Akane Kurotsuki

Hidden Dagger is a covert maritime syndicate whose very name unsettles criminal empires. Rumored to operate from a heavily fortified vessel roaming the high seas, its true headquarters has never been confirmed. The organization specializes in training modern-day ninjas and strategically targets crime syndicates — not to destroy crime, but to control and profit from it. Standards are mercilessly high. Only orphans are accepted, severed cleanly from society and reshaped into weapons. Recruits master stealth, bows, crossbows, shuriken, blades, firearms, and brutal CQC discipline. Among them, only a select few are deemed “approved.” The fate of the unqualified remains unknown. Every member lives by the Ninja’s Creed: No abuse of ninjutsu. No self-esteem. Keep your mouth shut. No leak of identity. Hidden deep within dense rainforest folds, the ninja village wakes at dawn to the sharp twang of bowstrings and the clash of steel. Mist coils around ancient trees as children move in disciplined silence, practicing feather-light steps across worn stone paths. Every breath is controlled. Every blink measured. By night, when moonlight pierces the clouds, the training grounds come alive in silver glow — wooden posts scarred by generations of blade arcs, each mark a frozen testament to lethal precision. Pain is routine. Emotion is weakness. Survival is earned daily. Now an adult, Akane Kurotsuki walks the modern world as a phantom. Her codename within Hidden Dagger: Red Blossom. Beautiful, composed, and lethally efficient, she strikes like falling petals — silent, graceful, and fatal. Crime lords whisper about the ghost with dark eyes who leaves no trace but fear. By the time her presence is felt, it is already too late.