Flashing back to a day earlier.
As Izayoi emerged from the black market, he found Zabuza and Haku—bound by his Shadow Clone—already awake from their coma.
"Impressive. Waking up this fast? Worthy of the 'Demon' Zabuza, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist," Izayoi praised.
"You didn't kill us. Planning to turn me over to the Hidden Mist or the black market?" Zabuza asked, his voice weak.
Before Izayoi could answer, Haku spoke urgently, "Please don't hand Zabuza-sama over to the Hidden Mist or the black market. I'll work for you, earn money to pay off his bounty."
"You ninja have such weird logic," Izayoi scoffed. "I took out Kado—his fortune's mine now. You think I need your pocket change?"
He couldn't resist asking Zabuza, "What's your bounty, anyway?"
"Seventeen million ryo," Zabuza replied.
Izayoi's face twisted in disdain. "Both elite jonin, and you're worth less than half of Konoha's Asuma Sarutobi?"
"…"
Zabuza was speechless.
How could you compare? Asuma's status versus his own?
If not for the Kubikiribocho, the Hidden Mist might not have even offered seventeen million.
"I kinda like you two idiots. If you hadn't stuck to your 'professional ethics,' Kado's wealth wouldn't have fallen to me so easily."
Izayoi dispelled his Shadow Clone, grinning. "Do one thing for me, and I'll let you both go."
"As long as you spare Zabuza-sama, I'll do anything," Haku said instantly.
Zabuza's heart warmed at Haku's words. He looked at Izayoi. "I'm best at assassination."
"No killing required." Izayoi pointed at Haku, feigning ignorance. "What's your name? Got a bounty?"
"I'm Haku, Zabuza-sama's tool. I'm not wanted," Haku said. To prove his honesty, he endured excruciating pain to remove his undamaged mask, revealing a flawless, delicate face.
"Perfect. I've got a job for you." Izayoi crouched beside Haku, tossing a scroll to the ground. "Go to the Hidden Sand and buy these materials. Do that, and I'll let you and Zabuza walk."
He rolled up his sleeve, revealing a pale arm, then paused as if remembering something. Looking down at Haku, he asked, "By the way, you a guy or a girl?"
"I'm a guy," Haku answered.
"Shame about that face."
Izayoi lowered his sleeve, lifted his robe's hem, and extended a leg toward Haku. "Bite it. One bite, and your injuries will heal."
Zabuza's eyes flashed. "Physical Healing—you're a survivor of the Uzumaki clan?"
"Not bad. One of the culprits behind the fall of the Land of Whirlpools, and the Hidden Mist sure knows its Uzumaki intel," Izayoi said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
Hearing their exchange, Haku caught on. He leaned forward, gently biting Izayoi's calf, careful not to anger him and risk both their lives.
The moment he bit, Haku's eyes widened.
It was like plunging into a hot spring on a frozen tundra—a warm current banished all pain, flooding his body.
Under that warmth, his external and internal injuries healed visibly.
Even bones shattered by repulsion and collisions with the villa, and hemorrhaging organs, mended as if time had rewound.
Such was the Uzumaki clan's Physical Healing.
In the original story, even Tsunade, cleaved in two, had been reborn through it.
In mere moments, Haku was fully restored.
Izayoi wiped his leg on Haku's clothes. "The scroll lists the materials to buy. I'll give you thirty million ryo—buy as much as you can."
"Sir, I'll complete your task. Please heal Zabuza-sama too," Haku said, bowing deeply in a dogeza.
"Get lost. You think just anyone gets to bite me? If I didn't need you for this, you wouldn't even get the privilege," Izayoi snapped. "He's not dying. Get back fast, and you'll have time to get him patched up. You've got ten days. Miss that, and I'll assume you're dead."
"Haku, don't worry about me," Zabuza added.
"…Yes, sir."
Soon, Haku took Izayoi's money and scroll, flickering toward the Land of Wind.
Izayoi summoned another Shadow Clone, hoisted Zabuza, and left the area.
"Not waiting for Haku here?" Zabuza asked. "You didn't tell him where to meet."
"No need. If he shows up in the Land of Fire, he can't escape my eyes."
That cocky?
Did he awaken the Uzumaki's Kagura Shingan? Or does he have an intel network spanning the Land of Fire?
Weren't Uzumaki supposed to have red hair? Why's his white?
Transformation Technique, or a half-breed?
Zabuza mused inwardly.
At a cave over a hundred kilometers from the black market, Izayoi dumped Zabuza inside, leaving a Shadow Clone to guard him. With his Tenseigan monitoring the Land of Fire, he settled in to wait.
Izayoi wasn't sure if robbing Sasori would lead him to tell Nagato.
But since his repulsion and attraction were exposed, he figured there was a good chance Sasori had spilled to Nagato.
If so, this persona of his was likely on Nagato's radar—maybe even Obito Uchiha's and Black Zetsu's.
After all, rule-based powers like repulsion and attraction weren't common.
In the original story, no secret technique wielded them.
They were a cornerstone of ultimate dojutsu.
Besides the Heavenly Path of Pain, for another person to emerge in the shinobi world with those powers—wearing a blank, eyeless white mask—no telling if Nagato or Obito felt uneasy, but Izayoi knew Black Zetsu would.
The guy had schemed for a millennium to see hope of freeing his mother in this era.
A wildcard like Izayoi? Black Zetsu would dig to the ends of the earth to find him.
With Black and White Zetsu's Yin-Yang Release, Spore Technique, Impersonation Technique, and Mayfly Technique—moving underground at high speed, erasing all traces, blending with earth and plants—even Hagoromo and Hamura Otsutsuki couldn't detect them. Izayoi doubted his Tenseigan could either.
White Zetsu's intel was unmatched. News of Izayoi buying puppet materials at the black market might reach him.
To avoid a trap, Izayoi needed a backup plan.
That's why he spared Haku and Zabuza!
---
Every 200 power stones 1 bonus chapter will be uploaded faster.
And if you want to read 30 chapters early, you can visit: Patre on . com / KangTL (REMOVE SPACE)