Pepper Potts had just escaped the villa with Maya Hansen when another rocket attack came.
"Boom!"
Tony had just stood up when the room shook violently again, and the walls began to collapse quickly, making it impossible for him to stay upright.
Pepper Potts, seeing the villa continuously collapsing, exclaimed, "Oh my god!"
Then she shouted inside, "Tony…"
At that moment, the three armed helicopters in the distance continued to launch rockets at the villa.
"Whoosh!"
"Boom!"
Under this rocket attack, the building's structure couldn't hold any longer and began to tilt towards the sea below the cliff.
Tony seized the opportunity to grab an iron frame by the window to steady himself when Jarvis's voice came through.
"Sir, Miss Potts has escaped the building."
Hearing that Pepper Potts had left, Tony breathed a sigh of relief and looked out the window, spotting the positions of the three helicopters.
He immediately began controlling the Mark 42 to return to him, knowing that despite his enhanced physique, he was more proficient in the Iron Man suit.
As Tony summoned the suit, the Mark 42 began disassembling from Pepper Potts outside and flew back to the villa.
Meanwhile, the machine guns on the three helicopters outside began spinning, firing at a rate of 6,000 rounds per minute, sweeping the villa indiscriminately while continuing rocket attacks.
"Da-da-da-da…"
"Whoosh! Boom!"
Tony dodged bullets while suiting up, finally completing the process just before the villa fell into the sea.
However, when Tony, now in the suit, prepared to fly and fight back, he realized his thrusters were missing and asked urgently:
"Jarvis, where's my propulsion system?"
"Installing, sir. This is a prototype, after all."
Seeing the continuous gunfire from the three helicopters, Tony tried to use the weapon systems to counterattack but found that, being a prototype, the suit had no weapons installed.
In frustration, he used a repulsor blast to throw a piano at one of the helicopters, luckily hitting the target.
With no weapons, Tony had no choice but to run and dodge. Eventually, the relentless rocket attacks caused him to fall into the sea along with the villa.
Entangled in the building's cables, Tony was temporarily trapped underwater.
The helicopters, seeing the villa completely destroyed and no sign of Iron Man on the surface, turned and left.
As seawater entered the armor, Tony lost consciousness. At this critical moment, Jarvis activated the thrusters and brought Tony out of the water, then followed the pre-planned route to Rose Hill, Tennessee.
Pepper Potts, seeing the villa completely submerged, ran over and looked down, but she didn't see Tony emerging in his Iron Man suit. In anguish, she shouted, "Tony…"
…
Meanwhile-
After listening to Charles's story, Tsunade asked incredulously, "Nine-tailed foxes?"
"Heavens, are there many nine-tails there? Aren't people afraid of tailed beasts?"
Charles shook his head, "Tsunade, those are nine-tailed foxes, not the tailed beast Kurama."
"Although they have similar appearances, they are not the same."
"And their size is much smaller than Kurama."
Recalling the battle in Ta Lo from "Shang-Chi," Charles continued, "Those mythical creatures aren't very powerful; in fact, they're quite weak."
"I even suspect they just share the appearance and name, but not the matching strength, like a knockoff version."
Tsunade asked curiously, "Are they really that weak?"
Charles thought for a moment and said, "The power of the dragon is interesting, but creatures like the qilin, phoenix, Dijiang, nine-tails, and Foo Dog are quite disappointing."
"If I get the chance, I'll show you. They are somewhat like the magical creatures in our world."
Understanding from Charles's comparison with magical creatures, Tsunade realized those animals were far from tailed beasts, perhaps not even as strong as some powerful summon animals.
As they talked, Charles Doyle's phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, he saw it was Pepper Potts.
…
Having waited at the ruins for a long time, even after the police, rescue teams, and journalists arrived, Pepper Potts still hadn't seen Tony return.
Though she believed Tony was fine, her worry grew, leading her to call Charles Doyle.
"What's up, Pepper Potts?"
"Charles, Tony…he was attacked at the villa and is missing."
"I believe he's okay, but he's out of contact, and the media is saying he's dead…"
Hearing Pepper's words, Charles learned that Tony's house had been blown up.
Thinking of his own Agency being blown up multiple times, Tony's incident seemed minor as it was only the first time.
"Don't worry, Tony will be fine."
"I'll come to the scene and check it out."
Pepper Potts gratefully said, "Thank you, Charles."
With Tony missing and Happy in the hospital, Pepper didn't know who else to turn to besides Charles Doyle.
Maya Hansen, puzzled, asked, "Who did you just call?"
Pepper, despite her anxious face, responded, "I called Charles Doyle. He's a good friend of Tony's, and if there's any accident, he should be able to find Tony."
"He'll be here soon."
Hearing this, Maya Hansen was shocked, "The Ninja Immortal?"
Pepper nodded.
Hearing that the Ninja Immortal was coming, Maya Hansen's face paled even more, though it was unclear if it was due to the attack or another reason but it was obvious that pepper didn't notice her reaction.
…
Elsewhere-
Charles Doyle put down the phone and said, "Tsunade, it seems I can't continue the story. We need to go to Tony's villa."
"Is he alright?"
Charles nodded, "He should be fine."
At that moment, Jiraiya came over, asking, "I just saw the news. It says Tony Stark was killed?"
Although Tony had confirmed his relationship with Pepper Potts and stopped hanging out with Jiraiya regularly, they had already formed a deep friendship.
Tony had even recommended interesting places to Jiraiya, and Jiraiya had helped Tony develop an anti-ninja suit.
Seeing Jiraiya's worried expression, Charles shook his head, "Fake news, don't worry."
"I need to go to the attack site. Come along."
Jiraiya nodded.
Soon John Wick drove quickly, bringing the three of them towards Tony's seaside villa.
Meanwhile, Kankuro, in his Sand Village puppet shop, also saw the news about Tony's attack. After organizing his puppets, he left the shop as well.
…
On the other side-
"Sir, sir…"
Tony Stark, who had fainted, gradually woke up to Jarvis's voice and said:
"I get it, turn off the alarm. I'm fine."
"This is an automatic emergency alert for energy levels below five percent."
The next second, Tony found the suit rapidly falling, crashing onto the nearby road and rolling several times before stopping.
Lying on the ground, Tony's suit was sparking and severely damaged. Taking a deep breath, Tony removed the faceplate and, seeing the snowflakes, asked:
"Is this snow? Where are we, the North?"
Jarvis replied, "We are five kilometers from Rose Hill, Tennessee."
Tony, surprised, said, "What's going on?"
"Jarvis, I didn't plan this."
"What are we doing here? This is completely off track."
"I need to find Pepper. I need to…"
Jarvis said, "I planned this flight. This is the destination."
"Who told you to plan it?"
Tony, a bit helpless, said, "Open the armor."
"I... I malfunctioned, sir."
"Hurry up, Jarvis."
The next second, the armor opened, and Tony sat up, saying, "Much better."
Feeling the cold in his short sleeves, Tony decided, "I better get back in."
Jarvis said, "I think I need to sleep, sir."
"Jarvis."
"Jarvis, are you still there?"
"Don't leave me, buddy."
Confirming Jarvis had shut down due to lack of power, Tony felt helpless. The place was icy with no one in sight.
Tony had no choice but to reassemble Mark 42, then carry it as he walked towards a distant place.
After walking for some time, Tony arrived at a Texaco store. Seeing a mannequin outside with a cloak, he took it and wore it, then went to the phone booth inside.
"Stark Security Services, broadcast to all known receivers."
"Pepper, it's me."
"I know I owe you a lot of apologies, but time is short now."
"So first, I'm sorry for putting you in danger because of my complete selfishness and stupidity. I promise it won't happen again."
"And Merry Christmas. That bunny was indeed too big."
"That's it. Sorry."
"And I apologize in advance because I won't be able to return home on time."
"I need to dig that guy out. I just want you safe."
"Also, I just stole a cloak from a wooden man."
After leaving the message for Pepper Potts and reporting his safety, Tony hung up the phone, carried Mark 42, and continued walking. He needed to find a place to repair the chip in his arm and the Mark 42 suit.
…
Elsewhere-
Kankuro, running all the way, first arrived outside Tony's seaside villa, now surrounded by reporters, police, and rescue teams.
As soon as Kankuro appeared, sharp-eyed reporters spotted him and rushed over.
"Mr. Ninja, are you here to confirm Tony Stark's attack?"
Kankuro pushed the microphone away and ignored them, heading straight towards Pepper Potts.
"Miss Potts!"
Seeing the young man with a face full of paint appear in front of her, Pepper Potts said, "You're here, Kankuro."
Kankuro looked at the anxious Pepper Potts and asked, "Miss Potts, Mr. Stark..."
Pepper Potts shook her head, "We were attacked, and Tony fell into the sea with the villa. He hasn't surfaced, and I have no trace of him."
Hearing this, Kankuro looked at the sea and asked, "He fell into the sea with the villa?"
Pepper Potts nodded, "I didn't see Tony fly out. Some speculate he was buried in the debris underwater."
"The rescue team is using cranes to lift the building debris, but Tony's villa is too large."
Kankuro looked at the cliffside and said, "I understand. I'll go down and check."
With that, Kankuro leaped off the cliff.
"God!"
Kankuro's actions shocked everyone around.
A reporter, with a cameraman, started broadcasting live, explaining:
"This is the site of Tony Stark's attacked villa. A young ninja has just arrived."
"Oh my god, he jumped straight off the cliff."
"He's standing on the sea. Is this the magic of ninjas?"
"The ninja is salvaging debris from the sea. His strength is greater than a crane's. Is he here to save Tony?"
Maya Hansen, looking at Pepper Potts, asked, "Who is this?"
"Are all ninjas this powerful?"
Pepper Potts, watching Kankuro search the sea, said, "He's Kankuro, a longtime friend of Tony's."
On the sea, Kankuro used his puppets to search underwater for Tony Stark.
After some searching, Kankuro found several damaged Mark series suits but no sign of Tony. Even after lifting some building debris with his puppets, he still didn't find Tony's body.
Seeing no trace of Tony reassured Kankuro. As long as no body was found, Tony Stark's chances of being alive were high.
At that moment, John Wick arrived on the scene. As Charles Doyle got out of the car, reporters surrounded him.
###
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