Deep in the cave, the light was dim and murky. Only droplets falling from the stalactites overhead broke into ripples across the pools of water.
Mizuki Han crouched beside a puddle, his right hand held slightly open. Wisps of cold air streamed from his fingertips, quickly condensing into extremely fine strands of ice. The strands were translucent and nearly indistinguishable from the damp rock walls unless one looked closely.
His movements were slow and precise. He tied one end of each strand to the base of a stalactite, while the other end sank into the murky water, connected to Ice Shard anchors he had planted in advance.
This was no simple trap. It was a hunting ground with the entire cave as its game board.
"Three inches farther left." Mizuki Han didn't look back, his voice as cold and hard as ice.
Behind him, Haku knelt in the mud, cupping a bundle of Explosive Tags she had just scavenged from the Anbu ninja's corpse. Her small face was smudged with grime, and her usually clear eyes looked somewhat vacant, but she obeyed without question. At the instruction, she immediately placed the tags in a concealed recess near the cave entrance, just as Han had directed.
Every point Han laid was meticulously calculated. He used the way the water distorted light to conceal the ice strands in the blind spots where light and shadow met. The slightest touch from anyone who entered would trigger a chain reaction.
[The host is setting up an "Ice Silk Killing Array." System danger assessment: moderate.] [After claiming the lives of two chunin in a row, the chakra pathways have completed their initial adaptation.] [Mission hint: Continue hunting and accumulate killing energy to unlock the derived skill—"Cicada of Winter Silk."]
The cold, mechanical voice flashed through his mind, but Mizuki Han showed no hint of delight. He rose, brushed the ice crystals from his hands, and surveyed the area he had transformed into a "death trap."
"Killing energy..." he murmured inwardly, the corner of his mouth curling into a smile devoid of warmth.
He felt no aversion to gaining power through killing. In this cruel world shrouded in a blood mist, so-called morality and principles were lies the weak spun to numb themselves. Only power was real.
He walked to the far edge of the cave, where the trap's trigger mechanism was located. He tied the final strand of ice around his hand. A slight tug was all it would take to activate the entire trap.
"Brother Han, will they come?" Haku's voice was soft, with a faint tremble that was hard to detect.
Han didn't look at her. His eyes were fixed on the cave entrance, a pitch-black passage.
"They'll come for sure." Han's voice was steady and certain. "They're hounds, and we're the 'blemishes' they have to wipe out. Once the hounds smell blood, they don't need bait. They'll come running on their own."
He didn't need to seek out his enemies. All he had to do was wait here in silence.
A deathly stillness settled over the cave, broken only by the monotonous drip of water, as if counting down to the slaughter about to begin.
Time passed, second by second.
Han held himself perfectly still. He regulated his breathing and slowed his heartbeat to a minimum, making his presence seem to blend into the surrounding rocks. It was a concealment technique he had learned during special forces training in his previous life. Combined with the low body temperature granted by his Ice Release, it made him extremely difficult to detect, even for a sensor-type ninja.
Suddenly, Mizuki Han's ear twitched.
It was the sound of a foot stepping on slick rock—faint, but with a distinct rhythm. Not a rat. Not dripping water. It was... footsteps.
They were here.
He turned and gave Haku a discreet signal. She quickly slipped into the shadows behind a stalactite, holding her breath and not daring to make a sound.
Han's figure disappeared into the shadows as well. He wasn't hiding so much as waiting like a spider poised in its web for prey to walk right into its trap.
The footsteps drew closer, accompanied by low voices.
"This is Sector C-9. Nothing out of the ordinary."
"Don't let your guard down. The two missing chunin were last detected nearby. Search carefully. The higher-ups said they want them alive if possible, but dead or alive, we need to bring back the bodies."
Three dark figures emerged from the shadows of the passage.
They were three Anbu ninja, advancing in a triangular formation with cautious steps. The Ninja Blades in their hands glinted coldly in the dim light. Every movement was the product of rigorous tactical training. This was clearly an experienced search-and-capture squad.
The lead Anbu ninja walked at the front, his sharp gaze sweeping over every corner of the cave. The moment he stepped inside, he abruptly stopped.
He glanced down at the pool of water beneath his feet. The ripples there seemed... a little unnatural.
"Wait." The lead Anbu ninja abruptly raised a hand, signaling the other two to stop.
He crouched down and reached out a finger, intending to touch the water.
With his fingertip less than three centimeters from the surface, Mizuki Han's right hand, hidden in the shadows, suddenly clenched!
It was the end connected to countless strands of ice.
"Click."
A faint, almost imperceptible crack sounded beneath the lead Anbu ninja's feet.
It was the sound of an ice strand snapping—and the latch of the door to death swinging open.
Before the Anbu ninja could react, countless pale flashes of cold light suddenly burst from beneath the once-calm water. The ice strands hidden below coiled like waking venomous snakes, tightening and springing upward in an instant to form an airtight net of death!
"An ambush!" The lead Anbu ninja's pupils contracted. He cried out and instinctively leaped backward.
But it was already too late.
The instant he retreated, a flash of icy blue light flared behind the stalactites overhead. An Ice Blade, long poised to strike, carved a deadly arc through the air, aimed straight at his throat!
At the same time, the recess where Haku had placed the Explosive Tags behind the Anbu squad began to glow a heart-stopping red.
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