Faint Killing Intent Probes Reality, Sensing Ninja Sets Up First Kill

"Drip... drip..."

Water droplets fell from the tips of stalactites, splashing into the pools below. The sound was amplified infinitely in the deathly silent cavern, like a tireless metronome playing the prelude to the death about to unfold.

Mizuki Han clung tightly to the shadows on the cavern ceiling, as still as a relief carving the same color as the rock wall. His breathing was long and faint, his heartbeat forcibly suppressed to an extremely low frequency. The life force radiating from his entire being was nearly indistinguishable from the cold stone surrounding him.

Below, three Mist Anbu were advancing cautiously in a standard triangular search formation.

The captain leading them, codenamed Wildcat, was a seasoned veteran. Every step he took landed on the most solid rock, and his sharp gaze swept over every corner where someone might hide like a searchlight. To his left was a burly ninja codenamed Heavy Hammer, wielding two short axes. With his knotted muscles, he was a typical vanguard.

What truly made Mizuki Han feel troubled was the ninja wearing a cat-faced mask, walking in the very center of the formation, whom the other two were intentionally or unintentionally shielding.

That person was codenamed Jingting. Since entering the cavern, he had rarely moved, spending most of his time maintaining a one-handed seal. A faint, almost imperceptible fluctuation of chakra spread from him like ripples.

A sensory ninja.

A cold, murderous intent flashed deep within Mizuki Han's eyes.

This squad was far more professional and lethal than any enemy he had encountered before. They had command, brute force, and "eyes" that could perceive everything. In this environment, any physical trap or concealment might be laid bare before Sensory Ninjutsu.

He was like a fly pressed against a pane of glass, thinking he was well-hidden, unaware that every move he made might be seen clearly by the person on the other side.

He could not wait.

If he waited any longer, once the enemy's sensory range covered the area above his head, he would instantly transform from hunter to prey.

But he could not strike rashly either.

Without being one hundred percent certain of the enemy's core, any attack was a gamble. Once he chose the wrong primary target, he would face the frantic counterattack of two elite Anbu at their peak.

Countless plans flashed through Mizuki Han's mind, only to be quickly discarded.

His chakra was running low; every strike had to be aimed at dismantling the enemy's combat capability. He had to find the "Achilles' heel" of this squad and then deliver a fatal blow.

A thought, bold to the point of madness, took shape in his heart.

Since the risks of physical probing were too high, he would conduct a "fishing" attempt on a psychological and chakra level.

He would actively release his killing intent.

This sounded like suicide. Releasing killing intent in front of a sensory ninja was no different from lighting a torch in the dead of night.

But what Mizuki Han intended to do was not to light a torch, but to strike a match that could only burn for a tenth of a second.

He would release a type of killing intent that was extremely compressed and controlled—incredibly faint, yet incomparably pure. This killing intent would not be enough for Jingting to pinpoint his exact coordinates, but it would absolutely be enough to stimulate the combat instincts already carved into the marrow of a battle-hardened ninja!

This was a precise psychological experiment, betting on the opponent's subconscious reaction.

Mizuki Han took a slow breath, emptying the stale air from his lungs. His mental energy was highly focused. He took the killing intent born from two lifetimes—the hatred of death and the thirst for survival—and compressed it, then compressed it again, until it formed a "needle" thinner than a strand of hair.

Then, he gently "stabbed" this needle toward the center of the three-man squad below.

There was no sound, no light.

This was a form of deterrence that transcended the five senses, originating from the level of the soul.

The moment that sliver of faint killing intent leaked out, the movements of the three Anbu below stalled abruptly!

Time seemed to have been set to slow motion at that moment.

Mizuki Han's pupils contracted to a dangerous pinprick, capturing and analyzing every micro-expression and muscle twitch of the three men below.

The captain, codenamed Wildcat, saw his pupils shrink violently. Almost instinctively, he stepped half a pace forward and to the side, his kunai instantly held horizontally across his chest in a standard defensive stance. His gaze swept the surroundings like a hawk, trying to find the source of the killing intent.

The vanguard, codenamed Heavy Hammer, reacted even more directly. He let out a low growl, crossing his short axes in front of him. His burly body acted like a wall, shielding the other side of the captain.

As for the sensory ninja "Jingting," who had been protected in the center, his body recoiled half a step uncontrollably the moment the killing intent appeared. His hand seals scattered instantly, and a look of uncertainty and suspicion appeared on his face.

A perfect, subconscious defensive formation!

The two combatants, the moment they sensed danger, did not fight for themselves but simultaneously shielded the sensory ninja in the safest position!

"Found you."

Mizuki Han spat these two words coldly in his heart.

His experiment was a success.

"Jingting" was the brain of this squad, their core, and their greatest weakness! Once he was killed, the remaining "Wildcat" and "Heavy Hammer" would be nothing more than beasts that had lost their eyes, not worth fearing.

Primary target locked!

"What's going on?!" Wildcat lowered his voice, his tone filled with vigilance. "Jingting, did you feel that?"

That trace of killing intent came fast and went even faster, as if it were merely an illusion.

Jingting's face was somewhat pale. He resumed his hand seals, closed his eyes, and carefully sensed the flow of chakra around them.

"Captain... just now... it seemed like something... flashed by." His voice was uncertain. "It was very faint, like... a startled mouse, but that malice... it was very pure."

"A mouse?" Heavy Hammer snorted in disdain. "In this godforsaken place, there's nothing but mice and bats. Captain, I think you're just too nervous."

Wildcat ignored Heavy Hammer. His gaze remained fixed on every shadow in the cavern, especially the jagged stalactites hanging from the ceiling.

His intuition told him that something was wrong here.

That fleeting killing intent was definitely not something a mouse could emit. It was a cold will, tempered through thousands of trials, with all emotions stripped away until only the pure logic of slaughter remained.

The person he was hunting tonight was definitely not some ordinary remnant of a bloodline limit.

"Increase vigilance!" Wildcat issued the order, his voice carrying an unquestionable decisiveness. "Jingting, expand your sensory range to the limit. I want every speck of dust in this cave turned over!"

"Yes!"

Jingting took a deep breath, his hands moving with suddenly accelerated speed as he formed seals. A chakra fluctuation several times stronger than before radiated from him, spreading throughout the entire cavern like a radar scan, leaving no corner unchecked.

Mizuki Han's eyes narrowed.

The enemy was getting serious.

Ten seconds at most—no, five! His position would be completely exposed.

He had to assassinate Jingting before he was discovered.

But how?

Jingting was sandwiched between two elite Anbu with extensive combat experience, forming an iron triangle with almost no blind spots. If he launched an attack from his current position, regardless of the target, he would instantly face a frantic pincer attack from the other two.

Unless... he could separate them.

Mizuki Han's gaze slowly shifted from the trio to the pile of rubble on the other side of the cavern, created when he had detonated his Ice Thread Trap.

A plan of feinting to the east while attacking to the west quickly took shape in his mind.

He needed a lure.

A lure that could instantly draw everyone's attention and create a single, fatal second of opportunity for him.

His gaze finally locked onto his remaining chakra, which was less than thirty percent.

A cold, cruel arc curled the corners of Mizuki Han's mouth. His left hand remained clamped tightly to the rock wall to maintain his balance, while his right hand reached silently into the deepest shadow behind him.

Chakra began to gather in his palm in an extremely covert manner.

Water...

The one thing this cave had in abundance was water. Whether it was the moisture permeating the air or the droplets seeping from the rock walls, everything would become the most lethal piece on his board.

The sensory fluctuations below had already reached his feet.

Three seconds.

Two seconds.

One second!

The moment Jingting's perception was about to touch his body, Mizuki Han moved!

But his true form remained as motionless as a statue.

What moved was the shadow behind him!

A Water Clone, condensed from water vapor and stagnant water and identical to his own figure, slid silently from behind a stalactite on the other side and lunged at the back of the striker, Heavy Hammer, with incredible speed!

"Who's there?!"

Almost the instant the Water Clone appeared, Jingting's perception caught the sudden surge of chakra. He snapped his eyes open and let out a startled roar!

Wildcat and Heavy Hammer reacted with extreme speed, both turning around simultaneously.

Heavy Hammer let out a furious shout, his dual axes whistling through the air as he slashed backward without even looking!

Everyone's attention was drawn to the suddenly appearing Water Clone!

However, none of them noticed that at the very moment they turned, a real, lethal shadow had already used the cover of the water flow to slide silently down from the top of the cave like a ghost. Avoiding everyone's line of sight, he appeared soundlessly behind the sensory ninja Jingting—in that one and only blind spot!