In a battle between ninjas, if the difference in strength is not too big and the ninja can make full use of the intelligence advantage, it will be difficult for the opponent to turn the tables. Especially when someone like Mizuki has the advantage of time, place and people, and is trying to secretly plot against someone, it will be even more difficult for him to escape.

"Of course, the prerequisite is to have a means to counter the lava escape, and we must fight quickly and decisively, and we must not drag it out. There are too many variables in a protracted war."

Mizuki's biggest weakness was his lack of water jutsu skills. Among the ninjas he knew, there was no one who was good at water jutsu and had a large amount of chakra and could use large-scale ninjutsu continuously.

However, although he does not have water jutsu, he has a bloodline limit - ice jutsu, and the owner of the bloodline limit is reassuring enough, so there will basically be no problem of leakage.

"It seems that a decision needs to be made!"

In previous covert operations, Mizuki never brought Xiaochun along. The most important reason was that she couldn't help much, and he didn't want her to take risks.

But this time, it seems that Xiaochun's assistance is really needed. Facing the threat of Lava Release, in order to obtain the Four-Tails Chakra without hurting Lao Zi too much, Ice Release, which is also a bloodline limit, is crucial. No matter what tactics are used, Lava Release is an unavoidable problem if you want to limit Lao Zi's power.

Shuimu carefully sorted out the heat-insulating gloves that he had just repaired. This thing was difficult to make and even more troublesome to repair. It took a lot of time to restore it to its original state. Now it seems that the left glove has obviously more scratches and vicissitudes than the right glove.

Shuimu couldn't tell how useful it would be. It would be burned by the Thousand Conquest Orders, and it wouldn't be much better against the Lava Escape.

My strength has increased too quickly, and many of the ninja tools that I used to think were pretty good are now gradually becoming useless.

"It's better than nothing!"

With Mizuki's fighting style, weapons will be of less and less help to him, unless they are magical weapons like the Kusanagi sword or the Uchiha fan, otherwise, they are too easy to break.

During this period of time, Shuimu has been waiting for news from the clone in charge of investigation. Judging from the current situation, it is very likely that the mysterious person is Lao Zi. More and more signs indicate that the day of finding him will not be far away.

It doesn't take a long time from determining the situation to setting up the battlefield and traps. Shuimu already has the general method in mind.

Outside the study, Xiao Meixing woke up. After eating, she was still in good spirits, but her hands and feet were weak and she couldn't do much movement. As a result, she was unable to do many things that interested her. Xiao Meixing, whose curiosity was not satisfied, started crying with her mouth wide open.

"Mizuki, quickly bring out Umibozu!"

"Got it, coming right away!"

Well, this sea monster that was so majestic in the sea has now completely turned into a toy to amuse children.

Putting down the things at hand, Mizuki walked out of the study with a smile, came to the crying little Miyuki, stretched out his palm and flipped it, and Umibozu, who looked like a round little water ball, appeared in Mizuki's palm.

The water monster, which had been completely frightened, seemed to have gradually accepted its new identity as a children's toy. Without Shuimu worrying too much, it changed into various funny shapes by itself, and then simulated exaggerated facial features on the part that looked like a head, and used all kinds of tricks to make Xiao Meixing happy.

"This thing is quite intelligent. It already knows what to do when it sees a certain person."

Xiaochun reached out and grabbed Kaibouzu in his hand and observed him for a while, then shook it in front of Xiao Miyuki's eyes. Xiao Miyuki, who was originally crying, soon burst into laughter.

"It's really a luxury to use such a weird spirit beast as a pet to entertain children."

It is indeed of no use to Shuimu. In fact, if this thing is used well, it is not completely useless. There may be unexpected gains.

However, Mizuki thought about it and decided to give up. Kaibouzu had basically no potential for growth and no powerful tricks. Mizuki had so many topics that needed to be researched, so he didn't want to create more trouble.

"What were you doing in the study just now?"

"Think about something!"

In order to think about the tactics to deal with Lao Zi, a lot of brain cells were indeed consumed during this period.

"I need your help with something!"

"You have been hesitant to talk these past few days just to talk about this?"

Xiaochun said with a little dissatisfaction.

"Didn't I tell you long ago that if there's any trouble, we have to face it together!"

"I was just being overly concerned."

If I were stronger and could use water escape more skillfully, Xiaochun wouldn't have to take such risks. After all, I still don't have enough strength.

"The matter itself is not difficult. It will be more certain if we have Ice Escape!"

"Are you going to deal with someone?"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything unforgivable. My opponent is a traitor, and I don't intend to kill him!"

"Okay then!"

As long as he doesn't do anything bad behind the village's back, it doesn't matter.

"when?"

"We'll probably have to wait for a while. Let's discuss the tactics and practice ice escape..."

At this moment, little Miyuki in Xiaochun's arms began to become restless again, as if Shuimu and Xiaochun were busy talking and ignored this little guy with a super strong sense of self.

"You really can't stand loneliness for a moment. I guess you'll be harder to serve in the future!"

Mizuki doesn't really like being the center of attention, and Xiaochun is a very reserved woman, but she didn't expect her daughter to be such an outgoing person.

"Children of the same age will be bullied terribly in the future."

"Who knows what she'll be like in the future? Girls change a lot when they grow up!"

That's right, but no matter how she changes, as long as she's not the type that easily falls in love with girls, it's fine. With such a wise and powerful father, she shouldn't be easily attracted to those potato-like boys!

…

The Land of Stone, there are few places in the ninja world more remote than this place.

Even though it is sandwiched between two arch-enemies, the Kingdom of Wind and the Kingdom of Earth, it is rarely used as a battlefield for fighting between the two sides.

The land is barren, unproductive, and sparsely populated. Apart from a small amount of evergreen vegetation, there are Gobi deserts and gravel hills everywhere. Only a few small towns are relatively popular.

The pace of life of the residents here is very slow, and the sense of crisis is not very strong. The Ninja World War rarely affects this place. Old Zi, disguised as a down-and-out wandering monk, stayed here for a long time. But recently, he always felt an inexplicable sense of urgency, which made Old Zi think of leaving here.

Lao Zi, who firmly believes in fatalism, trusts these vague premonitions very much. In the past, he relied on this intuition to avoid crises time and time again. Naturally, Lao Zi will not be careless this time.

Unfortunately, Lao Zi still underestimated the difficulty of the enemy this time...