With nearly double the increase in chakra, Charles was pleasantly surprised. The countless recruitable ninjas and the converted chakra hinted that his days of becoming a Jonin-level ninja were just around the corner.
The substantial amount of chakra also contributed to the overall improvement of Charles's physical qualities, including endurance, strength, recovery, defense, and overall physical resilience, all nurtured by the abundant chakra.
In Charles's mind, the three skills of Hidan's ninjutsu, including the curse ritual of the evil god, appeared after receiving the ninja. Charles shifted his focus to the recruited ninja fragments.
Seeing the first result was Naruto Uzumaki from the Naruto series, Charles was quite satisfied.
With the addition of these 2 fragments, the number of Naruto Uzumaki fragments had reached 18. Success in recruiting him was not far off. Charles then looked at the second ninja fragment.
C-rank ninja Sakura Haruno, and she was successfully recruited twice. Unfortunately, both times, only 1 fragment was obtained. The number of ninja fragments now reached 7, not far from the required 10 for successful recruitment.
Charles knew that the time for Sakura Haruno to appear was also approaching, and perhaps just one more recruitment would be enough.
The third recruited ninja was B-rank ninja Tenten from the Naruto series. Four fragments were obtained, bringing the total number of fragments to 13. The distance from the required 40 fragments for successful recruitment was still considerable and would take some time.
The fourth recruited ninja was C-rank ninja Hinata Hyuga, and surprisingly, 5 fragments were obtained. Charles was momentarily stunned.
If he remembered correctly, he already had five fragments of C-rank ninja Hinata Hyuga before. Adding the current 5 fragments made it exactly ten fragments, meeting the criteria for successful recruitment.
These ten consecutive recruitments resulted in two recruited ninjas, surpassing Charles's expectations. The Konoha Twelve now had one more member.
The fifth recruited ninja was B-rank ninja Sakura Haruno again. Unfortunately, luck was not on Charles's side, and only 1 fragment was obtained. With a total of 3 fragments, successful recruitment was still a distant prospect.
The sixth recruited ninja was B-rank ninja Kakashi Hatake from the Naruto series. Luck was relatively good as 4 fragments were obtained. Currently, there were 6 fragments in total, and the date for Kakashi Hatake's appearance was still far away.
The seventh recruited ninja was A-rank ninja Kakashi Hatake, who had become the Hokage in the Boruto series. However, luck was not favorable, and only 1 fragment was obtained. With a total of 27 fragments, the first appearing Hokage would be Kakashi Hatake.
The last recruited ninja was once again A-rank ninja Hidan, and this time, a massive 4 fragments were obtained. Excluding the entire card, Hidan now possessed an additional 34 fragments, making him the ninja closest to leveling up.
The only regret for Charles was that, due to choosing the guaranteed ninja option, he did not recruit any fragments of the Akatsuki's Itachi Uchiha.
After reviewing all the information, Charles summarized the results of this ten consecutive recruitment: 1 A-rank ninja, 23 ninja fragments, and A-rank ninja Hidan's fragments increasing to 34, making him the fastest ninja to approach leveling up.
Ninja fragments: 5 A-rank, 11 B-rank, 7 C-rank - it can be said that luck is exceptionally strong!
After collecting all the ninja fragments, Charles did not continue with the ninja recruitment.
Since luck had peaked, the next step would likely be a downturn. Just as he was about to exit the recruitment space to recruit Hinata Hyuga in the ninja column, a sudden system prompt interrupted.
Ding! Successfully recruited the first A-rank ninja - Hidan, reaching the ninja pool update standard. Now, proceed to update the ninja pool.
Soon after, the ninja summoning interface in Charles's eyes flickered with colorful light, completing the ninja pool update.
Seeing that the update was complete, Charles didn't immediately exit. Instead, he opened the ninja pool details to confirm the changes.
Limited Ninja: Akatsuki's Itachi Uchiha (A-rank)
A-rank ninjas: Ninja World War - Killer Bee, Shippuden Gaara (Naruto series)
B-rank ninjas: Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto series), Hinata Hyuga (Naruto series), Sakura Haruno (Naruto series), Kimimaro, Ino Yamanaka, Tenten (Naruto series)
C-rank ninjas: Hanabi Hyuga, Jirōbō, Sakon/Ukon, Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto Academy), Sasori of the Red Sand, Tayuya, Shizune, Hinata Hyuga, Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Iruka Umino, Jirōbō, Sasuke Uchiha, Tenten (Naruto Academy), Suigetsu Hōzuki, Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara, Chōji Akimichi.
Looking at the updated ninja pool, Charles noticed significant changes. The original Hidan and Kurotsuchi were replaced by the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Killer Bee and the One-Tail Jinchuriki Gaara.
Kurotsuchi was replaced by the Fourth Kazekage.
These two A-rank ninjas were considerably stronger than the previous ones. The only regret was that recruiting 40 fragments for the Boruto version of Kurotsuchi would need to rely on the ninja shop.
In addition, B-rank ninja Kakashi Hatake was replaced by Kimimaro. Since Charles already had the young Kakashi, there was no loss, and the appearance of Kimimaro added a bit of anticipation.
Among the C-rank ninjas, Karin was replaced by Shizune.
After reviewing the entire updated ninja pool, Charles was in a good mood. Except for Kurotsuchi, all the updated ninjas were successfully recruited by him. This round was indeed fruitful.
Exiting the ninja recruitment space, Charles immediately opened his ninja column. Looking at the illuminated portrait of Hinata Hyuga, which displayed "Ninja Fragments (10/10)," the prompt asked if he wanted to recruit her.
Without any hesitation, Charles directly chose to recruit her.
In the next moment, a separate screen popped up on the system interface, congratulating him on successfully recruiting C-rank ninja Hinata Hyuga.
The image of Hinata Hyuga in the interface wore a Konoha headband around her neck, with chakra swirling around her body, as if she had just used the Gentle Fist technique.
Opening the ninja details, Charles first confirmed the ninja's skills.
Hinata Hyuga: C-rank ninja
Skills: Byakugan, Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists, Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms
Byakugan: Use the power of the Byakugan to see the enemy's weaknesses, increasing own attack and critical hit rate during the activation time. Chakra emitted will also cause damage to the area behind the target.
Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists: Perform a rapid charge, attempting to grab an enemy. Follow up with a Gentle Fist attack on the captured enemy, and chakra emitted will cause damage to the area behind the target.
Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms: Leap into the air, initiate a rotation, and shoot chakra in the form of threads from the palms to create a chakra circle. This creates a long-lasting attack with an absorption effect on the enemies in the area.
Comparing Hinata Hyuga's ninja skills, Charles found her to be considerably weaker than Neji.
After recruiting Hinata Hyuga successfully, Charles gained insights into the Gentle Fist techniques, the skills Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists, and Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. Although both use the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, they have different variations.
Hinata Hyuga's Gentle Fist philosophy enhanced Charles's understanding of Gentle Fist techniques.
Additionally, the fusion of Byakugan bloodlines from Neju Hyuga and Hinata Hyuga purified Charles's Byakugan, significantly improving its range for reconnaissance, although not reaching the level of the Tenseigan or the Rinnegan.
Apart from these, Charles also gained an increase in the chakra amount for a C-rank ninja.
...
After recruiting Hinata Hyuga, Charles directly clicked on the plus sign in the deployment column.
Ding! Will you spend 10,000 gold coins to open a deployment slot?
Without any hesitation, Charles chose yes.
In the next moment, a position was added to the deployment column, and Charles's gold coins decreased from 18,364 to 8,364.
Seeing the reduced gold coins, Charles tried to continue opening.
Ding! Will you spend 12,000 gold coins to open a deployment slot?
Seeing that the gold coin requirement only increased by 2,000, Charles breathed a sigh of relief. This price was still within his acceptable range and would not have a significant impact.
However, the gold coins in hand were temporarily insufficient to open the second deployment slot. Charles needed to recharge to proceed.
After a brief consideration, Charles decided not to rush into awakening Hinata Hyuga. Instead, he would wait until Kakashi's team returned to facilitate mutual acquaintance among the team members.
Then, Charles looked at the ninja column and dragged the figure of Hidan into the deployment slot.
Ding! Choose to deploy Hidan within a ten-meter range or deploy randomly.
Considering Hidan's identity as an Akatsuki member and his frequent evil god sacrifices, Charles decided to let Hidan develop on his own.
Moreover, with Hidan's status as an S-rank missing-nin, it would be better for him to operate independently with the distinct headband and attire of Akatsuki.
After some contemplation, Charles chose to deploy Hidan randomly.
With Charles's choice, in a desolate and uninhabited area of the African savannah, Hidan's figure slowly appeared as if transitioning from illusion to reality during the nighttime.
Hidan, carrying his massive triple-sectioned scythe, surveyed the surrounding environment and began to recall his memories.
After successfully manifesting Hidan, Charles entered the training ground. He wanted to experience Hidan's immortality and familiarize himself with Hinata's Gentle Fist techniques.
…
As Charles began to grasp the newly acquired techniques, in Moscow, an old and slightly dilapidated house, the television broadcasted Tony Stark's press conference, where he admitted to being Iron Man.
This news finally gained approval in Russia and was being broadcasted on local media and television.
Inside the house, Anton Vanko lay on his couch, watching the news.
"Ivan, come here," Anton called his son, coughing.
Hearing his father's call, Ivan Vanko walked over, feeling the weight of the situation, and stood by his father's side.
Anton Vanko, with his cloudy eyes, looked at his son, saying with a sense of regret, "That should have been yours."
Ivan Vanko sat on the bedside, comforting his father, saying, "Don't listen to what others say."
Anton Vanko, with eyes that could barely open, uttered, "I'm sorry. I can only give you my knowledge."
In just a few words, it seemed like Anton Vanko had used up all his strength.
After speaking, Anton Vanko, filled with regret and unwillingness, departed from this world, letting out a final cough.
Seeing his father's lifeless body, Ivan Vanko's face was filled with pain. He couldn't even cry, only reaching for the vodka on the table. However, tears still flowed from the corners of his eyes.
In the end, he screamed in grief, "Ah~ Ah~ Ah~"
After the outburst of sorrow, Ivan Vanko found the design blueprints his father had left him—the Arc Reactor. This was the technology he intended to use to join Charles's team for revenge but was belittled by the latter.
Looking at the design and the names Anton Vanko and Howard Stark in the list of design and development personnel, Ivan felt a surge of emotions.
He thought of the miniature reactor on Tony's chest and realized why Charles had dismissed his technology – he had already seen Tony's chest arc reactor.
Storing the blueprints left by his father, Ivan, filled with grief and resentment, shouted in anger, "It should have been mine!"
After the outburst, Ivan Vanko buried his father and, with the blueprints, his most significant wealth, he dived into his makeshift laboratory. It was not much more than a storage room. There, he began the development of his own miniature arc reactor.
Now determined, Ivan believed that what Tony Stark could do, he could do better.
When the time came, he wanted Charles, who had underestimated him, and the entire Stark family to pay the price for their mistreatment, which had led to the persecution and poverty of his family.