This is truly too criminal! Three ways to eat a fish!

Kakuzu might have been unfamiliar with the name Roga, but after a moment of contemplation, Xuan Yu recalled exactly who he was.

Roga was a member of the Snow Ninja Trio from the Land of Snow, serving the current usurper of the Land of Snow, Dotō Kazahana.

The original ruler of the Land of Snow was Dotō's older brother, but Dotō had coveted the throne, murdered his brother to seize power, and installed himself as the false ruler.

Since then, in order to cut off the roots of his opposition and secure the treasures of the Land of Snow, he had been relentlessly hunting down the true heir to the throne: his niece, Koyuki Kazahana.

As Xuan Yu quickly reviewed all the intelligence regarding the Land of Snow in his mind, Kakuzu's pale green eyes stared at the two rogue ninjas before them with utter indifference.

The ninja who had just invited Xuan Yu and his partner was struggling to breathe under the weight of Kakuzu's formidable aura.

Fortunately, he managed to speak, his voice trembling: "The two of you have demonstrated shocking efficiency in your missions across the Grass Country recently, maintaining a one-hundred-percent success rate. Lord Roga greatly admires your capabilities and wishes to collaborate with you."

Hearing this, Xuan Yu couldn't help but smile.

He hadn't expected that the whirlwind of missions he and Kakuzu had been tearing through in the Grass Country black market over the past few days would yield such benefits.

Although Kakuzu had never been one to shy away from missions, the intensity had never been this high, and aside from industry insiders, few people paid him any mind.

This time, however, the situation was different; they had swept through roughly a third of the Grass Country black market's available contracts in just one week.

Any ninja currently in the Grass Country or its surrounding regions who kept their ears to the ground would have heard at least a whisper of their exploits.

Knowing that Roga wanted to collaborate, Xuan Yu naturally had no intention of turning away a paying client.

He waved his hand dismissively, ignoring Kakuzu's opinion entirely, and said to the two rogue ninjas, "Lead the way!"

Though Kakuzu felt a flicker of annoyance at Xuan Yu's presumption, he said nothing.

Some time later, led by the two rogue ninjas, Xuan Yu and Kakuzu met their employer in a forest near the black market.

However, contrary to his expectations, the one who truly wished to hire them was not Roga, but Dotō Kazahana himself.

At that moment, the Snow Ninja Trio, including Roga, stood respectfully behind a middle-aged ninja with a powerful presence and a vicious gaze.

An ordinary person might not have known who this was, but Xuan Yu recognized him instantly: the usurper of the Land of Snow, Dotō Kazahana!

Dotō scrutinized Kakuzu and Xuan Yu with a calculating gaze before speaking in a deep voice: "Gentlemen, I will skip the pleasantries. I have two missions I wish to entrust to you."

"Both are of extreme difficulty. Do you have the confidence to accept them?"

"What are the missions?" Kakuzu asked, his voice devoid of emotion. With his and Xuan Yu's abilities, they could take on almost any task.

However, whether they would accept Dotō's requests depended entirely on the nature of the work.

Dotō did not waste time, getting straight to the point: "The first mission is to capture the criminals of the Land of Snow, Koyuki Kazahana and Sandayū Asama. The Land of Snow has deployed significant manpower to hunt them down for years, yet we have failed to apprehend these fugitives."

"The second mission concerns the Tailed Beasts. The Land of Snow is very interested in them. I wonder if you two could capture a Tailed Beast for the Land of Snow to study?"

After Dotō finished, he stared intently at Xuan Yu and Kakuzu with sharp eyes, waiting for their response.

He wanted to capture his niece, Koyuki, because she possessed the Hexagonal Crystal, an item capable of unlocking the legendary treasure of the Land of Snow.

As for his interest in the Tailed Beasts, it was because the Land of Snow was a nation that had pushed technology to its limits.

They had developed multi-functional Chakra Armor capable of both offense and defense, as well as various other Chakra Devices.

But if the Land of Snow wanted to evolve from a small nation into a great power, they had to take the next step.

According to Dotō's research, the fastest way for the Land of Snow to increase its strength was to acquire the power of a Tailed Beast.

However, there were far too many factions in the Ninja World that coveted the Tailed Beasts, and most were already held by the Five Great Nations.

Dotō knew that while the Land of Snow was developing well and possessed formidable strength, it was not yet qualified to provoke the Five Great Nations head-on.

Yet, he could still attempt to acquire a Tailed Beast by hiring highly capable mercenaries.

With the technological prowess of the Land of Snow, once they obtained the power of a Tailed Beast, the nation's overall strength would inevitably take a massive leap forward.

Across from him, Kakuzu was quite disappointed by the proposals.

Initially, Kakuzu had thought that since Dotō and the Snow Ninja Trio possessed decent strength, they might offer some worthwhile contracts.

But he had no interest in either of Dotō's requests.

The first mission was a manhunt, but it was a notoriously difficult one; if the Land of Snow hadn't found them in years, it was unlikely he and Xuan Yu would find them easily.

As for the second mission regarding the Tailed Beasts, it was impossible for them to execute, as the Akatsuki also required the Tailed Beasts, and he and Xuan Yu certainly couldn't hand one over to Dotō.

Kakuzu didn't waste a second, leaving behind a single sentence before turning to walk away.

"These missions conflict with our current objectives. You should find someone else."

As Kakuzu departed, Xuan Yu followed him.

He knew what Kakuzu meant by "conflicting objectives"—it was nothing more than the Akatsuki's need for the Tailed Beasts.

But in Xuan Yu's eyes, there was no conflict at all!

The Land of Snow wanted to study the Tailed Beasts and harness their power; they never said they had to keep the beast permanently.

Once the Land of Snow finished their research, couldn't he just take the Tailed Beast back?

Furthermore, this Dotō was a traitor who had murdered his way to the throne. After accepting Dotō's mission, he could also take a mission from Koyuki to help her restore her kingdom.

At this thought, Xuan Yu's eyes lit up. If he played this right, he could kill three birds with one stone—a mission that would be a total windfall!

If this series of maneuvers succeeded, there was no telling how much commission he could rake in.

Most likely, he would be able to obtain a qualitative leap in ninjutsu, or at the very least, receive two Growth Gift Packs. Furthermore, he had done the future Daimyo of the Land of Snow a massive favor!

However, he could not complete this mission with Kakuzu; he had to work alone.

For now, he would leave with Kakuzu, and later, he would have his Chakra Clone return to find Dotō Kazahana and his party.

In the woods, Dotō Kazahana felt a sense of disappointment as he watched Uchiha Genba and Kakuzu depart.

He had originally assumed that a great reputation was well-deserved and that Kakuzu and Uchiha Genba might provide him with a pleasant surprise.

Kakuzu's fame in the Black Market was thunderous, and the Uchiha Genba by his side was also a rising star within the Black Market.

During this period, the two of them had swept through a large number of missions with incredible efficiency and a one-hundred-percent success rate.

Under normal circumstances, these two fellows should have accepted his commission.

Yet, Kakuzu had used a mission conflict as an excuse to dismiss his party outright.