Chapter 347

The Ice Dragon King itself was merely an inanimate elemental aggregate; the reason it could perform so vividly, as if it were a real living creature, was merely due to Mizunuki Ryosuke's manipulation.

The Ice Dragon King was just a ninjutsu; if one had to say, it was similar to a puppet in the hands of a Sand Village puppeteer.

Just imagine, if you shattered the "head" of an ice sculpture, could you really kill the ice sculpture?

Not only that, under the domain of Celestial Phenomenon Descent, Mizunuki Ryosuke only needed to maintain the activation of the domain. In the extremely cold ice region, the resurrection of the Ice Dragon King did not even require additional consumption of Mizunuki Ryosuke's chakra.

In other words, to "kill" or "destroy" the Ice Dragon King.

There were only two ways: either simply kill Mizunuki Ryosuke directly.

Or break Mizunuki Ryosuke's Celestial Phenomenon Descent domain and eliminate the source of the Ice Dragon King's resurrection from the "root."

But clearly, Laozi could do neither.

Not only could he not do it, but Laozi had not even managed to see through the secret of the Ice Dragon King.

However, this could not really be blamed on Laozi; before the Ice Dragon King appeared in the ninja world, there had not yet been a ninjutsu like it.

Even though ninjas often condensed ninjutsu attacks into dragon shapes to launch attacks, they were clearly all one-off attacks.

Like Mizunuki Ryosuke, being able to manipulate a condensed elemental body back and forth as if it were a puppet was indeed unique.

Coupled with the fact that the Ice Dragon King under Mizunuki Ryosuke's manipulation was so vivid, it really seemed as if it had come to life.

Thus, Laozi subconsciously treated the Ice Dragon King as a "living being," thinking that shattering its head would solve everything.

The result was naturally that the ideal was plump, but the reality was skinny.

Fortunately, facing the tail attack of the Ice Dragon King, Laozi had made a defensive move at the last moment.

With the lava cloak formed by the Lava Release Chakra Mode, he had offset the fatal damage.

Although he had been hit by this sneak attack from the Ice Dragon King and his internal organs were somewhat displaced, at least he could continue to fight.

Before Laozi could catch his breath, the wave of Mizunuki Ryosuke's attacks had arrived once again, and each wave was higher than the last.

Not only the dragon whose head Laozi had shattered, but even the Ice Dragon King shattered by the Lava Release: Scorching River Rock Technique had been reborn in the snow, bathed in the cold wind amidst the falling snow.

Ignoring Laozi, who had been swiped away by the Ice Dragon King's tail, Mizunuki Ryosuke raised his hand and waved the Polar Ice Construction: Scepter Form in his hand, commanding the Ice Dragon King to launch a follow-up attack.

Celestial Phenomenon Descent Second Stage: Ice Dragon Swirling Tail: Dual!

Under Mizunuki Ryosuke's manipulation, the two Ice Dragon Kings soared side-by-side in the air, circling continuously in a rotating fashion, one on the left and one on the right.

Suddenly, the two Ice Dragon Kings tightened their wings simultaneously, wrapping their massive bodies with their wings, leaving only their thick tails, covered in hideous barbs, exposed.

Immediately after, the two Ice Dragon Kings suddenly began to spin rapidly like tops!

Subsequently, the two giant ice monsters attacked Laozi without mercy, their transparent ice-crystal bodies accompanied by the whistling cold wind in the air, bringing unparalleled pressure to Laozi.

When the two Ice Dragon Kings were about to make contact with Laozi, they extended their tails simultaneously, attacking from Laozi's left and right sides with extremely wide movements.

The terrifying acceleration brought by the dive and rotation brought the power of the Ice Dragon King's tail strike to a very terrifying level.

Laozi knew very well that he could not take this strike no matter what, clutching his already severely injured body.

What to do?

Laozi looked at the approaching Ice Dragon tail, a flash of depth in his eyes.

For some reason, he suddenly closed his eyes.

To those who didn't know, Laozi's action seemed as if he had resigned himself to his fate.

—He was waiting for death.

But only Laozi knew that his action was actually seeking a final glimmer of hope for himself.

Yes, that's right, Laozi was making a final effort for himself and for the Rock ninja.

In this world called the ninja world, there is always a group of people who are distinct from 99% of ninjas.

They lead a ninja village, a country, to reach new heights.

Their names resound throughout the ninja world, are sung by thousands, and even their own status stands above millions of lives.

This group of people has a common title, and that is—Genius!

Among the Rock ninja, if you ask who the first genius of the Rock ninja was since before the First Ninja World War.

Everyone would tell you without hesitation that it was the Second Tsuchikage, Mu.

But if you ask who the first genius of the Rock ninja was after the First Ninja World War.

Everyone would likewise tell you without hesitation that this person is Laozi!

That's right, the first genius of the Rock ninja was not the current Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, nor was it Huangtu, the successor Onoki had cultivated with all his might.

It was the Lava Release ninja who had no reputation in the ninja world, Laozi!

Laozi's talent was high enough to be recorded in the annals of the Rock ninja.

The reason for this statement was naturally not fabricated or a coincidence, but because Laozi truly possessed such ability.

All of this must begin with everything hidden beneath this ninja, Laozi.

From the moment the pattern of the Five Great Nations and the Five Great Ninja Villages was established, "Tailed Beasts" were the objects that the major nations scrambled to research.

Everyone wanted to grasp this terrifying power in their own hands and turn it into a weapon for their country and village.

As the First Kage of the major ninja villages passed away one after another, the ninja world gradually entered the flames of war under the leadership of the Second Kage.

As the Rock Village struggled more and more in the First Ninja World War, the Second Tsuchikage, Mu, became increasingly eager to fully grasp the power called "Tailed Beast" to reverse the situation on the battlefield.

Thus, under the leadership of the Second Tsuchikage, Mu, the Rock Village's research project on Tailed Beasts was launched with great fanfare.

After killing a few jinchuriki, Mu gradually understood in his heart that the key to successfully utilizing the power of the Tailed Beast lay in the "compatibility" between the Tailed Beast and the jinchuriki.

"Compatibility" determines the compatibility between the Tailed Beast's power and the jinchuriki themselves; if the compatibility is insufficient, the jinchuriki will soon die from the rejection of the Tailed Beast's power.

Thus, under his leadership, after layers of selection, they found two youths in the village with the best "compatibility" with the Tailed Beasts.

One youth was named Han, and the other was Laozi.

And so, Han and Laozi became the jinchuriki of the Five-Tails Kokuo and the Four-Tails Son Goku, respectively.

In the many years that followed, research on Tailed Beast power in the major ninja villages fell into a stalemate.

It seemed that obtaining the legendary "perfect jinchuriki" was an unrealistic thing.

But even so, the ninjas who became jinchuriki were more or less influenced by the power of the Tailed Beasts and awakened new powers.

Many years later, Laozi and Han grew up, and by the ten-plus years of the First Ninja World War, both had grown up.

During this period, the Five-Tails jinchuriki, Han, relied on the Boil Release bloodline brought by the Five-Tails Kokuo to perform great feats for the Rock ninja, enjoying a good reputation in the ninja world, and Han had developed Boil Release to a very good level.

Conversely, Laozi had no reputation in the ninja world and had always been in a state of "listening to orders but not accepting announcements."

Even the Tsuchikage, Onoki, could do nothing about Laozi.

Because unlike Han, who was a "quasi-Kage," Laozi was a solid Kage-level combatant!

And the reason why, despite both being jinchuriki, Laozi's strength was a notch higher than Han's was also very simple—Laozi was a genius! A true genius.

"Boil Release" was undoubtedly the bloodline influence brought by the Five-Tails Kokuo.

But Laozi's "Lava Release" actually did not come directly from the Four-Tails Son Goku; in other words: Laozi's Lava Release was developed by himself!