Inside the two-meter-tall and wide safe were nothing but valuables.
There were stacks of the highest denomination bills, neatly arranged gold bars, bulging bags of gemstones, and casually placed jewelry and land deeds in one compartment...
Izayoi, having lived two lives, had never seen so much money before.
"Is this the true measure of a top-tier tycoon?" Izayoi marveled. "If Gato wasn't lying to me, this is just one of his treasure troves. How rich is this guy?"
"Whatever, it's all mine now, hehe..."
Izayoi took out the storage scrolls he had prepared in advance and packed all the cash, gold bars, gemstones, jewelry, and land deeds from the safe into them.
Unfortunately, the safe was too large, and the storage scrolls weren't the oversized or extra-large type, so he couldn't fit the entire safe inside.
Fortunately, Izayoi had anticipated this and specifically bought two storage scrolls.
After collecting all the treasures, Izayoi returned from the basement to the surface, then formed a hand seal with one hand, creating a shadow clone with an immense amount of chakra.
Izayoi said to the shadow clone, "I'll leave the rest to you. No problem, right?"
"That's a redundant question. Don't you trust me?"
The shadow clone raised its hand and used the Attraction Technique to lift Gato, then left the Land of Waves with him.
Watching the shadow clone depart, Izayoi and another shadow clone flew away from the Land of Waves with Momochi Zabuza and Haku.
After returning to the shinobi continent from the Land of Waves, Izayoi and his shadow clone each took one of them and used the Body Flicker Technique to head to the nearest black market.
With the Tenseigan's ability to monitor the entire Land of Fire, Izayoi naturally knew the location of the black market.
After all, aside from the Anbu and the Root Organization of the Leaf Village, it was the people of the black market who lived underground.
As for Black and White Zetsu and the White Zetsu Clones, Izayoi had tried to locate them with his Tenseigan but found nothing.
Most likely, it was the effect of the Mayfly Technique, which allowed them to merge with the earth and vegetation.
Although Black and White Zetsu lacked combat prowess, they possessed three divine techniques: the Spore Technique, the Impersonation Technique, and the Mayfly Technique.
These three techniques were the ultimate versions of the Three Body Technique, the Body Flicker Technique, and the Invisibility Technique.
Thanks to these techniques, even Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Hamura Otsutsuki had failed to discover their younger brother.
In less than half a day, Izayoi and his shadow clone arrived outside the nearest black market, which was disguised as a public restroom.
Leaving the shadow clone outside to watch over Momochi Zabuza and Haku, Izayoi entered the black market alone.
"Welcome, guest. Please follow me."
As soon as Izayoi entered the black market through the special passage, a middle-aged man in a black suit escorted him to a private room.
Those wearing masks were undoubtedly individuals who wished to conceal their identities.
People who didn't want to reveal themselves were either pretentious charlatans or figures of some renown, or even legendary status in the shinobi world.
Their true nature would be revealed by their requests, and only then would the appropriate attitude be determined.
Of course, Izayoi had no idea what the middle-aged man was thinking. This was his first time in the black market.
The Tenseigan could only see from a distance and through objects; it didn't have eavesdropping capabilities. Since the black market didn't have any posted rules, Izayoi naturally had no idea about the customs here.
Seeing that the middle-aged man didn't say anything and simply led him to a private room, Izayoi thought everyone was treated the same way.
"What can I do for you, sir?"
After inviting Izayoi into the room and seating him, the middle-aged man, having completed the formalities, rubbed his hands together and spoke with enthusiasm.
"Do you have paper and a pen? I need to buy some materials," Izayoi asked.
"Yes, yes..."
The middle-aged man's eyes immediately lit up, sensing a potentially large order, and he quickly got up to fetch paper and a pen for Izayoi.
Izayoi took the pen and wrote down all the materials he had memorized for creating Human Puppets and Chakra Cores. Then, he turned to the middle-aged man and asked, "Can you get these materials?"
"Please wait a moment, let me take a look."
The middle-aged man picked up the paper, read it carefully, and then said something that made Izayoi look at him in a new light: "These are puppet materials from the Hidden Sand Village. Although some of the materials are different, they can still be obtained."
"What's the price here?" Izayoi inquired.
The middle-aged man extended three fingers and said, "Thirty percent above the market price."
Meaning, the cost of these materials here would be thirty percent higher than the market price.
"Fine, prepare thirty sets for me. How long will it take?" Izayoi nodded, not bothering to ask what the market price was, as that would reveal his inexperience.
Izayoi didn't want to be taken advantage of the next time he came here.
"You can come back in three days to pick up the goods," the middle-aged man rubbed his hands together and smiled apologetically. "However, you'll need to pay a small deposit first—just two hundred thousand ryo."
Two hundred thousand ryo, the reward for a B-rank mission.
"Alright, I'll be back in three days."
Izayoi's hand emerged from his wide sleeve, placing twenty ten-thousand ryo bills on the table before he stood up and left.
The middle-aged man then mobilized the Black Market's resources to gather the materials for Izayoi.
In less than a day, this news reached someone's mind through a special method.
"We've found that mysterious person."
White Zetsu said with a grin, "Just as Black Zetsu predicted, that person chose to buy Human Puppet materials from the Black Market."
"Puppet materials can be found on one's own, but it takes a long time. Currently, the only places to quickly obtain these materials are the Hidden Sand Village and the Black Market. It's natural for him to choose the latter."
Black Zetsu said in a deep voice, "Report this to 'Lord Madara.' We need to eliminate this threat as soon as possible."
Soon, Uchiha Obito and Black and White Zetsu were on the rooftop of a steel structure, communicating with Tendo Pain.
"We've found the mysterious person. Do you want to handle this personally?"
"Has your injury not healed yet?" Tendo Pain probed.
"Not yet. It's not an injury that time can heal. After all, you know that man was the one who brought peace to the chaotic era," Uchiha Obito said.
If Nagato had ever met Uchiha Madara, he would have immediately realized that Uchiha Obito was an imposter.
After all, the Asura of the Shinobi World would never explain himself to a junior.
Even without his eyes, he would still face the Nine Tailed Beasts with an air of arrogance.
Seeing that Uchiha Obito was still being so mysterious and unwilling to take action, Tendo Pain said indifferently, "Then I'll take the lead, and you can assist from the shadows."
"Fine, but I want to bring someone along."
"Uchiha Itachi?"
"Exactly. His Eye Technique is extremely useful and might just produce an unexpected effect."
"Agreed. When do we move?"
"Now."
After a brief exchange, the Six Paths of Pain and Uchiha Obito swiftly took action, decisively moving forward.
Izayoi didn't witness this scene, or else he would have surely clicked his tongue in mild astonishment.
The two bosses of Akatsuki, one in the light and one in the shadows, joining forces, with the assistance of a filial son who had never known defeat—this was undoubtedly the strongest trio in the Shinobi World.
Using such a lineup to deal with him—wasn't that a bit excessive? (End of Chapter)