Earthquakes Shake and Shatter Foundations, Seas of Fire Overwhelm the Anbu

The symphony of destruction played its most violent overture three seconds after Mizuki Han pressed the button.

It was not a single, massive roar, but a dense, continuous, and bone-chilling chain reaction of collapse that began deep within the earth's core.

"Boom—rumble!"

The first to crumble were the load-bearing pillars in Sector B-3, located at the very bottom of the underground base. The Explosive Tags Mizuki Han had placed there precisely detonated the core foundations supporting tens of thousands of tons of rock and steel.

Like a giant beast with its spine shattered, the massive underground fortress let out its first groan of agony.

Mizuki Han held Haku tightly in his arms, using his own back to bear the brunt of the pressure squeezing in from all sides. He could clearly feel the metal floor beneath his feet arching upward at a terrifying angle; the sturdy alloy emitted a piercing, wailing screech of distortion as it exceeded its stress limits.

"Snap—crack—"

A hideous fissure suddenly appeared on the ceiling above them, spreading like black lightning across the entire top of the corridor in an instant.

Immediately following, countless concrete chunks larger than human heads, mixed with torn, sparking cables, poured down like a torrential rain.

"Big Brother Han!"

Haku let out a scream, her voice distorted by extreme terror. In her world, heaven and earth had inverted, and up, down, left, and right had lost all meaning. The entire space was shaking, tearing, and collapsing, as if an invisible ancient demon were about to crush this steel hell into a ball of scrap metal.

Mizuki Han did not speak. He simply used his intact right arm, like an iron pincer, to clamp the girl in his arms even tighter. Sharp pain radiated from his severed arm; every tremor felt like countless red-hot steel needles stirring his nerves. Yet, his dark eyes remained terrifyingly clear.

He did not look at the falling boulders, nor did he pay any mind to the lethal toxic mist spreading toward his feet.

His gaze pierced through the expanding cracks and the layers of darkness, precisely capturing the location of the next demolition node—Sector C-5, the foundation of the Interrogation Department!

"BOOM—!!!"

A roar, deeper and more terrifying than all the previous explosions combined, erupted from that direction.

It was the peerless destructive power generated by hundreds of kilograms of Explosive Tags detonating simultaneously in a confined space!

If the previous explosions had only made the giant beast groan, this one had directly snapped its spine.

A visible, ring-shaped shockwave of destruction surged outward from Sector C-5 in all directions. Every wall, corridor, and room in its path was torn apart, pulverized, and swallowed as if they were made of paper!

The corridor in Sector F where they stood was not spared.

The ground beneath their feet suddenly sank with a teeth-grinding screech of metal snapping!

Weightlessness!

Mizuki Han's pupils constricted. He realized instantly that the support structure beneath their current area had been completely destroyed! They were... falling!

A gale roared up from below, whipping his tattered clothes.

The yellow toxic mist was instantly dispersed by the violent shift in airflow, transforming into invisible, even more lethal poisonous air that filled the space around them.

But Mizuki Han could no longer concern himself with that.

Because, as they plummeted, a more magnificent, spectacular, and chilling sight unfolded before his eyes.

Through the massive hole that had completely torn open above, he saw it!

He saw the headquarters building standing on the surface, the symbol of the Mist Anbu's power and majesty!

At this moment, the building—usually heavily guarded and radiating a murderous aura—was sinking at a visible rate. Countless cracks crawled across its sturdy exterior like spiderwebs, and massive stone blocks and glass curtain walls fell like waterfalls.

Inside the building, lights were blazing, and faint, panicked figures could be seen fleeing in every direction. The shrill alarms were completely drowned out by the earth-shaking roar.

Around the Anbu building, more surface structures were falling apart like building blocks in this unprecedented man-made earthquake.

Flames shot into the sky from the surface exit of the Energy Hub, dyeing half the night sky a demonic blood-red. Thick black smoke rose like a demonic dragon, entangling itself with the eternal mist of the Village of the Bloody Mist.

Screams, shouts of command, the explosions of ninjutsu... countless sounds blended together to compose a symphony of destruction in absolute chaos.

This was his masterpiece.

This was his, Mizuki Han's, most insane and thorough response to the cold world that had tried to crush him!

An indescribable, icy pleasure rose from the depths of his heart. It was not the madness of bloodlust, but the absolute satisfaction of overturning the chessboard and dragging every high-and-mighty player into the mud.

The expressions on the faces of those Mist high-ups, hiding behind the scenes and thinking they controlled everything, must be wonderful right now, surely?

"Boom—crack!"

Another loud noise pulled Mizuki Han's thoughts back to reality.

Their descent jolted to a sudden halt, as if they had slammed into a structure that hadn't fully collapsed yet. The massive recoil made a sweet taste rise in Mizuki Han's throat; he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood, but forced himself to swallow it back down.

He looked around and found himself in a massive, semi-open space formed by twisted rebar and shattered rock. Below was a bottomless abyss swallowed by darkness and smoke. Above was the burning surface ruin, with fireballs and debris constantly falling.

This was no longer a structured underground base.

This was a literal steel tomb, currently in the process of collapsing.

"Cough... cough, cough..." Haku began to cough violently. Her small face was blackened by smoke and her eyes were bloodshot, but she still clung tightly to Mizuki Han, as if he were the only piece of driftwood in her collapsing world.

Mizuki Han's gaze scanned the surroundings calmly.

He was searching.

Searching for the most critical link in his plan—the one that was also the key to his escape: the rising thermal updraft!

The chain explosions had destroyed the load-bearing structures, but they had also ignited the energy pipelines and stockpiles deep underground. The terrifying high temperatures would inevitably generate a powerful updraft capable of lifting everything upward!

Found it!

His gaze locked onto a massive, fractured pipe not far away, which was spewing blue flames outward! The air there was visibly distorted by the intense heat. Gusts of scorching wind were howling and sweeping upward from that very direction.

That was their path to survival!

However, just as he prepared to move toward that direction with Haku, the only platform beneath their feet that remained somewhat intact let out a final groan.

"Creak—"

The last steel beam supporting the platform snapped completely amidst a scalp-tingling sound of metal fatigue!

The ground beneath them vanished!

The two of them plummeted straight down toward the endless abyss once more!

The gale whistled in their ears, and countless shards of debris brushed past them.

In Haku's eyes, utter despair finally surfaced.

Yet, in the midst of this fall toward hell, Han, whom she was clutching tightly, made a move she found completely incomprehensible.

He released the intact right arm that had been shielding her all along.

He let the fierce wind blow the two of them slightly apart.

Then, he stared at her with those icy, piercing eyes that flickered between the firelight and the darkness.

His lips moved, and his hoarse voice reached Haku's ears with precision.

"Grab onto me, with all your might."

Before the words had even faded, a surge of pure, ice-blue chakra erupted violently from his battered body!

That chakra did not take on any aggressive form; instead, like living vines, it spread rapidly across his back.

Amidst the falling gale and chaotic debris, set against the backdrop of the sea of fire and ruins, a pair of massive wings, forged from the purest, shimmering ice crystals, slowly unfurled behind him!

In the collapsing ruins, the severely wounded Han was actually attempting to utilize the powerful updraft generated by the explosion to manifest an Ice Release Glider, aiming to carry Haku through the barrage of flying debris and escape the underground? Could this insane maneuver possibly succeed?