Gorgon

Daken Akihiro returned to New York because he had heard that the current leader of The Hand had arrived there.

He had three enemies in his life: his father, Wolverine Logan, who had abandoned his mother; the Hydra assassin, Winter Soldier, who had killed his mother; and finally, The Hand, who had cut him from his mother's womb before he was even full-term, hoping to turn him into their assassin.

And now, it was time to make them pay a little interest.

He caught the disgusting scent of The Hand's Immortal Ninjas, then secretly infiltrated their ranks. After killing several lowly Genin, he slipped into their stronghold. Almost the instant he landed, Daken sensed something unusual and swiftly leaped backward, avoiding the attack of a female assassin dressed in red.

Then, Daken felt a faint sting in his brain and chuckled.

"How come I never knew you rats had a telepath among you?"

At last, all sound temporarily fell silent.

"There's a lot you don't know, Akihiro. That name is rather interesting—at least it sounds much better than your Daken."

The speaker was Japanese, and he had spoken in Japanese. Daken understood what the word meant. Others might have thought Daken was simply part of his name, but the Japanese would not, because in Japanese, the word carried its true meaning: mongrel dog.

That was also the name he had received in The Hand years ago.

Daken narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking toward the source of the voice. As candles were lit, dim light filled the spacious, Japanese-style room. The man, the leader of The Hand, sat in his chair, surrounded by one man and three women. None of the four were Hand assassins Daken recognized.

This leader, however, was an exception.

"Looks like you've