The Hand is called The Hand because it was founded by five Elders who betrayed K'un-Lun, each representing a finger, hence The Hand.
Madame Gao and Murakami are two fingers of The Hand, and Nobu Yoshioka is their apprentice, responsible for managing The Hand. Currently, the two are in a secret Base in Hell's Kitchen.
"Nobu is dead again!" Madame Gao is a somber old woman; she is over 400 years old, but her hair is still black, and she is very composed.
Murakami sighed, "There is very little Dragon Bone left. After reviving Nobu, he must complete the project as soon as possible and retrieve the Dragon Bone beneath New York."
Madame Gao nodded. The only reason an old woman like her, without any special bloodline, could live for centuries was because of the Dragon Bone stolen from K'un-Lun. Using the Dragon Bone through K'un-Lun's secret arts could enhance internal Qi and prolong life. Nobu's ability to resurrect also relied on the magic of the Dragon Bone, but after so many years of use, the stolen Dragon Bone was almost depleted.
That's why they came to New York and cooperated with the local Gangs, with the goal of unearthing the Dragon Bone beneath New York.
"There's one more thing!" Murakami remembered something and continued,
"The children Nobu captured have also been rescued. Without enough children's blood, the summoning ritual for the Beast cannot proceed. Without the Beast's power, how can we break the barrier protecting the Dragon Bone?"
Madame Gao remained unperturbed. "Don't worry, we no longer need the Beast's power. I received news that the new Iron Fist has arrived in New York. Reportedly, he is just a young punk. We only need to capture the Iron Fist, and his power can open the barrier protecting the Dragon Bone."
"It's good that the plan can proceed." Murakami didn't care about the children; he only cared if he could obtain the Dragon Bone.
The two approached an object resembling a coffin. This was the tool they used to resurrect members. Each resurrection required consuming Dragon Bone, so The Hand rarely used it to revive members, only for the deaths of important figures. Nobu Yoshioka was such a figure.
After placing the prepared items representing Nobu into the 'coffin,' Madame Gao and Murakami activated the special device. About half an hour later, there was movement inside the 'coffin,' and Madame Gao and Murakami knew that Nobu had successfully resurrected.
Opening the 'coffin' lid, the two were stunned. Why were there only a head, arms, and legs?
Nobu Yoshioka, in a daze, knew he had been resurrected. When that glasses-wearing man interrogated him, he bit down on the poison sac hidden in his tooth. He hid the poison sac in his tooth not out of fear of exposing information, but because only death could lead to resurrection. If the enemy controlled him and prevented him from committing suicide, even resurrection would be useless.
Seeing his teachers, Nobu Yoshioka felt somewhat guilty. He had died again and needed his teachers to help him resurrect. But why did his teachers' expressions look so strange? Were they disappointed in him?
Nobu Yoshioka wanted to get up and climb out of the 'coffin,' but the commands from his brain had nothing to execute. Finally, after several attempts, Nobu Yoshioka realized his arms and legs were missing.
"Where are my hands, my legs? Teachers, is the resurrection incomplete? Try again, try again!"
Nobu Yoshioka's mind was on the verge of collapse, and he began to seek help from his teachers.
Murakami turned to Madame Gao and said,
"Could there be a problem with the ritual? Why isn't Nobu fully recovered?"
Madame Gao carefully checked the ritual process and found no problems, so she shook her head and said,
"The ritual is fine. The problem should be with Nobu."
She had used this resurrection ritual many times and was very proficient; it was impossible for her to make a mistake.
Murakami stepped forward and slapped Nobu Yoshioka: "Baka, have you forgotten what I taught you every day! Calm down and tell me what you encountered before you died?"
After being slapped by his teacher, Nobu Yoshioka stopped shouting. His mind calmed down, and he began to recount what happened before his death.
Madame Gao and Murakami listened with furrowed brows. Two people had slaughtered their entire Base of The Hand.
"The ninjas we train are becoming more and more useless!"
Murakami attributed the fact that two people could wipe out a Base to the ninjas being too weak.
Madame Gao couldn't help but frown and say,
"It's Daredevil again. This isn't the first time he's interfered with our affairs. And who is that person wearing glasses?"
"I don't know."
Madame Gao's already small eyes narrowed further. She said,
"I will deal with Daredevil and the man with glasses. The excavation of the Dragon Bone is at a critical moment; there can be no mistakes!"
Watching Madame Gao leave, Murakami looked at his apprentice and said,
"Let's try to attach prosthetics first."
---
After handing the dried fish to the long-waiting Hajime, Akira shooed it aside.
Looking at the cape fragment in his hand, he hesitated whether to destroy it. To acquire an Entry on an object, it needed to be destroyed or replaced with a similar Entry. Akira had no Entry similar to [Conquer], so he could only destroy this cape fragment.
But this was an authentic item; if sold through the right channels, it could fetch at least hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars. If destroyed, its value would greatly depreciate.
"Forget it, the Entry is still more important."
After much deliberation, Akira still decided to extract this [Conquer] Entry. For Akira, acquiring money was not difficult, and obtaining new Entries could also bring beneficial changes.
Having made his decision, Akira no longer hesitated. To show respect for the relic of Alexander the Great, his pupils turned colorful, and he activated his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.
Gently tearing along the death line of the cape fragment, it offered no resistance and turned into smaller fragments. At the same time, the [entry]—[Conquer] on it was no longer just a name, but had more descriptions, which was a sign of successful acquisition.
"Let me see what a hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars worth Entry looks like."
[entry]—[Conquer]: Witness of conquest.
"How can it just be an Entry describing a state!"
Akira was very disappointed. This kind of Entry was the most useless, with no special functions. It would appear after achieving certain accomplishments, like a banner. He had many such Entries without special abilities, such as [Scientist] and [Blind Lawyer].
"Well, it's just a fragment of a cape, after all, not obtained from the real Alexander the Great."
Akira thought with relief. However, looking at the red cloth on the table, he recalled a scene from that anime. Waver seemed to have summoned Conqueror King, that is, the Servant Alexander the Great, using a cape fragment, and he seemed to have a similar ability.
Akira said this ability was not summoning heroic spirits, but summoning things through different combinations of Entries. It could be a new Entry, or death, or even a fictional character.
However, the things summoned this way were very random, and it was impossible to accurately control the summoned items.
Akira had tried before, using a combination of Entries that he thought could point to Tom (the one from Tom and Jerry) to summon, and the result was indeed Tom, but it was just a doll, which he later gave to Hajime to play with.
"I can try again, maybe I'll really summon Conqueror King!"