Reviewing the Desperate Situation, Making Grand Vows, Swearing to Hold Fate in One's Palm

The air in the basement, thick with the scent of mold, blood, and the dampness of the rain, felt as heavy as lead. The crimson glimmer filtering through the cracks in the iron door was the only source of light in this corner forgotten by the world.

Mizuki Han stood before the pile of tattered quilts, his gaze lowered as he stared at Haku, who lay in a deep sleep.

His newly regenerated left hand slowly rose, fingers long and slender, with a faint, almost invisible shimmer of pure chakra dancing at the tips. This hand was about to press against the girl's forehead, initiating the domineering and bloody plundering ritual known as "Deep Fusion."

Yet, just as his fingertips came within a centimeter of Haku's smooth forehead, his movements abruptly froze.

The focus in his abyssal, tranquil eyes shattered in an instant.

Scene after scene flashed through the depths of his mind like the sharpest of Ice Shards.

In the death row cell, facing the executioner's blade swung by an Anbu guard, he had relied on the system's perfectly timed "Novice Gift Pack"—that insignificant yet seal-ignoring source chakra—to complete that seemingly stunning counter-kill. Had the system activated a second later, he would have already been a cold corpse.

This was luck.

At the sewage pipe exit, facing the insurmountable, absolute strength of Hoshigaki Kisame, all his schemes—the bait, the Water Clones, the Chakra Bombs—had appeared so laughable and powerless. He survived not because he was clever enough, but merely because of Kisame's mockery and contempt for a "little mouse." That fatal water blade missing his heart, the success of his final feigned death—all were built upon the enemy's arrogant "boredom."

This was charity.

In the karst cave, facing the encirclement of the Wildcat squad, he had utilized traps and psychological warfare, appearing to hold the reins and toy with his enemies. But when the Wildcat was driven to a dead end and desperately unleashed a large-scale Water Release, he was instantly forced into a corner. Had he not forcibly reversed the situation through his understanding of the physical properties of Ice Release, he would have long since been pounded into pulp by the raging Water Dragon.

This was a fluke.

Inside the Energy Hub, facing that formidable Earth Release Chunin, he had been suppressed from start to finish. His so-called environmental utilization and micro-management were as fragile as a layer of window paper in the face of the opponent's unreasonable defense and strength from the "Armor of Rock Body." His final victory was a brutal, desperate struggle bought with the permanent disability of one arm and a self-mutilating forbidden technique. If not for the system's S-Rank Reward, he would now be a one-armed cripple lying in the ruins, waiting to be corroded into a pile of dry bones by toxic gas.

This was a high-stakes gamble.

Luck, charity, a fluke, a high-stakes gamble...

Mizuki Han's body began to tremble imperceptibly.

This was not fear, but an extreme, soul-deep surge of fury and lingering dread!

He slowly withdrew his hand from mid-air and clenched it into a tight fist. His new knuckles creaked from the excessive force.

He had always thought himself calm and rational enough, calculating every step to the extreme.

Yet now, in this absolutely safe and silent basement, as he conducted this cold-blooded review, he realized with horror that from beginning to end, he had been like an acrobat walking a tightrope over a cliff.

Beneath his feet lay a bottomless abyss, and his so-called "safety line" was nothing more than the enemy's momentary mercy and ethereal luck.

This feeling filled him with a bone-deep sense of nausea and unease.

The "Firepower Deficiency Phobia" and "Persecutory Delusion" carved into his soul erupted at this moment, like a volcano into which high-grade explosives had been tossed!

Weak!

Still far too weak!

His so-called Chunin-level chakra was not worth mentioning in front of true powerhouses!

His so-called schemes and calculations were nothing but the ugly struggles of a dying man when faced with absolute, crushing force!

He loathed this feeling.

He loathed the feeling of his life being controlled by others.

He loathed the feeling that every victory was accompanied by a painful price and immense risk.

He would not gamble anymore.

What he wanted was not to win chips at the poker table by relying on exquisite technique and a bit of luck.

What he wanted was to become the casino owner who set the rules of the game!

What he wanted was the absolute power to flip the entire table and hold the life and death of every gambler in his own hands!

An unprecedented ambition, as deep as a black hole, grew and expanded wildly within his chest!

Survival?

No, merely staying alive was far from enough.

He would establish an absolute hegemony!

He would make this land, shrouded in blood mist, and even the entire ninja world, tremble under his will!

He would ensure that anyone who dared to oppose him would be ground into dust the moment they conceived the thought!

He would snatch the ethereal word "fate" from the hands of the gods and, with his own two hands, firmly mold it into the shape he desired!

"Hoo..."

Mizuki Han exhaled a long, turbid breath; the airflow in the dim air actually carried a visible trace of white frost.

When he opened his eyes again, the last shred of confusion and lingering fear had vanished. In their place was a will as firm and cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice, and a surging ambition that could burn the world!

This was the first time since transmigrating into this world that he had set a true, magnificent goal for his life.

Not for escape, not for self-preservation, but for—reigning over the world!

His gaze fell once more upon the petite figure curled up in the quilt.

His eyes were already completely different.

If before, Haku was merely a "tool" and "material" with high utility in his eyes.

Then now, she was the first cornerstone of his grand blueprint, the first "sacrifice" for the Ice Empire he would create.

This Deep Fusion would no longer be a simple act of plunder for the sake of increasing power.

This would be a ritual.

An opening ceremony where he would declare the rise of his ambition to this cruel world!

Mizuki Han walked over to the pile of musty-smelling quilts and slowly knelt down.

He reached out his hands, not to touch the sleeping Mizuki Haku, but to first tidy the dirty bedding, positioning the girl's body into a more comfortable, flat posture.

Then, he pulled a razor-sharp, custom-made dagger he had scavenged from the Armory out from his robes.

The cold blade reflected a ghastly light under the dim red glow.

Without the slightest hesitation, he used the blade to lightly slice across his newly formed left wrist.

A thin wound split open, and pure blood, imbued with the power of extreme cold, slowly seeped out. It did not drip, but instead, as if possessing a life of its own, gathered into crystalline beads of blood on the surface of his skin.

Immediately after, he picked up Mizuki Haku's cold, slender right hand.

On the girl's wrist remained the shallow teeth marks from when she had fed him her blood earlier.

Mizuki Han's gaze fell upon those marks, his eyes devoid of any fluctuation. His blade hovered precisely over the old wound, and with the precision of a surgeon, he made a light cut.

"Mmph..."

The sleeping Mizuki Haku seemed to sense the pain, letting out an unconscious whimper as her body curled slightly, but extreme exhaustion kept her from waking.

Warm blood welled up from the wound on her wrist.

Mizuki Han tossed the dagger aside and pressed his bleeding left wrist tightly against her bleeding right wrist.

Ice and blood began to merge at this moment.

[Host detected initiating Deep Fusion ritual...]

[Genetic channel establishing...]

[Warning: This process will cause immense pain and irreversible bloodline alteration to the fusion target 'Mizuki Haku'. Proceed?]

A cruel and indifferent arc curled at the corners of Mizuki Han's mouth.

"Proceed."

He would not only plunder her power; he would carve his own will into the depths of her bloodline like a brand.

From this day on, she would no longer be the remnant of Mizuki Haku, but the first creation on his path to hegemony.

However, just as the system confirmed the command and their blood was about to fuse completely, a sudden change occurred!

A third-party bloodline power, one that belonged to neither of them and was filled with an ancient, tyrannical aura, erupted violently from the depths of what had seemed to be Mizuki Haku's pure blood!