The next day, Wolverine was leaning out of a second-story window of the old house and saw Miss Mariko returning from buying groceries in the distance, so he smiled and waved at her.
"You're back, Miss Mariko."
Miss Mariko politely waved back.
However, just then, a van suddenly stopped beside Miss Mariko, and two black-clad figures in traditional Ninja attire rushed out of the vehicle, knocked Miss Mariko unconscious, and dragged her into the van.
They then threw down a piece of paper and sped away.
Wolverine, seeing this, immediately jumped from the second floor and rushed over, but unfortunately, by the time he arrived, there was no trace of the van.
He picked up the paper from the ground, which had an address written on it.
"She'll be fine, let's go!"
At this moment, a Shadow descended from the sky; it was Adam, who had been monitoring the Village.
He glanced at the address on the paper, then took Wolverine and flew up, entering the X-Jet, which was in stealth mode in mid-air.
"Don't worry, we won't lose your Miss Mariko."
Seeing Wolverine enter the X-Jet, Lady Deathstrike pouted and accelerated, chasing after the van below.
With the X-Jet's flying speed, tracking a van was naturally too easy, and Miss Mariko also had a tracker on her, making it even more impossible to lose her.
"I just see her as a daughter, nothing else."
Wolverine quickly explained.
He truly had no romantic feelings for Miss Mariko.
"No way, Logan, that's a bit perverted."
Adam patted Wolverine's shoulder and gave him a suggestive look.
Actually, he didn't think Wolverine was lying.
In the original plot, Wolverine personally killed Phoenix, and haunted by inner demons, he lived in seclusion in the mountains with bears; it was only later, after being healed by Miss Mariko in the Village, that he became involved with her.
But it was only a one-night stand, and afterward, they went their separate ways.
However, now Wolverine's mind was not traumatized, and saving Miss Mariko was purely out of helpfulness; as soon as he arrived in the Village, he met Adam, Lady Deathstrike, and Yukio, so nothing had time to develop.
So now, it was indeed possible that Wolverine simply saw Miss Mariko as a little girl, just as he had once seen Rogue.
But if Rogue hadn't gone to Mutant School with Wolverine back then, and Wolverine hadn't met Phoenix, then perhaps something might have happened between them.
"You guys."
Wolverine raised his right hand, extended his Adamantium claws towards Adam, then slowly retracted the other fingers, leaving only the middle one.
Adam shrugged indifferently.
At the Mutant School, he and Wolverine had the best relationship; whenever he wanted to relax instead of Training, he would find Wolverine to drink and chat.
So, their teasing each other was a daily occurrence.
About two hours later, the van stopped at the entrance of a Village hidden deep in the mountains.
The door opened, and Miss Mariko, who had woken up, angrily questioned the leading Ninja:
"Kenichiro, why did you bring me here? What is your purpose?"
Harada Kenichiro, the current leader of the Ninja clan that had protected the Yashida Family for seven hundred years, was also one of her childhood playmates.
Normally, according to her Grandpa's instructions, he was always responsible for protecting her safety.
Yesterday, at her Grandpa's funeral, when she was being hunted by her father's and fiancé's subordinates, Harada Kenichiro also intercepted many assassins; otherwise, she and Logan, whose healing ability was suppressed, would not have escaped the encirclement so easily.
"Miss Mariko, I can't tell you now, but I won't harm you, trust me."
Kenichiro gritted his teeth, forcibly pulled Miss Mariko out of the van, and walked towards the small mountain at the end of the Village.
On the mountainside of that downhill, a seven-story secret research institute was built.
However, before they had taken a few steps, an X-Jet suddenly appeared out of thin air and slowly descended.
"Not good!"
How could Kenichiro not recognize the famous X-Jet?
He pulled a wooden whistle from his pocket and blew it hard; hundreds of masked black-clad figures, armed with various weapons, quickly appeared on the rooftops at the sound.
The X-Jet landed steadily, the hatch opened, and Adam, Logan, Lady Deathstrike, and Yukio stepped out together.
"Looks like this is the place."
Looking at the research institute in the distance, Adam knew they had found the right place.
"Let go of Miss Mariko!"
Logan stepped forward, revealing his Adamantium claws.
Kenichiro scanned the four people, and seeing that there were only two additional individuals, he immediately felt relieved.
Nominally, Logan was a Superhero belonging to the League of Heroes; although he rarely appeared on screen, if they knew Logan was in trouble, and sent a large number of Superheroes to help, they would be no match.
Fortunately, it seemed only two had come, and neither of them were individuals he remembered as being formidable.
With his skills and these elites in the Village, it was enough to cope.
"Send the Young Lady to the research institute."
After instructing the Ninja next to him, Kenichiro drew the long sword from his back:
"Logan, it's better if you give up resisting obediently, otherwise not only you, but your friends will also suffer with you."
Every Ninja in the Village was an elite among elites; each one alone was no less than a top assassin.
Over the years, any enemy who opposed the Yashida Family, no matter who they were, would die by their assassination.
Their contributions were indispensable for the Yashida Family to develop into the leading family it is today.
"Let go of me, let me go!"
Miss Mariko, being forced towards the research institute, struggled with all her might, but even with her decent swordsmanship, she was no match for these demon-trained Ninja.
"I said… let her go!"
Logan roared, charging forward first, with Yukio drawing her sword and following closely behind.
However, although Harada Kenichiro was not a Mutant, his strength was indeed not weak.
Besides having extremely high swordsmanship, his combat skills and blade techniques were also superb, and for a time, he actually suppressed Wolverine.
And when Yukio tried to help, she was blocked by a Ninja who jumped down from the rooftop.
"Whoosh!"
Seeing Miss Mariko being dragged away by two Ninja, a kunai suddenly shot from Adam's hand, landing right in front of the two Ninja, causing them to instinctively stop.
"Flying Thunder God Technique!"
Adam's Shadow flickered, appearing where the kunai was embedded.
"Great Flying Thunder God Technique!"
With a blow to the left and then to the right, the two Ninja holding Miss Mariko flew out like cannonballs, smashing into the houses on both sides of the street.
He reached out and wrapped his arm around Miss Mariko's slender waist, and with a flicker of his Shadow, he brought Miss Mariko back to their original position.
And at this moment, something new suddenly appeared in Miss Mariko's gaze towards Adam.
"Attack together!"
On the other side, due to Wolverine's damage-ignoring fighting style, Kenichiro eventually lost in the one-on-one fight, and with Lady Deathstrike stepping in to help Yukio defeat that Ninja, Adam also rescued Miss Mariko.
So Kenichiro no longer underestimated them; instead, he waved his hand, ordering all the Ninja to form a battle array and gang up on them.