126. New Card: The Heroine Who Equals a Multitude

With Sharon’s assistance, things on Gwen’s side were temporarily settled, and Su Ye finally had time to consider the matter of the Akatsuki organization.

He had been very happy when he previously drew the Hinata girlfriend card. After all, Hinata had a wonderful personality and was incredibly accommodating—she was simply the epitome of a perfect girlfriend. As for the minor friction with Gwen, it was just a young girl’s rebellious phase; she would grow out of it. At least, that was what Su Ye believed. If she kept rebelling, she wouldn’t be a traditional, gentle Japanese woman—she’d turn into Sadako. How could his Hinata be so fierce? Besides, with Sharon there to serve as a mentor and guide, it was only a matter of time before Hinata moved past her rebellious streak.

But the main problem now wasn’t some romantic turmoil; it was the Akatsuki. Logically speaking, Hinata was only twelve years old, and in *Naruto Shippuden*, the Akatsuki didn't begin capturing the Tailed Beasts until she was sixteen. Su Ye hadn't taken it too seriously at first, assuming there was plenty of time. Even if the timeline were advanced, it shouldn't be this fast—he had only just learned the Summoning Jutsu, after all. Yet, the Battle of New York had barely concluded when the Akatsuki arrived. Without a hint of warning or hesitation, they appeared silently, not granting him even a moment to catch his breath.

The question was: could Su Ye withstand the Akatsuki’s assault? Even if he had used a surprise attack to catch Deidara off guard and easily dismantled one of Sasori’s human puppets, it would be difficult to secure another kill so easily now that the others were on their guard. Furthermore, the Akatsuki had those "red-eye" freaks, and more than one! The Uchiha family’s hereditary "red-eye disease"—if just one Itachi were to unleash his full power, the destruction caused would likely exceed that of the Chitauri invasion. With Su Ye’s current abilities, victory against the Mangekyo Sharingan was virtually impossible. And these red-eyed psychos were each harder to deal with than the last: behind Itachi was the gloomy Nagato, behind Nagato was the idiot Obito, and behind Obito was Madara himself. Were all the Uchihas lunatics? Even someone like Nagato, who didn't share the bloodline, became a freak after having a Sharingan transplanted into him. If a Six Paths Madara showed up, Su Ye might really have to call "Old Su." *Stop drinking and bragging at home; use the Flying Raijin and cut over here immediately, or your son is done for.*

Fortunately, it hadn't reached that point yet. Su Ye could probably handle the current situation. Of course, finding a way to improve his strength was the top priority; after all, only one's own power is truly reliable. As a system owner, Su Ye had two paths to improvement: one was to strengthen and consolidate his current abilities, and the other was to continue drawing girlfriend cards. He had already saved up a few, so he could try to see if he could pull a girlfriend card who had a powerful boyfriend. However, powerful characters usually came with powerful enemies, which might bring him more trouble. The other path—pushing his current abilities to the limit—was relatively free of side effects.

Thinking of this, Su Ye remembered the Toad Boss, Gamabunta, who had previously mentioned taking him to Mount Myoboku. Now seemed like the perfect time. Going to Mount Myoboku wouldn't just make Su Ye stronger; he could also use his absence to stall the Akatsuki’s offensive. Without Su Ye and without the Tailed Beasts, there was no point for the Akatsuki to continue attacking the city. This way, Gwen and the others would basically be safe.

However, there was one issue: if Su Ye really went to Mount Myoboku, it would be an admission that he feared the Akatsuki. To put it nicely, it was a strategic withdrawal; to put it bluntly, it was running away with his tail between his legs. While Su Ye didn't have the obsession of fighting to the death, he was the one holding the reins of both the Defenders and the Avengers. To run away from a single organization like the Akatsuki was simply inexcusable. Running away was impossible. Even if the Uchiha freaks showed up, Su Ye wouldn't flee without a fight.

Meanwhile, in a ruin not far from the Osborne Group tower, Uchiha Itachi suddenly stopped.

"What’s wrong? Why did you stop?" asked Kisame Hoshigaki, who looked like a piece of dried fish.

Itachi shook his head. "Deidara is dead, and Sasori has been defeated. We cannot afford to be careless. Before we make our move, we must obtain firsthand information to ensure there are no mistakes. Otherwise, wouldn't it tarnish the reputation of the Akatsuki?"

Itachi didn't usually talk much. Kisame was actually touched that he had said so much this time. After thinking it over with his limited brain cells, he nodded in deep agreement. "Itachi, you're right!" His tone sounded uncannily like Sha Wujing.

Itachi didn't say anything more. He formed a few hand seals, and several black crows flew out from under his cloak. This was the Crow Clone Technique, projecting his chakra onto several crows to create clones. Because the crows served as the medium, the chakra consumption was minimal, making it perfect for reconnaissance and surveillance. This was one of Itachi’s signature tricks, and as his partner, Kisame knew it well, so he simply sat down on the spot and waited quietly.

Dozens of crows scattered across the ruin-filled city of New York were actually quite conspicuous. After all, this was a city; there were few birds, and after the intense battle, the bombing, and the explosions, any birds that might have been there had long since been scared away. It was hard not to have negative thoughts about the sudden appearance of dozens of crows. Fortunately, the sky was already growing dark, so the crows hiding in the shadows weren't quite as noticeable.

After Deidara’s appearance during the day, the Akatsuki had already figured out Su Ye’s identity and knew he was staying at the Osborne Group tower, so the crows all headed in that direction. Through the eyes of a crow, Itachi saw Su Ye—a young man who was somewhat different from his impression, far taller and stronger.

*As expected, he is indeed the son of Uncle Su. A tiger father has no dog for a son!* Itachi muttered to himself. At that same moment, Su Ye happened to look up at the crow perched not far from him. The two locked eyes through the crow's gaze, caught completely off guard.

"They really did come knocking?" Su Ye muttered. He produced a kunai and flicked it toward the crow.

*Thwack!* The kunai pinned the crow to the wall behind it, pinning one of the wings that it had been about to use to dodge.

"Don't bother trying to dodge; you won't get away," Su Ye said, reaching for another kunai.

The crow pinned to the wall suddenly opened its mouth and spat a glob of phlegm at Su Ye.

Su Ye: "..." Seriously? Fire style or water style ninjutsu would be fine, but spitting phlegm was just disgusting. Disgusting as it was, Su Ye reached out to catch what the crow had spat. It wasn't phlegm; it was a tiny piece of paper. Upon opening it, he saw a line of small text: *The enemy is strong. Run, or call for help!*

Clearly, a mole was sending intelligence—much like "There's a traitor, stop the trade." The moment he saw that crow, Su Ye had guessed the identity of its controller: it had to be the double agent Uchiha Itachi. In the original story, he was the "filial son" who killed his entire clan—men, women, children, and even infants—sparing only his younger brother, yet somehow managed to be redeemed in the end. Since coming to this world, Su Ye didn't know what Itachi’s backstory was. After all, Old Su was still alive and kicking, and many things had changed from the original story. Su Ye had previously tried to probe Hinata about the Uchiha family, but she was vague, as if she had never heard of the clan or the Sharingan. At the time, Su Ye had assumed that Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno were likely gone—after all, he was nearly nineteen and hadn't attended any ninja academy, so Kakashi’s Team 7 probably didn't exist. Now that Itachi had appeared, the situation needed a reassessment.

Or, perhaps he should just call Old Su and ask? Thinking of this, Su Ye threw his kunai, pinning the crow to death, then pulled out his phone and dialed Old Su’s number.

On the other end, Old Su answered in a groggy, half-asleep voice. "Hello?"

Su Ye’s anger flared instantly. His son was fighting for his life in New York, the alien invasion was being broadcast live, and half the city had been blown to bits—how could he still be sleeping? How could he be so detached?

"Dad, what’s the deal with Uchiha Itachi?" Su Ye didn't waste time and went straight to the point.

On the other end, Old Su was still clearly muddled. "Who? Uchiha... Itachi? What deal?"

Su Ye scratched his head. After the "Sinicization," he really had trouble grasping the names. Calling it "Hinata Hyuga" was a name, but "Hinata" now sounded like an action...

"It’s..." Su Ye thought for a moment. "The guy with the Sharingan who joined the Akatsuki!"

"Oh, you mean Uchiha Yu? The eldest son of the Fugaku family, right?" Old Su’s voice didn't have a hint of tension. "You saw him? Did he beat you up too badly? Little Yu is my secret pawn. Don't worry, even if he beats you up, he won't do anything serious to you!"

"Alright, if there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up. I stayed up too late watching your live stream last night, and I drank... *cough*, I mean, I stayed up late and I’m not feeling well. Bye!"

With that, Old Su hung up, not giving Su Ye a chance to ask for help. Listening to the busy signal, Su Ye’s face twisted. Was he really his biological father? He was out here fighting for his life, and his dad was at home hungover? "Old Su, I’m telling you, we are not done with this!"

Su Ye wasn't surprised that Uchiha Itachi had become Uchiha Yu and was Old Su's secret pawn. It was fine if Itachi became Yu; after all, he was a Sinicized character, and Chinese people didn't have the habit of naming their children after weasels. Perhaps the weasel wasn't considered an ordinary creature in folklore, often called "Lord Huang," so names like "Er Gouzi" were more common.

According to what Uchiha Itachi—well, Uchiha Yu—had said, the Akatsuki organization was very strong and Su Ye couldn't resist them, so he should run or seek help. But the "seek help" path had been blocked by that drunken mess, Old Su. As for running, Su Ye wouldn't do it. He absolutely wouldn't run without a fight. So now, he could only wait for tonight. After the Battle of New York, he would see what kind of reward the system would give him at midnight.

A reward was definitely coming. From Su Ye’s perspective, he had been very successful in the Battle of New York. He had stopped the aliens from conquering Earth, incidentally destroyed the largest and most prosperous city in the US, and summoned the Toad Boss, using the Summoning Jutsu to haul away nearly half the alien corpses and equipment as spoils of war. For Su Ye, this could basically be called a complete victory. Logically, the reward should be quite generous. Maybe he could even turn around and strike back at them.

As he waited, time slowly ticked by. Finally, midnight arrived, and the system prompt arrived right on cue.

[Ding! Event 'Battle of New York' completed. Achieved 'unimaginable' results. Obtained one 'Girlfriend Card (Blue · Special · Star)'.]

This time, the notification was different from usual. First, it assessed Su Ye’s completion of the event using the word "unimaginable." Second, this was the first time he had encountered a card with two suffixes: [Girlfriend Card (Blue · Special · Star)]. Even if it was only a blue card, two suffixes had to be better than just one "Star" suffix. He wondered how "Special" this would be.

He took out the card and activated it with an electric spark. After a blue light flashed, a woman with blue skin and red hair appeared on the card.

"Is this... the 'Big Cousin'? Mystique?"

Looking at the card, Su Ye was suddenly at a loss. A double-suffix card, and he got this? What was so special about this woman? Was it because of her species' traits, making it impossible to tell if that blue skin was a suit or if she was actually naked? Or was it that she was a heroine who could satisfy all of a man's fantasies, to the point where even if he wanted a man, she could satisfy him? Such a "special" trait wouldn't help Su Ye’s combat power at all. Besides, even if Mystique transformed, she only changed her appearance and didn't gain the target's true power, so even if she turned into a fully-geared Thanos, it would be useless.

Beyond that, there was an even more important question bothering Su Ye: Who on earth was Mystique’s boyfriend?