… … As expected, there's a problem. Good thing I watched Kenja no Magō in my previous life—oh wait, I mean Cautious Hero."
In less than two days, Izayoi—along with his shadow clone monitoring the Land of Fire—discovered that something was wrong.
Because he saw a familiar figure.
Back in the Land of Rivers, he had once glimpsed this figure with his Reincarnation Eye from a distance, across the border in the Land of Rain.
It was none other than Jiraiya's disciple, the angel of Amegakure, the White Tiger of the Akatsuki—Konan.
She was riding a large, sharp-beaked bird, flying into the Land of Fire, heading toward a specific direction.
Due to Nagato's declining health, Konan had rarely left Amegakure recently. After all the Akatsuki members were gathered, she no longer took on missions alone and mostly remained in Amegakure, assisting Nagato with daily tasks and taking care of his wellbeing.
After the start of the original plot, wherever Konan appeared, Nagato or Tendo Pain would always be close behind.
Now that she had appeared in the Land of Fire, she clearly wasn't here for sightseeing.
Izayoi had a strong premonition—she was likely coming for him.
Half a day later, Izayoi's prediction was confirmed.
Roughly fifty kilometers northwest of the Black Market, on a small hilltop, Konan leapt down from the Eight-Span Crow. As she landed, a multitude of cracks appeared on her body, and sheets of paper fluttered away, forming wings on her back. She descended slowly, like an angel entering the forest.
The Eight-Span Crow followed, swooping down and landing gracefully, then exploded into a thick cloud of white smoke.
When the smoke cleared, a giant tree made entirely of paper stood in its place.
Then, as if dyed from the bottom up, the tree gradually turned from paper to what looked like real bark and leaves, perfectly camouflaging into the forest environment.
From the perspective of the Reincarnation Eye, the tree was covered in blue chakra. Tadpole-like runes formed from this chakra, creating a barrier that prevented detection.
Even the famed Mind's Eye of the Kagura might not have been able to sense this chakra.
But it couldn't fool Izayoi's Reincarnation Eye.
In his vision, there were eight chakra sources inside the tree—clearly Konan, Nagato, and the Six Paths of Pain.
"Hiding inside the bird's mouth… So that's how they traveled. I thought Konan summoned it with those lip studs of hers."
After witnessing the entire event, Izayoi finally understood.
He couldn't help but mutter, "The strongest figures in the Ninja World came personally. Aren't they overestimating me a bit?"
But then, he fell silent.
The tree opened slightly, and Tendo Pain emerged, his body floating effortlessly.
He flew up to a cliff edge, hovering there.
Moments later, the space beside him twisted and distorted, forming a black hole the size of a fist.
From that rift emerged two distorted figures.
Uchiha Obito, and the familiar face Izayoi had seen multiple times at the academy gates back when he was still a freshman—Uchiha Itachi.
Looking at the trio assembled in front of him, Izayoi muttered in his hometown dialect, "Ding nei goh fai."
A lineup consisting of Tendo Pain—the Super-Kage level gatekeeper, Uchiha Itachi—with his perfected Mangekyo Sharingan and countless hidden abilities, and Uchiha Obito—with his infinite Kamui that he could use without risking blindness… Even someone like Ōnoki at the peak of his power wouldn't survive being their target.
These three, together, could stand against all Five Kage combined.
If they let down their guard against one another, even the united Five Kage wouldn't be able to defeat them.
Deploying such a force just to catch him—what did he do to deserve this?
At that moment, Izayoi heard his shadow clone speak in Mandarin, "Look, there's movement on the Black Market side too."
Izayoi immediately shifted his gaze to the Black Market.
There, a suited middle-aged man was suddenly impaled by a branch.
Then, a white creature transformed into the exact likeness of the man.
"Ephemeral Technique... As expected. Even the Reincarnation Eye couldn't detect it." Izayoi's face turned serious.
"His Transformation Technique is flawless," his shadow clone added. "Truly worthy of being the strongest in the Ninja World. If even the final evolution of the Reincarnation Eye can't see through it, we might have to give Mind's Eye of the Kagura the ability to sense morality—good and evil."
Izayoi's expression grew contemplative.
He began thinking—besides the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, were there other sensory abilities in the Ninja World that could pierce through such disguises?
Ideally, he needed something that could also break the Ephemeral Technique.
After all, the scariest part of Black and White Zetsu wasn't their disguise or possession abilities—it was the Ephemeral Technique. A stealth movement technique that ignored all barriers, allowing them to merge with terrain and travel undetected.
Even Sage-level beings struggled to detect it.
The idea of being watched by such hidden eyes made Izayoi feel deeply uneasy.
But for now, he couldn't think of any concrete countermeasures.
So, he temporarily shelved the thought.
His Reincarnation Eye glanced at the Zetsu clone in the Black Market and the powerhouse trio on the cliff. He chuckled to himself, "I was going to give them a little greeting, but on second thought… better not waste the effort. Let them stand there as punishment for now."
That, in itself, was good news.
If they were openly setting up ambushes like this, it meant Black Zetsu either didn't know the Reincarnation Eye existed—or didn't understand its capabilities.
That gave Izayoi an edge.
And he had no intention of giving that edge up.
"Luckily, I had a contingency plan. Otherwise, the losses today would've been huge. I'll remember this grudge, and return a big gift in time."
After one final glance at the cliff where the trio stood, he dispelled the shadow clone and returned to the cave to find Zabuza Momochi.
… …
Three days later, at dusk.
Uchiha Itachi stood watching the setting sun sink into the northern hemisphere.
"Still no sign of the target?" he asked, not turning his head.
"You'll have to ask Zetsu," Uchiha Obito replied, his tone dark.
Hearing that, Black and White Zetsu—half-buried in the ground—responded.
White Zetsu said, "We've delivered the items to the clone, but the guy still hasn't shown up. Nothing's happened to the clone either."
"Were we exposed?" Itachi asked.
"Not impossible," Black Zetsu muttered, his expression grim.
If this mysterious person really was a descendant of Hamura, that would mean an incredibly pure Byakugan—and potentially an even greater sensory range than the Hyuga Clan.
Yet they had pulled back fifty kilometers, used barriers, and hidden in other dimensions. How could they still be detected?
That level of sensing was even more absurd than the Mind's Eye of the Kagura.
"You two wait another day," Tendo Pain said. "Itachi and I will fall back for now."
With that, he turned and left.
Itachi followed silently.
Obito vanished into Kamui space.
Only Black and White Zetsu remained, using the Ephemeral Technique and clone to maintain surveillance on the Black Market while expanding their investigation radius.
Still, another day passed, and the mystery figure never appeared.
The powerhouse trio left, each feeling a bit heavier.
They knew: if they couldn't catch this person now, it would be even harder next time.
With this level of sensory power, the enemy would always have the upper hand from the very beginning.
… …
Six days later, in a forest near the Land of Fire's border—
"Lord, here's what you requested. It cost 29,870,000 Ryo."
White, returning from the Land of Rivers, respectfully handed over three large scrolls.
"Well done. Keep the change—it's your reward."
Izayoi used Attraction to pull the scrolls to him, then flew into the sky and left without another word.
Watching him disappear, both White and Zabuza Momochi let out a breath of relief.
They had worried he'd go back on his word.
"Zabuza-sama, what should we do now?" White asked, supporting Zabuza, who had recovered enough to stand, albeit with a cane.
"To rob the robbers," Zabuza said deeply, his eyes gleaming with new conviction.
The Demon of the Mist, inspired by Izayoi's teachings, had grown.
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