The scene rewound a day. Izanami had just emerged from the Black Market when he saw Zabuza Momochi and White, both bound by Izanami's shadow clone, regaining consciousness.
"Impressive, you woke up so quickly. As expected of Zabuza Momochi, the 'Demon' of the Hidden Mist's Seven Ninja Swordsmen," Izanami praised with a smirk.
"You didn't kill us. Do you plan to hand me over to the Hidden Mist Village, or the Black Market?" Zabuza Momochi asked, his voice weak.
Before Izanami could answer, White urgently spoke up, "Please don't hand Zabuza-sama over to the Hidden Mist or the Black Market. I'm willing to work for you and pay back Zabuza-sama's bounty."
Izanami scoffed, "You ninjas sure are strange. I already took down Kado. His treasure all belongs to me now. Do you really think I'd be lacking in your meager earnings?"
Curious, Izanami then asked, "What's your bounty, anyway?"
"Seventeen million ryo," Zabuza replied.
Izanami immediately made a face of distaste. "You're both Elite Jonin, yet your bounty is more than half lower than Asuma Sarutobi's from Konoha?"
Zabuza Momochi could only fall silent. How could they compare? What was Asuma's status, and what was his? If not for the Executioner's Blade, Hidden Mist Village might not even offer seventeen million ryo.
"I quite like you two idiots," Izanami continued with a grin. "If you hadn't stuck to your so-called professional ethics, Kado's wealth wouldn't have so conveniently fallen into my hands."
Izanami then dismissed his shadow clone and smiled. "So, here's the deal: Do one thing for me, and I'll let you go."
White immediately responded, "As long as you let Zabuza-sama go, I'm willing to do anything."
Zabuza Momochi felt a warmth in his chest at White's words. He looked up at Izanami and said, "I'm best at assassination."
"I don't need you to kill anyone," Izanami replied, pointing at White. He asked, "What's your name? Is there a bounty on your head?"
"My name is White. I'm Zabuza-sama's tool. There is no bounty on me." White spoke as he removed his mask—the one that hadn't been damaged by Amenotejikara and the rubble—revealing a flawless, delicate face.
Izanami grinned. "Very good. I've got a mission for you." He reached into his robes, pulled out a scroll, and tossed it to the ground. "Go to the Hidden Sand Village and buy these materials for me. Do that, and I'll let you and Zabuza Momochi go."
As Izanami spoke, he rolled up his sleeves, revealing his fair arms. Then, as if remembering something, he glanced down at White and asked, "By the way, are you male or female?"
"I'm male," White answered, not quite understanding where this was going.
"What a pity, with that face of yours," Izanami murmured, then lowered his sleeves. He lifted the hem of his robe and extended his calf in front of White. "Take a bite. One bite, and your injuries will heal."
Zabuza Momochi's eyes narrowed at this. "Physical healing… Are you a survivor of the Uzumaki clan?"
Izanami's tone turned sharp. "As expected of the Hidden Mist, one of the villages that destroyed Whirlpool Country. You know a lot about the Uzumaki clan."
Hearing the conversation, White made the connection and, although fearful, cautiously lowered his head. He gently bit Izanami's calf, careful not to exert too much force that might provoke anger and lead to his death—or worse, Zabuza's.
The moment White bit down, his eyes shot wide open.
It felt as though he'd gone from standing in a frigid ice field to suddenly being submerged in a warm spring. A comforting, soothing warmth surged through his body, dispelling the coldness of exhaustion and pain. His injuries, both internal and external, began to heal at an astonishing rate.
Bones that had been shattered by Amenotejikara and the brutal impact with the villa were swiftly mended. Internal bleeding that had been plaguing him was reversed as though time itself had been turned back.
This was the legendary healing power of the Uzumaki clan.
In the original timeline, Tsunade—her body literally broken in two—had used the same healing to be reborn.
In the span of a few moments, White's injuries were completely healed, his body now restored to full strength.
Izanami wiped his calf on White's clothes and then said, "The scroll lists the materials to be bought. I'll give you a budget of thirty million ryo later—buy as much as you can with it."
"Lord, I will definitely complete the task you've assigned. Please also ensure Zabuza-sama is treated," White said respectfully, lowering himself into a deep dogeza.
Izanami scowled. "Get up. Do you think anyone is worthy of such treatment? If I didn't need you for this, you wouldn't be deserving of a single second of my time," he said coldly. "This guy won't die. If you manage to return sooner, we can still get him treated. Remember, you have ten days. If you exceed that time, I'll consider you dead."
"White, don't worry about me," Zabuza Momochi echoed, his tone firm.
"…Understood," White responded, his voice laced with determination.
Soon, White took the money and scroll handed to him by Izanami, then vanished in a blur of speed, heading toward the Land of Wind.
Izanami, meanwhile, created another shadow clone, which swiftly picked up Zabuza Momochi and began to leave the area.
"Aren't you going to wait here for White to return?" Zabuza Momochi asked. "You didn't even tell him where to meet."
"There's no need," Izanami replied nonchalantly. "As long as he enters the Land of Fire, he won't escape my eyes."
Such arrogance.
Zabuza Momochi couldn't help but wonder: Was Izanami using some form of advanced sensory technique, like the Mind's Eye of the Kagura from the Uzumaki clan? Or was it that his intelligence network stretched across the Land of Fire?
Then again, aren't all Uzumaki clan members supposed to have red hair? Why was his hair white? Transformation Technique? Or perhaps some mixed blood?
These thoughts swirled in Zabuza Momochi's mind as they journeyed on.
Upon reaching a cave more than a hundred kilometers away from the Black Market, Izanami threw Zabuza Momochi inside and left the shadow clone behind to guard him. He then used his Reincarnation Eye to monitor the entire Land of Fire, patiently awaiting the outcome.
Izanami wasn't sure whether Sasori of the Red Sand had mentioned him to Nagato, but considering his use of Amenotejikara and Attraction, he believed the chances were high. If Sasori had reported it, then Izanami's identity would undoubtedly be known to Nagato, and perhaps even to Uchiha Obito and Black Zetsu.
After all, abilities like Amenotejikara and Attraction weren't common. In the original timeline, no other technique had the power to control them. These were signature abilities of the ultimate eye technique, and if anyone could wield them besides Tendo Pain, it was a significant anomaly in the ninja world. The man wearing the pure white mask with no eye holes—just like Izanami—would surely raise suspicion.
Izanami had no doubt that Black Zetsu, in particular, would be uneasy. After all, Black Zetsu had labored for thousands of years to find a way to resurrect his mother. Now, with a new and unexpected variable in the form of Izanami, he would stop at nothing to find him, even if it meant digging three feet into the earth.
With the Yin-Yang Release, Spore Technique, Disguise Technique, and the Ephemeral Technique—which allowed them to move at incredible speed underground while cutting off all presence—Black and White Zetsu were nearly undetectable. Even Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura couldn't locate them. Izanami didn't believe his Reincarnation Eye would be enough to uncover their movements.
White Zetsu's intelligence was unparalleled in the Ninja World. Izanami's purchase of Human Puppet materials in the Black Market might have already reached him. To avoid being caught off guard, Izanami needed to prepare a backup plan.
This was precisely why he had spared both White and Zabuza Momochi.