Land of Rain, Amegakure.
"A Wood Release user… and a mysterious man with a second pair of Rinnegan…"
Tendo Pain stared emotionlessly at the photos and intel Konan handed him. "Looks like to become a true god, I must endure the trials set by fate."
"No matter who it is, no one will stop me from achieving peace!"
Unlike Pain's over-the-top declarations—
Uchiha Obito and Black & White Zetsu, on the other hand, were visibly troubled.
"First that mysterious guy, now a genuine Wood Release user—why are all these unexpected anomalies popping up one after another?!"
Looking at the intel on Izayoi, Obito's tone was irritated: "During the Nine-Tails incident, it was bad enough we didn't manage to kill that brat. But at his age, to already wield Wood Release at that level? There's no way he just awakened it. How the hell did he keep it hidden all this time? Doesn't he know how valuable Wood Release is? If he revealed it earlier, Konoha would have gone all out nurturing him!"
If Izayoi had exposed his Wood Release back then, Obito would've made sure to eliminate him along with the Uchiha Clan.
But now…
Five chakra nature transformations, an advanced Rasengan, flight, and Wood Release?
Unless he was caught completely off guard, even Obito wouldn't be able to handle him easily.
Especially that flight ability—it was the last thing Obito wanted to deal with.
"…You think he might be the mysterious guy?" White Zetsu suddenly voiced the core suspicion.
Only to be snapped at by Obito: "Can a Rinnegan revert to normal appearance?"
White Zetsu immediately shut up.
Of course it can—if it evolved naturally.
Black Zetsu muttered silently, also unconvinced Izayoi could be the mysterious man.
If Izayoi was the one with the Rinnegan, that meant he achieved the "Unity of Polarity" that Madara only managed just before dying—before even graduating from the academy. Completely absurd.
The "Unity of Polarity" required one to be a reincarnation of either Asura or Indra, then awaken either the Sage's body or Sharingan to the limit. After that, they'd have to obtain the ultimate Yang or Yin power and fuse the two to slowly evolve the almighty Sage powers.
Any one of those requirements was hellishly difficult—and time-consuming.
It took Black Zetsu over a thousand years just to create a second pair of Rinnegan.
A kid fresh out of school achieving that? Impossible.
Even if Izayoi's Rinnegan was transplanted, he'd be like young Nagato—unable to wield its true power.
And transplanted Rinnegan can't revert to normal appearance.
If Izayoi were a descendant of the Otsutsuki from the Moon, secretly sent to Konoha, he'd definitely have white hair and Byakugan.
But Izayoi didn't have any of those traits.
He was just a lucky kid—a descendant of Hashirama Senju, the greatest Asura reincarnation in history. After generations of dormant bloodline, a Wood Release ninja was born by sheer chance.
His Wood Release wouldn't match Hashirama's, who possessed the Sage's body.
But on top of that, this Senju brat also seemed to have inherited Tobirama Senju's genius in jutsu development.
At his age, he already mastered multiple chakra natures and even developed Storm Release and Dust Release techniques.
Once Konoha began seriously training him, he could very well become another Tobirama in terms of ninjutsu.
Another huge threat to the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan!
The thought made Black Zetsu curse inwardly.
Why now…?
Damn you Hagoromo and Hamura, even after all these years, you're still messing up my plans!
Black Zetsu's grievances—no one could understand.
After Izayoi's information spread across the ninja world, a bounty was quickly posted on the black market.
The amount?
A staggering 180 million ryo.
To put it into perspective—Sarutobi Asuma, an elite jonin, member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, and son of the Third Hokage, only had a bounty of 35 million ryo.
Yet a kid who had just graduated had been given a bounty more than five times higher, instantly shooting to the top of the black market's most wanted list.
Clearly, whoever was behind it feared the Wood Release greatly—and was willing to pay a high price to eliminate it.
Izayoi, however, remained completely unaware.
If he did know, he'd probably give the same smug grin as Sasuke—
"Peasants."
That little money doesn't even cover the cost of my new house's land. Who are they trying to insult?"
This also proved just how little value ninjas had as tools.
Even those with bloodline limits capable of changing the world weren't worth much.
While passing on the training method for the "Super Hurricane Combo Ball" to Uchiha Sasuke, Izayoi also used Storm Release: Judgment to precisely control the power needed for logging.
It took two full days to clear all the massive trees in the Uchiha district and by the Naka River.
During that time, Hinata and Karin did the most work.
Sasuke's Chidori couldn't even cut down a single giant tree before he ran out of chakra. Despite being so young, he was already "tapped out."
By contrast, Hinata and Karin—who had both started learning the monstrous strength technique—treated the giant trees like punching bags. Thanks to their massive chakra pools and incredible stamina, the two of them combined could smash down dozens of trees a day. Sasuke was left deeply discouraged.
Over those two days, many of the rookies came to visit.
After all, Izayoi's name was everywhere—even celebrities couldn't compare to his popularity now.
"Izayoi, you bastard, hiding this deep for so long!"
"Yeah! I thought I heard the name wrong at first—turns out it really was you!"
"A descendant of the Senju clan, with the legendary Wood Release—you've got to treat us to a meal!"
"…"
With no escape, Izayoi had no choice but to throw a feast at Sasuke's house to host his "buddies."
Thankfully, they weren't completely shameless. After eating and drinking, they helped out with tree clearing. Though apart from Naruto, their contributions were basically negligible.
Naruto, using Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu and Rasengan combos, put in the most effort. In return, Izayoi secretly rewarded him with a scroll of a new attack jutsu—Wind Release: Vacuum Giant Sphere.
Within wind-style techniques, this jutsu's positioning was equivalent to the Uchiha's Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique—still a basic-level jutsu, but widespread and practical.
Even so, Naruto was absolutely overjoyed.
After all, even the basic Wind Release: Great Breakthrough was something he had to nag Kakashi endlessly for before finally being taught.
And after that? Kakashi never taught him a single wind-style jutsu again, saying "one is enough."
If not for Jiraiya teaching him Rasengan, Naruto would still only know that one move.
Yet now, just for helping out a bit, Izayoi had given him a whole scroll.
Truly, after his grandpa the Third Hokage and Iruka-sensei, Izayoi had become the third person to acknowledge him—and also the only rival he fully respected and admired.
Grinning like a kid who just got a new toy, Naruto ran off in high spirits.
"This is ridiculous. We spent two whole days, and only cleared this much…"
Sitting by the engawa, Karin wiped sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief. "I can't even imagine what kind of spectacle Izayoi's 'Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence' would be like if he used it on an actual battlefield."
"Mhm…" Hinata nodded gently, fully agreeing.
Although she didn't witness it herself that day, just from helping with the deforestation, she could understand why the clan elders had suddenly become so enthusiastic toward her—constantly asking about Izayoi, even teasing and hinting at her to make their relationship public as soon as possible.
Wood Style, it's just too powerful!
At the same time, Hinata was secretly overjoyed in her heart.
The elders had already acknowledged Izayoi, and her father wouldn't object either. Now, she could totally confess to Izayoi—there was no more resistance between them.
But ever since Izayoi interrupted her last time, Hinata hadn't had the courage to bring it up again.
She was really too timid.
"Wood Style: Four-Pillar House Technique!"
On the other side, after sending away the bugs, Izayoi also used the Wood Style: Three-Room-One-Hall Technique to repair the Uchiha clan's compound that had been destroyed by the Deep Forest Emergence.
In the future, the Hidden Leaf might develop in this direction. By then, all of it would be land worth a fortune. Izayoi would never do something like damaging his little brother's property.
After restoring the compound, Izayoi said to Uchiha Sasuke, who didn't mind at all, "Go back and pack. We'll be leaving soon."
"Alright!" Uchiha Sasuke's eyes lit up and he immediately used Body Flicker to rush back and pack.
Izayoi also went to inform the two girls.
"Eh! Izayoi-kun, are you going out with Sasuke-kun?" Karin looked around and said timidly, "Then I'll go stay at Hinata's house for now. When will you be back?"
"Not sure for now. If it's quick, maybe two or three days. If slow, it might take more than a week." Izayoi smiled and reminded, "You guys need to work even harder on your training. Otherwise, by the time we come back, Sasuke's strength might leave you all in the dust."
"…Mm!"
The two girls were briefly stunned, then looked at each other and nodded hard at Izayoi.
"If you have time, Hinata, help me supervise things. If no one's watching, I'm worried something might go wrong and delay the completion of our new house." Izayoi gave another reminder.
"Leave it to me, Izayoi-kun." Hinata gently nodded with a soft smile.
After chatting a bit more with the girls, Izayoi went back to his room to grab his things. Then he went to the Nanga River, and brought Uchiha Sasuke to apply for the village exit permit, heading straight for the Land of Rice Fields.
That's right—the person Izayoi arranged for Uchiha Sasuke to get a shot from, was none other than Orochimaru.
More accurately, it was Orochimaru's knowledge, and Kabuto Yakushi's surgical skills.
Although Izayoi had a "medical genius" trait, he had never studied medical ninjutsu.
Even though he was very sure that Sasuke's implantation of Hashirama cells wouldn't have any issues—and even if there were, he could absorb the destructive power using Wood Style—
Still, an untrained doctor could never compare to a professional.
Besides, Orochimaru had the Ryūchi Cave's summoning scroll. Izayoi could not only get it to help Sasuke grow stronger—
If Tsunade and the Slug Sage didn't agree to let Hinata form a contract with Shikkotsu Forest, then Ryūchi Cave would be an alternative.
And if Izayoi ever wanted to learn Sage Mode, he could choose from the Three Great Sage Grounds.
So, he definitely had to make a trip to Orochimaru's place.
Halfway through the journey, Uchiha Sasuke also figured it out. His eyes widened as he looked at Izayoi: "The Land of Rice Fields… the person you're taking me to see, is it Orochimaru?!"
"Bingo."
"Are you crazy?" Sasuke couldn't believe it. "You know that guy's after my Sharingan, and you're still taking me to him? Aren't you afraid we won't escape?"
"Relax, he's not the Orochimaru from the Forest of Death anymore." Izayoi said calmly, then explained, "During the Chūnin Exams, the Third Hokage sealed the souls of both his arms. Right now, he can't use any of his jutsu, and his body is on the verge of collapse—this is his weakest state."
"This intel will soon be extracted from those corpses' brains. When the village learns, they'll definitely retaliate. It'll be harder to reach Orochimaru after that."
Izayoi looked at Sasuke and gave a confident smile: "Besides, don't you trust my strength? Would I bring you here if I wasn't sure?"
Upon hearing that, Sasuke let out a sigh of relief.
It wasn't that he was cowardly, but it was only October now—just three months since the Forest of Death.
He still vividly remembered throwing up in fear from Orochimaru's killing intent back then.
What he didn't know was—with the strength of his current three tomoe Sharingan, even if Orochimaru still had both arms, he wouldn't be able to take him down easily.
The Land of Rice Fields bordered the northern part of the Land of Fire.
From Konoha, you just had to pass through a dense forest and a grassland area, then cross the Valley of the End, carved out by the Ninja God's Wood Style—then you'd reach the Land of Rice Fields.
For genin using full-speed Body Flicker, the trip didn't even take a full day.
With Izayoi and Sasuke using Lightning Style chakra to boost their speed, they reached the Land of Rice Fields in just half a day.
As for Orochimaru's exact location, Izayoi knew it clearly.
Not because he figured it out along the way, but because after Orochimaru left Konoha, Izayoi had a Shadow Clone responsible for guarding Ranmaru secretly follow from afar, and watched Orochimaru return to his underground base across half the Land of Fire.
He didn't kill Danzo right away back then, also because of the Hashirama cells.
Danzo's stock would be used to boost Sasuke's power—and in turn, increase Izayoi's own loot chances.
BOOM—
Izayoi punched the ground. A terrifying burst of chakra exploded, instantly opening up a path to the underground base.
Then, Izayoi led Uchiha Sasuke inside.
They had barely gone a few steps when a group of Sound Ninjas appeared in the corridor.
Seeing them, Izayoi turned to Sasuke with a smile: "Here's a test for you. Take care of these guys, then come find me."
As he spoke, Izayoi's body disappeared like it had teleported.
The Sound Ninjas only felt a gust of wind brush past them.
Having activated his three-tomoe Sharingan, Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, as if he saw something unbelievable. He muttered, "Lightning nature transformation combined with wind nature transformation… Izayoi, this guy…"
Inner lightning chakra stimulated his cells, outer wind nature chakra wrapped his body, reducing air resistance—Sasuke didn't expect high-speed movement could be used this way.
But soon, Sasuke curled his lips into a smirk and said proudly, "I saw it. Once I learn wind nature transformation, that'll be mine too!"
Like a gust of wind, like a flash of lightning—Izayoi zipped through corridor after corridor, and soon appeared in a dimly lit room.
"Yo… long time no see, Orochimaru-sama."
Looking at Orochimaru, wrapped in bandages, body on the verge of collapse, blood seeping from every pore—Izayoi raised his hand to greet him warmly.