Nighttime.
The bathroom was filled with steam.
Izayoi lay in the bathtub, his hands cradling the back of his head as he gazed at the mist-covered ceiling.
Upon closer inspection, one would notice that his blue eyes had changed from their usual appearance.
The color was no longer as deep as before, instead taking on a lighter sky-blue hue. The black pupils had also been assimilated into the blue, with a white light slowly flowing out from within, forming a moving, ethereally beautiful white petal around them.
Looking even closer, one would realize that Izayoi was lost in thought.
His gaze wasn't fixed on the ceiling at all. Instead, it seemed to pierce through the house, as if viewing the entire Leaf Village from a god-like perspective.
From Izayoi's point of view, the Leaf Village at this moment—whether it was the urban area, the outskirts, or the forest—was surrounded by a circular wall about twenty meters high.
If the ground were slightly more concave, the entire Leaf Village would resemble a pot when viewed from above, with the urban area and forest inside looking like ingredients in the pot.
Moreover, above this "pot," there was a transparent dome covering the entire Leaf Village.
Not only on the surface, but even underground, there were transparent walls.
Whether it was someone inside or outside, as soon as they touched these transparent walls, their Chakra and location would immediately be detected by the Sensory Team.
This was the Leaf Village's Sensory Barrier.
Even the Six Paths of Pain could only choose to expose the location of one of their bodies and force their way in.
However, in this world, there was no such thing as a perfect Ninja Technique, and the Sensory Barrier was no exception.
The massive barrier had a gap—the village's entrance.
Under non-emergency or special circumstances, there would be no barrier at the village entrance, as it would only add to the burden of the Sensory Team.
Even so, the barrier would disappear for a short period every day.
This disappearance occurred precisely during the shift change of the sensory ninjas.
"Shift changes every six hours, meaning it disappears four times a day," Izayoi murmured with a smile.
At some point, he had already moved from the bathtub back to his bed, and the outside world had grown quiet in the deep night.
After identifying the flaw in the Sensory Barrier, Izayoi's gaze shifted away from the Leaf Village, continuously changing perspectives along the eastern part of the Land of Fire.
Soon, his gaze landed on a remote area.
There, several tents were set up, with the people inside already fast asleep.
In the open space, a campfire burned, and a young man was keeping watch—Uchiha Sasuke.
"They've only covered this much distance. There's plenty of time," Izayoi said with a final glance at Tazuna, smiling. "You're so pitiful. Let me give you a hand."
Indeed, Izayoi planned to involve himself in the Land of Waves arc.
Creating puppets and Chakra Cores required materials, and materials could either be gathered or purchased with money.
After buying the camera, Izayoi had become completely broke.
If he only took on D-rank missions, it would take him who knows how long to save up enough money to buy the materials needed to craft puppets.
Izayoi had been struggling with how to get money—whether to earn it legitimately through missions or to find a criminal organization to rob.
But today, after seeing Tazuna, he suddenly remembered someone and made a decision.
Gato, one of the world's wealthiest men, who specialized in illegal activities.
By robbing him, Izayoi could retire from being a ninja on the spot and never have to worry about money again.
As for puppet materials, there were as many as he could ever want.
Thinking of this, Izayoi couldn't help but smile at the corners of his mouth, planning to rob the rich to help the poor the next day.
...The next day at noon.
Izayoi took the rewards he had saved from completing missions during this period and went to the ninja tool shop to purchase two storage scrolls. Then, he created a shadow clone with a massive amount of chakra, while his main body took advantage of the Sensory Team's shift change to sneak out of the Leaf Village and head straight for the Land of Waves.
The Land of Waves was a small island nation.
Being an island nation, it naturally wasn't located on the Shinobi Continent.
However, the distance between it and the Shinobi Continent was just a bridge away.
This small island was situated in the sea at the easternmost end of the Land of Fire.
Once you reached the end, you could vaguely see the outline of a small island in the distance.
With his far-sight, Izayoi could see any place in the Land of Fire, so naturally, he could also see this small island.
Just after leaving the Leaf Village, Izayoi had already located Gato.
This was the terrifying aspect of the Tenseigan.
The giant Tenseigan on the moon could even monitor the entire Shinobi World.
With such far-sight and X-ray vision, no matter what he did, he would always have an absolute advantage in intelligence.
The Leaf Village was located in the central region of the Land of Fire. A ninja using the Body Flicker Technique at full speed could reach the end of any region in less than a day.
In the original story, during the arc where Uzumaki Naruto and his team chased after Uchiha Sasuke, it took them less than a day to travel from the village to the northernmost forest.
Izayoi only took three hours to surpass Team 7, who were still walking.
Even the Demon Brothers were still waiting for them up ahead.
At this rate, by the time they took a boat to the Land of Waves, Izayoi would have already left.
Before even reaching the easternmost end, Izayoi took to the air, planning to fly into the Land of Waves.
The scene shifted to the sky, where Izayoi had already changed his appearance, transforming into the mysterious black-robed man who had robbed Sasori of the Red Sand.
His long white hair fluttered in the wind.
The pure white mask, devoid of any patterns or eye holes, made his appearance somewhat eerie.
His flying posture exuded the aura of a powerful figure.
Arriving above the Land of Waves, Izayoi didn't waste any time and directly descended outside Gato's residence, a luxurious villa.
Then, he stepped inside.
At this moment, Gato was in conversation with a man completely wrapped in bandages.
"Zabuza, are your two subordinates reliable? It's been over a week. Could it be that they can't even handle an old man?" Gato's voice was filled with displeasure.
"That old man got lucky. By the time the Demon Brothers found him, he had already taken refuge in the Leaf Village. But with his poor and shabby appearance, he doesn't have the money to hire Leaf ninjas to escort him back. Once he can't stay in the Leaf Village anymore and comes out, that will be his end," Momochi Zabuza replied coldly. "If they fail, I will personally take care of it."
"Hmph, I hope so," Gato snorted.
"Just an ordinary person, where does he get the courage to speak to a top-tier rogue ninja like that?"
At that moment, a voice reached the ears of Gato, Momochi Zabuza, and Haku, who stood in a corner, blending into the shadows.
Izayoi stepped inside, his gaze falling on Momochi Zabuza, who was sitting on a couch with his body wrapped in bandages and a large blade placed beside him. Curiously, he asked, "Is the brainwashing in your Hidden Mist Village really that effective? Even after defecting, you still adhere so strictly to professional ethics?"
Before Zabuza could respond, a figure appeared in front of him.
Haku raised his hand, summoning several Needles, and spoke in a grave tone, "Be careful, Zabuza-sama. This person... is very strong!"
Zabuza stood up, gripping the Executioner's Blade. Beneath the bandages, the corner of his mouth curled slightly, revealing a bloodthirsty desire as he said, "I can see that. He's a lawless one, someone worth cutting down."