"Why do we have to keep hiding? We have supernatural powers of our own. We could reinvent ourselves and become a force the world can see," a burly, middle-aged Russian man shouted at the meeting of Hydra's heads.
Although the burly man looked to be in his forties or fifties, seemingly one of the older members, he was actually the youngest head among Hydra's old guard.
The other heads had slowed their aging through various means, but slowing aging was not the same as immortality.
Even Captain America's Super Soldier Serum would leave him looking old after a hundred years.
It was not simply that they clung too tightly to power. Even if they did, they at least needed to name a successor as they aged. Otherwise, how could their younger subordinates serve them without misgivings?
An old man in his sixties or seventies could drop dead at any moment.
We're supposed to pledge our loyalty to him?
Have we lost our minds?
The main reason they had no successors was that Hydra's younger generation had virtually no reverence for its ideals.
That was especially true of the outstanding figures who had risen to prominence over the past year, such as Gin, Obito Uchiha, and Ooki.
They had their own distinct charisma and ways of attracting talent, and had mastered methods such as killing, infiltration, and trading favors.
But as members of Hydra, they had one major problem.
They did not believe in Hydra's principles or the slogans it proclaimed.
If they were allowed to grow unchecked, without being brought together, Hydra would become a heap of loose sand in ten or twenty years.
Although none of the current heads accepted the others' authority, and each had their own plans and approach,
their overall goal had not changed.
Hydra would