Zero-Distance Ice Blast Through Throat, Fierce Battle Severed Left Arm

Time, at this moment, was stretched to infinity, then compressed to the absolute limit.

Zero distance.

This was an absolute, lethal proximity that would make the hair of any ninja stand on end.

The Jonin's pupils clearly reflected the face of Mizuki Han, stained with blood and grime, yet as calm as a pool of frozen ice. The "Armor of Rock Body" he took such pride in—the one capable of withstanding a full-force strike from another Jonin—had now become the most lethal cage, preventing him from pulling back even a single centimeter in the blink of an eye.

Shock and fury exploded within him like a volcano!

He had made a fatal mistake—underestimating his enemy. Blinded by his own arrogance, he had treated the death throes of a low-level ninja as a play to be watched at his leisure. And now, this "rat" in his eyes had used its own flesh and blood as the price to press the sharpest of fangs against his throat!

"ROAR!"

The Jonin let out a howl that sounded less than human; the instinct for survival overwhelmed everything else. He did not choose to retreat, for he knew it was too late. He made the most decisive, most ruthless choice—self-mutilation!

The chakra within him reversed frantically. The Earth Spear that had pierced Mizuki Han's left arm was about to disintegrate and shatter from within! He would trade the cost of an arm for a tenth of a second of life!

However, Mizuki Han's calculations were faster, and more ruthless!

At the very moment the Jonin's chakra reversed, just an instant before the Earth Spear was to shatter from within.

In Mizuki Han's pitch-black eyes, the last trace of human emotional fluctuation vanished completely, leaving only a pure, cold logic of slaughter.

"It's over."

He used his final ounce of strength to deliver that sentence into the Jonin's ear.

Then, he detonated the core of death he had personally delivered into the enemy's embrace—a core forged from the "life" of his own half-arm and forty percent of his pure chakra!

"Ice Release: Zero Distance... Heart Burial!"

There was no earth-shattering roar, no dazzling or flashy light effects.

There was only a sound, muffled to the extreme, yet sharp enough to pierce the eardrum—"CRACK!!!"

The left arm, which had completely transformed into blue crystal and been pierced by the Earth Spear, exploded from within at that very instant!

It did not turn into scattered ice dust; instead, under the control of an intensely restrained chakra, it disintegrated into thousands, tens of thousands of micro-Ice Senbon, thinner than cow hair and sharper than scalpels!

Carrying the terrifying kinetic energy of an overloaded state and freezing temperatures, these Ice Senbon radiated outward from the origin point of Mizuki Han's left arm in a perfect fan shape, aimed at one sole target—the Jonin's body!

"Pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft—!!!"

It was a hair-raising, dense sound, like a torrential downpour hitting rotting flesh!

The Jonin's impenetrable "Armor of Rock Body" became a complete joke at this moment. It could withstand any blunt force or slashing attack from the outside, but it had absolutely no defense against tens of thousands of piercing attacks erupting from within at zero distance!

Countless Ice Senbon, shimmering with a ghostly blue light, easily penetrated the relatively weak rock defenses at his neck, swarming into his flesh like a school of the most ferocious piranhas!

Throat, trachea, cervical spine, arteries...

Even the brain, protected by layers of bone!

Everything was completely pierced, shredded, and frozen from within by countless tiny ice crystals in that 0.01 seconds!

The Jonin's body stiffened abruptly!

His eyes, bloodshot from fury, instantly glazed over. The light in his pupils faded rapidly, like a candle flame extinguished by a gale. He opened his mouth, as if to let out one final roar, but his shredded vocal cords could not squeeze out even a whisper.

A dark red blood mist, mixed with shards of ice, erupted violently from his nose, mouth, ears, and even the corners of his eyes!

His body convulsed violently. The Armor of Rock Body, which had been connected to the earth as if it would never fall, began to peel away and disintegrate, turning into a pile of rubble as it lost its chakra support.

"Thud."

The heavy body fell straight backward, hitting the cold metal floor with a dull sound, and then went silent.

This experienced and powerful Anbu squad leader would never understand, even in death, how he had lost to a brat who wasn't even a Genin.

"Pfft—"

Almost at the same time, Mizuki Han could no longer hold on. His entire body, like a puppet with cut strings, was violently pushed away by the recoil of the explosive force, his back slamming heavily into the metal pipe behind him with a loud crash.

He spat out a large mouthful of blood, his vision blackening in waves, a constant ringing in his ears.

Pain!

An unprecedented, agonizing pain, like a burst dam, swept through every nerve from the stump of his left shoulder!

He lowered his head to look at his left arm.

No, there was no arm there anymore.

From the shoulder down, it was empty.

The arm that had once belonged to him had been completely sacrificed in that brutal self-detonation, along with the enemy's life.

At the stump, the flesh was mangled, and the stark white bone was clearly visible. Yet, strangely, no blood gushed out. A thin layer of ice crystals, shimmering with a ghostly blue luster, covered the wound, temporarily sealing the blood vessels and flesh. This was the final, instinctive self-preservation of his Ice Release bloodline on the verge of spiraling out of control.

Even so, the agony of flesh and bone being forcibly torn apart still exceeded the limits of what a human could endure.

Mizuki Han curled up on the ground, trembling uncontrollably from the intense pain, his forehead covered in beads of cold sweat, his face pale as a sheet.

He had won.

At the cost of an arm, he had completed a seemingly impossible, desperate counter-kill.

But in his mind, there was not a single trace of the joy of victory.

That machine of absolute rationality was still running.

[Status Assessment: Left arm permanently severed. Chakra remaining: 31%, of which 30% is reserved for escape, 1% remaining from recent combat. Physical exhaustion: 95%. Mental energy nearing depletion. External environment: Poison gas injection countdown: 11 hours and 34 minutes. Mission objective: Core energy hub lead in Sector F-9, not yet connected.]

Lines of cold data rang through his mind like a frantic alarm.

The crisis was far from over.

He didn't even have time to treat his wounds or feel the pain.

He had to stand up.

He had to finish the final preparations.

Otherwise, everything he had sacrificed would become meaningless.

"Urgh..."

Mizuki Han let out a suppressed growl, using his only remaining hand to press against the freezing floor as he tried to push himself up.

However, his physical weakness far exceeded his expectations. He had barely lifted his upper body when a wave of intense dizziness surged into his brain, causing his vision to black out and nearly sending him crashing back to the ground.

No... my body has reached its limit...

Just then, a faint, panicked sound of footsteps echoed from the narrow, hidden passage he had forced her into.

Immediately after, a small, thin figure came scrambling out from the darkness.

It was Haku.

Her face was streaked with tears, and her small body trembled from fear and cold. But when she saw Mizuki Han lying in a pool of blood, missing an arm, all the fear in her tear-filled eyes was instantly replaced by a much more intense emotion.

It was a panic and heartache that seemed to originate from the depths of her soul, as if the sky were collapsing and the earth shattering.

"Han... Brother Han!"

She let out a shrill, tearful cry and lunged toward him, disregarding everything else.

Mizuki Han instinctively wanted to scold her and tell her to hide back inside, but the words died in his throat; he didn't even have the strength to speak.

He could only watch helplessly as Haku ran to his side, watching the little girl reach out with arms so thin they looked like they might snap, trying to pull him up.

However, his body was too heavy.

Haku used every ounce of her strength, her small face turning bright red, but she could only make his body sway slightly.

"Get up... please, get up..."

Large, bean-sized tears rolled from Haku's eyes, splashing onto Mizuki Han's cold cheek, carrying a trace of insignificant warmth.

Mizuki Han looked at her, and for the first time, a subtle waver—one he hadn't even noticed himself—appeared in his eyes, which had been unfocused from exhaustion.

He dragged his broken body, risking his life to complete the final connection of the lead. Haku rushed out from the secret passage, using her thin shoulders to firmly support the teetering Han. In that moment, as Han looked at the tear-streaked but stubbornly determined girl, his frozen heart felt a faint sense of acknowledgment toward her for the first time.

But time was running out.

The poison gas had already begun to spread through the ventilation ducts into the entire underground facility. Could they really escape successfully after detonating the load-bearing pillars?