Leaving his old life behind in the wake of the House of M crisis and the Super Hero Civil War, Clint Barton joined his comrades in the underground NEW AVENGERS just in time to travel with them to Japan. There, Maya Lopez had been stranded, and subjected to the brutal attentions of the ninja clan known as THE HAND, and their leader ELEKTRA. Taking on the new identify of RONIN, Clint dove into battle against THE HAND and ELEKTRA. With his fellow AVENGERS, he defeated the ninjas, and fought ELEKTRA to a standstill, only to discover that she was in reality a SKRULL imposter.