The Strongest Trio

Inside the two-meter-tall, two-meter-wide safe was nothing but wealth.

There were stacks upon stacks of ten-thousand-denomination banknotes, neatly arranged gold bars, bags stuffed full of gemstones, as well as jewelry and land deeds casually tossed into one compartment...

Having lived two lives, Izayoi had never seen this much money before.

"Is this what it means to be the wealthiest tycoon around?" Izayoi sighed. "If Gato didn't lie to me, this is only one of his treasure stashes. Just how rich is this guy?"

"Whatever. It's all mine now, heh heh..."

Izayoi took out the Storage Scroll he had prepared in advance and packed all the banknotes, gold bars, gemstones, jewelry, land deeds, and other items from the safe into it.

Unfortunately, the safe was too large, and the Storage Scroll was not one of the large or extra-large varieties, so it could not hold the entire safe.

Fortunately, Izayoi had anticipated this and had specifically bought two Storage Scrolls.

After putting away all the treasure, Izayoi returned from the basement to the ground floor. Then, forming Hand Seals with one hand, he created a Shadow Clone with an enormous amount of chakra.

Izayoi said to the Shadow Clone, "I'll leave the rest to you. No problem, right?"

"That's an unnecessary question. Would I not trust myself?"

The Shadow Clone raised a hand and used Gravity to sweep up Gato, then left the Land of Waves with him.

Watching the Shadow Clone depart, Izayoi and another Shadow Clone took Zabuza Momochi and Haku with them as they flew away from the Land of Waves.

After returning to the Ninja Continent from the Land of Waves, Izayoi and his Shadow Clone each took one of Zabuza Momochi and Haku, using the Body Flicker Technique to head for the nearest Black Market.

With the Tenseigan capable of monitoring the entire Land of Fire, Izayoi naturally knew the locations of the Black Markets.

After all, aside from Hidden Leaf Village's Anbu and Root, only Black Market personnel lived underground.

As for Black and White Zetsu and the White Zetsu Clones, Izayoi had tried to locate them with his Tenseigan, but he simply could not find them.

If nothing unexpected had happened, it was likely due to the Mayfly Technique's ability to merge with the earth, vegetation, and trees.

Although Black and White Zetsu had little combat power, they possessed the Three Great Divine Skills: the Spore Technique, the Impersonation Technique, and the Mayfly Technique.

These Three Great Divine Skills could be considered the ultimate versions of the Three Body Technique, the Body Flicker Technique, and the Invisibility Technique.

Relying on these Three Great Divine Skills, even Hagoromo Otsutsuki and Hamura Otsutsuki had failed to discover their third brother.

In less than half a day, Izayoi and his Shadow Clone arrived outside the nearest Black Market. It was a public restroom.

Leaving the Shadow Clone outside to watch over Zabuza Momochi and Haku, Izayoi entered the Black Market alone.

"Welcome, sir. Please follow me."

The moment Izayoi entered the Black Market through the special passageway, a middle-aged man in a black suit led him into a private room.

Anyone wearing a mask was surely someone unwilling to reveal their identity.

Those unwilling to reveal their identities were either pretentious frauds or people with some fame—or even great renown—in the Ninja World.

Once their needs were known, it would be easy to tell which they were.

Only then would it be time to decide how to treat them.

Naturally, Izayoi had no idea what the middle-aged man was thinking. This was his first time visiting a Black Market.

The Tenseigan could only see across great distances and see through objects; it did not possess eavesdropping capabilities. Nor were there any notices posted in the Black Market, so Izayoi naturally did not know the rules here.

When he saw that the middle-aged man had led him into a private room without saying anything, he assumed everyone was treated the same way.

"What does the customer need?" After ushering Izayoi into the private room and inviting him to sit, the middle-aged man rubbed his hands together and asked enthusiastically, having put on a proper display of hospitality.

"Do you have paper and a pen? I want to buy some materials," Izayoi asked.

"Yes, yes..."

The middle-aged man's eyes immediately lit up. Realizing this might be a big order, he hurriedly got up to fetch paper and a pen for Izayoi.

Taking the pen, Izayoi wrote down all the materials he had memorized for making Human Puppets and Chakra Cores.

Then he asked the middle-aged man, "Can you get these materials?"

"Please wait a moment, sir. Let me take a look."

The middle-aged man picked up the paper and read it carefully before saying something that made Izayoi look at him in a new light. "These are puppet-making materials from the Sand Village. Though some of the materials are different, they can still be acquired."

"What price are you offering here?" Izayoi asked.

The middle-aged man held up three fingers. "Thirty percent above market price."

In other words, buying these materials here would cost thirty percent more than on the market.

"Fine. Prepare thirty sets for me. How long will it take?" Izayoi nodded, not asking what the market price was. Otherwise, he would expose himself as a newcomer.

Izayoi did not want to be treated like an easy mark the next time he came.

"Please come collect the goods in three days, sir." The middle-aged man rubbed his hands together and smiled as though embarrassed. "However, you'll need to pay a small deposit first. Not much—two hundred thousand ryo will do."

Two hundred thousand ryo was the reward for a B-rank mission.

"Fine. I'll come back in three days."

Izayoi's hand emerged from his wide sleeve, placing twenty ten-thousand-denomination bills on the table before he rose and left.

The middle-aged man also mobilized the Black Market's resources and began procuring those materials for Izayoi.

Less than a day later, the news reached someone's mind through special means.

"We found the Mysterious Man."

White Zetsu said with a grin, "Just like you expected, Black Zetsu, that person chose to buy materials for making Human Puppets on the Black Market."

"Puppet materials can be gathered personally, but that would take a long time. At present, the only places where those materials can be acquired quickly are the Sand Village and the Black Market. It's only natural that he chose the latter."

Black Zetsu said in a deep voice, "Tell Lord Madara this. We need to eliminate this threat as soon as possible."

Before long, Obito Uchiha and Black and White Zetsu met with Deva Path Pain on the Rooftop of the Steel Building.

"We found the Mysterious Man. Do you want to make a move personally?"

"Have your injuries still not healed?" Deva Path Pain probed.

"Not yet. Those aren't injuries that can recover with time. After all, you know as well as I do that That Man was the one who pacified the chaotic era," Obito Uchiha said.

It was only because Nagato had never met Madara Uchiha that he failed to see through Obito Uchiha's false identity from that single sentence.

After all, the Asura of the Ninja World would never explain himself to a junior.

Even without his eyes, he had remained utterly arrogant in the face of the Nine Tailed Beasts.

Seeing that Obito Uchiha remained so mysterious and still refused to act himself, Deva Path Pain said flatly, "Then I'll make the move. You'll assist from the shadows."

"Fine, but I'm bringing someone with me."

"Itachi Uchiha?"

"That's right. His ocular techniques are extremely useful. They might produce unexpected results."

"Fine. When do we act?"

"Now."

After only a few brief exchanges, the Six Paths of Pain and Obito Uchiha sprang into action without hesitation.

Izayoi did not witness this scene. Otherwise, he surely would have clicked his tongue.

The two bosses of Akatsuki, one in the open and one in the shadows, had joined forces, with the Filial Son who had never known defeat assisting them. This was undoubtedly the strongest three-man team in the ninja world.

Wasn't it a bit excessive to use such a lineup against him?