Facing Steve's questioning, Natasha admitted she didn't know all the details but shared a critical piece of information.
"I know who killed Nick Fury," she said.
Steve Rogers froze for a moment, shocked that Natasha actually knew. Under his steady gaze, Natasha continued slowly:
"Most intelligence agencies don't believe he exists. Those who do call him the Winter Soldier."
"For the past fifty years, he's been involved in over two dozen assassinations."
Hearing this, Steve asked, "So he's like a ghost?"
Natasha recounted her own experience:
"Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Near Odessa, someone shot out my tires, and the car went off a cliff. We managed to escape."
"But the Winter Soldier was there."
"When I shielded the engineer, he shot me here and killed him."
Natasha lifted her shirt to reveal a gunshot scar on her stomach, about three fingers to the right of her navel.
"A Soviet bullet—no rifling," she explained.
Seeing the scar, Steve realized it matched the weapon used to kill Nick Fury.
Natasha smirked wryly, "No more bikinis for me."
Steve, nodding, replied bluntly, "You'd look terrible in a bikini now."
Natasha was momentarily speechless before continuing:
"With our resources, tracking him isn't realistic. I've tried."
"But I know this—if we can commision ninjas from the Charles Agency, even if he's truly a ghost, they'll find him for you."
"After all, they have a 100% mission success rate so far."
Hearing this, Steve shook his head, "Do you have the commission fee for that?"
"I've fought the Winter Soldier. He's not a normal person."
"Tasks at this level don't just require money. Do you have an 084 item to offer?"
Natasha grinned and pulled out the USB drive Nick Fury had entrusted to Steve.
"Like you said, he's just a ghost."
"With this in our hands, he'll come to us—or we'll find him."
Steve took back the USB drive and said firmly, "Then let's see what this ghost really wants."
…
On the Other Side-
Alexander Pierce was communicating with the members of the Security Council, and he began, "Nick Fury was brutally murdered. Any rational person would call him a martyr, not a traitor."
The British council member questioned, "Then why label him a traitor? Was it because he allowed mercenaries to hijack his own ship?"
The French council member added, "Nick Fury used his relationship with you to pressure the council into delaying Project Insight. He knew the plan would expose his illegal activities. To put it nicely, he deceived you. To be blunt..."
Pierce glanced at the five Security Council members and interrupted, "Do you want me to resign? I can write my resignation letter right now."
The American representative, a female council member, replied, "That's a discussion we can postpone."
Pierce raised an eyebrow in surprise, "You seriously want me to resign?"
The British council member chimed in, "We've already discussed this, Mr. Secretary. The council has decided to immediately restart Project Insight. If you want to argue, now's the time."
Hearing the council's decision, Pierce was secretly pleased. Just as he had anticipated, they were eager to push forward with Project Insight.
…
Elsewhere-
Charles was enjoying a fine meal when Red Queen's voice interrupted, "Master, as per your instructions, I am notifying you immediately upon detecting a wanted notice for Steve Rogers. S.H.I.E.L.D. has officially issued a warrant for his arrest. He is now a fugitive."
Hearing the news, a faint smile appeared on Charles's lips.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s destruction was imminent, and this was the perfect opportunity to seize the 084 artifacts stored in their facilities.
He had no intention of letting Garrett—aka "The Clairvoyant," a Hydra operative—get his hands on those assets.
But deciding who to send to seize S.H.I.E.L.D.'s storage facility required careful thought.
There was no need to involve the Akatsuki, who were busy collecting blood cores. They should continue their current work.
Instead, the task could be entrusted to the Cloud Village ninjas, led by Killer Bee. Their mission would be to take over the facility directly.
As for Coulson's "dream team," Charles dismissed them as irrelevant. Although Nick Fury had tasked Coulson with rebuilding S.H.I.E.L.D., providing personnel and safe houses, they lacked the resources to be a threat.
Without access to the bulk of the 084 artifacts, Charles could deal with them as needed.
And if something valuable emerged, he could simply send ninjas to claim it.
Moreover, the Cloud ninjas could assist in eliminating Hydra and keep a share of the spoils—it was only fair.
With their current strength, they could clear out the facility swiftly. Thanks to Mabui's Heavenly Transfer Technique, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s 084 artifacts would belong to Charles almost immediately.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru would focus on taking over Pierce's Hydra faction and consolidating control over the other Hydra branches.