Izayoi had no idea that his actions had inspired Momochi Zabuza, allowing him to find a different path as a rogue ninja.
After obtaining the materials needed to create human puppets and chakra cores, Izayoi didn't return to Konoha right away.
Instead, during this period, every three days, he would create a shadow clone with a massive amount of chakra to return to the village and swap shifts with the one that was about to disperse.
Other than Hinata and Hanabi, no one knew that the Izayoi in the village was just a shadow clone.
Having already informed the Hyuga sisters, Izayoi wasn't in a rush to return to the village. Instead, he assumed a different identity and went to meet up with the shadow clones that had been looting the rest of Gato's treasure troves to sort out the gains from this trip.
As it turned out, it was impossible to calculate Gato's wealth accurately.
Among all of Gato's assets, the most valuable weren't the stacks of cash, gold bars, or jewelry—it was the land deeds.
If a deed was hidden by Gato, it obviously wasn't some worthless junk.
These land deeds were all for properties or shops in the bustling districts of various countries.
Just by selling a few of them, Izayoi earned enough to buy several Asumas.
After truly striking it rich, Izayoi immediately used one of the land deeds to find a villa Gato had purchased in the Land of Fire. Then, in the same city as the villa, he bought a clothing store and left behind a shadow clone to learn tailoring and design from the shop's staff.
As for his real body, he didn't go back to Konoha. Instead, he brought two large empty storage scrolls and left the Land of Fire, heading into the Land of Rivers.
Rumble...
Dark clouds gathered above a certain mountain village, thunder rumbling overhead.
Soon after, light rain began to fall from the sky.
Yet despite the rain, near a mine outside the village, shirtless villagers continued pulling carts full of ore from the tunnel, and the sound of mining echoed from within.
Not far from the mine, a wide area was covered with tombstones.
At this moment, a few figures dressed in black raincoats stood around a freshly buried coffin, attending a funeral for the deceased.
"Ah... why do good people like you have to die?! This is truly heartbreaking, truly heartbreaking!"
The man wailing at the front of the group acted exaggeratedly, emotions seemingly raw and sincere.
However, the people around him didn't feel the slightest sadness—instead, their eyes were filled with fear toward the man.
In their eyes, this clan leader was completely unpredictable and volatile.
One wrong word, and he'd throw someone a funeral!
"Raiga, a very strong chakra presence is approaching fast."
Just as the leader was performing his dramatic display, a childlike voice came from within the bulging back of his raincoat, sounding slightly panicked: "Be careful—this person can fly!"
Upon hearing that, the weeping Kurosuki Raiga instantly dropped his hands, his expression turning serious as he looked up at the sky.
Through the curtain of rain, a black silhouette descended from above.
"Lightning Style: Thunder Ball!"
Before the figure even landed or said anything, Raiga pulled out his uniquely shaped twin swords, crossing them as lightning chakra surged to the tips and formed a blue-white orb, firing it upward in a blast.
The descending figure simply extended a hand from his sleeve, fingers splayed open.
The thunder ball seemed to smash into an invisible wall and exploded with a boom, vanishing like fireworks as arcs of lightning dissipated.
"Knew I didn't mistake it—it's you two, Kurosuki Raiga and... the owner of the Kekkei Genkai, the red-eyed boy."
Izayoi smiled. "Since I let the real ones get away, you two bootlegs will do nicely as my puppets."
"I'm in a bit of a hurry, so let's end this quickly... Universal Pull!"
Invisible gravitational force, like a giant unseen hand, yanked Raiga up from the ground.
"No hand seals? I can't see anything—what kind of damn jutsu is this?!"
Raiga's expression changed drastically, but he wasn't slow to react. He crossed his blades again and pumped a massive amount of chakra into them, transforming it all into Lightning Style.
"Lightning Style: Thunder Fang!"
The twin swords turned into pure lightning, firing out arcs of electricity in rapid bursts, like a barrage of laser blasts.
This was Raiga's signature technique, akin to Kakashi Hatake's Chidori.
Even if the lightning missed its target, it would rise into the sky and merge with the clouds, eventually raining back down as a lightning strike.
"Good technique, nice swords... but that's all I can really compliment you on."
Izayoi opened his hands. A green barrier distorted the air around him as it appeared.
"Almighty Push!"
At his words, the barrier ballooned outward like an overfilled water balloon and burst with a thunderous blast.
The repulsive force contained within erupted like a storm, tearing through the rain curtain and swallowing both the falling Raiga and the fleeing Kurosuki clan below.
BOOM————!
The deafening explosion echoed across the mountain village.
Whether they were working in the mine or resting in the village, everyone could hear it.
Those nearest the mine even felt the entire cave shake violently.
Thankfully, it didn't collapse.
As the rain fell again and the wind cleared the dust, the graveyard was gone, replaced by a massive crater.
Everyone in the Kurosuki clan was dead.
Raiga, having made close contact with the ground and taken the brunt of the force, had every bone shattered and suffered massive internal bleeding.
But before he was smashed down, he had thrown away his twin swords to shield Ranmaru, who—though seriously injured—survived the blast.
When Izayoi descended again, Raiga lay in a pool of blood, his voice weak: "P... please... spare Ranmaru..."
"The people you killed probably begged you the same way."
Izayoi sneered, "You're a rogue ninja at least elite-jonin level. Why are you talking like a child?"
After speaking, Izayoi raised his hand and pulled the twin swords to him with gravity, but he didn't aim them back at Raiga or Ranmaru.
Instead, he smiled at Raiga and said, "Help me run a little experiment—make your last moments useful."
Then he made a one-handed seal and created a shadow clone with a small amount of chakra.
Both his real body and the clone gripped one of the swords, pouring in chakra and transforming it into Lightning Style—the blades crackled like thunder in their hands.
The two hurled the swords, piercing both Raiga and Ranmaru.
However, the result Izayoi wanted didn't appear.
Neither of them dropped any "entries."
"Shadow clones and killing alone won't raise the drop rate? Is there really no other way to increase it?"
Izayoi muttered in his heart, "Chakra clearly isn't the standard for measuring strength—if it were, then besides the Jinchuriki and Naruto, no one would ever drop anything."
"Then what does determine strength? If it's based on entries, there've only ever been a few people in the whole shinobi world who could provide me with them since age three."
"But my classmates dropped entries, so it's not based on entries themselves! Is it based on techniques... or performance?"
Gazing at the corpses of Raiga and Ranmaru, Izayoi murmured, "I'll try this method one more time. If it still doesn't work, I'll have to be more forceful and make the shinobi world suffer a bit."
"After all, I've built this kind of setup—how can I allow people with weaker setups to catch up to my ten years of effort in just a few short years?"
Izayoi's anxiety was something no one else could understand.