The air inside the cavern seemed to have been sucked away, leaving only the thick stench of blood and the eerie red glow emanating from the black scroll.
The moment Wildcat saw the scroll, his pupils contracted sharply. This was no ordinary mission scroll. It was an encrypted beacon that the Mist Anbu used to receive top-level orders during the Great Purge. If it fell into the wrong hands, the entire base's purge plans, evacuation routes, and even the trigger mechanism for releasing the poison gas would be exposed.
"That belongs to me." Wildcat's voice was low and hoarse. His injured right arm trembled slightly, but his left hand clamped tightly around his Ninja Blade. His body was taut as a fully drawn bow, ready to spring into action at any moment.
Mizuki Han didn't make a grab for it. He stood where he was, motionless as a statue. Not even his breathing had changed at the sight of the scroll. He knew it wasn't going anywhere. His most urgent task now was to deal with the last "beast" in front of him.
Wildcat had exceptional tactical skills. He didn't let his anger cloud his judgment; instead, he used the shadows cast by his body to conceal the slight movements of his feet. He was looking for an opening—an opportunity to kill with a single strike.
Mizuki Han's gaze dipped slightly, shifting from Wildcat's Ninja Blade to his face. The Anbu mask covered most of it, leaving only a pair of eyes filled with murderous intent exposed.
"Where are you looking?" Wildcat snorted. His body shot forward, moving so fast that it left a blur in the air.
This was more than a simple physical charge. As he moved, the moisture in the surrounding air was instantly drawn away and gathered along the Ninja Blade in his hand. Water Release: Water Blade Slash!
The attack was fast, precise, and ruthless, aimed straight at Mizuki Han's throat.
But Mizuki Han moved. He didn't retreat or even try to block. His right hand darted out at an incredibly strange angle, three Ice Senbon already formed between his fingers.
He didn't aim them at Wildcat's Ninja Blade or his heart, but at—his eyes.
"Clink! Clink! Clink!"
The three sharp impacts nearly overlapped. The Ice Senbon struck the eyeholes in Wildcat's mask with pinpoint accuracy. Though the mask got in the way, the Ice Senbon, infused with Mizuki Han's chakra, shattered on impact. Countless tiny shards slipped through the eyeholes and pierced Wildcat's eyeballs!
"Argh—!"
A scream of utter agony rang through the cavern. Wildcat's attack halted midair. He dropped his Ninja Blade and clutched his eyes, blood mingling with shards of ice as it gushed through his fingers.
For a ninja, sight was life. The moment he lost his vision, Wildcat's body fell into disarray on instinct. He flailed wildly, trying to fight off the darkness around him.
"You trash! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Wildcat went berserk. He formed Hand Seals frantically, no longer caring how much chakra he used or whether he might hurt himself.
Mizuki Han watched without expression. He didn't take the chance to move in for the kill, but quickly slid backward. He knew too well what happened when an elite ninja lost control. Even with his eyes blinded, Wildcat had enough chakra to flatten the entire cavern in an instant.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
With Wildcat's hysterical roar, the chakra inside him surged out like a breached floodgate. The water pooled across the cavern floor stirred at once, as if an invisible dragon had awakened beneath the earth. A huge surge of water burst through the confines of the rock, forming a terrifying torrent several meters across that swept toward Mizuki Han!
The cavern was already narrow, and this large-scale Water Release cut off every avenue of escape.
Mizuki Han's expression darkened. He had already spent most of his chakra killing the sensor and countering Wildcat's sudden attack. He couldn't withstand a technique of this level head-on.
"Run!"
He scooped up the dark figure on the ground—it was Haku, who had been cowering in a corner. Without checking whether she could keep up, he grabbed the back of her collar and hurled her toward a crack in the rocks above.
"Hide!"
He left her with those two cold words, then the terrifying torrent slammed into him.
"Boom!"
The immense force smashed him straight against the cavern wall. The crack of breaking ribs rang in his ears, and his internal organs seemed to shift out of place. The water didn't stop. It surged along the wall and pinned him in a hollow, leaving him unable to move.
He was trapped.
Though blind, Wildcat used his keen perception of chakra to pinpoint Mizuki Han's position. He formed Hand Seals, and the raging torrent became a sealed whirlpool inside the cavern, trapping Mizuki Han completely in the narrow dead end.
"Got you..." Wildcat's face was covered in blood, and his mask had shattered, revealing a twisted, savage face. Listening to the water crash against the rock, he curled his lips into a cruel smile. "How long can your chakra hold out under this crushing water pressure? When you finally suffocate, I'll crush every single one of your bones!"
Pinned tightly against the wall, Mizuki Han felt the icy current wash over his wounds, stealing the last of his body heat. The air in his lungs was running out fast. Every breath felt like swallowing razor blades.
His vision began to blur.
But this wasn't the end of hope. It was the peak of his focus.
Amid the raging whirlpool, Mizuki Han's dark eyes fixed on the black scroll less than three meters away. It tumbled along with the current, about to be swept into the depths of the underground river.
His hand crept toward his waist. He still had one last Explosive Tag.
But he didn't set it off yet. He was waiting.
Waiting for the raging current to push him toward the dead end about to swallow him—and toward the one point from which he could turn the tables.
Wildcat's footsteps drew closer, accompanied by the roar of the water. He was approaching the corner sealed off by the current, step by step. A ball of high-pressure water had gathered in his right hand, a deadly attack capable of piercing rock.
At that moment, the corner of Mizuki Han's mouth slowly curled upward.
He drew in a deep breath of the little air left in his lungs and formed an unusual Hand Seal.
It was the starting form for Ice Release, yet it also carried a trace of Water Release chakra.
Wildcat had reached him. The water ball in his raised hand gleamed with the light of death in the dimness. Grinning savagely, he slammed his bloodied right hand toward Mizuki Han's chest!
"Die!"
Just as the high-pressure water ball was about to touch Mizuki Han's chest, his pupils contracted sharply. He didn't dodge. Instead, he faced the deadly attack and slammed the Ice Release chakra in his hand against the surging whirlpool!
"Freeze!"
At his low roar, the raging whirlpool seemed to hit a pause button.
Starting from the point of contact, terrifying cold spread visibly along the water running down Wildcat's arm, racing upward!
Wildcat froze.
The hand he had reached toward Mizuki Han, along with his entire arm, turned into a crystal-clear ice statue in an instant! Even his savage face was quickly covered in frost.
But Mizuki Han's face also turned deathly pale. His chakra had been completely drained, and his meridians throbbed with a tearing pain.
He looked at the enemy, who was about to be frozen into an ice statue, but his gaze passed over Wildcat's shoulder and locked onto the black scroll. It had drifted to the cliff's edge and was about to plunge into the abyss.
He was unable to move, and in the final moment before he was frozen, Wildcat's other hand had somehow caught the edge of the scroll!
If Wildcat's body fell, or if the chakra he had left triggered one final struggle, the scroll would vanish into the depths of the underground river.
Mizuki Han clenched his teeth. In the last second before consciousness slipped into darkness, he summoned the final scraps of his strength, tore himself free of the wall, and hurled himself toward the scroll!
Just as his fingertips were about to touch it, something unexpected happened—the scroll seemed to sense something. It trembled in Wildcat's hand, then a dense, almost tangible mass of blood-red chakra suddenly erupted from within!
Before you continue