't be recharged.

From S.H.I.E.L.D., Charles received ten energy blocks as a birthday gift, which he promptly recharged, gaining 1800 gold coins.

The gifts from the Sound Village and Hidden Mist Village were each a box of energy blocks, fifty each, providing a total of 18,000 gold coins.

Additionally, the magical equipment from David and Balthazar, which was a set of five magical items, earned Charles a total of 10,000 gold coins.

This gift was not just from the two of them but represented the combined effort of the magical world, making it the most valuable among all the gifts Charles received.

…

Elsewhere-

On the way back to their base, the Sound Village group was stopped. Suddenly, Kimimaro halted and coldly said, "Come out!"

The Sound Four immediately took up defensive positions, surrounding Kimimaro.

"As expected of the Kaguya clan, who have mastered the Dead Bone Pulse, have such strong sensing abilities."

The next moment, Mei Terumi appeared with Ao and Haku, blocking their path.

Kimimaro stepped forward and coldly said, "Move aside!"

Despite facing the Mizukage of the Hidden Mist, Kimimaro showed no fear.

Mei Terumi looked at Kimimaro and smiled, "What a cold kid."

"Sound Village is just a small ninja village. There's nothing worthwhile for you there."

"Kaguya's lineage originally belonged to the Hidden Mist's bloodline limit family. Return to the Mist Village with me."

Upon hearing Mei Terumi's words, the Sound Four glanced at each other, their mouths curving into mocking smiles.

They found the idea of the Mizukage trying to take the loyal Kimimaro away from Orochimaru laughable.

Even though Orochimaru had not yet returned to the Sound Village, the Sound Five were confident that he would eventually come back.

Kimimaro glanced at Mei Terumi and, with an indifferent tone, said, "I will not leave the Sound Village."

"Kid, you don't have a choice."

"Haku, Ao, take care of those four from the Sound Village."

"Yes, ma'am!"

As Mei Terumi finished her command, Haku and Ao sprang into action, attacking the Sound Four. Ao quickly appeared in front of Kidomaru, striking him with a swift palm and sending him flying before kicking Ukon and Sakon aside.

"Bang!"

The two were knocked away instantly. Ao had targeted the two most peculiar-looking members, leaving the remaining two for Haku to handle.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the road, only Kimimaro and Mei Terumi remained, locking eyes with each other.

Kimimaro raised his hands.

"Dead Bone Pulse: Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!"

Bones shot out from Kimimaro's fingers, firing like bullets with a powerful sound towards Mei Terumi. The force behind them could easily pierce through steel plates.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Seeing Kimimaro's attack, Mei Terumi smiled even more and quickly formed hand signs.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

A massive water wall appeared in front of Mei Terumi. The bone bullets hit the wall with loud impacts, splashing water everywhere but failing to penetrate the wall.

Kimimaro frowned slightly at this sight. The Mizukage's water release technique was incredibly strong; a simple Water Formation Wall had blocked his Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets, which had pierced through many water release techniques before.

Even though Mei Terumi was the Mizukage, Kimimaro wasn't intimidated. He had faced Kage-level opponents before.

Kimimaro pulled out a bone sword from his arm and charged at Mei Terumi, intending to use his advantage in close combat.

...

S.H.I.E.L.D. Chakra Detection Center-

Alarms blared in the monitoring room: "Chakra fluctuation detected! Chakra fluctuation detected! Chakra fluctuation detected!"

The agents in the monitoring room sprang into action.

Coulson and Kabuto were waiting outside the Sound Village base for the Sound Five to return.

"Coulson, why didn't we leave with the Sound Village group after the party and wait for them here?"

"Kabuto, there were too many people at the party. I didn't want anyone to know S.H.I.E.L.D. had business with the Sound Village."

Coulson checked his watch, puzzled. "They should be arriving soon, based on the timing."

"Ring~ Ring~"

Coulson's phone rang. Seeing it was the director, he quickly answered.

"Coulson, there's a battle between the Hidden Mist and Sound Village on Isabella Street in Staten Island. Where are you and Kabuto?"

"Director, we're outside the Sound Village base."

"Go to the scene immediately and investigate. Do not engage with either side. Wait until the battle is over before contacting the Sound Village."

"Yes, Director!"