Time rewound to one day earlier.
Izanami had just walked out of the Black Market when he saw Zabuza Momochi and Haku (White), both of whom had regained consciousness. They were currently restrained by one of Izayoi's shadow clones.
"Impressive, you woke up so quickly. As expected of Zabuza Momochi, the 'Demon' of the Hidden Mist's Seven Ninja Swordsmen," Izanami remarked with admiration.
"You didn't kill us… Are you planning to hand me over to the Hidden Mist Village, or the Black Market?" Zabuza asked, his voice weak.
Before Izanami could respond, Haku spoke up anxiously, "Please, don't hand over Zabuza-sama to the Hidden Mist or the Black Market. I am willing to earn money to repay his bounty."
"The way you ninja think is truly strange," Izanami said with a sneer. "I already dealt with Gato. All his treasure belongs to me now. Do you really think I'm in need of your petty earnings?"
He then turned to Zabuza. "By the way, what's your bounty?"
"Seventeen million ryo," Zabuza replied.
Izanami immediately frowned in disdain. "You're an Elite Jonin, yet your bounty is barely half of Konoha's Asuma Sarutobi?"
Zabuza was speechless.
How could he even compare? Asuma's status far exceeded his. If not for the Executioner's Blade, the Hidden Mist might not have even bothered offering a seventeen million ryo bounty for him.
"I kind of like you two idiots," Izanami smirked. "If you hadn't stuck to your so-called professional code, Gato's fortune wouldn't have conveniently ended up in my hands."
He dispelled the shadow clone holding them, then said, "So, do one thing for me, and I'll let you go."
"If it ensures Zabuza-sama's safety, I will do anything," Haku declared without hesitation.
Zabuza felt a warmth in his heart at Haku's devotion. He then looked at Izanami and said, "I specialize in assassination."
"I don't need anyone killed," Izanami replied. He then looked at Haku and asked knowingly, "What's your name? Is there a bounty on your head?"
"My name is Haku. I am Zabuza-sama's tool. There is no bounty on me." To prove his honesty, Haku pushed through the pain, removing his undamaged mask to reveal a flawless, delicate face.
"Very good. I have a task for you." Izanami walked to his side, retrieved a scroll, and tossed it to the ground. "Go to the Hidden Sand Village and purchase the materials listed in that scroll. Complete this task, and I'll let both of you go."
Rolling up his sleeves to reveal his fair arms, Izanami suddenly seemed to remember something. He looked down at Haku and asked, "By the way, are you male or female?"
"I am male," Haku replied.
"What a shame, with that face," Izanami said, shaking his head.
Then he raised the hem of his robe and extended his bare calf toward Haku. "Take a bite. Just one. It'll heal your injuries."
Zabuza's eyes narrowed at the strange offer. "Physical healing… Are you a survivor of the Uzumaki clan?"
"As expected of someone whose village helped destroy the Whirlpool Country," Izanami said sarcastically. "The Hidden Mist is quite informed about the Uzumaki."
Realizing what this meant, Haku hesitated only briefly before leaning forward. He gently bit Izanami's calf, being careful not to anger him by applying too much force.
Instantly, Haku's eyes widened.
It felt like standing in a frozen wasteland and suddenly submerging into a hot spring. A soothing warmth surged through his body, erasing every trace of pain and fatigue.
Wounds closed at a visible pace. Bones broken from Amenotejikara's earlier attack and the crashing rubble mended themselves. Even his bleeding organs rapidly healed. It was as though time itself had reversed within him.
This was the physical healing ability of the Uzumaki clan.
In the original story, Tsunade had once used a similar method to heal a body that had been torn in two.
Within seconds, Haku's body was fully restored.
Izanami wiped his leg on Haku's clothes and said, "The scroll contains the list of materials. I'll give you thirty million ryo. Buy as much as you can."
"Lord, I swear I will complete the task you've assigned. But please, treat Zabuza-sama too," Haku said respectfully, bowing in dogeza.
"Get lost," Izanami said coldly. "You think just anyone deserves to bite me? If I didn't need your help, you wouldn't get that privilege."
He looked at Zabuza. "That guy won't die. If you return quickly enough, there will still be time to treat him. You have ten days. If you're not back by then, I'll consider you dead."
"White, don't worry about me," Zabuza added firmly.
"…Yes."
Without delay, Haku took the scroll and money, and used the Body Flicker Technique to head toward the Land of Wind.
Izanami summoned another Izayoi shadow clone, hoisted Zabuza onto his shoulder, and left.
"Aren't you going to wait for Haku to return here?" Zabuza asked. "You didn't even tell him where to meet."
"No need. As long as he steps foot into the Land of Fire, he can't escape my sight."
So arrogant?
Did he possess the Mind's Eye of the Kagura from the Uzumaki clan?
Or had he established an intelligence network that blanketed the Land of Fire?
Wait… wasn't the Uzumaki clan known for red hair? Why was his hair white?
Was it Transformation Technique? Or perhaps he was a mixed-blood?
Zabuza quietly pondered.
Eventually, they reached a cave more than 100 kilometers from the Black Market. Izanami threw Zabuza inside and left a clone to guard him. Then, using his Rinnegan, he began to monitor the entire Land of Fire.
Izanami wasn't sure if robbing Sasori of the Red Sand would lead the latter to inform Nagato.
But since his use of Amenotejikara and Attraction had likely been witnessed, Izanami figured there was a high chance Nagato would be informed.
If so, his identity had now reached the eyes of not just Nagato, but also Uchiha Obito—and even Black Zetsu.
After all, powers like Amenotejikara and Attraction weren't commonplace. In the original timeline, no clan aside from the Rinnegan holders possessed such abilities. These were foundational techniques of the ultimate ocular powers.
Now, aside from Tendo Pain, a second person had surfaced in the ninja world using both Amenotejikara and Attraction—while wearing a pure white mask devoid of eye holes.
Would Nagato and Obito feel threatened? Possibly.
But one person who would definitely feel threatened was Black Zetsu.
After all, he had waited thousands of years for a chance to resurrect his mother. Now, a new variable had appeared—one that could potentially disrupt all of his plans.
Black Zetsu would stop at nothing to find this variable. Even if he had to search beneath every stone, he would find Izanami.
And with techniques like Yin-Yang Release, Spore Technique, and Camouflage, the duo of Black and White Zetsu could travel underground, merge with plants and terrain, and erase all traces of their chakra.
Even the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo, and his brother Hamura, wouldn't be able to sense them.
Izanami wasn't confident that his Rinnegan alone could detect them.
White Zetsu's intelligence-gathering was second to none. If he discovered that Izanami had bought materials for Human Puppets on the black market, things could escalate fast.
To avoid a trap, Izanami needed a contingency.
That was why he had spared Haku and Zabuza.
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