Chapter 33: SHIELD, and Martial Arts!
...….
A week later, 2.30 in the afternoon, Lee's Chinese restaurant…
"Lorna!"
As Saint untied his dirty apron and walked towards the store's door, he said to Lorna: "I'm going out for a walk. Take care of the store!"
Lorna snorted: "Boss, going to tease those SHILED agents again?"
"What do you know?! I'm just practicing anti-tracking skills!" Saint looked at Lorna contemptuously.
"I find that hard to believe with your evil personality!"
"You…. Just watch out for the store!"
Saint wasn't though with his sentence when he stepped out and activated Ki Sense. He searched for suspicious Ki nearby. While all people do have Ki, trained agents were in a league above most of the rest. In the massive sea of Ki around New York, they would stand out.
In no time, he indeed located two suspicious targets who were together; "New guys? They really don't give up do they?"
A moment later…
"Well, it's them alright!" As he stealthily got into an alley, he sensed the two approaching, and then saw them rushing through the fire ladder to get on the roof of the opposing building. He watched the two fleeing away and couldn't help but feel strange satisfaction…
"Well, Lorna wasn't wrong. I was practicing at first, but now it's getting a bit evil…"
Saint scratched his head, thinking: "Perhaps I should leave them alone tomorrow… maybe?"
...
Eight hours later, SHIELD Headquarter….
Phil Coulson sat at a desk and reported to the one-eyed who was sitting behind his desk: "Sir, Saint Lee has located the new agents today as well. No matter how we change people, he's always able to accurately identify them. I thing… this is the Kame School Ki Sense…"
Coulson then added: "And, he doesn't just have extraordinary detection capabilities, he can even rely on 'Ki Masking' to deceive our various detection instruments. Once he's out of our range of vision, we lose him. Unless we get some sort of tracker on him, we'll never be able to accurately grasp his whereabouts."
The one eyed man frowned slightly and summed things up: "So, the entire week, we couldn't develop any effective tactics targeting Kame School's martial arts?"
"Not at all."
Coulson showed a bitter expression: "We have to admit that Saint's fearless attitude is not out of blind arrogance. Kame School's teachings are indeed very comprehensive, even from the perspective of modern tactics. His skills are also very efficient. I believe that if facing a group of people who are just like him, our conventional means of attack should probably fail, that is unless they act too foolishly. On top of that, because of his young age, he's likely to be the weakest of Kame School's disciples…"
"…"
The one-eyed man was silent for a while, and then touched his chin and asked: "How is our special team doing with their Ki Practice?"
"Incorporating all the refining materials on the 'Kunlun' in the bureau, our experts who are proficient in Martial Arts and knowledgeable of Chinese culture have unanimously concluded that if you can't let give beginners a grasp of what Ki is, then none of them should be able to sense Ki without a teacher, let alone practice using it."
"So, a teacher is needed for them to learn?"
"Yes, and all what we have on Saint's teacher, the Kame Sennin, is that he probably was in New York for a while. However, this was around a decade ago. Tracing him should prove rather difficult."
Hearing that, the one-eyed man knocked on the table: "Saint had said that it took him ten whole years to reach the level that he's at today. Has this been confirmed in anyway?"
"We have no conclusive evidence. However, according to the information we have on Kunlun and the various Chinese legends about great superhuman masters, we have no reason to assume that he was lying."
After that, Coulson's eyes flashed: "Sir, are you thinking of getting our hands on Kame School's heritage?"
"Of course I'm thinking about that! If we do, we'll be getting a way to give normal human agents superhuman capabilities that improve steadily! Even if would take very long, it would be definitely worthwhile!" He stopped, hit the table and continued: "While this guy is potentially very dangerous, we must be more edacious! We must keep trying to observe Saint Lee. Try to catch him off-guard, and install microphones around him. However, pay attention to not arouse his attention. We must not act rashly!"
"Yes sir!"
Coulson nodded with absolute approval. He only needed to think of Kunlun's track-record to realize how far such schools could go to maintain secrecy. By all cost, they needed to remain uncaught. After all, say that Kame School had around a hundred fighters of Saint's caliber, if they would attack Shield….
After he slightly trembled, Coulson returned to his senses, continuing to report: "There's one more thing. Danny Rand, who was taken away by The Hand, made a big scene last night. It seems that he realized who they really were…"
"That was to happen sooner or later. He is Kunlun's Iron Fist. Since he was young, the idea of going after The Hand relentlessly was installed into his mind. Well, what info we have says that he's the dumbest of the Iron Fists, so seems like the Hand is trying to brainwash and use him."
"Should we not interfere?"
Coulson seemed worried, and he said: "Kunlun's peripheral organization, Chaste, has been very restless lately, inquiring about the Iron Fist. They apparently know he's appeared in New York. If this is to continue, a big battle is in sight!"
"Don't. Follow both sides with attention. When go on each other, we'll deliver the fatal blow to both!"