Chapter 94: One Month Later

A month's time, neither too long nor too short.

In one month, Jin Bin could master all the ninjutsu taught by the masked man and develop a close relationship with Kisame Hoshigaki.

In the same span, Wu Chen successfully attained Sage Mode and mastered the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.

Within a month, news of the Akatsuki organization and the Leaf Village, as well as the identities of the mysterious masked man, Minato Namikaze, and the Nine-Tails, became known worldwide! 

During this month, the reputation of the ninja continuously spread, eventually reaching every corner of the world.

Consequently, Wu Chen encountered several attempts at recruitment from various factions, including the Serpent Society.

However, after Wu Chen openly declared himself as an advisor to S.H.I.E.L.D., these factions ceased their actions.

In such matters, S.H.I.E.L.D. proved somewhat useful.

Upon learning that Wu Chen was a S.H.I.E.L.D. advisor, the Serpent Society, like other organizations, stopped their actions.

After all, Wu Chen was not weak, and with the backing of the powerful Leaf Village, forcefully recruiting him might backfire, needlessly provoking formidable enemies.

Moreover, the Serpent Society believed that since S.H.I.E.L.D. was associated with them, Wu Chen's affiliation with S.H.I.E.L.D. essentially made him a member of the Serpent Society.

However, the Serpent Society was unaware that Wu Chen's affiliation with S.H.I.E.L.D. was merely nominal, similar to Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man.

Furthermore, Wu Chen had a prior agreement with S.H.I.E.L.D. and would only participate in significant matters unless he volunteered otherwise.

While Wu Chen and others felt that the month had been long and fulfilling, Tony Stark felt it wasn't quite enough.

During his business trip to Europe, upon his return, he was shocked to find Times Square reduced to ruins.

Considering New York his territory, Tony immediately began investigating.

He traced the matter back to S.H.I.E.L.D., using his position as a S.H.I.E.L.D. advisor to gain unauthorized access to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database and learn everything.

"Indeed, someone with malicious intent has control over chakra!" he exclaimed.

With a sigh, Tony abandoned his pursuit of S.H.I.E.L.D. and, relying on his own strength, began searching and investigating the Akatsuki organization.

However, for an organization that was practically non-existent, Tony, despite leveraging high technology, couldn't locate it.

This left Tony feeling immensely frustrated.

If it weren't for his conversations with Wu Chen and Wu Chen's comforting words, Tony might have entertained thoughts of despair.

Of course, Tony's inclination towards despair wasn't solely due to his inability to find the Akatsuki organization and the Leaf Village but also because of prolonged exposure to palladium from the miniature arc reactor.

In simple terms, Tony was palladium-poisoned.

If he continued using the Iron Man suit, Tony would die from palladium poisoning.

However, Tony couldn't bear to part with his Iron Man suit, his most outstanding invention to date and the cornerstone of his identity as a superhero.

Without a solution, Tony would ultimately succumb to palladium poisoning.

A solution did exist, such as developing a new element to replace palladium as the power source for the arc reactor.

However, creating a new element was incredibly challenging.

Alternatively, there was the option of surgery to remove all the shrapnel from Tony's body, preventing him from intimate contact with the palladium in the miniature arc reactor.

However, the risk of this surgery was extremely high, with a significant chance of death on the operating table.

Tony couldn't entrust his fate to others, so he rejected the proposal for surgery.

With no new element and unwillingness to undergo surgery, Tony's palladium poisoning worsened day by day, and his impending death became increasingly apparent.

This was the real reason Tony felt the month was insufficient.

Also, Stark Industries was preparing to hold an expo, and a month's preparation time was indeed insufficient.

Fortunately, Tony had delegated these miscellaneous tasks to his girlfriend, Pepper Potts, the acting CEO of Stark Industries, allowing him to come to Wu Chen's place amidst his busy schedule.

It was nighttime when Tony arrived, wearing the Iron Man suit. Jin Bin furrowed his brows upon seeing the imposing Iron Man suit and was about to close the door to bid the unexpected guest farewell.

However, Tony intercepted him. "Hey, Wu, don't be so heartless!"

After stopping him, Iron Man forced his way into the door, and then the Iron Man armor split open, revealing Tony in casual attire.

"Wu, is dinner ready?"

"It's in the process, but you interrupted."

"Okay, okay, my bad! Hurry up and cook, don't let the food burn." Tony urged Wu Chen back into the kitchen.

During this month, whenever Tony felt troubled, he would come to Wu Chen's place to chat, also taking advantage of the opportunity to have a meal.

Although Wu Chen only cooked four dishes, their taste surpassed all the dishes Tony had ever eaten!

So, he often shamelessly came over.

Although Wu Chen pretended to be disdainful, inwardly, he was quite pleased.

After all, since coming to the Marvel world, Wu Chen had only Tony as a friend.