Multiverse Mastermind: Starting in Naruto

As Uehara Naraku had anticipated, when Tony Stark bid farewell to Pepper, he simply said a few words before leaving with Uehara Naraku.

In the sky.

Tony Stark and Uehara Naraku boarded an armed helicopter, accompanied by a dozen fighter jets circling around them for escort. This was more than the escort for Air Force One.

"Looks like the conditions aren’t bad."

Tony Stark glanced at the nearby fighter jets, speaking softly, "Now, let’s talk...what trouble have we encountered... and I need a lot of information."

"Hmm."

Uehara Naraku nonchalantly nodded, running his hand through his hair, sighing, "Lots of trouble... compared to others in the Avengers Squad, your problem is like they robbed a bank, and you just didn’t pay for a burger."

"Is there really that big of a gap?"

Tony Stark’s eye twitched involuntarily, "Sounds like our Superhero Squad isn’t doing too well, like they’re about to disband at any moment..."

So...

Just how bad is the situation within the Avengers?

For even Uehara Naraku, this guy, to be feeling frustrated?

"The existence of the Avengers is still meaningful."

Uehara Naraku rubbed his forehead, softly continuing, "Because we’ve been through an alien invasion once, the World Security Council and the White House also want to maintain the Avengers Squad’s presence, but we must ensure that none of the superheroes are terrorists..."

"What do you mean?"

Tony Stark pondered for a second, guessing, "You’re not telling me that except for us two and the big guy Hulk, the others..."

"Clint Barton and Special Agent Natasha Romanoff were both spies inserted into the Avengers Squad by Fury. Since Fury’s death, the two of them have been missing..."

Uehara Naraku, talking at this point, looked at Tony Stark and candidly confessed his identity, "Before I became a superhero due to the Tesseract’s energy, I was originally supposed to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. spy inserted into the Avengers Squad, to guide you to willingly follow S.H.I.E.L.D.’s orders..."

This matter didn’t need to be hidden.

Judging by Tony Stark’s intelligence, he could understand it. Besides, he never really cared about Uehara Naraku’s identity.

"I know. What about the others?"

"Dr. Bruce Banner’s situation was already shared with you."

Uehara Naraku looked at Tony Stark, spreading his hands as he explained, "Dr. Banner’s personality is rather straightforward, he’s basically reported all of his circumstances...

Though the Hulk within Dr. Banner is the most dangerous, he’s the first one to be fully examined now.

As for our Captain Steve Rogers..."

When Uehara Naraku mentioned Steve Rogers, he bizarrely fell into silence. He hesitated under Tony Stark’s gaze for a long time before speaking hesitantly.

"Currently Captain Rogers’ whereabouts are unknown. As for his specific situation, when we return to the headquarters, you’ll have to take your time to look..."

"What use is there to look at that antique whose brain only knows how to obey..."

Tony Stark wasn’t very fond of Steve Rogers, but it didn’t hinder his trust in Steve Rogers. That staunch soldier should have no issues.

However...

Steve Rogers was the one with the biggest problem.

Once Tony Stark and Uehara Naraku arrived at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, this Iron Man had no chance to visit Colonel Rhodes because Uehara Naraku handed him quite a bit of information.

Among them, the one Tony Stark was most concerned about...

Was naturally the video of his parents’ last moments.

S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters underground data room.

Uehara Naraku pulled out a video tape and handed it to Tony Stark, reaching out to comfortingly pat his shoulder, "Sorry, Tony, as your friend, I’m not sure if I should let you watch this, because I don’t want to hide it from you, but I also don’t want to see you lose control..."

Such slightly bittersweet words are unbearable for most people.

Anyone hearing such words could understand Uehara Naraku’s inner turmoil as a friend, constantly considering his friend’s emotions, wanting both to reveal the truth and prevent their sadness...

Tony Stark silently shook his head, taking the tape from Uehara’s hand, "I understand... don’t worry... Uehara... I’ve already known in advance."

No problem.

What more could be on the tape?

After all, he’s already known from Uehara Naraku that his parents died under Hydra’s assassination, what could make him angrier?

Yes.

Indeed there was.

Even after knowing the truth about his parents’ death, when he saw personally what happened in their last moments...

Uehara Naraku knew very well that when Tony Stark saw the contents of the tape, his anger would be uncontrollable.

In front of an old TV.

Tony Stark took out the tape and put it into the DVD, watching the black-and-white screen calmly, focusing on the scenes on the screen.

Initially.

A car eerily crashes into a tree.

A cold young man on a motorcycle appears beside the car.

From the car’s driver’s seat crawls out an old man, covered in blood, trembling as he exits, looking more pathetic than ever.

It’s Tony Stark’s father, Howard Stark.

This father, who left countless traces of arrogance in Tony Stark’s life, now seemed so pathetic that Tony couldn’t accept it...

However...

This was just the beginning.

In the black-and-white TV screen.

The elderly Howard Stark, just crawled out of the car, seemed to hear the motorcycle, struggling to crawl towards it, muttering, "Save my wife... please..."

"..."

With a cold face, the young man set down the motorcycle, walking to the old man, suddenly grabbing his hair to stand him at the car!

This guy wasn’t here to rescue anyone!

The old man’s eyes changed a bit; he seemed to recognize the young man, trembling while seemingly calling out a name.

They surely knew each other.

As Tony Stark was still thinking, a sudden tension gripped his heart!

Because he suddenly witnessed a frightful scene where Barnes, the young man in the black-and-white TV, punches fiercely at the old man’s eye socket!

One punch...

Two punches...

Three punches...

In the black-and-white television, this cold young man, clutching Howard Stark’s hair, mercilessly punched the old man to death!

This was a genuine beating to death!

No one could accept their father being beaten to death, even if Tony Stark’s feelings towards his father were more of respect and fear!

However, Tony Stark couldn’t change any of these.

In the black-and-white screen, the cold-faced young man continued, after killing Howard Stark, tossing the scientist’s body back into the driver’s seat...

And then...

The young man walked over to the passenger side, extended his hands, and in the video, from the passenger seat, there was a woman.

The young man reached out, his face calm and resolute, strangling the woman at the passenger seat...

"..."

Tony Stark’s fists clenched tightly!

That strangled woman was his mother!

Regardless of his prior knowledge of their deaths, seeing their miserable end up close, anger almost instantly overwhelmed his chest!

The black-and-white TV continued playing.

After killing Howard Stark and his wife, the cold-faced young man walked to the camera, revealing his full face beside it, calmly pulling out a gun to shoot the camera.

The footage on the tape ended there.

"Tony, it’s all over, don’t be sad."

Uehara Naraku walked over to Tony Stark, reaching out to hold his shoulder, soothing his emotions.

"That person..."

Tony Stark’s eyes were bloodshot, his face filled with pain and fury, he gritted his teeth tightly, "Tell me! Uehara! Tell me... where is he!"

"He’s Bucky Barnes."

Uehara Naraku lowered his head, somewhat helplessly whispering beside Tony, "And... he is also Captain Steve Rogers’ friend..."