Time stretched infinitely, then compressed to its absolute limit.
Point-blank.
It was a distance that would make any ninja's hair stand on end—a distance of certain death.
The elite jonin's pupils clearly reflected Mizuki Han's bloodstained face, calm as a frozen pool. His prized Armor of Rock Body, which could withstand even a full-force attack from another elite jonin, had now become the deadliest of cages, keeping him from pulling away even a single centimeter in the blink of an eye.
Shock and fury erupted in his heart like a volcano!
He had made a fatal mistake—underestimating his opponent. Blinded by his own arrogance, he had treated a lowly ninja's death throes as a show he could casually enjoy. And now, the "rat" he had looked down on had paid with his own flesh and blood to press his sharpest venomous fang against the man's throat!
"Roar!"
The elite jonin let out a furious cry that sounded nothing like a human voice. His instinct to survive overpowered everything else. He didn't try to retreat, because he knew it was too late. Instead, he made the most decisive, ruthless choice of all—self-mutilation!
The chakra inside him reversed violently. The Earth Spear that pierced Mizuki Han's left arm began to crumble from within. He would trade an arm for a chance to survive—even if that chance lasted just a tenth of a second!
But Mizuki Han's calculations were faster and more ruthless!
At the instant the elite jonin's chakra reversed, in the split second before the Earth Spear shattered from within,
the last flicker of human emotion vanished from Mizuki Han's dark eyes, leaving only the pure, cold logic of killing.
"It's over."
With the last of his strength, he delivered his sentence to the elite jonin.
Then he detonated the core of death he had personally delivered into his enemy's arms—a core forged from the "life" of half his arm and forty percent of his refined chakra!
"Ice Release: Point-Blank... Heart's Burial!"
There was no earth-shattering roar, no dazzling display of light.
Only a muffled sound, so deep it seemed to swallow everything, yet so sharp it could pierce eardrums—
"Crack!!!"
In that instant, the Earth Spear-pierced left arm, now completely transformed into blue crystal, exploded from within!
It didn't become a shower of ice shards. Under the control of chakra drawn inward to its utmost, it broke apart into thousands upon thousands of miniature Ice Senbon—finer than ox hairs, sharper than scalpels!
Carrying terrifying kinetic force and frigid cold from their overcharged state, the Ice Senbon burst outward from Mizuki Han's left arm in a perfect fan, all aimed in one direction: the elite jonin's body!
"Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft—!!!"
The sound was dense and sickening, making one's scalp crawl, like torrential rain beating against rotting flesh!
The supposedly impenetrable Armor of Rock Body became a complete joke. It could fend off any blunt force or slash from outside, but it offered no defense whatsoever against tens of thousands of piercing attacks erupting from point-blank range, from within!
Countless Ice Senbon gleamed with a dim blue light as they pierced the relatively thin stone armor around his neck with ease, burrowing into his flesh like a vicious school of piranhas!
His throat, windpipe, cervical vertebrae, arteries...
Even his brain, protected by layers of bone!
In 0.01 seconds, countless tiny ice crystals pierced, crushed, and froze everything from within!
The elite jonin's body suddenly stiffened!
His eyes, bloodshot with fury, froze in place. The light in his pupils faded like a candle snuffed out by a gale. He opened his mouth as if to unleash one last roar, but his shattered vocal cords couldn't force out a sound.
A spray of dark red blood mixed with ice crystals burst from his mouth, nose, ears, and even the corners of his eyes!
His body convulsed violently. The Armor of Rock Body, connected to the earth and seemingly impossible to bring down, rapidly flaked away and crumbled as its chakra support vanished, turning into rubble at his feet.
Thud.
His heavy body fell stiffly backward and slammed against the cold metal floor with a dull thump. Then he was still.
Even in death, the experienced and powerful Anbu squad leader couldn't understand how he had lost to a kid who wasn't even a Genin.
"Pfft—"
Almost at the same moment, Mizuki Han could no longer hold on. Like a puppet with its strings cut, he was hurled away by the violent force of the explosion. His back slammed hard into the metal pipes behind him with a deafening crash.
He spat out a large mouthful of blood. His vision darkened in waves, and a constant ringing filled his ears.
Pain!
Unprecedented pain surged from the stump of his left shoulder like floodwaters breaking through a dam, engulfing every nerve in his body!
He lowered his head and looked at his left arm.
No. There was no arm anymore.
Below the shoulder, there was nothing.
The arm that had once belonged to him had been completely sacrificed in that brutally violent self-detonation, along with his enemy's life.
The stump was a mangled mess of flesh, with stark white shards of bone clearly visible. Strangely, though, blood wasn't gushing out. A thin layer of ice crystals glimmering with a dim blue sheen covered the wound, temporarily sealing off the blood vessels and flesh. At the edge of losing control, his Ice Release bloodline had instinctively protected him one last time.
Even so, the agony of having flesh and bone forcibly torn apart exceeded the limits of what a human could bear.
Mizuki Han curled up on the ground, trembling uncontrollably from the intense pain. Beads of cold sweat covered his forehead, and his face was deathly pale.
He had won.
He had accomplished what seemed impossible, turning the tables at the cost of an arm.
But there wasn't the slightest trace of joy in his mind.
That perfectly rational, precision-engineered machine was still running.
[Status Assessment: Left arm permanently severed. Chakra remaining: 31%, of which 30% is reserved for escape and 1% remains from the recent battle. Physical stamina depleted: 95%. Mental strength on the verge of exhaustion. External conditions: 11 hours and 34 minutes until poison gas injection. Mission objective: Lead to the core Energy Hub in Area F-9, not yet connected.]
Line after line of cold data rang through his mind like an alarm bell.
The crisis was far from over.
He didn't even have time to treat his wound, let alone feel the pain.
He had to get up.
He had to finish the final preparations.
Otherwise, everything he had sacrificed just now would be meaningless.
"Ghh..."
Mizuki Han let out a stifled growl and planted his good right hand on the cold floor, trying to push himself up.
But his body was far weaker than he'd expected. He had barely lifted his upper body when a wave of dizziness surged into his brain. His vision went black, and he nearly collapsed again.
No... My body's reached its limit...
Just then, faint, hurried footsteps came from the narrow hidden passage he had forced his way into behind him.
A small figure came tumbling out of the darkness.
It was Haku.
Her face was streaked with tears, and her small body trembled with fear and cold. But when she saw Mizuki Han lying in a pool of blood, one arm gone, every trace of fear in her tear-filled eyes was instantly replaced by an even more overwhelming emotion.
It was a panic and heartache from the depths of her soul, as if the sky had fallen.
"Han... Big Brother Han!"
She let out a tearful scream and threw herself at Han without a second thought.
Mizuki Han instinctively wanted to scold her and tell her to hide again. But by the time the words reached his lips, he no longer had the strength to speak.
All he could do was watch Haku reach his side and extend her frail arms, so thin they seemed ready to snap, as she tried to help him up.
But his body was too heavy.
Haku put all her strength into it, her little face flushed red, but all she managed was to make his body sway slightly.
"Get up... Please, get up..."
Large tears rolled from Haku's eyes and fell on Mizuki Han's cold cheek, carrying a faint warmth.
He looked at her. For the first time, his eyes—scattered by weakness—showed the slightest hint of wavering, so faint that even he didn't notice it.
Dragging his ruined body, he forced himself to finish connecting the lead. Haku rushed out of the passage and braced the unsteady Han with her frail shoulder. At that moment, looking at the stubborn girl with tears streaming down her face, Han felt the first faint stir of recognition in his icebound heart.
But there wasn't much time left.
The poison gas had begun spreading through the ventilation ducts, filling the entire underground complex. After blowing up the support columns, could they really still escape?
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