Charles Doyle was listening to Ginny's financial report when he received a call from Tony.
The Red Queen's voice chimed in, "Master, there's a video call from Tony Stark."
"Put it through!" Charles responded.
As soon as he spoke, a virtual projection of Tony Stark appeared in front of him.
"Hey, Tony," Charles greeted. "So, did you get your revenge?"
Tony, seeing Charles and Ginny beside him, couldn't tell if Charles was genuinely unaware or just teasing him.
"Buddy, do you know I almost got killed today?"
Charles looked puzzled.
"What happened?"
Tony, focusing on Charles's expression, replied, "I didn't defeat the Ten Rings. I nearly got taken out by them."
Charles waved it off, "That's impossible. If you didn't take them down, you wouldn't be in the mood to chat with me here."
"Come on, Tony, what did you find there? If it's something interesting, we might be able to strike a deal."
Tony, serious, said, "I'm not lying. I really almost died. If someone hadn't stepped in, you might not be talking to me now."
Charles was surprised, "The Ten Rings were that powerful? Who showed up? Thor? The Hulk? Or someone else I know? Don't tell me it was the wizards from the magical world."
Tony shook his head. "It wasn't them. It was the rogue ninja organization, Akatsuki. Their numbers have grown. I saw seven of them, and Uchiha Itachi was among them. But they didn't attack me; they acted like they didn't even notice me."
Hearing this, Charles stroked his chin in thought. "Why would they go after the Ten Rings? Tony, what did they do when they got there?"
Tony recalled what he had witnessed and said, "They killed the leader of the Ten Rings, then took his body and his weapon."
"His body and weapon..." Charles mused, "Those must be extraordinary, likely something supernatural."
Tony nodded, "Yes, his weapon was incredibly powerful, beyond expectations. My armor felt like paper against it."
"Buddy, do you have any idea what Akatsuki's goal is? Their strength is overwhelming, and I'm a bit concerned…"
Charles shook his head. "They're a mercenary group, taking on various missions. As for their ultimate goal, no one knows for sure."
Tony, hearing that even Charles didn't know, was slightly disappointed. He then said, "I'd appreciate it if you could look into it and find out what their objectives are. I'll cover any expenses. Also, find out how to contact them if one wanted to hire them."
Charles nodded, then said, "Sure, but investigating an organization full of S-rank rogue ninjas? That might cost more than you can afford."
Tony shook his head. "Buddy, I think you misunderstand. I just want to know their purpose."
Charles thought back to how in the Naruto world, Jiraiya paid the price of his life in order to investigate the Akatsuki organization.
"Tony, you might be underestimating this situation," Charles said, his tone turning serious.
"Investigating them poses a life-threatening risk, even for those of Kage-level or beyond."
"Finding a way to trade with them is far easier than uncovering their true objectives. Who can guarantee knowing their purpose without becoming one of them? And even then, it might take a long time to understand their plans."
Tony thought for a moment and then nodded. "You're right. I oversimplified things. If you ever find out what their goals are, let me know. I'm willing to pay for that information."
Charles nodded. "No problem."
"Tony, is there anything else you need?"
Tony looked at Charles and asked, "Buddy, do you have any vibranium? I think I need to upgrade my armor. I noticed that Jiraiya's kunai seems to be made from it."
Charles considered for a moment. He actually had quite a bit of vibranium left, even after using a lot of it to equip the ninjas during the Battle of New York.
However, given the timeline, Tony might soon start working on Ultron. Providing vibranium now might only cause more problems later.
"Tony, I don't have any extra vibranium right now. It's all been used to forge ninja tools," Charles replied. "If I get more, I'll trade some with you."
Tony wasn't surprised to hear this. In his mind, vibranium was supposed to be nearly exhausted, so he didn't dwell on it.
"Alright, if you get any, save me a portion. I'll trade you some new elements for it."
"OK!"
With that, Tony Stark ended the video call. However, his mind was still racing. He wondered if there was a connection between Akatsuki's appearance and Charles Doyle.
Could all of this really be just a coincidence? A group entirely made up of S-rank rogue ninjas didn't attack him, which seemed odd.
Was he really that insignificant?
…
On the other side-
After hanging up the call, Charles turned to Ginny and said, "Ginny, transfer $2 billion to my account. I have other uses for it."
"Yes, Boss!"
Ginny didn't linger in the room. After finishing her report, she quickly left, knowing that the man in front of her wasn't Charles Doyle's real body but rather a Wood Release clone.
In the Summoning Realm, Charles Doyle addressed the Akatsuki members in front of him.
"I have a new mission for you all. As time goes on, this world will face even more formidable foes. To bring in more allies, I need additional resources to help me draw more ninjas from the river of time."
With a wave of his hand, a stone coffin appeared before the group.
"This is a vampire created by Orochimaru using Selene's bloodline. It has the same abilities as the previous vampires—biting someone will turn them into a vampire within a few days, producing a blood core."
"Since Hidan is already hunting people for sacrifices, I'm giving you all a new task: before killing them, turn them into vampires, extract their blood cores, and then proceed with the sacrifices. This way, they can contribute a bit more to our cause."
Hidan grinned, "No problem, Lord Charles. You can count on me for this task."
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