Izayoi was unaware that his actions had inspired Momochi Zabuza, leading him to forge a different path as a rogue ninja.
After acquiring materials for crafting human puppets and chakra cores, Izayoi did not immediately return to Konoha.
During this time, every three days, he would create a shadow clone imbued with a vast amount of chakra to return to the village, swapping places with the shadow clone that was about to dispel automatically.
Aside from Hinata and Hanabi, no one knew that the Izayoi in the village was merely a shadow clone.
Having already informed the Hyuga sisters, Izayoi was in no hurry to return. Instead, he assumed a different identity and rendezvoused with another shadow clone that had been looting Cardo's other hidden treasure stashes, organizing the haul from this venture.
The result? Cardo's wealth was impossible to fully tally.
Among Cardo's assets, the most valuable were not cash, gold bars, or jewelry, but the land deeds.
Deeds hidden by Cardo were, naturally, far from worthless.
These deeds represented properties—houses and shops—in bustling districts across various nations.
By selling just a few of these deeds, Izayoi earned a fortune equivalent to several Asuma Sarutobis.
Now thoroughly wealthy, Izayoi promptly used one of the deeds to locate a villa Cardo had purchased in the Land of Fire. In the same city, he bought a clothing store, leaving a shadow clone there to study under its tailors and designers.
His true self, however, did not return to Konoha. Instead, carrying two large, empty storage scrolls, he left the Land of Fire and entered the Land of Rivers.
Boom…
Above a certain mountain village, dark clouds gathered, and muffled thunder rolled.
Soon, a light rain began to fall.
Despite the weather, outside the village, a mine continued its operations. Bare-chested villagers hauled carts of ore, and the sounds of digging echoed from within.
Not far from the mine, on a clearing, stood a multitude of gravestones.
Even now, several figures in black raincoats gathered around a freshly buried coffin, holding a funeral for its occupant.
"Oh… why must someone as good as you die? It pains me, it truly pains me!" cried the leader, his gestures theatrical, his emotions laid bare.
Yet those around him showed no sorrow. Their eyes held only fear for this leader.
To them, this clan head was utterly unpredictable.
A single disagreement, and he'd hold a funeral for you!
"Raiga, there's a powerful chakra approaching," came a young voice, tinged with panic, from beneath the bulging raincoat behind the leader. "Be careful—he can fly!"
Hearing this, Kurosuki Raiga, who had been covering his face in mock grief, lowered his hands, his expression turning grave as he looked skyward.
Through the veil of rain, a black figure descended.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!"
Without waiting for the figure to land or speak, Raiga drew his peculiar twin blades, crossing them toward the sky. Chakra transformed into Lightning Release gathered at the tips, forming a blue-white orb that shot forth.
Watching the oncoming lightning ball, the figure merely extended a hand from his sleeve, fingers splayed.
The lightning ball struck an invisible wall of air, exploding with a boom, arcs of electricity flaring and fading like fireworks.
"As expected, I wasn't mistaken. It's you, Kurosuki Raiga, and… the bearer of the bloodline limit, those red eyes," Izayoi said with a smile. "Since I let the original slip away, you knockoffs will have to serve as my human puppets."
"I'm in a hurry, so let's make this quick… Universal Pull!"
An invisible force, like an unseen giant hand, yanked Raiga off the ground.
"No hand signs, nothing visible—what kind of ninja technique is this?" Raiga's expression shifted, but his movements remained swift. He crossed his blades again, channeling a surge of chakra into them, all converted into Lightning Release.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Fang!"
The twin blades became lightning itself, firing curved bolts toward Izayoi like a barrage of lasers.
This was Raiga's signature technique, akin to Kakashi Hatake's Lightning Cutter.
If the lightning missed, it would soar into the sky, merging with the clouds to return as a thunderstrike.
"Not a bad technique, and fine blades too… but that's all I can praise you for," Izayoi said.
He spread his arms, and a green dome, warping the air with its charged energy, materialized.
"Almighty Push!"
As Izayoi spoke, the dome burst like an overfilled balloon reaching its limit.
A storm of repulsive force erupted, scattering the rain and engulfing Raiga, who had lost the pull of gravity and was falling, along with the fleeing Kurosuki clan below.
BOOM—
A deafening explosion reverberated through the village.
Miners and villagers alike heard the blast, and the nearest mine felt the entire cavern shudder.
Fortunately, the cave did not collapse.
When the rain resumed and the wind cleared the dust, the graveyard was gone, replaced by a massive crater.
The Kurosuki clan was entirely wiped out.
Raiga, slammed into the ground and battered by the repulsive force, lay with broken bones and severe internal bleeding.
Yet before crashing, Raiga had decisively discarded his blades to shield Ranmaru behind him. As a result, Ranmaru wasn't killed instantly, though he was as gravely injured as Raiga.
As Izayoi descended, Raiga, blood spilling from his mouth, gasped weakly, "Please… spare… Ranmaru."
"Didn't the people you killed beg you the same way?" Izayoi sneered. "You're an elite jonin-level rogue ninja. How can you speak so naively?"
With that, Izayoi raised a hand, using gravity to summon the twin blades, but he didn't turn them on Raiga or Ranmaru.
Instead, he grinned at Raiga. "Help me with an experiment. Make your final moments worth something."
Izayoi formed a single hand sign, creating a shadow clone with a small amount of chakra.
Then, both he and the clone each gripped one of the lightning blades, channeling chakra into them, transforming it into Lightning Release until they held lightning itself.
Together, they hurled the electrified blades, piercing Raiga and Ranmaru's bodies.
Yet the outcome Izayoi sought didn't materialize.
No entries burst forth from Raiga or Ranmaru.
"Shadow clones and killing don't boost the drop rate. Is there really no other way to increase it?" Izayoi mused silently. "Chakra can't be the measure of strength—otherwise, aside from jinchuriki and Naruto, no one could yield entries. So how is strength judged? If it's entries, then since I was three, only a handful in the ninja world could provide them. Yet my classmates produced entries, so it's not based on entries alone! Is it techniques, or performance?"
Gazing at the bodies of Raiga and Ranmaru, Izayoi murmured, "I'll try this method once more. If it fails, I'll have to get a bit brutal and make the ninja world pay."
"After all, with my setup, how could I let those with lesser abilities catch up to my decades of effort in just a few years?"
Izayoi's anxiety was a burden no one else could fathom.
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