Using the Plan to Create Thick Fog, Depriving Vision to Seize the Initiative

The orange-red waves of fire, like an ancient beast breaking free from its chains, opened a maw that swallowed everything, roaring as they swept through the entire buffer zone.

The air twisted under the scorching heat, emitting a shrill, sizzling hiss. Under this destructive temperature, the steel weapon racks turned red at a visible rate before bending, warping, and finally melting into pools of molten iron. The ninja tools hanging from the ceiling fell like a desperate rain of iron, clattering as they dropped, only to be swallowed by the sea of fire without even creating a ripple.

Everything Mizuki Han had meticulously prepared was as fragile as a paper lantern in the face of this absolute, brutal power.

Those ice mirrors he had spent so much effort to position at such tricky angles let out a violent hiss the moment they touched the fire waves. They didn't even last a second before vaporizing completely, vanishing into nothingness. His network of near-transparent ice threads, which spanned the entire space, began to disintegrate and melt inch by inch from the edges, snapping and evaporating like a spiderweb scorched by a blazing sun, losing all utility.

"BOOM!"

The final row of weapon racks he had been hiding behind finally gave way, collapsing with a roar and being thoroughly engulfed by the rolling tongues of flame.

Having lost his last cover, Mizuki Han was left completely exposed in this burning hell.

The scorching heat wave rushed toward him, and the skin on his face felt a needle-like stinging sensation, as if it were about to crack at any moment. Every breath he drew into his lungs carried a sulfurous, searing heat, making his internal organs feel as though they were being roasted by a raging fire.

Ice Release, a bloodline limit, was being thoroughly suppressed by Fire Release!

Floating in mid-air, Captain Hozuki watched with the crimson gem on his forehead flickering with a cruel, gleeful light. He looked down coldly at the sea of fire he had created himself, the corner of his mouth curling into a smile of certain victory.

In his eyes, this game of cat and mouse was already over.

That clever little rat was either already charred to a crisp in this sea of fire, or he would be forced to crawl out from the gaps in the flames, only to be easily finished off like an ant being crushed.

However, the screams and pleas for mercy he had anticipated never came.

In the center of the firestorm, the boy driven to the brink of death did not flee; instead, he made a move that was completely incomprehensible to him.

Mizuki Han did not retreat—he advanced!

Facing the fire waves capable of melting gold and iron, he took a sudden, fierce step forward!

"Seeking death!" A flash of brutality crossed Captain Hozuki's eyes.

But the next second, the expression on his face froze.

Mizuki Han slammed his hands onto the ground, his intact right hand plunging deep into the drainage trench beneath him! He did not attempt to block the incoming flames; instead, he channeled the meager amount of chakra left in his body in a near-suicidal, frantic reverse flow!

"Ice Release: Reverse Dissolution!"

This was not an attack, nor was it a defense.

It was an act of self-destruction!

He was actively dispelling the Ice Release ninjutsu he had laid down earlier, the parts that had not yet been touched by the fire!

The solid ice hidden beneath the floor and within the drainage channels, which he had frozen to set his traps, instantly disintegrated under the forced reversal of his chakra, turning back into its most primitive, bone-chilling form: flowing water!

"WHOOSH--!"

A massive volume of accumulated water surged out from the drainage trenches in every direction like a broken dam, instantly flooding over his ankles.

The freezing water and the scorching fire waves collided with the utmost intensity in this cramped space!

"HISS--! HISS--! HISS--!"

A series of deafening, ear-splitting sounds erupted!

An unimaginable, massive amount of white steam shot into the sky at that very moment!

In less than a fraction of a second, the orange-red flames capable of incinerating everything were forcefully extinguished by the surging steam. The firelight dimmed rapidly, replaced by thick, impenetrable clouds of rolling fog that blotted out the sky!

The temperature of the entire buffer zone plummeted in a bizarre fashion during the extreme clash of ice and fire. Yet, in an instant, visibility was completely stripped away!

Turning the tables!

Turning a disadvantage into an advantage!

There was no relief on Mizuki Han's face for having survived; there was only the cold, bone-chilling calculation in his eyes, which shone with startling intensity through the thick fog.

From the moment Captain Hozuki began his hand seals, his pathological "persecutory delusion" and extreme rationality had been frantically running simulations.

Fire Release: wide-range, indiscriminate attack.

His Ice Release was suppressed, his traps would be destroyed, his hiding spot would be exposed... every disadvantage flashed through his mind one by one.

But, Fire Release suppresses Ice Release, high heat melts ice... what does that produce?

Water vapor!

A massive amount of water vapor, enough to obscure everything!

As a ninja raised in the Mist Village, he possessed an affinity for "mist" that was carved into his very bloodline.

Captain Hozuki thought he had shattered all of his plans with absolute power, never realizing that his own violent Fire Release had become the most critical, indispensable link in Mizuki Han's new plan!

He had personally created the most advantageous combat environment for Mizuki Han!

"Brat... you're courting death!"

From within the thick fog came Captain Hozuki's roar of shock and rage.

He hovered in mid-air, the crimson gem on his forehead flickering frantically as he tried to pierce through the fog and lock onto Mizuki Han's position. However, the fog, generated by the violent reaction between ice water and fire, was filled with chaotic and turbulent chakra particles, severely interfering with his perception.

His "eyes" were blinded!

The prey he had been playing with in the palm of his hand had vanished.

In its place was a sense of crisis—a prickling sensation on his back, as if he were being targeted by an unknown hunter!

"Get... out here!"

Captain Hozuki roared, his hands forming seals once more as another violent wave of fire erupted from his palms, attempting to evaporate this damned thick fog with even higher temperatures.

However, this move played right into Mizuki Han's hands.

More fire would only evaporate more standing water, creating an even denser, harder-to-disperse mist!

"Boom!"

The wave of fire surged into the thick fog, but instead of clearing it, it only made the entire space turn into a vast, white void; visibility had dropped to less than half a meter!

Captain Hozuki finally realized his miscalculation and abruptly halted his ninjutsu.

But it was already too late.

The entire buffer room had completely transformed into a pitch-black white cage where one could not even see their own fingers.

And within this cage, Mizuki Han was the true master.

He slowly rose from the ground, his movements so light they didn't make a single sound. Under the cover of the thick fog, he was like a ghost merged into this white world.

His right hand reached once again into the water at his feet.

Cold chakra spread silently along the flow of water.

Those ice threads that had been melted and broken by the high heat had lost their original structure, but they hadn't completely vanished. They had turned into the tiniest ice crystal particles, suspended within this fog and standing water.

At this moment, under Mizuki Han's renewed control, these ice crystal particles began to reweave and reconnect, like a swarm of venomous bees being awakened!

A brand new, even more concealed, and even deadlier web of death was forming silently within this white world.

"Drip... drip..."

The sound of molten metal dripping from the ceiling into the standing water became the only noise in the space.

Each drop struck against Captain Hozuki's heart, which was pounding wildly from anger and unease.

He could no longer maintain his hovering stance and slowly descended back to the ground.

He had to move.

He had to regain the initiative from his passive position!

He would personally drag that rat hiding in the shadows out and tear it to shreds!

He did not know that the moment his feet touched the ground, the corners of Mizuki Han's mouth had already curled into an arc of extreme coldness.

The stage was set.

The actor was in position.

Within the thick fog, could those twelve reactivated chain traps completely bury this experienced elite Chunin?