Naruto: From Konoha to One Piece (and Beyond)

With a loud bang, a rocket struck the Hulk's head. The surrounding soldiers looked on with anticipation, only to see the explosion suppressed as the Hulk roared in fury, dispersing the flames and shockwave with sheer force.

"Hulk!" Enraged, the green giant grabbed a nearby jeep and hurled it as effortlessly as if he were tossing a pebble.

The soldier who had fired the RPG instinctively dove for cover, feeling the air pressure of the vehicle rushing overhead. A moment later, a deafening explosion shook the base. The soldier peeked out and saw the wreckage—the jeep had smashed through a three-meter-thick concrete wall, crossed half the base, destroyed multiple buildings, and embedded itself into an armored vehicle.

"I knew it... those crazy scientists never create anything good!"

Tom, the squad leader, spoke with tears in his eyes. As he noticed the Hulk glaring at him, he immediately collapsed to the ground, pretending to be dead.

He wasn't alone. Without a word of command, every soldier followed suit, dropping to the ground in perfect unison.

In a world dominated by superheroes, supervillains, and mad scientists, ordinary soldiers had long since mastered the art of playing dead.

After all, many of them had faced mutants from the X-Men and the Brotherhood before. They knew their place—background characters in conflicts far beyond their pay grade.

Unless they were part of an elite unit, most soldiers had neither the morale nor the foolishness to stand against a superhuman opponent.

Fighting these monsters for the benefit of high-ranking officers? Forget it.

If the top brass were on the battlefield, at least they'd have some incentive to fight. But in this situation, survival took priority.

Seeing that his glare alone had sent the entire squad into fearful submission, the Hulk paused, looking momentarily puzzled. He scratched his head before reaching down and grabbing a nearby soldier by the collar.

After a moment of silence, the soldier remained motionless, maintaining his act.

Irritated, the Hulk scoffed, he dropped the soldier and then leaped into the air and disappeared from sight.

Despite his brutish appearance, Hulk wasn't completely mindless. He understood that the soldiers were feigning death, but he wasn't interested in needless killing. That was the real reason they had all survived.

As the Hulk bounded across the landscape, his rage gradually faded. With each leap, his massive form shrank, his muscles softened, and his skin lost its green hue. Finally, in a secluded wilderness, Bruce Banner collapsed unconscious.

Not long after, the area near him rippled, and Shin emerged cautiously. Black mist swirled around his hands as he reached out and enveloped Bruce Banner in his dark mist.

Only after seeing that Bruce remained dormant did Shin exhale in relief. So long as Banner wasn't directly attacked, the Hulk wouldn't resurface.

Even if the transformation did occur, Shin wasn't particularly afraid. However, Hulk's ability to grow stronger with rage was still unnerving.

In the movies, the Hulk seemed to get weaker over time—at his strongest when he first appeared, then diminishing as his intelligence grew and his anger lessened.

With Bruce Banner now secured in his dark dimension, Shin could conduct his experiments freely.

Meanwhile, back at the experimental base, Shin's clone remained on standby.

"Dr. Shin, how is my father's condition?"

Betty Ross, General Ross's daughter, looked at him anxiously.

At this point, she was still unaware that the Hulk was, in fact, her boyfriend. If she knew, she would likely be even more distressed.

"Well... the good news is that General Ross will probably survive. The bad news is that he might never walk again."

Betty blinked in confusion.

Shin realized his words had been too casual. After all, this was her father.

"I mean, his spine is severely damaged. Barring a miracle, he will either be bedridden or in a wheelchair for the rest of his life."

"Oh my god, how did this happen?" Betty covered her face, breaking into tears.

"Um... Miss Betty, I have something else to tell you," Shin hesitated. 

"According to the lab's security footage... that green-skinned monster is Bruce Banner."

"What?!"

Betty looked as if she might faint. "That's impossible! Bruce turning into that... that monster?"

Yet, the footage was undeniable. Coupled with testimony from Banner's colleagues, there was no room for doubt.

Eventually, Betty had no choice but to accept the truth—her boyfriend had been exposed to excessive gamma radiation, transforming into the Hulk and inadvertently crippling her father.

The only consolation was that Bruce had become the Hulk while trying to save lives, rather than through some twisted experiment.

Still, the revelation terrified her. Her father had always viewed Bruce as weak and incompetent, to the point of capturing him for human experimentation.

Now, the tables had turned.

A few days later, General Ross finally regained consciousness. His injuries were extensive, but he had survived—without the aid of any supernatural healing, only conventional medical treatment.

When informed that his spine was beyond repair and that he would never walk again, the notoriously hot-tempered general didn't explode in rage.

Instead, he accepted the news with eerie calm.

A few days after that…

General Ross, now confined to a wheelchair, appeared in Shin's laboratory.

With a simple wave, he dismissed the soldiers who had been pushing his wheelchair. They stepped outside, taking their positions as guards.

Shin, standing at a workstation, carefully sealed a blood sample before returning the lab instruments to their proper places. Removing his gloves, he washed his hands before turning to face Ross.

"Well, General, what kind of body modification are you planning?"

Ross remained silent for a moment before speaking. "You already knew this was coming, didn't you?"

"Of course," Shin smirked. "You're one of the most prominent generals in the U.S. military. There's no way you'd accept being permanently disabled and forced into retirement."

He continued, "When you didn't show any anger or despair in the hospital—and even took the time to comfort your daughter—I could already tell what you were thinking."

"You want to gamble everything on the body enhancement operation, don't you?"

Ross chuckled. "It seems I found the right man. No ordinary researcher would dare perform the procedure."

As one of the youngest lieutenant generals in the country, Ross's reputation was well-known.

If his enhancement went smoothly, it would be fine. But if anything went wrong, the consequences would be catastrophic. No ordinary scientist would dare take that risk.

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