False Footsteps Lead to a Dead End, Retreat Sealed and Trapped

The thick fog was like a living creature, viscous and frigid, silently devouring light, sound, and every reference point for perception.

The moment Captain Hozuki's feet touched the ground, his ankles were submerged in bone-chilling standing water. The crimson gem at the center of his brow flickered, but its light could barely penetrate half a meter before being utterly shredded by the fog—a chaotic mixture of mist and turbulent chakra birthed from the clash of ice and fire.

His world had been compressed into a narrow cage with a radius of less than a meter, centered on his own body.

"Drip... drip..."

Above the dome, metal melted by high heat turned into scorching molten iron, dripping into the standing water with a crisp, rhythmic sound. It became the only noise in this white purgatory, striking again and again, precisely against Captain Hozuki's heart, which was pounding with fury and unease.

He could not wait any longer.

Passivity was synonymous with death. This was a creed carved into the bones of every Mist Anbu.

He had to move, to use his greatest speed to drag out the little mouse hiding in the shadows and playing with him, and crush every bone in its body in the most brutal way possible!

Captain Hozuki took a deep breath, the scorching, humid mist rushing into his lungs and bringing a stinging, burning pain. He lowered his center of gravity, his body tensed like a fully drawn bow, his ears twitching slightly as he tried to distinguish any sign of a living thing from the monotonous dripping.

"Plop."

Suddenly, an extremely faint sound of splashing water came from about three meters to his front-left.

The sound was light, as if someone had accidentally stepped into a slightly deeper puddle.

It's here!

Captain Hozuki's pupils constricted sharply, his muscles tensing instantly. He did not rush over immediately, but instead gripped a kunai in a reverse hold, lowering his body further like a black panther preparing to pounce on its prey.

Was it a trap? Or had that mouse finally shown a flaw?

He couldn't tell. But the first strange sound in this thick fog was his only chance to break the stalemate!

He held his breath, chakra flowing beneath his feet, and his body glided silently toward the source of the sound like a ghost.

One step, two steps...

The standing water beneath his feet was bone-chilling, and every step was soundless.

However, when he reached the location where the sound had originated, there was nothing there. Only a circle of faint ripples was slowly spreading outward, proving that something had indeed fallen into the water just a moment ago.

Was I tricked?

Captain Hozuki's brows locked tightly, the rage in his heart burning even hotter.

"Plop."

Just then, the same sound rang out again from a position slightly further to his front-right!

This time, Captain Hozuki did not hesitate. He could feel that the mouse was in this fog, moving like a phantom. He had to keep up with the opponent's rhythm, or he would be led by the nose forever!

"Found you!"

He let out a low roar, his chakra erupting beneath his feet, his speed surging as he lunged toward the source of the second sound!

Yet, what awaited him was once again an empty surface of water.

"Plop."

"Plop."

The false footsteps, like the drumbeats of a death knell, began to ring out in this thick fog in a fixed, steady frequency.

Each time, they lured Captain Hozuki to charge in the wrong direction.

He was like a blindfolded bull, charging left and right in this white labyrinth, furiously chasing a phantom that did not exist. His stamina was depleting rapidly, and more importantly, his reason and patience were being worn away bit by bit by this endless mockery.

In the shadows he could not see, Mizuki Han knelt in the knee-deep water, his uninjured right hand as steady as a rock.

From his fingertips, fingernail-sized, irregular ice needles were condensing in an orderly fashion. Then, with extremely precise force, he flicked them out.

The ice needles fell into the water in the distance, creating a splash sound almost identical to that of a person walking.

This required a near-perverted level of control over force, angle, and surface tension.

He was not fighting; he was fishing.

Using the cheapest bait to hook a big fish that had already lost its mind. His cold eyes watched Captain Hozuki's increasingly manic figure through the fog, as if enjoying a play for which the script had long been written.

Captain Hozuki, blinded by rage, did not notice that the path he was chasing was being cleverly guided by the false footsteps toward a specific area—the very center of the buffer zone.

That was where the water gathered most, and also the core area where Mizuki Han had re-laid the Ice Silk Killing Array, now at its densest!

"Plop!"

When another footstep sounded ahead, Captain Hozuki was completely insane; he let out a beastly roar and charged forward regardless of the cost.

But the moment he took his third step, a faint yet incredibly clear, strange sensation came from the soles of his feet!

It was not soft silt, nor was it a hard stone slab.

It was the feeling of being tripped by some kind of extremely thin, tough thread!

Oh no!

The combat instincts of an elite Chunin finally overcame his rage at this moment! The hair all over his body stood on end, and a sense of fatal crisis surged from the soles of his feet straight to his brain!

A trap!

He wasn't chasing a mouse at all; he was on a dead-end path leading straight to hell!

Without a second thought, he slammed on the brakes, reversing the flow of chakra beneath his feet to retreat at full speed toward the way he had come.

However, it was already too late.

From the very first step he took into this area, he had already lost.

A curve of absolute, icy coldness tugged at the corners of Mizuki Han's mouth.

Now.

His body, which had been half-kneeling in the water, suddenly straightened. His right hand, which had been submerged the entire time, splayed its fingers wide before clenching into a fierce fist!

"Ice Release: Prison of No Return!"

He poured the last of his remaining chakra into the standing water beneath his feet without reservation!

"Creak... creak... creak-creak..."

A low, bone-chilling sound of freezing erupted from behind Captain Hozuki!

The frigid water seemed to be stirred by an invisible giant hand, collapsing and solidifying frantically toward the center of his escape path!

Captain Hozuki whipped his head around, and what reflected in his pupils—suddenly constricted by terror—was a sight he would never forget.

A massive wall of ice, half a meter thick and shimmering with a ghastly, cold light, was rising from the murky water at a speed visible to the naked eye!

The surface of the ice wall was not smooth; it was covered in countless sharp, fang-like Ice Shards, radiating an absolute chill that forbade any living thing from drawing near.

In the span of a single breath, the ice wall had already risen to a height of three meters, continuing to spread upward until, with a thunderous "boom," it locked firmly against the cracked ceiling!

His retreat was completely sealed off!

Captain Hozuki's backward momentum came to an abrupt halt; his back was nearly pressed against the freezing surface.

He instinctively reached out to touch the impenetrable cliff that had suddenly appeared, feeling the cold that seemed capable of freezing his very soul. The expression on his face shifted from rage to shock, then to disbelief, and finally, it turned ashen.

He was trapped.

Ahead lay the invisible, fog-shrouded path filled with lethal traps.

Behind him stood an insurmountable wall forged of ice.

He was like a beast driven into a cage, with nowhere left to run.

"Ahhhhhhh--!!"

Extreme fear and humiliation erupted from Captain Hozuki's throat in a hysterical roar!

He spun around, gathered every ounce of his chakra, and slammed his fist into the ice wall with all his might!

"Bang!!"

With a dull, heavy thud, the ice wall shuddered violently, and countless fine cracks spread out from his fist like a spiderweb.

But that was all.

This ice prison, forged by Mizuki Han with his final reserves of strength, was not shattered by his furious blow.

Captain Hozuki gasped for air, staring at his bloodied fist, torn by the Ice Shards. The last shred of reason in his eyes was swallowed by absolute despair.

He knew that rat was somewhere in this fog, watching him coldly, like one would watch a clown.

A beast driven to the brink of death would unleash the most insane counterattack.

Captain Hozuki slowly lowered his head, a flame of suicidal madness igniting within his single, scarlet eye. He abandoned all defense, his hands beginning to weave seals at a bizarre and twisted speed.

An aura even more violent, scorching, and ominous than his previous "Flame Wave Burning Kill" erupted from his body! The water beneath his feet began to bubble and boil!

What kind of counterattack would a Chunin driven to the brink unleash?