Chakra Breaks the Genin Barrier, Meridians Ache and Sound the Alarm

The massive shadow emerged completely from the darkness of the tunnel, viscous liquid dripping from its wrinkled skin and pooling into foul-smelling puddles on the floor.

It was a giant, salamander-like summoning creature, its bulk nearly blocking the entire passage. It had no eyes; in their place were two scarlet, pulsating tumors that stared fixedly at the only living creature left in the cavern: Mizuki Han.

"Roar—"

A low growl erupted from its tooth-filled maw, a wave of stench rushing forward and kicking up dust and blood from the ground.

Having just survived a brutal fight, Mizuki Han was at his weakest. The agonizing pain in his lungs, the backlash in his meridians, and the exhaustion of his chakra were each lethal on their own. Yet, the chakra fluctuations radiating from this summoning creature, while chaotic, were undeniably at the level of a Jonin.

A vicious beast in front, no way out behind.

However, Mizuki Han's face remained a pool of dead, tranquil silence. His one functional right hand had already quietly gripped the last kunai at his waist, which was wrapped in an Explosive Tag. His brain raced, analyzing every subtle movement of the summon.

Its skin was rippling, but the frequency was uneven. Its roar was loud, but its breath was unstable. Most importantly, the chakra signature belonging to Wildcat on its body was fading at a visible rate.

The contract between a summoner and their beast, forged in blood and chakra, was unraveling due to the summoner's death.

"Han-gege..." Haku's voice trembled uncontrollably from within the rock crevice.

Mizuki Han did not look back, merely using his left hand—which had begun to crystallize and lose all sensation—to gesture for silence.

The summoning creature seemed to sense the fading contract and grew increasingly frantic. Its scarlet tumors contracted sharply, and its massive body arched forward, coiling its strength to launch a final, lethal pounce.

At this critical juncture, Mizuki Han did not retreat; instead, he stepped forward. With every ounce of his remaining strength, he used the tip of his boot to kick Wildcat's severed head into the air.

The head traced a parabola through the air, landing precisely in front of the summoning creature.

The beast's movements stalled abruptly. It lowered its head, using its tumors to sense the familiar, fading aura lingering on the head. It was the scent of its master.

A chaotic, mournful cry, born from the depths of their contract, exploded within its soul.

"Roar...?"

It let out a confused, sorrowful wail, and its massive body began to tremble violently. The chakra composing its form became highly unstable, flickering like a poor-quality image, intermittently turning transparent.

"Poof—"

Finally, with a soft sound, the fierce summoning creature vanished into a massive cloud of white smoke, like a punctured balloon.

The crisis was averted.

Mizuki Han's taut nerves relaxed for an imperceptible second before being replaced by even sharper vigilance. He did not waste a second on relief, turning immediately to walk toward the three corpses that still held a trace of warmth.

"Stay where you are. Don't move, don't look," he commanded Haku in an unquestionable tone.

He then crouched down and began a calm, efficient post-battle cleanup. He moved like a seasoned butcher processing slaughtered livestock—precise in technique, clear in objective.

Ninja tool pouches, Soldier Pills, scrolls, hidden weapons... anything of value was stripped away without hesitation. As an elite Chunin, Wildcat had the most substantial assets. Beyond standard supplies, Han found a palm-sized medical kit wrapped in oil paper inside the lining of his tactical vest, containing hemostatic bandages and several military-grade potent painkillers.

These were true hard currency.

With that done, Han's gaze settled on the three corpses. To him, they were no longer enemies of the past, but resources yet to be fully drained.

He pressed his palm against Wildcat's chest; beneath the cold skin lay life energy that was rapidly dissipating.

"System, extract."

[Extracting residual chakra from elite Chunin...]

[Extracting residual chakra from Chunin (Assault Type)...]

[Extracting residual chakra from Chunin (Sensor Type)...]

Three warm currents, like the first spring rain on a parched riverbed, surged from his palm and flowed through his nearly withered meridians. The current originating from Wildcat was the thickest and most refined.

Wherever the warmth passed, the emptiness caused by chakra exhaustion was rapidly filled. The water level in the small "lake" within his Dantian began to rise at a visible rate.

However, accompanying this warmth was an opposite sensation.

It was a sharp, agonizing pain radiating from his left arm, as if countless ice needles were piercing his bone marrow! The newly influxed chakra felt like molten iron poured over a fragile ice sculpture. The warm energy clashed violently with the cold, crystallizing meridians inside him.

"Crack... crackle..."

The ice crystal layer on his left arm emitted faint shattering sounds, but it wasn't melting; rather, under this conflict, it was crystallizing even more thoroughly, beginning to spread toward his shoulder.

A fine layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on Mizuki Han's forehead. He gritted his teeth, but not a single groan escaped him. He merely watched the "war" inside his body with cold eyes, like an uninvolved bystander.

Pain was the wailing of the weak. To him, it was merely the price that had to be paid for power.

[Chakra extraction complete.]

[Congratulations to the host: total chakra volume has surpassed the Genin threshold; you have officially entered the Chunin rank.]

[Current total chakra: 12.5 Cal (Standard Chunin: 10-50 Cal).]

The system's notification sounded like a bell tolling in a storm.

An unprecedented sense of fullness surged from the depths of his Dantian. He could clearly feel that his "vessel" had been widened. If his chakra had previously been a small stream, it had now gathered into a rushing creek.

This meant he could perform more powerful ninjutsu and sustain combat for longer periods.

This leap in strength brought the most solid sense of security.

However, the system's cold warning followed immediately.

[Warning! Host's body and Ice Release bloodline fusion rate is insufficient; meridian crystallization has deepened to 45%.]

[Left arm is completely necrotic; nerve sensation is severed. If the crystallization spreads to the heart, the host will be in mortal danger.]

[System Suggestion: The host is advised to immediately seek high-life-energy or Yang-attribute substances for neutralization, otherwise the backlash will be irreversible.]

Mizuki Han slowly raised his left arm.

It could no longer be called an arm. It resembled a work of art carved from pure crystal, translucent and clear, to the point where one could see the solidified, motionless cyan veins within. He tried to move his fingers, but there was no response. This hand no longer belonged to him at all.

A flash of madness flickered in his eyes.

Irreversible? In this world, as long as one's power is strong enough, nothing is irreversible. If Yang-attribute substances can neutralize it, then he would plunder them. If high-life-energy can heal it, then he would devour it.

He organized the scavenged supplies one by one, then turned his gaze toward the scrolls he had recovered from Wildcat.

Most were standard-issue Mist Anbu scrolls, recording patrol routes and supply point information, which held little value for him.

However, one of them appeared distinctly different.

This scroll was not made of paper, but of a material resembling tanned leather, presenting a dull, deep black hue. It was bound by a thin yet resilient metal wire, and at the junction, there was a complex micro-seal composed of three different runes.

Mizuki Han held it in his hand, a cold sensation radiating from the surface of the scroll. He attempted to undo the metal wire, only to find it seamless, with no gap to exploit.

He immediately channeled a sliver of the chakra he had just cultivated, carefully probing toward the micro-seal.

The moment his chakra touched the seal:

"Hum—"

A faint but highly repulsive energy fluctuation erupted from the seal, piercing his fingertip like a needle.

Mizuki Han let out a muffled groan and quickly withdrew his hand.

This seal was not just a physical lock; it was a trap on the level of chakra. It was designed to counterattack the moment it sensed external chakra probing.

This was definitely no ordinary intelligence scroll!

Something a captain of an elite Chunin squad would die to protect... what kind of secret was hidden inside?

Was it deeper inside information regarding the Great Purge? Or... the key clue to escaping this Underground Death Prison?

Mizuki Han's breathing quickened for a moment. He stared at the black scroll in his hand, which exuded an ominous aura. His intuition as an intelligence analyst from his past life told him that the importance of this item might far exceed his imagination.

He tucked the scroll away close to his body, then took a potent painkiller from the medical kit and injected it into his thigh without hesitation. The numbness brought by the medicine spread rapidly, temporarily suppressing the excruciating pain radiating from his meridians.

Having done all this, he turned and walked toward Haku in the rock crevice.

"Let's go."

His voice remained hoarse and cold.

Haku crawled out of the crevice timidly. When she saw the three corpses stripped down to their undergarments, her small face turned even paler.

Mizuki Han ignored her fear and simply tossed a bag filled with Soldier Pills to her.

"Eat them, and keep up."

He had no time to comfort her, nor the mood to explain. In this dark underground labyrinth, every extra second they stayed increased the danger.

Just as he was leading Haku, preparing to move along the planned route toward the deeper underground river, his newly broken-through sensory ability, which far exceeded his previous capacity, suddenly caught a hint of movement.

It was not from the direction they had come, nor from the tunnel blocked by the summoned beast.

It was from... overhead!

Mizuki Han snapped his head up. He saw, behind an inconspicuous ventilation duct grate on the cavern ceiling, a pale, standard-issue Mist Anbu mask silently watching them through the gaps.

Beneath that mask, one eye was filled with extreme shock and greed.

He had been discovered.

Furthermore, the other party seemed to have witnessed the entire process of him clearing the battlefield and extracting chakra!