Hearing the screams of the five leaders of the Hand, the elite operatives surrounding John Wick and Deadpool instinctively turned to look at the other battlefield.
Seeing their leaders' defeat, their attacks subconsciously slowed, giving Deadpool an opening to shield John from several more strikes.
At that moment, Smith Doyle spun on his heel and hurled a ki blast toward the Hand operatives attacking John.
BOOM!
In an instant, several elite Hand fighters were blown skyward, limbs flying, opening a hole in the encirclement for John and Deadpool.
John's eyes widened at the sight. Is this the gap between me and God? Could I ever become this strong?
On the ground, the five leaders of the Hand — Alexandra, Madame Gao, Botu, Sowande, and Murakami — lay in a miserable heap, bodies scorched by blasts, weapons shattered, their clothing nearly torn off completely.
On the scouter, their once respectable power levels plummeted rapidly, falling to single digits around six or seven.
Seeing their numbers hadn't yet hit zero, Smith knew they were still alive, clinging to a breath.
Madame Gao lay on her back, gasping, and coughed."Smith… this time your Brotherhood has won… I… I won't beg you to spare us. But… could you at least allow us to… return home and die in peace? Four of us will commit seppuku here and now. The one left behind will cripple themselves and their ki, and simply carry the others' bodies home…"
The other four chimed in weakly:"Please… let us die in peace…""…cough…"
A trickle of blood ran from Gao's lips."Afterward, I will transfer the Hand's assets to you… and once we're dead in Japan, the Hand will dissolve completely."
If someone didn't know better, they might have agreed — claiming the Hand's wealth, leaving the five leaders dead or crippled, seemingly no longer a threat.
But Smith Doyle did know better. Without hesitation, he stepped on Alexandra's chest and, with a sharp crunch, crushed her ribcage and ended her life. Her power level on the scouter dropped to zero.
Madame Gao's eyes dimmed."Smith… you… you've agreed?"
Smith sneered."Gao, don't think I don't know what you're planning — use the dragon bones to revive yourselves, isn't that it?""You really think I'd give you that chance?"
Seeing her scheme exposed, Gao gave a faint, bitter smile."Yes… you revived Helen, after all. You must already know how to use the dragon bones…""Victory belongs to the winner. You've won this round. It's a shame… we never found a proper vessel for the Black Sky. Otherwise, maybe you wouldn't have won."
She fell silent, resigned to her fate. After all, she'd lived for over five centuries. Her only regret was her lack of mastery — unlike Shou-Lao and the Jade Emperor…
Smith raised a brow. Black Sky — that otherworldly beast. Now that piqued his curiosity."You never found a proper vessel for the Black Sky?"
At the mention of the Black Sky, Gao's eyes glimmered with a fleeting hope. The five leaders had all undergone possession by the Black Sky to enhance their power before, but none of them were true matches for it.
Eventually, that hope faded. Gao murmured:"No. We never found a suitable vessel."
Smith looked a little disappointed — he'd hoped for a worthy opponent. He thought briefly of Elektra, Daredevil's girlfriend, who'd become host to the Black Sky and even defeated Wolverine in some alternate universes. But he didn't say that aloud.
"Very well then. At least tell me — where are your dragon bones hidden?"
Hearing his request, the survivors just gave a faint, mocking laugh and answered in unison:"Dream on!"
Smith shook his head. Of course — even facing death, they'd never give up their prized treasures.
"Very well. Go meet Mephisto."
With a ki blast, he obliterated all five of their bodies, leaving no trace.
Around them, the remaining Hand operatives — who had stopped attacking John and Deadpool during the leaders' final words — now drew their blades and performed seppuku one by one, following their masters in death.
Smith wasn't surprised. This was their way — better they clean up their own trash.
But though this battle was over, Hell's Kitchen itself was not yet calm. After the first probing attack, the killers of New York returned at night in waves, striking the Hand's remaining strongholds.
Meanwhile.
At the Assassin Brotherhood headquarters, fighting was fierce. But this time the Brotherhood was prepared — equipped with night-vision and thermal scopes, they detected the Hand and Kingpin's men as they approached and opened fire first.
Before their enemies could react, they were cut down.
Wesley, Cross, and X themselves fearlessly charged out, activating bullet time and wielding twin pistols, cutting through enemy ranks like gods of war. Kingpin's men broke and fled almost immediately.
The Hand's soldiers fought harder, hurling themselves into the fray even without orders. Their strike teams and ninjas attacked without fear of death, but they were slaughtered under the trio's onslaught and sniper fire. In the end, the Hand was completely wiped out.
As for Bullseye — while trying to protect Kingpin, he was killed instantly by Fox with a sniper shot to the head. Kingpin himself wasn't killed, but he was captured alive.
Elsewhere.
At Triskelion Tower.
The battle between Smith and the Hand hadn't gone unnoticed — SHIELD's energy sensors picked up the abnormal spikes.
The combined ki of the Five Fingers, and Smith Doyle's relentless blasts, set off alarms across New York's anomaly monitors.
Though there were few cameras near the battlefield, there were some — enough to capture the figures on film.
Phil Coulson, already home for the night, was summoned back to headquarters at once.
(End of Chapter)
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