First Battle against HYDRA

Riding the motorcycles left behind by HYDRA soldiers, Kazuhiko Uchiha and Steve sped toward Red Skull's underground base.

Along the way, more and more HYDRA soldiers arrived on motorcycles, intercepting them from different directions. But the gap in their abilities left the soldiers helpless to do anything but watch the two break through with ease.

Near the perimeter of the base, the elite HYDRA soldiers stationed there under Red Skull were already prepared. They formed several defensive lines in depth and joined the encirclement.

Not only that, more than a dozen energy-powered armored tanks rolled out of the base onto the battlefield. Their massive cannons and mounted energy machine guns began charging, the blue glow making the snow-covered Alps seem even colder.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh."

Dense volleys of energy beams and cannon blasts screamed past Kazuhiko Uchiha and Steve, annihilating the rocks and vegetation they struck. Powered by the Cosmic Cube, these Magic-Energy Weapons posed a lethal threat to both men.

Steve had a shield made from Marvel's hardest metal, which could withstand the energy attacks. Kazuhiko Uchiha had no such luxury. He could only keep moving at high speed to stop the HYDRA soldiers from locking onto him.

Kazuhiko Uchiha tossed the submachine gun Peggy had given him into his system space, drew eight shuriken from his ninja tool pouch, and threw them toward the HYDRA soldiers in two volleys.

"Clink, clink, clink, clink."

The second volley overtook the first, striking the earlier projectiles in midair with a series of crisp metallic chimes. Every projectile changed course, striking eight HYDRA soldiers in the throat simultaneously from different angles.

The method Kazuhiko Uchiha used was the Uchiha Style Kunai Throwing Technique, another famed specialty of the Uchiha Clan besides the Sharingan, which was renowned throughout the Shinobi World.

Normally, ninja tools could not change direction in midair, but the Uchiha Style Throwing Technique broke that universal rule.

Using the Sharingan's exceptional ability to track movement, Uchiha Clan shinobi calculated trajectories, angles, and a series of other variables. They precisely used collisions between ninja tools to make them abruptly change direction, catching enemies who dodged along the original trajectories off guard.

Of course, it was still only a throwing technique. At best, it could deal with enemies below jonin level. Even some elite chunin with exceptional reflexes and speed could dodge or block kunai after they changed direction.

Yet these elite HYDRA soldiers did not even qualify as genin. Naturally, they could not evade the ninja tools, and their numbers began dwindling at an astonishing rate under Kazuhiko Uchiha's attacks.

"Rat-tat-tat."

Seeing Kazuhiko Uchiha's formidable display stirred Steve's competitive spirit. Unwilling to be outdone, he drew his own weapon and returned fire.

With the superb marksmanship he had developed during training after enlisting, Steve took a HYDRA soldier's life with every shot. His efficiency, however, fell far short of Kazuhiko Uchiha's.

Raising his gun again, Steve gently squeezed the trigger at a distant target. The sight of so many HYDRA soldiers still remaining filled him with urgency. Unless they broke through soon, they might be too late to stop Red Skull's evil plan to destroy the world.

Just like Steve, Red Skull—John Schmidt—was growing anxious as he watched the battle from inside the base.

"Useless! A bunch of useless fools!"

Red Skull stamped his feet in fury. An entire battalion of several hundred elite HYDRA troops had gone up against two Allied Forces soldiers, only to suffer so many casualties. What were they if not useless?

Although one of those men was Captain America, who had been injected with the Super-Soldier Serum, Red Skull did not consider that an excuse for their failure.

But Red Skull had no idea how much despair his subordinates faced. They were not too weak; their enemies were simply too powerful. Kazuhiko Uchiha in particular was a monster, killing several soldiers with every attack. The two sides were not remotely in the same league.

"Order the second battalion to move out immediately. Capture Captain America and his teammate alive. If they put up too much resistance, eliminate them."

Watching Captain America come close to breaking through the encirclement, Red Skull issued another order, sending out another unit guarding the base.

"But sir, what about your safety?" His subordinate was worried. If they sent out the second battalion, only one battalion would remain inside the base. If other Allied Forces units attacked, they might be unable to mount an effective defense.

"Do as I say, soldier!"

Red Skull fixed the subordinate with a hostile stare until cold sweat poured down the man's back. Then he turned to another subordinate and ordered, "Accelerate the charging of the Wings of the Valkyrie immediately. It's time the world felt HYDRA's power."

"Hail HYDRA!" All of Red Skull's subordinates shouted in response, then hurried off to carry out his orders.

As more HYDRA soldiers and energy-powered armored tanks joined the battle, the incoming energy beams grew as dense as raindrops in a downpour. The pressure on the two men mounted, and even Kazuhiko Uchiha began to struggle a little.

"Buddy, why does it feel like there are more enemies the longer we fight? This isn't a good sign."

Steve blocked an energy beam with his shield and rolled over to Kazuhiko Uchiha. Picking up a Mana Gun dropped by a dead HYDRA soldier, he aimed at a gunner operating a tank's machine gun and fired.

Kazuhiko Uchiha flung out his last few ninja tools and decided to use ninjutsu to deal with the HYDRA soldiers. He suggested to Steve, "Steve, we can't let these soldiers hold us here. Break through and deal with Red Skull. Leave them to me."

"Can you really handle them alone?" Steve rolled in front of Kazuhiko Uchiha again and blocked an energy beam for him, his voice doubtful.

"Leave it to me. Go, and make sure you stop Red Skull's plan." Kazuhiko Uchiha picked up a Mana Gun and urged Steve to leave.

"All right. Be careful." After a brief hesitation, Steve agreed to Kazuhiko Uchiha's plan and offered a concerned warning. He knocked a HYDRA soldier flying, seized a motorcycle, and broke through the encirclement.

Once Steve had left, Kazuhiko Uchiha could finally cut loose against these rank-and-file soldiers.

The tank cannons and energy machine guns filled with dazzling blue light again, then swept volley after volley of blue energy beams toward Kazuhiko Uchiha's position.

"Substitution Technique! Shadow Clone Technique!"

Kazuhiko Uchiha evaded the volley, immediately drew the Black Iron Katana from his storage space, and created two shadow clones. His original body activated the Eight Gates Released Formation and appeared atop an energy-powered armored tank in an instant.

"Shnk!"

The sound of a blade cutting into bone rang out, and the machine gun that had been spewing energy beams instantly fell silent.

Realizing the danger, the operators inside the tank tried to close the hatch in its roof. But they were too late, cut down by two arcs of chakra blade energy.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

The two shadow clones repeatedly cast the low-cost, area-of-effect Fire Release ninjutsu, turning HYDRA soldiers into blazing balls of fire one after another.

Faced with Kazuhiko Uchiha's supernatural abilities, the HYDRA soldiers died even faster. Before long, having lost seventy percent of their men, the HYDRA force collapsed. Disregarding Red Skull's orders, they scattered like headless chickens.

Kazuhiko Uchiha did not pursue the fleeing HYDRA soldiers. After a brief rest, he began clearing the battlefield, putting the spoils and any ninja tools still fit for use into his system space.

For the first time, Kazuhiko Uchiha felt that his system space was far too small. It could not hold much at all, so he could only take the smaller Mana Guns as loot. His heart bled as he left behind the clearly more valuable energy-powered armored tanks.

Collecting and exchanging items as he went, Kazuhiko soon finished clearing the battlefield. Then he righted a motorcycle and rode toward Red Skull's final base.