Time rewinds to the day before.
Just as Izayoi stepped out of the black market, he saw Momochi Zabuza and Haku tied up by a shadow clone. They had already regained consciousness.
"Impressive, you've already woken up. As expected of the 'Demon' Zabuza, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist," Izayoi praised.
"You didn't kill us… are you planning to hand me over to Kirigakure or to the black market?" Zabuza asked weakly.
Before Izayoi could respond, Haku spoke up urgently, "Please don't hand Lord Zabuza over to Kirigakure or the black market! I'm willing to earn money for you, to pay off Lord Zabuza's bounty!"
"You ninja really have some weird ways of thinking," Izayoi commented. "I already took out Gato. That guy's treasure is all mine now. Do you think I care about your chump change?"
After saying that, Izayoi couldn't help but ask Zabuza, "By the way, how much is your bounty?"
"Seventeen million ryo," Zabuza answered.
Izayoi immediately showed a look of distaste. "You're an elite jonin, but you're worth half of what Sarutobi Asuma of Konoha is?"
"…"
Zabuza was speechless.
How was that even comparable? The other guy had a background, while he himself… If not for the Executioner's Blade, Kirigakure probably wouldn't even put up seventeen million for him.
"You two idiots are kind of likable. If it weren't for your 'professional integrity,' Gato's treasure wouldn't have fallen into my hands."
Izayoi dismissed his shadow clone and smiled. "So, help me with something, and I'll let you go."
"As long as you let Lord Zabuza go, I'll do anything," Haku immediately said.
Hearing that, Zabuza's heart warmed. He then looked at Izayoi and said, "Assassinations are my specialty."
"I don't need you to kill anyone." Izayoi looked at Haku and knowingly asked, "What's your name? Got a bounty on your head?"
"My name is Haku. I'm Lord Zabuza's tool. I don't have a bounty." To prove he wasn't lying, Haku endured his bone-crushing pain, took off the mask that hadn't been destroyed by repulsion or debris, and revealed a flawless, delicate face.
"Good. I've got a task for you." Izayoi walked over to Haku, pulled out a scroll from his body, and tossed it to the ground. "Go to Sunagakure and buy these materials for me. Do that, and I'll let you and Zabuza go."
After that, Izayoi rolled up his sleeve to reveal a pale arm. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he looked down at Haku and asked, "Oh right, are you a boy or a girl?"
"I'm a boy," Haku replied.
"What a waste of that face."
Izayoi lowered his sleeve, lifted the hem of his robe, and stretched out his leg in front of Haku. "Go on, bite it. One bite and your injuries will be healed."
Seeing this, Zabuza's eyes narrowed. "Physical healing… Are you a survivor of the Uzumaki Clan?"
"No wonder you Mist folks managed to destroy Uzushiogakure. You sure know a lot about the Uzumaki Clan," Izayoi said with a mocking tone.
Hearing their exchange, Haku also realized something. He leaned forward and gently bit into Izayoi's calf, afraid that using too much force would anger him and lead to him and Zabuza being killed.
The moment his teeth sank in, Haku's eyes widened.
It felt like diving into a hot spring after wandering a frozen tundra—warmth surged through his entire body, dispelling every trace of pain and fatigue.
With that wave of warmth, both Haku's external and internal injuries healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Even the bones broken from being blasted by repulsion and slammed into the villa multiple times, as well as the bleeding organs, were restored as if time itself had rewound.
This was the incredible power of the Uzumaki Clan's physical healing.
Even Tsunade, who was split in half in the original story, managed to survive thanks to physical healing.
In just a few moments, Haku was completely healed.
Izayoi casually wiped his leg on Haku's clothes and said, "The materials are listed on the scroll. I'll give you a budget of thirty million ryo. Buy as much as you can."
"Sir, I will absolutely complete your task! Please also heal Lord Zabuza!" Haku got down into a respectful dogeza posture and pleaded.
"Get lost. You think just anyone is worthy of biting me? If I didn't need your help, you wouldn't even qualify to enjoy that privilege." Izayoi scoffed. "He won't die. If you hurry back, you'll have time to take him for treatment. Remember, you have ten days. If you're not back by then, I'll assume you're dead."
"Haku, don't worry about me," Zabuza said in support.
"…Understood."
Soon, Haku took the money and scroll and used Shunshin to speed toward the Land of Wind.
Izayoi created another shadow clone, tossed Zabuza over his shoulder, and left the area.
"We're not waiting here for Haku to return?" Zabuza asked. "You didn't even tell him where to meet."
"Don't need to. As long as he sets foot in the Land of Fire, he can't escape my eyes."
That arrogant?
Could it be that he had awakened the Uzumaki Clan's Kagura Shingan? Or did he have an intelligence network spread across the Land of Fire?
But wasn't the Uzumaki Clan supposed to have red hair? Why was his hair white?
Transformation Jutsu? Or was he a mixed-blood?
Zabuza silently wondered.
After arriving at a cave more than a hundred kilometers from the black market, Izayoi threw Zabuza inside and left a shadow clone to guard him. Then, using his Tenseigan, he began monitoring the entire Land of Fire, waiting for results.
Izayoi didn't know whether Sasori of the Red Sand would report the robbery to Nagato.
But considering that his repulsion and attraction abilities had been exposed, he figured the odds of Sasori telling Nagato were high.
If that was the case, then this alias of his would likely attract the attention of Nagato, Uchiha Obito, and even Black Zetsu.
After all, forces like repulsion and attraction were rule-defying powers that not just anyone could possess.
In the original story, no one besides Tendo Pain had the ability to control both.
Now, with another person who could use repulsion and attraction appearing—wearing a plain white mask with no eye holes—whether Nagato and Obito felt uneasy was one thing, but Izayoi was sure that Black Zetsu would.
After all, he had schemed for a thousand years and was finally seeing hope of reviving his mother in this era.
Now, with the sudden appearance of an anomaly, he would stop at nothing to dig Izayoi out—even if he had to scour the earth.
Given Black and White Zetsu's Yin-Yang Release, Spore Technique, impersonation skills, and Mayfly Technique that allowed them to merge with the ground and vegetation, cutting off all traces of their presence—even the Sage of Six Paths couldn't detect them—Izayoi didn't believe his Tenseigan could.
White Zetsu's intelligence network was the best in the shinobi world. There was a good chance he'd find out Izayoi had purchased puppet materials on the black market.
To avoid walking into a trap, Izayoi needed a backup plan.
That… was why he spared Haku and Zabuza.