The reek of death was so real, so tangible.
It took shape in the cruel gaze beneath the Anbu ninja's mask, in the cold lamplight reflected off the short blade in his hand, and in the thick, nauseating stench of blood rushing toward her.
Haku's mind went blank. Her body felt bound by invisible chains of ice, and she couldn't move so much as a finger. In her tiny world, all that remained was the shadow of death, drawing closer and growing larger by the second.
It was over...
A thousandth of a second before the sharp blade could slice across her throat, another chunin on the stone platform barked impatiently:
"Wait! Keep her alive!"
The chunin who had been sitting cross-legged and wiping his blade sprang to his feet. His voice held an unmistakable note of command. "She's here alone. That's too suspicious! She might know where the other fugitives are hiding. Take her alive and bring her back for questioning!"
The shout was like an iron bar jammed into a killing machine running at full speed.
The charging Anbu ninja abruptly checked his movement. The killing intent in his eyes faded slightly, replaced by irritation. Acting on instinct, he altered his attack. The deadly horizontal slash became a grab aimed at Haku's shoulder.
A killing blow became an attempt to capture.
That fraction of a second was the only foothold that could tip the balance between life and death.
The icy threat of death receded slightly, and a crack was forced through the fear surging over her like a tide. Mizuki Han's emotionless command rang out in Haku's mind, branded there as if by fire.
"...No matter what happens, don't look back."
"...If they catch up to you, jump into the water."
The instinct to survive overwhelmed everything else!
It was as if a current had surged through Haku's stiff body. Relying almost entirely on muscle memory, she abruptly rolled to the side, clumsy but precise, and evaded the hand reaching for her.
"Hm?" The Anbu ninja gave a startled grunt, clearly not expecting the terrified little girl to react.
Haku didn't dare stop. She scrambled to her feet on all fours, not even sparing a glance toward Han's hiding place. She remembered only the one instruction: run along the left wall, toward the narrowest passage!
"Still trying to run, brat?"
The Anbu ninja's irritation flared. He snorted, chakra bursting beneath his feet as his speed abruptly increased. Like a cat toying with a mouse, he followed leisurely behind Haku.
"Splash... splash..."
One large figure and one small figure raced through knee-deep sewage, sending ripples across the water. The splashes of their chase echoed through the cavernous Underground Reservoir, gratingly loud.
On the stone platform, the chunin who had ordered them to take her alive folded his arms and watched the cat-and-mouse game with interest. As far as he was concerned, catching an unarmed little girl was only a matter of time.
The area was already secure.
His attention was drawn to the chase in the distance, and a cruel smile even curled his lips. He enjoyed hearing his prey's desperate gasps before they were caught.
He didn't notice the pair of eyes silently opening in the filthy, murky water behind him—the place he considered safest.
What kind of eyes were they?
There was no anger, no tension, not even the slightest trace of anything "human." They were pure, icy darkness, like an abyss beneath earth frozen for ten thousand years. In them was reflected nothing but the most primitive, unadulterated logic of killing.
The moment had come.
In the next second, the roles of hunter and prey would be utterly reversed.
Hidden in the dark passage, Mizuki Han slowly breathed the last of the air from his lungs, releasing a string of tiny bubbles that dissolved into the sewage. His body glided forward soundlessly, like a boneless creature, moving in a way that defied human anatomy.
Not a splash. Not a sound.
He was part of the filthy water.
When his silhouette appeared in the shadow behind the chunin, the man remained completely unaware, still engrossed in the chase unfolding in the distance.
Han's right hand slowly emerged from the water.
Drops of filthy liquid slid down his pale arm. In his palm, a short blade formed entirely of ice gave off a faint chill. It wasn't perfectly transparent; it had a cloudy tinge that made it almost impossible to see with the naked eye in the dim light.
The ultimate disguise. The deadliest fang.
Three meters.
Two.
One.
Han's foot touched the dry stone platform, as light as a feather.
The chunin finally seemed to sense something. The temperature at the back of his neck plummeted, and a strange chill made every hair on his body stand on end.
"Who?!"
He spun around.
But all he saw was a fleeting, blurry streak of ice.
And a blade of cold light that slashed across his entire field of vision.
"Shhk—"
The sound was as faint as wet paper tearing.
Mizuki Han brushed past him. The Ice Blade in his hand cut cleanly through the softest, most vulnerable skin on the Anbu ninja's neck at an impossibly precise angle.
His windpipe, carotid artery, vocal cords...
Every part that could make a sound or keep him alive was cleanly severed in that tenth of a second.
The chunin's pupils dilated to their limit!
His mouth flew open. He wanted to scream in agony, to warn his companion in the distance. But with his windpipe severed, all he could manage was a despairing hiss: "Hhk... hhk..."
Blood gushed from his neck like a flood bursting through a dam.
His body swayed. His mask slipped off, revealing a face twisted by overwhelming shock and pain. He reached out as if trying to grasp something, but his hand finally fell limp.
Thud.
His corpse pitched forward into the sewage, splashing a little water. The sound was immediately swallowed by the louder chase in the distance.
From the moment Han struck to the moment he killed his target, less than two seconds had passed.
No sound. No trace.
That was how cleanly the ultimate killing blow was delivered.
Mizuki Han stood motionless. The slight rise and fall of his chest showed that he, too, had endured immense psychological pressure. He didn't look at the corpse slowly growing cold in the sewage, much less touch the supplies within easy reach.
His gaze, sharp as an eagle's, remained fixed on the far end of the reservoir.
Haku and the other Anbu ninja had disappeared around the bend in the narrow passage.
"Splash... splash..."
The sounds of pursuit continued, proof that the bait plan was proceeding smoothly.
But the very next second—
The unbroken splashing stopped abruptly.
The entire Underground Reservoir sank into an eerie silence. Only the "drip, drip" of water falling from the stalactites overhead remained, each drop seeming to strike the heart.
Had the guard chasing Haku heard the commotion over here?
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