A new mutant named Sunfire has made his debut appearance in New York City, denouncing all those below him as nothing more than ants. His activity has set off the X-Men's Cerebro unit, prompting Beast to call Angel to check it out and the group to go and find out if this mutant is a ally or an enemy.

Sunfire has flown to the United Nations building where Saburo Yoshida, Japanese diplomat, has arrived to present the "Youth of the World" statue as a gift to the United States. The imperialist Sunfire finds such a gesture foolish. He crashes the ceremony, denouncing Yoshida as a traitor and destroying the statue with his microwave powers. His reign of terror on the crowd is cut short when he is attacked by Angel, Beast and Iceman, who give him a good fight. After blasting Beast with his heat ray, Sunfire flees, proving he is able to fly faster than Angel could even fathom. Angel and Iceman take the wounded Iceman to the apartment the X-Men keep in the city, where Beast's burns are treated by Jean, while they fill Scott in on what happened.
Sunfire, really Shiro Yoshida, son of Saburo, returns to his Uncle Tomo's hideout where he reports back. When Shiro comments on how he feels his actions are somewhat wrong, Tomo reminds Shiro of the American's dropping the atomic bomb on Japan during World War II. He explains how his mother, while miles away from the blast, was affected and died giving birth to Shiro many years later. Tomo goes on to explain how he took young Shiro under his wing and taught him to despise the America's for what they did during the war. He later took him to some remaining ruins of Hiroshima where young Shiro's mutant powers manifested, prompting Tomo to train him in the use of his powers as a supporter of Imperial Japanese ideals, as the costumed mutant Sunfire. Renewing Shiro's hatred of America, Tomo prepares the angry young mutant for his plot to humble America before the entire world.
The X-Men meanwhile use Jean's telepathic powers to try and track down Sunfire and are surprised to find out that he is traveling in a diplomatic vehicle. Deciding to play it cautious, they follow the car to JFK Airport, where Shiro and those in the car board a plane to Washington D.C. The X-Men follow and the Angel almost has a near fatal close call when he is almost sucked into the planes turbine and is saved by Iceman's quick intervention.
In Washington, Tomo and Shiro begin plotting and Shiro's father walks in hearing Shiro talking about getting revenge against America and slaps his son for his treasonous ideas, and scolds him for having such ideas. Although Shiro says nothing, he believes that he will soon show his father that he is wrong.

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