To speak fairly.
The expectations of the Ancient One for Uehara Naraku were by no means low.
Uehara Naraku's fingertips glimmered with a hint of green, and he nodded slowly, leaving it unclear whether he had agreed or not.
The future Ancient One took one last look at Uehara Naraku before leaving, seemingly shaking his head somewhat helplessly, and his figure instantly shrunk and disappeared from this era.
After the future Ancient One left, Uehara Naraku casually let the green on his fingertips fall into the room, and the whole room slowly began to reverse.
A moment later.
The room reverted to its state from a week ago.
The room's dust dissipated into invisibility with the passage of time.
Uehara Naraku nodded with satisfaction, glanced at the time-collapse crystal that appeared in the room, and released a ball of darkness to destroy the collapse point, thinking that using the Time Gem to clean the room was indeed a meaningful task?
Just after Uehara Naraku finished all this, he slowly took a juice from the refrigerator, nestled into the soft sofa, and stretched out two fingers to contact his subordinate: "Gin, now bring over the Mind Staff!"
"Yes, my lord."
Ichimaru Gin agreed respectfully.
Ten minutes later.
A spatial rift appeared at Uehara Naraku's door, with Ichimaru Gin holding a long box in his hand, standing at the entrance of Uehara Naraku's house.
This was the Mind Staff that Ichimaru Gin had snatched from Loki, and he had conveniently framed the Death Goddess Hela for creating Hydra while doing so.
Of course.
Now it was no longer a frame-up.
Because Hydra's leader, Alexander Pierce, was on the lookout for the Death Goddess Hela, intending to use this Princess of Asgard to form a superhero force to counter Nick Fury's squad.
"My lord."
Ichimaru Gin smiled as he put down the box.
"Lay low during this period and don't act rashfully."
Uehara Naraku bit a juice straw at the corner of his mouth and waved towards Ichimaru Gin: "To avoid Pierce and Nick Fury from noticing anything…"
"Yes."
Ichimaru Gin continued to nod with a smile.
After considering for a second, Uehara Naraku spoke again: "Go to the New York Temple, I'll give you the address now, to help me monitor the Supreme Mage there…"
"Yes."
Ichimaru Gin nodded earnestly.
Lately, Nick Fury had been tracking down Hydra and the Death Goddess, and Ichimaru Gin, the one who originally snatched things from Loki, was too easily noticed by Nick Fury.
Sending Ichimaru Gin off to lay low… and conveniently monitor the Ancient One, while also learning about the world's magical powers.
As for Uehara Naraku himself, he slowly dialed the phone number of his hidden superior: "Hello, Director Pierce, should I send Loki's staff to you?"
"The sooner the better."
After Alexander Pierce gave the order, he regretfully asked: "Was the Tesseract taken by Nick Fury?"
"No, Director Fury returned it to Asgard."
Uehara Naraku shook his head, continuing softly: "Because Nick Fury needs Asgard as an ally for S.H.I.E.L.D.… Additionally, Nick Fury already knows we're searching for the Death Goddess Hela."
"Just as I once regarded him highly as a super agent…"
Alexander Pierce spoke in praise of Nick Fury before continuing: "Forget it, I heard you obtained some amazing powers during the battle in New York?"
Alexander Pierce's intelligence was also outstanding.
Of course, the main reason was that Uehara Naraku stood out too much at the end of the battle in New York, so much so that it was impossible to hide it, and he had no intention of hiding it from Pierce.
After all…
Pierce didn't have long to live.
"Currently, it's uncertain how effective the powers are."
Uehara Naraku played coy, then softly said: "However, physical strength has increased significantly, and I've gained the ability to fly… It's good enough to better integrate into Nick Fury's superhero squad."
"Then have the prince of Asgard's staff sent over…"
On the other end of the phone, Alexander Pierce tapped his desk: "Our scientists are quite interested in its power to control thoughts…"
Not only the scientists.
Hydra relied on controlling others' minds to get started; they had a complete brainwashing system capable of converting anyone they wanted into Hydra enforcers.
This method was quite troublesome.
That's why, upon learning that Uehara Naraku could bring him the Mind Staff, Pierce was actually quite happy…
"One more thing…"
Alexander Pierce's voice suddenly conveyed a light chuckle over the phone: "Now Nick Fury is useless. If we can find a way to eliminate Nick Fury, we can arrange for you to become the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.…
"There's no better news for me than this."
Uehara Naraku raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise in his voice: "Is it because of our Insight Plan?"
"Yes."
After Alexander Pierce finished speaking, he continued: "In any case, our Insight Plan must continue.
As long as we have Hydra's aerial combat carrier hovering in the sky, it can easily kill anyone on Earth that poses a threat to us.
Unfortunately, I can no longer serve on the World Security Council, so there needs to be someone who truly holds power within S.H.I.E.L.D. to push the Insight Plan forward. Only by making you the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. can we continue to carry out the plan…"
"Understood."
Uehara Naraku readily agreed.
Such good fortune was always welcome for him.
In this absurd era, as an undercover spy, if one cannot obtain the position of the enemy's leader, can it still be called proper undercover work?
Agreeing wholeheartedly to his good fortune, Uehara Naraku planned to take a good rest and wait for the day of his promotion, a day not too far off.
World tensions stirred darkly.
The New York battle had just ended.
Dark forces on Earth slowly began to resurface; they had never truly disappeared, slowly and stealthily hiding across the globe.
Of course.
The Avengers' superhero team had never stopped; they were also continually training to strengthen their powers, joining forces to combat the world's evil forces.
Indisputably.
Hydra was the most severely targeted by the Avengers, who relied on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence to eliminate Hydra as the root of terror around the world.
Faced with the power of a group of superheroes, Hydra had almost no means of resistance, forced to abandon bases and laboratories one after another.
Director Nick Fury received more and more reports of victories; yet, rather than letting complacency set in, he solemnly consulted with his subordinates to discuss the world's undercurrent swell…
Uehara Naraku was also invited to join in.