HIATUS

"ah….a..h...a.h…."

"…..a...g"

"h…h….a.....a..h.."

".a.a….g…h.."

"ah....a..h.."

5 individuals were being injected with two bags of drugs, one was the super-soldier serum of Howard Stark and one was my own creation, a drug that can forcibly expand the chakra pathways.

The chakra pathway system is enmeshed within the body, transporting chakra through the body and each organ as the circulatory system does blood. The system is in some way involved in the creation of chakra itself as well, as every cell in the body is connected to this pathway system by a capillary which draws out the cell's physical energy and is refined into chakra by several organs, such as the heart. This means every living being has dormant chakra in them, the problem is they don't know how to use it.

The people in Naruto world found out that the best way to start training in harnessing chakra is when you're young, 4-5 years old to be exact.  It is at this age when someone can mold chakra easily.

Anyone who has not begun in the training of molding chakra at the age of at least 10-15 years old will most likely never be able to do it, or in the small chance that they can, their chakra capacity will only reach the genin rank at best.

Now, my plan was basically to make a group of super-soldiers who are on steroids. I didn't just want normal super-soldiers, I wanted a unit similar to the anbus in the shinobi world.

'hmmmm... I wonder what I'm going to name them....', I thought to myself.

Even with my drug the best thing it can do is expand someone's pathway from mid-genin to mid-chunin level and it also has one major side effect, death.

They would not have to die if they had at least unlock their chakra when they were younger but since all the people I am injecting this drug are adults, their body will undergo a sort of trauma, which will eventually lead to death. That's the reason why it is simultaneously being injected with the super-soldier serum.

"What number are we now?", I asked Howard.

"This five makes it a total of 135 people done...The previous recipients are currently not doing well….", Howard said weakly.

"Noted, Keep up the good work", I said.

After the latest 5 people were done, Howard approaches me and said, "Can we talk in private?".

I nodded and we both walk to the office of the now-dead Vasily.

"What do you want to talk about?", I asked him after closing the door and activating the silencing barrier.

"I am not sure if what we are doing is right…", Howard said reluctantly.

"What do you mean?", I asked perplexed.,

"…We are making them stronger, so that you can revive them…so that you can use them", Howard said as he looks me dead in the eyes.

For a while, I didn't respond. Howard just looks at me.

Telling him a portion of my plans and implementing them were totally different things.  At first, he agreed but now he is questioning my methods, he is especially questioning my morality.

"Are you talking about them, or are you talking about you?" I said with a calm tone. No, one wants to be controlled, Howard included. That's why to foster a sort of good relationship with Howard Stark, I had not once controlled him. True, I can spy through him but I had allowed him to keep his autonomy.

"…", Howard remained quiet after what I said.

"Tell me something Howard, you took part in the Manhattan Project way back in WW2, would you still participate seeing what your creation will do? I personally believe you would still do it. Do you know why? It was because of your responsibility, your responsibility to your country to be exact. Now let me tell you something. What I am fighting is not something that can be compared to the responsibility you once had. No, the responsibility I bear is something far greater than you could ever imagine. The stakes are so high that most people would choke under pressure", I said to him in a determined and intimating voice.

Howard clearly didn't know how to respond to that, his face showed a conflicted expression, seeing his face I calmed down and sighed.

"We are at a disadvantage Howard, I know it and you know it," I said to him as I walk to the window. "Who would you say will protect us in the future, SHIELD? The Sorcerers? Our Government?" I said to him as my back was still facing him.

"No, all of them are too busy trying to fight the things they believe are important. None can blame them though…The sorcerers will believe me, but their numbers too few to make a huge impact in the grander scale", I said to him.

"..At what cause? Why would you stoop in something so inhumane?.... You will be making these people just like Bucky, a group of mindless dogs, with no free will.", Howard said.

"I know what I'm doing can be labeled as 'evil', but they are our enemies. Hydra is doing this to achieve global control, I am just thinning out their numbers", I said.

For a while, Howard and I stared at each other's eyes in silence. He eventually sighed and left the room, but before he fully exited the room he said, "I hope that you still remember that we are humans, we had a life, and we are not something to be played with. We shall see if your so-called responsibility is worthy of using this method".

I sighed at Howard's comment and I just watch the snow falling outside through my window.

Maybe Howard is right, maybe my methods are too cruel, but he doesn't understand what we are up against, Thanos.

Thanos is a being with a sole purpose, to wipe out half the life in the universe. This person is controlled by this belief, every action and inaction he took was planned to the smallest detail. This allowed him to achieve what he has achieved, a reputation that most civilizations in the universe has started to fear.

Tell me, how do I fight him? How do I fight a man so focus and determined in his own belief that he will be willing to sacrifice the only person he truly loved, his daughter.

Only an equally focus individual can stand up to him, so if Stark believes me to be morally compromised, so be it.

"Only a monster can stand up to a monster", I said to myself.

Howard proceeded to inject more people until half of the people in the facility remained. Within 24 hours the people that were injected died. I soon called a gathering of all the remaining people in the facility. In this gathering I release a sleeping gas, causing all of them to pass out.

Before I use them as a medium for the reanimation jutsu, I absorbed most of their life force. The last time I had absorbed someone's life force I had a substantial increase in chakra levels. After the harvest, my chakra has reached the early stages of high kage level.

While I was busy absorbing life force, Howard patiently collected DNA samples from the 500 people who he injected the serums.

After a few hours, I now have 500 reanimated corpses. Enhance with super-soldier serum, each having varying degrees of chunin level chakra.

All these 500 people still believe that they are still Hydra operatives, that we gave them a gift. Unbeknownst to them, they are already in my control. I smiled and said to them, "From this day on you will be called, Phantoms. Welcome to SHADOW!".