Kaito walked down the stairs with caution. He did not switch on the lights because he did not want to alert the enemy about his location. Furthermore, he was quite comfortable with the darkness because it allowed him to depend on his other senses.

If someone had managed to bypass the security system and the guards stationed around the property, they had some skill. He could not afford to be careless.

When he was walking down the stairs, he noticed a person standing beneath the stairs. The space was usually empty, so it was a good hiding spot. The person probably planned on waiting for someone to come down and ambush them.

Kaito lifted a simple needle with a paralytic poison and aimed at the person. He did not intend to kill the intruder without asking a few questions, but he would not be overly concerned if they died before he could deal with them.

The man hiding seemed to notice something, but he did not have a chance to escape. He could only surrender to the poison. He crumbled to the ground. The bump on the ground made a dull noise against the wooden floor.

As soon as the sound swept through the house, Kaito recognised the signs of other intruders in the house. His face darkened.

As ninjas, concealment was critical. Therefore, one of the basic lessons taught to people who wanted to thrive in the field was the control of breath. It did not matter how skilled one was if they could not suppress or conceal their breath.

Unfortunately, even with a lot of training, it was not uncommon for one to lose control. A ninja could make their heartbeat almost imperceptible, and their breathing so light that it was virtually undetectable even to machines.

However, if there was an external stimulus, some would lose the focus required to control their natural physiological instincts. For example, a falling object would make almost everyone take a light gasp or cause their heart rate to accelerate.

Because of this reaction, Kaito came to the conclusion that the people in his house were skilled ninjas. Even though he sensed a couple of breaths after taking out one guy, the other people in the house had quickly recovered and hidden again.

His smile turned bloodthirsty.

If he was not wrong, these were people who had a connection to him. It was likely that they were or had been members of his Shadow Brotherhood.

He jumped down the remaining stairs and landed gracefully on the ground floor. He did not plan to hide when dealing with these types of despicable individuals. Moreover, he wanted to keep all their attention on him to prevent them from bothering Akira.

"This is quite the greeting from old friends." He said with a chilly laugh.

There was a long moment of silence as if the intruders were confused by Kaito's behaviour. Based on their knowledge of him, he would have tried to pick and kill them one by one. They hoped to take him out while he was dealing with one of their comrades.

After a long moment, a few people appeared from the shadows. The house was not well-lit, but it was not completely dark. Some light filtered from the security lights outside, providing enough illumination for both Kaito and the attackers.

Kaito looked at the individuals. There were five people around the house, at least as far as he could see and sense. Their action of stepping forward showed that they had decided to have a direct confrontation with him.

Based on the current situation, he could only assume that this attack was not only about Akira and the people targeting her. These individuals were in this place to settle old scores. He felt like laughing a little at the situation.

"We do not consider ourselves your friends." One man spoke up with a gruff voice.

Kaito knew the identity of the man even though the face was covered in black, leaving only a narrow slit for the eyes. It was a typical outfit for blending into the dark during an assassination. If he did not have a good memory, he might not have recalled the man's voice.

"Is that so? But we were good comrades for a long time. I thought we qualified as friends." Kaito responded.

"What kind of person would put their friends into a prison and leave them there for years?" A female voice spoke up.

Kaito took a moment to remember the owner of the voice. His lips arched into a smile as he understood the exact group that had come into his home. Moreover, he became a little more serious as he understood that Ayumi had messed up the Shadow Brotherhood beyond repair.

But that was good too.

"You all know why you ended up in the Ground," Kaito said.

"Because you were a ruthless dictator. Assassination is not about honour or being a hero. We are killers. We are criminals. Why did you have to come up with so many unreasonable rules? And when we deviated slightly from your plan, you imprisoned us. You are not the judge and jury." The woman added bitterly.

Kaito's face did not change. He maintained the casual smile as if he was not facing dangerous people who wanted his life. His eyes rested on the woman who was holding a gun in her hand, waiting for her moment to fire.

"Why shouldn't I be the judge, jury and even executioner, Spider?" He asked.

The woman before him was known as Spider. She had joined his organisation in the early days after he formed the Shadow Brotherhood. However, she was not among the original founders. She joined a couple of months after the group was stabilised.

The original members were some people from his school in the mountains. It was not hard to find good ninjas to follow him once they were done with training. After all, he was the best assassin the school had seen, if one ignored Hu Lei.

In any case, most of the children from the mountains did not like Hu Lei because she became like a glitch in the school after joining. She was not an orphan like them, she was unreasonably strong and skilled, and she never spoke much.

All in all, Kaito was recognised as the most loved graduate of the school. So, people were clamouring to join forces with him and build an empire. Not everyone was willing to go through the hard route of finding clients independently or joining a strange mercenary group.

The original group was not famous at first. However, under Kaito's guidance, they stabilised quickly and earned a name in the mercenary game. Their success made other mercenaries look for an opportunity to join and share in the success.

Spider was one of them.

She was a skilled assassin based on the tests Kaito conducted. She was also quite versatile in skills, unlike those who could only kill. Therefore, she looked like a good fit for the Shadow Brotherhood. During the recruitment, Kaito made his rules clear.

He had developed regulations for his mercenaries to ensure that they did not get into trouble unnecessarily. These rules were the reason that the Shadow Brotherhood did not fall into problems, even before Kaito became a semi-government-endorsed killer.

One of those rules was to only kill the chosen target and avoid collateral damage. The rule was quite simple, but it was stifling for Spider. To her, if she was already killing one person, what difference did a few more make?

At first, she was obedient and did things in the right way. However, people could not hide their true selves for long. After a few months, she reverted to a bloodthirsty person. In that incident when she burst from her fa?ade, she followed a target to a convenience store.

She could have handled the situation in countless ways. She could have waited for the target to leave and eliminate him in his car. She could have followed him and ambushed him on an abandoned street. She could even have shot him in the convenience store and moved on.

Instead, she staged a robbery in the shop and killed everyone in it. Though it was late at night, there were about ten people within the store. It was a bloody scene that attracted a lot of attention throughout the country.

As for Spider, she returned to the headquarters of Shadow Brotherhood and told the story with relish. She described it in vivid detail as if she could not wait to have a redo. She seemed to have forgotten everything that Kaito had said when she joined.

Naturally, Kaito did not give her a second chance. He was only eighteen then, but he was not na?ve. He did not believe that giving Spider a warning was enough. Furthermore, letting her go would have set a very bad example for the other mercenaries.

In a show of authority, he ensured she received corporal punishment before she was sent to the underground prison in the basement. The old prison was just a basic basement cell, so it was not a psychological torture chamber like the newer wing.

Still, her mental fortitude was nothing to sneeze at because she managed to survive for years. She was the longest-lasting prisoner of the Shadow Brotherhood. It was understandable that she would have a lot of bitterness and seek revenge.

But Kaito did not regret it.

"Do you think you are better than us? Do you think you are a hero?" Spider laughed coldly. "If we are going to hell, you will be right there with us. Make sure that you wait for us, Kaito. Because we will be sending you off first." historical

The five people pointed their weapons at Kaito.