The air inside the sleek black Escalade was thick with silence. The only sound came from the engine as it hummed smoothly down the highway. All five men stared at each other without saying a word. Including Ren. Six men in the back of a car with nothing to say to each other. Ren found the situation really tense and uncomfortable. So…he cleared his throat and passed an awkward smile around. “Why don't we er…introduce ourselves?”Silence. “I-I’ll start,” Ren groveled. “That's if no one else's willing to open the floor for us.”Even louder silence..So, he began—“I've done this before—I mean, introducing myself—but I feel like it's really an honor to work with some of the top elite Ninjas in the world.”The five men said nothing. They all stared at him, unblinking. One of them was a brown-eyed, charming wimpy lad with raven black hair. Bouncing his feet repeatedly. Sato Mane. Level nine shadow Ninja. Just a step away from being an S-level. But good enough.Another one was a mature-

The professional Martial artist and top Ninja of Nakim academy had a reputation preceding him. Hakiru Genko was a con artist and a felon before he was an instructor at the academy. He was notorious for ripping the top elites of their wealth and just…squandering it to the poor and less privileged.He was said to be a man who was just as cunning as he was ruthless. Hakiru never cared about what anyone said. These people spreading the rumors might be right. They might as well be wrong. No one truly knew him. No one got close enough. So when he asked Ren Carter for a duel, the other Ninjas watching from their points of late arrival, knew he must have a trick or two up his sleeve. But Ren seemed quite interested in this deal, whatever it was. “A brief duel?”Hakiru nodded, folding his arms behind his back and circling the cornered rat on the floor. “I'll let you kill him in my first place if you manage to hit me three times.”“HEY! WHAT?!” Hiro Fujiwara whimpered. “Someone get me out

Juno quickly hurried to a scene of tantrums back at Hana Blackthorn's suite. He had received a report that she was asking to see her husband and she was not being any gentle or understanding about it. Even the Ninjas assigned to guard her suite were having a hard time getting her to stay still. Not because they were not strong enough. But because she was the young master’s wife and should be accorded the respect. When Juno got there, she was a few miles next to a shattered breakfast table. With a shard of glass held to her neck. Juno walked over briskly. “Ma’am, please, you have to put that down.”“No I won't! I'm not doing anything you ask of me again! Not until I see Mr. Carter and get to doing what I came here for!”Juno blinked, quietly calculating his next move. “What is it you came here for?” he asked in a careful tone. “It's none of your business,” she shot back, blue eyes flashing. “I made a deal with Mr. Carter, and that's why I need to see him. Now,” she pushed the sharp

The sleek black van rolled into the parking lot without getting stopped because two Ninjas dropped on the way as they bulldozed through, and took out the security guards mounted within the perimeter. “This is too much work, man,” Ryota cursed silently as he pulled a heavy, knocked-out man away from plain sight. “We should have just gone with disguises. We'd have infiltrated the lab by now.”His counterpart nodded and knocked the side of his palm against a vital point of another unsuspecting guard. SMACK! Ren caught the man before he could tumble to the ground. “I agree,” he grunted. Panting hard, he tossed a glance at Ryota. “What do you suggest?”The peeved Ninja drew his brows into a frown. “It's kinda too late for that, don't you think?”Ren flashed him a quick grin. “It's never too late for fresh ideas.”As they returned to the parking lot, the other Ninjas were already fighting off a fresh batch of guards. “Oh, give me a fucking break,” Ryota grunted. With flashing red eyes a

Yoshi Carter issued a public announcement to his staff through his PA system. “Take the night off, good fellas! Go have some drinks! We ride at dawn!”The Ninjas could hear the staff cheering and hooting as they made their way out. In less than five minutes, the entire facility was cleared of every staff member. Including the security guards. No one was left out of the chairman’s command, as odd as it was. Yoshi turned to his cousin with raised brows. “Now what?”Ren grabbed him a bit too viciously. “Now, you take me to your stash of carbon monoxide. I know you've got it somewhere around here.”Yoshi frowned and shook his head in disbelief. “What the hell has come over you, Ren? Look, can you at least tell me why you're doing this? What's my crime? Why are they trying to kill me?” Ren shoved him forward. “No more questions. Move. Lead the way, or you'll be dying a more horrible death before you know it.”His eyes darted left and right. The Ninjas watched them steadily. All four of