Chapter 486: Determining the Candidate

As Kabuto finished his visits to the three ninja villages, he began to head back to the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.

Meanwhile, inside the Triskelion, Nick Fury looked at Coulson and asked, "What do you make of the situation with the Sound Village attacking the Leaf Village?"

Coulson shook his head. "We have too little information to analyze this."

"But one thing we can be sure of is that the relationships between the ninja villages are not harmonious. This is good for us because at least we don't have to worry about them easily uniting against us."

"Moreover, when necessary, we can use the hatred between the ninja villages to instigate conflicts among them."

"But there's a significant loophole here, which is the nature of their relationships and the reasons behind their animosity. We lack information on these matters."

"Without thoroughly understanding the intelligence, taking action without proper knowledge could backfire."

Nick Fury nodded and then said, "Gather intelligence on the relationships between the ninja villages, understand what kind of relationships they have, and figure out the reasons for their animosities. Regarding this, I will allocate a batch of energy cubes for intelligence expenditure."

"Besides, later you will pay a visit to the Charles Agency. Entrust the Leaf Village to confirm Kabuto's identity, and the more detailed the intelligence request, the better."

"As for the price, it's not a problem. Since we are going to accept and cultivate Kabuto, we need to clarify his background."

Upon hearing Nick Fury's orders, Coulson complied, "Yes, Director. I'll go verify it right away."

"Director, I have an idea. I wonder if you would consider it?" Coulson asked.

"What's the idea?" Nick Fury looked at Coulson.

"Within our S.H.I.E.L.D. organization, there are many sealed items classified as 084s, and some of them were even received from the military."

"Among these items, there are many that we cannot use, and some dangerous items have been sent to the Slingshot Base to be launched towards the sun."

"I think we can use some of these 084 items to trade with the ninja villages. I believe these items would be quite attractive to them."

"As for whether these items will enhance their strength, I don't think it's important for us at the moment."

"They are already powerful enough, and a slight increase in strength doesn't matter to them. But we are still weak, and we need more enhanced individuals, more warriors like Barton."

"Moreover, we need some items that can truly win over wandering ninjas, such as ninja tools or ninjutsu."

"Although according to current intelligence, the possibility of wandering ninjas coming over is very low, we cannot be unprepared if such a possibility exists."

Upon hearing Coulson's proposal, Nick Fury pondered for a moment and then said, "You make a good point. I will select some less important and less harmful items, and you can try to trade with them later to see what kind of value we can obtain."

Upon hearing that their director had agreed with his proposal, it gave Coulson greater confidence in the upcoming communication.

"Thank you, Director. I'll go to the Charles Agency first to confirm Kabuto's identity," Coulson said.

Nick Fury nodded. "Go ahead."

As for the mission to search for ancient temples and explore ancient relics, as well as to find the array that teleported to the ninja world, Nick Fury had already issued orders for S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and the vast network of operatives worldwide to begin investigating while Kabuto was en route to his destination.

As Coulson left, Nick Fury turned to look out the window, pondering a matter. Although they had obtained a lot of intelligence today, his mind was still focused on one thing: the energy cubes and their significance to the ninjas.

Why were the ninja villages collecting this item? Since they began dealing with Charles, they had been consistently gathering these items, and not just the Leaf Village—the other two ninja villages also had their attention on this item.

But Kabuto, a wandering ninja, seemed to have no knowledge of this item, and he hadn't obtained the desired information during his visit.

What exactly could energy cubes bring to ninjas?

Regarding the Cosmic Cube behind the energy cubes, neither the Leaf Village nor the Sand Village had ever hidden their desire for this item. As long as S.H.I.E.L.D. was willing to trade the Cosmic Cube, they were willing to offer greater benefits in exchange.

Nick Fury couldn't figure out what role energy cubes could play for ninjas. Although he couldn't come up with a specific idea, he speculated on several possibilities.

One possibility was that ninjas could call upon the energy within the cubes as a source of power.

Another possibility was that the energy from the cubes could be absorbed by the ninjas themselves to strengthen their bodies or enhance their abilities.

These were the two potential uses of energy cubes: either as an external energy source or as a resource for cultivation.

But Nick Fury couldn't guess the specifics of how they were used. Currently, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s research treated the Cosmic Cube as an external energy source.

They manufactured energy cubes and researched stable second-generation energy cubes to be used as energy sources for weapons.

After thinking for a moment, Nick Fury felt that if Kabuto could pass S.H.I.E.L.D.'s assessment and approval, he could be included in Dr. Banner's team to research the Cosmic Cube. Perhaps as a ninja, Kabuto could offer different perspectives and insights.

However, all this would require Kabuto to fully pass S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scrutiny and become a true member of their organization before Nick Fury dared to let him join the research team and come into close contact with the Cosmic Cube.

After contemplating for a while, Nick Fury decided not to dwell on this matter any longer.

Instead, he turned back to his desk and glanced at the files of Melinda May and Grant Ward. With a decision made in his mind, he picked up the phone on his desk and made a call.

"Notify Level 7 Agent Grant Ward to come to my office."

With that instruction given, Nick Fury hung up the phone and waited in his office.

Meanwhile, Grant Ward, who was on standby at the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, couldn't help but smile upon receiving the notification.

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