Extreme Rationality Exposes Weakness, Flesh and Blood's Bitter Scheme Lures the Enemy Near

Agonizing pain, like a red-hot branding iron, burrowed frantically along every inch of the meridians in Mizuki Han's left arm, driving deep into the recesses of his brain.

It was not mere pain, but a primal wail born from the forced distortion of his very life form. He could clearly "hear" his cells solidifying and shattering in the extreme cold, his flesh and blood irreversibly transforming into cold, inorganic matter. His left arm was "dying."

Outside, the physical pressure triggered by the "Earth Core Movement" reached its peak.

"Crack... BOOM!"

The ice-crystal hemisphere, bought at the cost of half his arm's vitality, finally reached its limit after holding for a mere few dozen seconds. Accompanied by a deafening explosion, the entire azure sanctuary disintegrated with a roar, like a glass art piece smashed by an iron hammer.

Countless ice shards of varying sizes, mixed with violent gusts of wind, shot out in every direction.

Deprived of its final barrier, the hideous, twisting rock wall and the destructive power of the Earth Release surged forward, crushing toward Han at the center of the storm.

The shadow of death had never been so clear and concrete.

Yet, at the critical point where his consciousness was about to be swallowed by agony and despair, a flame of extraordinary, absolute rationality ignited in Mizuki Han's eyes, which had grown dim from blood loss.

His "persecutory delusion" and extreme fear of death acted, in this moment, as the most potent sedative, forcibly suppressing all chaotic emotions and physiological pain into an isolated "cage."

His brain transformed into a high-speed, precision machine left with nothing but logic and calculation.

[Analysis:]

[Enemy: Jonin, Earth Release specialist, possesses the near-impenetrable "Armor of Rock Body," capable of casting the large-scale terrain-manipulation jutsu "Earth Core Movement."]

[Self: Chunin-level chakra, Ice Release bloodline, left arm crystallized due to overload, combat capability lost, now a liability.]

[Battle Situation: Terrain completely destroyed, evasion space compressed to the limit, conventional attacks ineffective, defensive measures collapsed.]

[Win Rate: Approaching zero.]

A series of cold data flashed through his mind.

But the calculations did not stop.

[Breakthrough Point: The enemy, due to the arrogance of a Jonin and absolute confidence in his own defense, tends to resolve battles in the most direct, brutal manner. He... craves a swift conclusion.]

[Exploitable Factors: My "dying" state, and this "useless" left arm.]

A plan of extreme insanity instantly took shape in Han's mind.

If he could not win, he would deceive.

If he could not escape, he would... lure!

He would use his own flesh and blood, this ruined arm, as the final bait to lure the tiger into the trap!

"Rumble—"

The moment the ice sphere shattered, Mizuki Han's body was flung back as if by the violent shockwave, stumbling backward. His face displayed, with perfect timing, the shock and horror of his sanctuary being breached. He clutched his left arm, which had completely turned into blue crystal, his body convulsing violently from the "agony" as he let out stifled, painful groans.

Every look in his eyes, every breath, and every detail of his muscles contorted by "pain" formed a perfect, textbook-level performance.

He disguised himself as a trapped beast that had exhausted all its trump cards and was left with nothing but a death throe.

The Jonin, clad in rock armor, indeed ceased the continuous pressure of his "Earth Core Movement."

In his eyes, the battle was over.

The final struggle the brat had bought with his life had been crushed by absolute power. Now, he only needed to step forward and snap the boy's neck like crushing a bug.

"It's over." The Jonin's hoarse voice carried a hint of cat-and-mouse playfulness and finality.

He abandoned the jutsu to manipulate the earth, for it was too slow; it seemed like overkill for a target that had already lost the ability to resist.

He stomped his right foot heavily onto the writhing rocky ground, his body launching forward like a cannonball toward Mizuki Han. As he charged, his rock-encased right hand thrust forward, the rock in front of his palm rapidly writhing, deforming, and sharpening!

"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"

A one-meter-long rock spear, shimmering with a hard luster, extended from his arm, the tip pointed directly at Mizuki Han's chest!

No, to be more precise, it was pointed directly at the crystallized left arm that Mizuki Han was clutching tightly to his chest!

In the Jonin's judgment, this bizarre arm was the source of the brat's Ice Release. Destroying it completely would sever all his hope.

Watching the rapidly enlarging rock spearhead, Mizuki Han's pupils revealed extreme "fear" and "despair." He seemed to want to dodge, but his body became incredibly stiff due to "severe injury" and "terror," his movements a beat too slow. He seemed to want to block with his intact right hand, but that arm only lifted halfway before dropping powerlessly.

He was like a deer caught in headlights, completely paralyzed by fear.

Everything pointed to one fact—he was beyond saving.

Seeing this, the Jonin's lips, hidden beneath the rock visor, curled into a cruel arc.

He could already see that in the next second, this indestructible Earth Spear would pierce through the unsightly crystal arm and the brat's heart all at once!

Closer!

The spearhead sliced through the air, the whistling sound already within reach!

"Squelch—!!!"

The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out, but it was duller and more jarring than expected!

It was not the sound of entering warm flesh, but the shattering sound of some hard crystal being forcibly pierced and burst!

The Earth Spear, without suspense, slammed into Mizuki Han's fully crystallized left arm!

The terrifying piercing force dragged his entire body backward. The spearhead entered at his elbow, traveled upward, skewered the entire crystal forearm, and finally burst out from beneath his shoulder!

Blue crystal shards, mixed with dark red blood frozen into ice crystals, splattered everywhere!

An indescribable, agonizing pain, like the most violent bolt of lightning, instantly struck Mizuki Han's central nervous system! This time, even the most refined rationality could not completely insulate him from it. His body arched violently, and his entire face turned as pale as paper from the sheer intensity of the pain.

A cold, victorious sneer appeared on the jonin's face.

He prepared to increase his force, to shatter the Earth Spear completely and pin the boy's body to the wall along with it.

However, at that very moment!

A sudden change occurred!

The boy, who should have been collapsing and screaming in agony, saw his pupils—which had been unfocused from the pain—suddenly snap back into clarity!

All the pain, despair, and fear receded like a tide, replaced by a cold, extreme madness and resolve that made even the jonin's soul tremble!

"Got you."

Mizuki Han's lips parted slightly, and the voice he spat out was hoarse and faint, yet it drilled into the jonin's ears as clearly as a curse from hell.

He had not been pushed back by the force of the Earth Spear!

Far from retreating, he used his uninjured right hand to grip the rock spear piercing his left arm like an iron vice!

Immediately following this, he engaged his core and kicked off the ground with both legs!

With a self-mutilating, fearless posture, he actively threw himself toward the jonin, using every ounce of his strength to lunge forward along the very spear that had impaled his body!

The jonin's pupils contracted to the size of pinpricks in that instant!

He finally understood!

This was no death throe! It was a trap! The most insane, vicious trap, using his own flesh, bone, and life as bait and price!

He tried to pull back the Earth Spear to create distance.

But it was too late!

Mizuki Han's speed was too great, his resolve too absolute!

The distance between the two was closed to the limit in an incredibly brutal fashion!

Zero distance!

The jonin could even see his own shocked, stunned face reflected in the boy's pitch-black eyes.

And at that very moment, he realized with horror that inside the boy's left arm—which had been pierced by the Earth Spear and completely crystallized—a destructive, highly compressed surge of extreme cold chakra flared up like a volcano about to erupt!

This arm had never been a burden from the start; it was... a ticking time bomb that he had personally delivered into his own embrace!