This Water Shadow is very strong, but overly cautious.

After stepping into the tent of the Third Tsuchikage Ohnoki, he raised his head slightly, revealing the Iwagakure forehead protector on his forehead.

However, as an Iwagakure ninja, he seemed to have no respect for the Tsuchikage Ōnoki. He sat down on the chair opposite Ōnoki without any courtesy, and then put his feet on the table in a nonchalant manner.

Seeing this, the Third Tsuchikage Ohnoki, who was always known for his rigid majesty, said nothing but just stared at the bearded ninja.

Neither of them spoke, and they remained silent.

It was not until a long time later that a young ninja with a burly figure and an extremely honest face walked into the tent.

"Father"

"Mr. Lao Zi?"

The person who came was Huang Tu. He wanted to say something to Ohnoki, but when he saw the bearded ninja in the tent, he immediately took back what he was about to say and couldn't help but let out a surprised sound...

In response, Ōnoki remained calm, but a hint of disdain flashed across the bearded ninja's face.

"Huangtu, if you have something to say, just say it."

"There's no need to hide it."

Ohnoki's calm voice came, and after hearing it, Huangtu slowly nodded.

His surprise only lasted for a moment, and he quickly figured out the whole thing, including why this bearded ninja appeared here.

After all, it has come to a critical moment involving life and death. At this moment, personal ideological disputes are far from comparable to the interests of the country and the ninja village.

"Yes."

"At present, many of our logistical supplies have been completely exhausted, and the losses on the front line are still increasing."

"besides"

Huang Tu reported all the problems of the Iwagakure troops in one breath, then retreated to the side without saying a word, waiting for Ōnoki's reply.

"call"

Ohnoki took a deep breath, turned his eyes and slowly looked at Lao Zi on the opposite side, with an unspeakable complexity in his eyes.

"Lao Zi, you and I both know how things turned out."

"No matter what, the first priority now is to ensure the continuation of the village."

"After this war ends, I will shoulder all the responsibilities."

"Now, the village needs your strength."

Ohnoki said this sincerely, with a rare hint of request in his tone.

It was hard to imagine that the Tsuchikage, who held near-absolute authority within Iwagakure, would speak in such a tone to one of his Iwagakure ninja subordinates.

"What are you going to do?"

Seeing that Ohnoki had expressed his opinion like this, the bearded ninja did not continue to act pretentiously. He put down his feet that were on the table, sat on the chair, crossed his arms and looked at Ohnoki.

Although his expression remained indifferent, the contempt for Ōnoki in his eyes faded slightly.

"You already understand the situation."

"Now, there is only one thing left before we can officially start negotiations with Kumogakure."

"That's the Third Raikage!"

Ohnoki took a deep breath, and a hint of determination and perseverance flashed in his eyes.

Chapter 326: The Ninja Who Follows Orders but Not Announcements

Upon hearing this, Lao Zi frowned.

Before coming, he had already learned that Yanyin was in imminent danger, but when he arrived at the front line, he realized from Huangtu's narration that the situation was even more critical than he had imagined.

It would be an understatement to say that Iwagakure was now at a critical juncture of life and death.

Therefore, he knew that he could no longer wait and see. He had to do something for the village.

Even he had huge differences with Tsuchikage Ōnoki.

The reason for the disagreement between the two is also very direct. Lao Zi's views are roughly similar to those of Steam Ninja Han.

Although Lao Zi is older than Han and is considered Han's senior, he is considered a middle-aged ninja of Iwagakure because he became famous during the ten years of peace in the ninja world.

Therefore, Lao Zi believes that he has the ability to inherit the title of "Tsuchikage".

When the third Tsuchikage Ōnoki, a ninja of the older generation, abdicates, he may have the opportunity to make further progress.

But the reality is that he can only be ruthlessly suppressed by the Third Tsuchikage.

It is obvious that neither Lao Zi24 nor Han is the candidate for the next Tsuchikage in the mind of the Third Tsuchikage Ohnoki.

As a result, the differences between Lao Zi and the third Tsuchikage Ohnoki became increasingly severe.

Similar to Han, in order to suppress Lao Lazuli, Ohnoki still abandoned Lao Lazuli even in such a big event as the expedition to Kumogakure.

Even though Lao Zi is a master in the entire Iwagakure, his strength is second only to Ohnoki.

Lao Zi, when it comes to this name, perhaps most people in the ninja world are unfamiliar with it. In terms of popularity, Lao Zi is even inferior to the Steam Ninja Han of the Rock Ninja in the ninja world.

But within the Iwagakure Village, Lao Zi's prestige is indeed second only to that of Tsuchikage Ōnoki.

No one dared to provoke this hot-tempered bearded ninja in Iwagakure. Even the Tsuchikage Ohnoki always gave Lao Shi some face.

——Even though everyone in Iwagakure knew that Lao Zi disagreed with him, he still had such privileges.

The reason behind all this seemingly magical thing is actually very simple, that is - strength!

That’s right, strength.

Due to differences in opinions, Lao Zi had a fierce battle with the third Tsuchikage Ohnoki.

But the final result was that Ohnoki was one step ahead and Lao Zi was defeated.

Even so, Lao Zi's strength is still recognized by the vast majority of Rock Ninjas. His strength is by no means comparable to that of a Quasi-Kage. He is a true Kage-level powerhouse!

It is precisely because of this strength that Lao Zi has the confidence to ignore the Tsuchikage.

Since there was no consensus, Lao Zi simply played the game of "following orders but not announcements" within the Iwagakure.

Therefore, even though his strength is stronger than Han, the number of tasks that Lao Zi completed for Iwagakure is far less than that of Han.

This also led to Lao Zi's reputation not being as famous as Steam Ninja Han in the ninja world.

At this critical juncture, Ohnoki would naturally not be stupid enough to continue suppressing Murasaki. He could only choose to transfer Murasaki from the Iwagakure Village to the front line and use Murasaki's combat power to drag the Iwagakure out of the quagmire of the Moon Country.

Although he was not impressed by the Third Tsuchikage Ohnoki, Lao Zi still had the ethics of an Iwagakure ninja in his heart.

Since he is willing to come to the front line, it is naturally enough to explain the problem.

This is also the reason why Ohnoki did not give more advice and spoke directly to Lao Zi.

"If we want to withdraw our troops, we must first resolve the war with Kumogakure."

"Only after we resolve our worries can we be able to deal with Konoha."

Ohnoki spoke to Lao Zi in front of him in a serious tone, but Lao Zi seemed to have no comment.

It was obvious that he had no objection to Ōnoki's statement.

If they ignored the Kumogakure behind them and forced a retreat, the Iwagakure ninjas would probably end up being attacked from both sides by Konoha and Kumogakure.

Seeing that Lao Zi agreed, Ohnoki continued.

"According to my estimation, the current consumption of combat power has reached the limit of Kumogakure."

"As long as we are willing to give up the Moon Country, Kumogakure should be able to accept a ceasefire agreement."

"But before that, there is still an unstable factor—the Third Raikage!"

Ohnoki said with a serious look in his eyes.

Even before the attack on Kumogakure, the Third Raikage himself had always been the biggest threat in Ōnoki's eyes.

The Third Raikage, who possesses combat power beyond that of ordinary Kage-level warriors, is the biggest uncertainty factor in the war.

Even though he was reluctant, Ohnoki had to admit that the Third Raikage's terrifying combat power was incomparable to his.

If the Third Raikage was allowed to do whatever he wanted, killing thousands of Rock Ninjas in a day would be as easy as playing. Therefore, long before the war began, Ohnoki made a series of arrangements to limit the appearance of the Third Raikage.

Fortunately, under the threat of Ohnoki's Dust Release, the Third Raikage did not dare to act rashly.

But now, at this moment, Ohnoki was very afraid that the Third Raikage would rely on his own sufficient combat power to reject Iwagakure's negotiation proposal.

Therefore, before proposing peace talks, Ohnoki had to ensure that the Third Raikage's combat power was depleted.

The best would be to injure the Third Raikage. Even if that were not possible, he would have to fight with the Third Raikage and end up in a draw, forcing him to give up the idea of ​​using his own combat power to influence the outcome of the battle.

This is naturally difficult for Ohnoki to do alone.

In a one-on-one fight, he is probably no match for the Third Raikage.

But now with the appearance of Lao Zi, everything is different.

"I understand."

Lao Zi spoke slowly, and he had obviously figured out the key points.

"what do you want me to do?"

Lao Zi looked at Ohnoki, his eyes showing no sign of retreat, only determination. He stared into Ohnoki's eyes, waiting for his answer.

At this point, smart people already understand what is going to happen next.

Since a Kage-level warrior cannot defeat the Third Raikage, then if two Kage-level warriors, one bright and one dark, can fight the Third Raikage to a draw, wouldn't it be possible?

The best outcome, of course, would be for Tsuchikage Ōnoki to take the initiative and become bait to attract the attention of the Third Raikage.

Lao Zi, who arrived secretly as a backup, took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack on the Third Raikage. This arrangement was undoubtedly the most reasonable and also the most likely to injure the Third Raikage.

Of course, this order can also be reversed, but once Lao Zi is exposed, the Third Raikage will naturally be more alert, and it will be much more difficult for Ohnoki to succeed.

Therefore, what to do next depends on Ohnoki's choice.

There is no doubt that anyone who directly attracts the attention of the Third Raikage is in great danger.

"The Strongest Spear", Hell Thrust. The One-Handed Sword is no joke. If you are not careful, you may be directly killed by the Third Raikage in a head-on confrontation.

If Ōnoki had selfish motives and wanted to let Lazuli attract the Third Raikage's attention head-on, Lazuli would not object.

But after this battle, if I am lucky enough to survive.

Lao Zi will also completely leave Iwagakure.

Because he was completely disappointed with Ōnoki and Iwagakure.

In Iwagakure Village.

Chapter 327, Blocking, Encircling, and Strangling

No matter what the outcome of this battle is, Lao Zi will give it his all, not to maintain the authority of Ōnoki Tsuchikage, but to fight for the village that will develop him!

What's more, the battlefield is so cruel. Even if you are a Kage-level strongman, who dares to say that he will be the last one laughing?

It is very likely that this will be the last battle in Lao Zi's life.

He said nothing, waiting for Ōnoki's reply.

Having said that, in fact, in Lao Zi's heart, he has already prepared to fight the Third Raikage head-on.

Based on his understanding of the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki, this unremarkable-looking man is definitely a ruthless person who will do anything to achieve his goals.

Recalling how Ohnoki had suppressed him and Han in order to hold on to power, Lao Zi had already made up his mind.

"You can give the village stone a lofty meaning, but you can also throw it away and pick up any stone from the ground to replace it."

"This kind of person is Ohnoki."

Lao Zi said secretly in his heart, and for a moment, he felt an indescribable emotion of anger, praise or slander in his heart. In Lao Zi's heart, he even had a hint of admiration for Ohnoki.

After all, only someone like Ohnoki could lead Iwagakure from its former glory and develop into a military power second only to Konoha among the five major countries.

Then, Lao Zi stopped thinking about random things and focused his gaze on Ohnoki's face.

After a long time, Ohnoki finally spoke slowly. He first glanced at the yellow earth beside him.

There is no doubt that Huangtu is not only his descendant, but also the successor designated by Ohnoki. At this moment, Ohnoki looked at Huangtu, perhaps with another deeper meaning.

But when Huangtu saw Ohnoki's eyes, he suddenly understood something in his heart.

In response, the honest-looking Huangtu just nodded at Onoki, as if he had understood Onoki's intentions.