Recaps

Xiang Qian argued with Mordo over whether dark magic could be used responsibly, then focused on completing the Houyi Project’s space-based weapons platform. Tony called to show off his Mark II armor flying over Afghanistan, and Xiang Qian mocked its design.

• Mordo confronted Xiang Qian about using dark magic, and Xiang Qian defended it as a weapon that could serve a just cause.
• Xiang Qian argued that magic required balance between light and darkness, but Mordo rejected his reasoning, and they parted on bad terms.
• Xiang Qian avoided Kamar-Taj and concentrated on adapting the Mandarin's Ten Rings laser research for the Houyi Project.
• Tony called Xiang Qian from Afghanistan and used Jarvis to show him the Mark II flying through the sky.
• Xiang Qian watched Tony’s demonstration and asked why he had built a flying Iron Maiden torture device.

Tony Stark fought the Ten Rings with his Mark II armor and asked Xiang Qian to investigate a suspected Stark Industries insider supplying weapons to militants. Xiang Qian analyzed the armor’s capabilities and warned Zheng Xian that the U.S. military might obtain and deploy similar equipment.

• Tony Stark fought the Ten Rings fighters, complained that Stark Industries weapons were being used against him, and said he had stepped in after the U.S. military suspended its operation.
• Tony asked Xiang Qian to investigate Stark Industries, suspecting someone high up was supplying weapons to the black market; Xiang Qian gave him a trusted contact.
• Xiang Qian warned Tony about palladium poisoning in his chest reactor, but Tony said the reactor symbolized his life’s purpose and his ability to choose his fate.
• Xiang Qian analyzed satellite footage of the Mark II and sent the data to Zheng Xian with a recommendation to plan for the U.S. military deploying the equipment.
• Xiang Qian told Zheng Xian that Tony had provided the footage as a friendly warning and predicted the U.S. government would try to obtain the armor.

Xiang Qian considered the Yashida Group’s offer to trade nanomaterial technology for Adamantium ore and suspected the request served a larger purpose. After receiving an invitation to a business reception, he became interested in Mariko Yashida and the family power struggle surrounding her.

• Xiang Qian refused to sell Adamantium ore outright but told the foreign trade department to keep negotiating with the Yashida Group.
• The department head returned with an invitation to a reception hosted during a Japanese business delegation’s visit to China.
• Xiang Qian learned that Mariko Yashida, Ichiro Yashida’s granddaughter, was visiting as part of the delegation.
• Xiang Qian read reports about Ichiro’s succession plans and Shingen Yashida’s efforts to control Mariko, then grew interested in her.

At a Shanghai consulate dinner, Xiang Qian pressured Mariko Yashida into revealing that the Yashida Group had discovered a new use for Adamantium. Zheng Xian then warned Xiang Qian that intruders were waiting at Mariko’s hotel and told him to delay her return.

• Xiang Qian arrived late at the dinner and approached Mariko Yashida for a private conversation.
• Xiang Qian questioned Mariko about the Yashida Group’s unusually high offers for Adamantium ore and its decision to abandon the nanomaterials market.
• Mariko accidentally revealed that the Yashida Group had an overall plan for using the alloy, and Xiang Qian deduced that it had made a new discovery.
• Mariko rebuked Xiang Qian for his rude questioning, then left to see off the dinner guests.
• Zheng Xian called Xiang Qian and warned him that intruders were at Mariko’s hotel, instructing him to keep her away for a while.

Xiang Qian escorted Mariko Yashida away from a threat at her hotel, then learned that the attackers were ninjas from the Hand, an organization believed wiped out in China decades earlier. Red Star warned that the Yashida Group might be closely tied to the Japanese branch, leaving Xiang Qian to decide whether to get involved.

• Xiang Qian insisted on escorting Mariko Yashida to a newly arranged hotel after S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Spear Bureau detected danger at her lodging.
• Mariko Yashida asked what had happened, and Xiang Qian told her the security department was handling the danger.
• Red Star met Xiang Qian and said the Spear Bureau had intercepted and dealt with two cars that had followed him.
• Red Star identified the attackers as ninjas whose bodies turned to ash when they died, and Xiang Qian recognized them as members of the Hand.
• Red Star said the Yashida Group probably had deep ties to the Japanese branch of the Hand and left Xiang Qian to decide whether to get involved.

Xiang Qian reviewed the Spear Bureau’s history of its campaign against the Hand and intelligence on the Yashida family, connecting the Hand’s ash-leaving ninjas to the family’s historic ninja ties. The chapter left him suspecting that the Hand’s surviving ninjas were serving or cooperating with Shingen Yashida.

• Xiang Qian dismissed Zheng Xian’s promise to stay out of the Hand investigation but recognized that the Spear Bureau needed him as a front because of his ties to Kunlun.
• Xiang Qian spent a day and a night reading the Spear Bureau’s records and learned that the Hand was a transnational criminal organization led by five Kunlun traitors.
• The records described how the Spear Bureau, aided by Kunlun and the army, destroyed the Hand’s operations in the country sixty years earlier, driving Madame Gao’s remnants to the United States and the ninjas back to Japan.
• Xiang Qian examined intelligence showing that the Yashida family had risen to prominence in Japan through a band of ninjas that served it for generations.
• Xiang Qian connected the Yashida family’s ninja history with the Hand’s mysterious ninjas and suspected they were serving or working with Shingen Yashida.

Xiang Qian engineered a financial assault on the Yashida Group to force Shingen Yashida to negotiate and explain the Yashida Family’s ties to the Hand. As the group’s share price collapsed and speculators targeted Japan, Xiang Qian waited for Shingen to come to him.

• Rumors about the Yashida Group’s enormous Adamantium purchases spread, and confirmation from research institutions sent its share price falling.
• The group’s lack of research results and growing board divisions alarmed investors, while customers began withdrawing money from its banks.
• The Five Elements Laboratory and the Wude Group announced negotiations with the Yashida Group over Adamantium ore and nanomaterials technology, worsening market panic.
• Xiang Qian mobilized offshore funds and international speculators, including Wall Street investors, to attack the Yashida Group’s shares and drag down Japan’s technology sector.
• Xiang Qian ignored the market’s exact gains and waited for Shingen Yashida to seek peace, intending to question him about the Hand and the Yashida Family.

Shingen Yashida met Nobu Yoshioka in a mountain valley to confront him about the Hand’s attack in China and the financial turmoil devastating the Yashida Group. Nobu revealed his contempt for Shingen, overpowered him, and left him terrified and confused.

• Shingen Yashida traveled with a convoy into the mountains of Koka City, brooding over the Yashida Group’s financial crisis and the Hand’s attack in China.
• Nobu Yoshioka greeted Shingen at a secluded courtyard, where he was grilling a wild boar.
• Shingen accused Nobu of causing the financial turmoil and violating their agreement by attacking in China.
• Nobu said Shingen had asked the Hand to target Mariko, then mocked him and denied that they had ever been partners.
• Shingen lunged at Nobu with a kitchen knife, but Nobu disarmed him, grabbed him by the throat, and threw him to the ground.
• Nobu compared Shingen to Takeda Katsuyori and returned to carving the boar as Shingen gasped for air and asked what he meant.

Nobu Yoshioka told Shingen Yashida that Mochizuki Plain belonged to him and revealed the Yashida Family’s long history with the Hand. He sent Shingen away, saying Ichiro Yashida’s apparent preparations at the valley deserved his attention.

• Nobu Yoshioka intimidated Shingen Yashida and said he wanted to reclaim what was his from the Yashida Family.
• Nobu Yoshioka explained that Mochizuki Plain had once belonged to the Mochizuki Clan before the Yashida Family acquired it.
• Nobu Yoshioka revealed that he had taught Shingen’s ancestors ninjutsu and that they had sworn to serve as his representatives in the Hand.
• Nobu Yoshioka accused Ichiro Yashida of breaking a four-hundred-year oath, taking Mochizuki Plain, and using government forces to thwart his plans.
• Nobu Yoshioka let Shingen leave and said Ichiro’s actions at Mochizuki Plain interested him more.

Xiang Qian met Shingen Yashida in Hong Kong to discuss saving the struggling Yashida Group, while Magik asked him to accompany her to X-Mansion to visit her brother. The chapter ended with Shingen proposing that Xiang invest in the group and become a shareholder and director, leaving Xiang’s demands unresolved.

• Shingen Yashida asked Xiang Qian to meet in Hong Kong, and Xiang agreed while warning him not to make promises he could not keep.
• Magik told Xiang Qian she wanted to visit her brother at X-Mansion and insisted that he accompany her after his business in Japan.
• Xiang Qian worried that his past relationships at X-Mansion could spark a dangerous confrontation between Magik and Jean Grey.
• Shingen Yashida met Xiang Qian in Hong Kong, admitted the Yashida Group was in dire straits, and bowed to ask for mercy.
• Shingen Yashida proposed that Xiang Qian invest in the Yashida Group and become a shareholder and director, while Xiang asked him to explain the offer further.

Xiang Qian considered exploiting Shingen Yashida’s revelations to intervene in Yashida Group, while Nobu Yoshioka and The Hand’s leaders feared Ichiro Yashida might discover or use the Beast. The chapter ended with Matt and an old blind man arriving in Japan to act before time ran out.

• Xiang Qian reflected on Shingen Yashida’s account and considered using Yashida Group’s Japanese connections to expand his influence.
• Alexandra, Sowande, and Bakuto met with Nobu Yoshioka to discuss retrieving the Beast before its seal broke.
• Nobu warned that Ichiro Yashida might have discovered the Beast and was sending Adamantium ore to Mochizuki Plain.
• Alexandra revealed that The Hand had already found a vessel for the Beast and that the person was expected in Japan.
• Matt and an old blind man arrived at Kansai International Airport, and the old man urged Matt to hurry.

Xiang Qian continued pursuing a stake in the Yashida Group while joking with Zheng Xian about the risks and rewards of his plans. As Nobu Yoshioka came to meet him, Stick and Matt spied on Nobu’s base and discovered Elektra had arrived there.

• Xiang Qian told Zheng Xian he intended to use the Yashida Group to build influence in Japan, and Zheng Xian warned him that he could not cover for him if things went wrong.
• Xiang Qian rejected Zheng Xian’s offer of an official post with required voluntary overtime and stayed in Hong Kong while the Yashida Group negotiated a deal for twenty percent of its shares.
• Nobu Yoshioka arrived alone at Xiang Qian’s company, and Xiang Qian agreed to have someone bring him up.
• Stick and Matt reached the ridge overlooking Nobu Yoshioka’s quiet base and hid when two off-road vehicles entered the valley.
• Matt heard a greeting between a cold-looking woman and someone at the base, recognized her as Elektra, and went pale.

Xiang Qian rejected Nobu Yoshioka’s attempt to make him abandon the Yashida Group, then used observations of Yoshioka’s reactions to infer The Hand’s urgent need to reclaim Mochizuki Plain and question whether Yoshioka could revive from death. He ended the meeting by revealing that psychology and microexpression analysis had helped him outmaneuver Yoshioka’s four centuries of experience.

• Nobu Yoshioka asked Xiang Qian to cancel Wude Company's investment in the Yashida Group and offered to keep The Hand away from his businesses.
• Xiang Qian dismissed Yoshioka’s threat and questioned his motives, probing why he urgently wanted Mochizuki Plain before Ichiro Yashida died.
• Xiang Qian deduced that The Hand had hidden something on the land and could not wait to retrieve it, then asked whether Yoshioka himself could return from the dead.
• Yoshioka’s reactions revealed his uncertainty about his own ability to revive, and Xiang Qian explained that psychology and microexpression analysis had helped him read the older man.

Xiang Qian defeated Nobu Yoshioka and revealed his Kunlun-powered Wild Fist, then exposed the Spear Bureau’s case against him. With Nobu’s ninja followers approaching Wude Company, Xiang Qian left their interception to his sharpshooter bodyguard captain, Zheng Ge.

• Xiang Qian rejected Nobu Yoshioka’s assumption that hidden gunmen were guarding the room, and Nobu lunged at him to take him hostage.
• Xiang Qian blocked Nobu’s attack, kicked him, and dislocated his limbs, leaving him badly injured on the floor.
• Xiang Qian showed Nobu his fiery Iron Fist power and introduced himself as Wild Fist, then told him the Spear Bureau was pursuing him for crimes connected to Madame Gao’s escape sixty years earlier.
• Zheng Ge entered and reported that Nobu’s subordinates were gathering outside, while Wude Company’s staff had been evacuated and the building secured.
• Xiang Qian told Nobu that Zheng Ge, a sharpshooter recruited from the Hong Kong police force, would handle the approaching ninjas and offered to signal them to retreat.

Xiang Qian watched the bodyguard team destroy The Hand’s ninja attack in Hong Kong and taunted captive Nobu Yoshioka about the group’s resurrection methods. As Nobu warned of The Hand’s revenge, Matt arrived at the group’s base in Japan despite Stick’s warning.

• Xiang Qian mocked Nobu Yoshioka while the bodyguard team used detection systems, sentry turrets, and electromagnetic rifles to wipe out the infiltrating ninjas.
• The bodyguard team killed the ninjas in less than five minutes, and Xiang Qian called Zheng Xian to have the approaching police sirens redirected.
• Nobu Yoshioka threatened that The Hand would take revenge, while Xiang Qian challenged him about Kunlun and the price of resurrecting the dead.
• Matt changed into his blood-red devil outfit and entered The Hand’s base in Japan despite Stick’s warning.

Matt infiltrated The Hand's valley to find Elektra, but Alexandra's ninjas captured him after Elektra knocked him unconscious. The Hand planned to interrogate him about The Chaste, while Bakuto reported that something had happened to Nobu.

• Matt overheard Elektra and Alexandra discussing Kingpin's secretive operation and suspected Alexandra was lying.
• Sowande and the ninjas surrounded Matt, and Alexandra ordered them to kill him after confronting him about Stick and The Chaste.
• Matt fought the ninjas but was overwhelmed by their numbers and the limits of his weapon.
• Elektra tangled Matt's Billy Club with her Sai, kicked him unconscious, and persuaded Alexandra to keep him alive for information.
• Bakuto told Elektra that a third of the candles in the Soul Chamber had gone out and something had happened to Nobu.

Alexandra ordered an investigation into the massacre of the Hand’s guards while preparing to resurrect the fallen, and Xiang Qian reviewed the battle before traveling to Kunlun. He arrived at the mountaintop city and told Davos he had come to ask a question, not to kill Shou-Lao.

• Alexandra learned that many Soul Chamber candles had gone out and ordered a resurrection ritual, while assigning local partners to investigate Wude Group.
• Zheng Ge told Xiang Qian that Nobu Yoshioka had been handed over to the Spear Bureau, then discussed the Electromagnetic Rifles and asked Xiang Qian to make a pistol version.
• Xiang Qian left Zheng Ge to guard the conference room and traveled through a portal to a snowy peak in the Kunlun Mountains.
• Xiang Qian opened a doorway to the mountaintop city, where its defenders gathered to confront him.
• Xiang Qian greeted Davos and said he had come to ask about something, not to kill Shou-Lao.

Xiang Qian forced his way into Kunlun and easily defeated Davos, then learned that Lei Kung was at his dojo. As Xiang Qian continued on, Kunlun’s warriors explained that his past actions had left the Seven Cities’ tournament postponed and made his relationship with Kunlun uneasy.

• Davos tried to stop Xiang Qian at Kunlun’s gate, but Xiang Qian overpowered him with a single strike.
• Xiang Qian asked Davos whether Lei Kung was alive, and a young man told him Lei Kung was in his dojo.
• Davos called Xiang Qian a thief, so Xiang Qian struck him unconscious with a snowball from afar.
• Kunlun’s warriors told Curly that Xiang Qian had killed two of the Seven Cities’ Sacred Beasts, postponing the tournament indefinitely.
• The warriors explained that Xiang Qian had once been sent to negotiate over Kunlun’s unacknowledged martial lineage, after which the Seven Cities abandoned plans to reclaim it by force.

Xiang Qian confronted Lei Kung and Shou-Lao in Kunlun, questioning Shou-Lao about the source of his power and the Hand’s resurrecting ninjas. He accused Shou-Lao and the other Sacred Beasts of possibly creating them, leaving Lei Kung demanding an explanation.

• Xiang Qian told Lei Kung he had beaten Davos unconscious at the city gate, and Curly confirmed Davos would recover soon.
• Xiang Qian challenged Lei Kung’s claim that Shou-Lao had merely borrowed dragon-totem belief, then warned Kunlun not to obstruct him.
• Lei Kung led Xiang Qian to Shou-Lao’s cavern and argued that Kunlun and the mortal world followed different rules.
• Xiang Qian asked Shou-Lao about the Hand’s immortal ninjas, saying their soul fluctuations resembled Shou-Lao’s life-form and Iron Fist rebirth process.
• Xiang Qian accused Shou-Lao and the other Sacred Beasts of creating the immortal ninjas, and Lei Kung demanded to know what he meant.

Xiang Qian questioned Shou-Lao about the Undead Ninjas and learned that their powers likely came from an unknown ninth sacred beast, not Kunlun. Shou-Lao explained its race’s origins and admitted it had survived by borrowing Chinese dragon-totem faith, leaving Xiang Qian convinced that its protection of that faith was self-serving.

• Xiang Qian sent Shou-Lao memories of the Undead Ninjas, and Shou-Lao recognized that their souls and powers resembled those of sacred beasts.
• Shou-Lao said an unknown ninth member of its race may have granted the Undead Ninjas their power, explaining that the seven sacred beasts were not the only members of the race to reach Earth.
• Shou-Lao described how its race learned to take thought form from the Celestials and survive by possessing and altering material bodies.
• Shou-Lao explained that the Undead Ninjas were dead humans whose bodies and consciousness were sustained and controlled by sacred-beast power, though it did not know who controlled them.
• Shou-Lao admitted it had borrowed Chinese dragon-totem faith to survive and was bound to protect that faith, and Xiang Qian told Lei Kung the bargain was not freely repaid.

Xiang Qian learned that humans could rarely be suitable hosts for possession and returned to Hong Kong as the Wude Group and Yashida Group prepared to sign their agreement. Meanwhile, Elektra visited captive Matt, Alexandra’s group monitored them and planned to use him as a tether for Black Sky, and Yukio arrived at Logan’s estate seeking Wolverine.

• Xiang Qian asked Shou-Lao about possessing humans, learned that soul synchronization was possible but rare, and returned to Hong Kong before the signing.
• Matt woke in an underground cell and realized Elektra had captured him and taken his Daredevil gear.
• Elektra admitted she had recognized Matt from the start but said Kingpin did not know his identity, then promised to find a chance to free him after the mission.
• Alexandra and Bakuto listened to Matt and Elektra through a device, and Alexandra ordered them to keep Elektra on course and leave Matt alive as Black Sky’s tether.
• Yukio arrived at a private estate in New York and asked to see Wolverine Logan, and the gates opened.

Yukio arrived at the X-Mansion to invite Logan to Japan on behalf of Ichiro Yashida, who was dying and wanted to see him. The X-Men learned she had found the school using Xiang Qian’s Cerebral Wave Disruptor, and Yukio agreed to keep the mansion’s location secret.

• Yukio told Logan that Ichiro Yashida had sent her to invite him to Japan and said Yashida remembered Logan saving his life during the Nagasaki atomic bombing.
• Jean Grey showed a news report about Yashida Group, and Logan grew jealous when he noticed her Electronic Bracelet.
• Yukio revealed that she had used Xiang Qian’s portable Cerebral Wave Disruptor to locate the X-Mansion.
• Professor Xavier learned that Yukio was a mutant who could sense the deaths people would face, then persuaded her to keep the mansion’s address secret.
• Logan vowed to travel to Japan and China to confront Xiang Qian, but Jean told him he could not beat him, making Kitty laugh.

Dr. Green rejected Mariko Yashida’s attempt to visit Ichiro Yashida, then killed three men sent by The Hand to capture her. The survivor carried back a message revealing that Ichiro knew about The Beast’s seal, forcing The Hand to reconsider its plans.

• Dr. Green refused to let Mariko see Ichiro, deepening Mariko’s suspicions about the doctor’s authority over the Yashida family leader.
• Dr. Green considered the Yashida family’s succession struggle and doubted that Mariko’s concern for her grandfather was purely affectionate.
• Four men confronted Dr. Green on a quiet street, but she killed three of them with her snake-like abilities.
• Dr. Green told the surviving man to send Nobu Yoshioka to retrieve The Hand’s things and said that Mr. Yashida had long wanted to speak with them.
• The Hand learned from the survivor that Ichiro Yashida had discovered The Beast’s seal long ago.

Xiang Qian traveled to Japan to support the Wude Group’s partnership with the Yashida Group and met Ichiro Yashida after clashing with Logan at the family estate. He left suspecting that Ichiro intended to deny Shingen the succession and favor a young girl instead.

• Xiang Qian arrived in Tokyo, where Shingen Yashida welcomed him after the groups signed an equity transfer and capital injection agreement.
• After days of business engagements, Xiang Qian received an invitation to meet Ichiro Yashida and encountered Logan at the estate.
• Logan and Xiang Qian exchanged insults, while Shingen grew angry when Ichiro chose to meet Logan before the investor.
• Xiang Qian met Ichiro in his hospital room, praised Shingen’s leadership, and discussed the Yashida Group’s future.
• Xiang Qian noticed Ichiro’s contempt when Shingen was called opinionated and suspected Ichiro planned to favor a young girl as heir.

After Ichiro Yashida was reported dead, Xiang Qian suspected the death was staged and discovered that Logan’s healing had weakened. Meanwhile, Dr. Green confronted Alexandra about The Hand’s buried secret and demanded that it fulfill Ichiro’s terms.

• Xiang Qian examined Ichiro Yashida’s soul during the nighttime commotion and suspected the old man’s reported death was faked.
• Xiang Qian offered Mariko Yashida his condolences, then fought Logan and found that Logan’s forehead wound was healing unusually slowly.
• Logan refused to explain his weakened healing or discuss whether Ichiro had spoken to him.
• Dr. Green met Alexandra, who said she led The Hand and that Nobu Yoshioka could not attend.
• Dr. Green told Alexandra that Ichiro’s death did not cancel his demands and revealed that he knew The Hand had buried something fifty meters beneath the valley floor.