Chapter 354: Coulson's Visit (Bonus Chapter)
"The store is not open for business yet, and I can't confirm the specifics. However, according to the registration information, it seems to involve something similar to puppet dolls."
"After the store opens, purchase some items, then dismantle and study them. Since it's a base for extraordinary forces, the things they provide won't be ordinary puppet toys."
"Just like Charles agency, the services they offer involve extraordinary content."
Upon hearing Nick Fury's instructions, Coulson nodded, "Yes, sir."
"Keep an eye on them. Report any developments promptly."
"Yes!"
Watching Coulson leave the office, Nick Fury rubbed his chin, silently thinking, "Ninjas, this extraordinary force, is more mysterious than I thought."
In communication with the Skrulls, they knew about Asgard, Odin the Allfather, and Thor, the god of Thunder. However, regarding the ninjas behind Charles, they knew nothing.
Whether it was the Senju or the Uchiha clans, they had never heard of them. Still, their thorough knowledge of Asgard indicated that they were no ordinary individuals.
Despite not finding any clues about the ninjas or the location of the Hidden Leaf Village, Nick Fury began to suspect that ninjas might be like the gods of Norse mythology, originating from another planet and using advanced technology or superpowers to reach Earth.
However, considering their appearance and the information they possessed, they didn't seem like extraterrestrials but rather a local force. Nick Fury also realized that Earth's humans weren't as simple as they seemed.
While searching for the magicians, they discovered an awakened individual with fire-controlling abilities, Liu Haoran. It made him aware that humans themselves were not all same.
Staring at the globe on the table, Nick Fury rotated it and muttered, "Where are you hiding?"
Three more days passed in the blink of an eye.
The Sunagakure Puppet Shop, located near the Brooklyn Bridge, officially opened its doors. There were no celebratory events, no invitations to boost the grand opening, and not even a visit from Charles.
The opening of this store was exceptionally calm. Other than the nearby merchants realizing they had a new competitor in selling puppet toys, there was little information to gather.
At this moment, Temari sat at the front desk, but her gaze was fixed on the computer. She was surfing the internet, looking at the recent news.
"Tony Stark, the Iron Man, suddenly appeared at a bank robbery scene and successfully killed three armed bank robbers, safeguarding the property of countless citizens."
"The ninja Immortal Charles Doyle's agency, bombed overnight, has been restored to its original state. Is it the magic of ninjas or visual deception?"
"The government is hiding something. Is Charles Doyle's appearance an experiment result, or..."
Looking at these three posts, Temari had just refreshed the page, and the contents of the latter two posts instantly showed the 404 error.
Top of Form
The previous hot topics were replaced by other news.
Just as Temari was considering whether she could still find the content of the posts, the door of the shop was pushed open, triggering the wind chimes on the door to indicate a visitor.
Seeing a customer arriving, Temari's gaze shifted from the computer and focused on the entrance.
Coulson pushed open the door and walked in, glancing around at the various puppet dolls displayed in the room. From the looks of it, this did seem to be a puppet store.
Approaching the front desk, Coulson looked at Temari sitting there and opened with his trademark smile, "Long time no see, Miss Temari."
Temari looked at the SHIELD agent in front of her and said, "Mr. Agent, I wonder what brings you here."
Coulson glanced around, not seeing Kankurou or Gaara as mentioned in the intelligence information, and then said, "Mind if we chat for a bit? I have a few things I'd like to consult with you."
Seeing that it was as expected by Lord Charles, Temari smiled faintly and replied, "We don't handle mission requests here; it's just a puppet sales store."
Temari took a small puppet doll, only 10 centimeters in size, from behind the counter and placed it on the front desk. Then, she said, "The price for one puppet doll is 50 energy blocks, but I can spend a minute chatting with you."
Looking at the small puppet doll in front of him, Coulson held it and indeed found many mechanisms in it. It looked very high-end and exquisite.
However, what Coulson was more interested in was the one-minute conversation. He wondered how much information he could extract in that minute.
After a moment of contemplation, Coulson spoke, "Let's chat for a minute, but this location isn't suitable for a conversation."
Temari led Coulson to a nearby sofa area, took out a timer, and said, "I'm starting the timer now. I wonder what Agent Coulson would like to talk about."
Looking at the timer placed on the table by Temari, Coulson thought for a moment before saying, "I'm very interested in the history of the ninja. Miss Temari, could you enlighten me?"
Coulson knew that to understand a force, especially an extraordinary force, understanding their history was the best approach. It provided a comprehensive view and allowed him to grasp more information.
Upon hearing Coulson's question, Temari's lips curled up slightly. Understanding the history of the ninja would take more than a few days and nights. She wondered how many minutes the other party wanted to hear.
"Ninjas originally passed down their skills in a familial form. The conflicts between them were also carried out in the form of families."
"To compete for resources and land, battles between families would unfold."
"Many young children would go to the battlefield at the age of four or five, sometimes even fighting against adult ninjas. It was said to be a very brutal era."
"Many ninja families thrived or fell during that time."
Temari briefly explained the history before the formation of the Hidden Sand Village to Coulson in one minute.
As the daughter of the Kazekage, Temari had read many historical documents, allowing her to explain it very clearly. If it were Naruto, Coulson might end up asking questions in vain.
However, one minute was extremely short. Temari maintained a steady pace in her speech, neither too fast nor too slow. She stopped speaking after a few sentences.
Seeing that Temari had stopped, Coulson also understood that the time was up. In this minute, Coulson learned that before the Hidden Villages were established, ninjas did not primarily organize themselves into hidden villages but operated in family forms.
However, the essential information was not obtained in abundance.
Coulson spoke, "Help me get a puppet doll."
Temari smiled and said, "Sir, you haven't paid for the first puppet doll yet."
"Let's settle the bill together later. I've cooperated with Mr. Charles several times before. Trust me; I won't default."
"No problem, I trust you."
"Worst case scenario, we'll come to collect the payment in person later."
Hearing Temari mentioning collecting payment in person, Coulson awkwardly chuckled. Having the Hidden Sand Village ninjas collect the payment might cause quite a stir. He feared it might not be something just the energy blocks could resolve later.
Fortunately, Coulson had no intention of defaulting on payment.
"Shall we continue with the history of the ninjas?"
After pondering for a moment, Coulson spoke, "Why did ninjas transition from the era of family to the era of hidden villages?"
Noticing that Coulson didn't ask her to continue, Temari didn't mind and responded, "During the era of family, the most powerful families were the Uchiha and Senju."
"But for some unknown reason, the current heads of the Senju and Uchiha families suddenly made peace and established the Konohagakure Hidden Village."
"As the two major families jointly founded Konoha, other affiliated families also joined, creating a powerful Hidden Leaf Village."
"Seeing the strength of the newly established village, other ninja families from different regions also united and formed other hidden villages."
"As everyone followed suit, the era of family units came to an end, and ninjas entered the era of hidden villages."
However, Temari didn't elaborate much on the differences between the era of hidden villages and the era of families. The one-minute time limit had already passed.
Hearing Temari's explanation, Coulson keenly caught two key points. The first was that among ninjas, the Senju and Uchiha were the two most powerful families.
This aligned with the founding families mentioned in the intelligence on Konohagakure from Charles. However, these families were not just the founding families of Konoha; they were the two most powerful ninja families in the world of ninja.
Thinking of the boy named Uchiha Sasuke who appeared next to Charles, and the Senju Tsunade who was terrifyingly powerful in defeating the Hulk, these two people came from these two families.
The second key point was that the ninja community wasn't limited to just the Hidden Leaf Village and the Hidden Sand Village. There seemed to be multiple hidden villages.
Coulson didn't know how many ninjas there were, but he began to piece together the puzzle.
It seems that the number of ninjas is much larger than Coulson imagined. Establishing numerous hidden villages would require a substantial population, which he hadn't initially considered.
After Temari stopped explaining, Coulson requested another puppet doll. However, this time, the topic shifted from asking about history to inquiring about the population.
"How many ninjas are there in total, considering all the hidden villages?" Coulson asked.
Staring at Coulson for a moment, Temari shook her head and replied, "I don't know."
Coulson furrowed his brow at Temari's response. However, she quickly turned the question around, asking, "Do you know how many agents there are globally?"
Temari's question left Coulson momentarily stunned. How many agents globally? Not to mention globally, Coulson wasn't even aware of the exact number of agents in S.H.I.E.L.D. He didn't have the authority to know such detailed information.
Feeling like he asked a foolish question, Coulson quickly redirected, "Then, how many hidden villages are there? That should be clearer, right?"
"This question might not be clear to all ninjas. After all, there are many hidden villages, and some are small with fewer people and weaker strength. Some hidden villages have more ninja families and stronger power."
"In total, considering all of them, there are approximately 26 hidden villages."
Hearing this number, Coulson visibly paused. "26?"
He hadn't expected there to be so many hidden villages. He assumed there might be only a few. Even if each village had tens of thousands of people, adding up to twenty-six would still be a considerable number.
If a village has a population of hundreds of thousands like a small town, the total would be even more terrifying.
Whether it was a million or ten million, it might not seem like much compared to the Earth's population of billions, but these millions or tens of millions were not ordinary people. They were powerful superhumans.
In this context, these populations appeared terrifying.
"Yes, 26."
"In the information I know, there are at least this many, but it doesn't rule out hidden villages that haven't been recorded."
Temari knew that Lord Charles could pull ninjas from the ninja world through the river of time. Those ninjas from villages that were established and later perished could also appear here.
The number she stated would be less than the actual count because she didn't include those unrecorded hidden villages.
With his mind racing, Coulson took in the information, and he hesitated before asking, "To what level do the Hidden Sand Village and Hidden Leaf Village belong?"
"Great Hidden Villages. Both Suna and Konoha are among the Five Great Hidden Villages."
Hearing Temari's response, Coulson pondered. The Five Great Hidden Villages? How different was this from the Five Great Nations on Earth?
Could it be a system under the same framework? Coulson was surprised by his own thoughts.
While Coulson was still contemplating, Temari stated, "Time's up."
As Temari was about to stand up, Coulson remembered his main purpose for coming today and said, "Bring another puppet doll."
Temari sat back down, smiling. "Certainly, sir."
Coulson organized his thoughts and then earnestly said, "Can S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Hidden Sand Village establish cooperation?"
"If there are any requirements from the Hidden Sand Village, feel free to propose them. We will try our best to agree. If I can't decide, I can go back for negotiation."
"Since you have emerged, you must have your own demands. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s requirements aren't high; being able to collaborate with you is enough."
Hearing Coulson's request, Temari thought for a moment and then responded, "You can't meet the price for this."
"There isn't much that interests us. The core of the energy blocks is our requirement, or if you can find similar items, we can discuss this matter."
Hearing that the Hidden Sand Village was interested in the Tesseract, Coulson couldn't help but feel a bit helpless.
Although S.H.I.E.L.D.'s warehouse contained many peculiar items, some bases even used rockets to launch potentially dangerous items out of Earth, towards the sun for disposal.
However, offering something on the same level as the Tesseract for cooperation was something S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't consider.
"Even though we might not have what you're interested in, we can discuss alternative terms for collaboration," Coulson suggested.
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