What kind of monster is this? Even the clones are this overpowered!

Beside Dotō Kazahana, Roga of the Snow Ninja Trio felt deeply dissatisfied with the attitude Uchiha Genba and Kakuzu had just displayed.

Seeing the two of them walk away without even looking back, Roga immediately sneered, "So much for Kakuzu and Uchiha Genba—they're both frauds! If they didn't have the guts to take the mission, they could have just refused instead of making up such pathetic excuses!"

Roga was convinced that Genba and Kakuzu were simply incapable of handling the mission and had concocted a flimsy excuse to cover it up.

The others shared much the same sentiment.

Even Dotō Kazahana felt that the intelligence regarding the capabilities of Genba and Kakuzu might have been exaggerated.

However, at that very moment, Dotō Kazahana's pupils suddenly constricted, and he hurriedly shouted a warning to Roga: "Look out!"

As his voice fell, a black shadow appeared abruptly.

In the blink of an eye, the shadow was already standing right in front of Roga.

As one of the Snow Ninja Trio, Roga was undoubtedly quite skilled, but in front of Genba, his strength was clearly not enough.

"Leaf! Hurricane!"

Genba spun three hundred and sixty degrees in mid-air, unleashing a fierce, unstoppable whirlwind kick.

"Whoosh—"

Suddenly, a small, high-speed rotating hurricane formed, completely engulfing Roga.

Before Roga could even understand what was happening, he was sent flying high into the air, only to crash heavily to the ground, dazed and battered.

"Ugh!"

After hitting the ground, Roga felt a surge of sweetness in his throat that he couldn't suppress, and he spat out a spray of blood.

Even with his Chakra Armor, Genba's attack had still caused him significant injury.

Seeing Genba strike with such force, Dotō Kazahana was naturally enraged.

"Ice Style: Black Dragon Blizzard!"

Once Dotō Kazahana activated his ninjutsu, a water tornado quickly surged up from the nearby lake.

As the tornado rose into the sky, the temperature plummeted, and within moments, it transformed into a black ice tornado, charging toward Genba.

"Swish—"

Genba's figure flickered, using Phantom Body Flicker to split into five.

Dotō Kazahana's Black Dragon Blizzard tore through all five of his images in an instant.

Then, to Dotō Kazahana's immense surprise, he saw that all five Genbas were merely illusions.

Before Dotō Kazahana could strike again, the five Genbas merged back into one, and his casual voice reached Dotō Kazahana's ears.

"Your Excellency Daimyo, I came here to discuss a partnership, not to fight you. If you have no intention of cooperating, then please excuse me."

Hearing this, Dotō Kazahana suppressed his anger and said, "Didn't you just refuse a moment ago?"

Genba didn't answer immediately, instead saying to Dotō Kazahana, "Your Excellency, let's go somewhere else and talk in private."

With that, Genba walked straight toward the distance.

He wanted to kill three birds with one stone on this mission and maximize his gains, so he couldn't let too many irrelevant people know about the details of the task.

Seeing Genba walk away, Dotō Kazahana said coldly to the Snow Ninja Trio and his other subordinates, "Stay here and wait for me; I'm going to see what he wants."

Without delay, he hurried off to chase after Genba.

After leading Dotō Kazahana to a secluded spot, Genba got straight to the point: "Your Excellency, attacking your subordinate just now was, on one hand, a small punishment for him badmouthing me behind my back, and on the other, a demonstration of my capability to handle the mission."

"Roga was helpless before me, and your ninjutsu was completely ineffective against me. Based on these two things, you should have a relatively clear understanding of my strength."

Dotō Kazahana was somewhat surprised that this was the purpose behind Genba's sudden attack.

Still, he said, "Your strength is certainly not weak, but I doubt you can complete both of my mission requests on your own."

Dotō Kazahana had already figured it out: Genba wanted to hide his intentions from his partner and take the mission alone.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have remained silent when Kakuzu refused the mission earlier, only to sneak back and request a private negotiation.

To Dotō Kazahana's skepticism, Genba chuckled and said, "Your Excellency has misjudged this time. What you saw was not my full strength, as this is merely a shadow clone. My true self is still with my partner."

"A clone?" Dotō Kazahana was truly surprised this time.

Genba had launched a sudden attack not long ago, instantly crushing Roga, one of the Snow Ninja Trio.

Later, when faced with his powerful Black Dragon Blizzard, Genba had remained unscathed.

He truly hadn't expected that all of this had been achieved by a mere clone of Genba.

Upon learning that the person before him was only a clone, he began to understand why this rising star in the mercenary world could partner with Kakuzu and why the two of them possessed such terrifying mission capabilities.

To Dotō Kazahana's unspoken question, Genba answered with absolute certainty: "Yes, Your Excellency, what you see before you is a genuine clone. I believe that, combined with the intelligence you've gathered and the abilities I've demonstrated, you can rest assured in entrusting me with the mission to capture the Tailed Beast for your research."

Dotō Kazahana frowned. "Are you saying you will only take the mission to capture the Tailed Beast?"

Genba nodded. "Exactly. I have no leads on the mission to apprehend the criminals of the Land of Snow. Those two have been on the run for years under the pursuit of the Land of Snow's ninjas without being caught; I wouldn't be able to capture them easily either."

Dotō Kazahana nodded upon hearing this; the reasoning was sound.

If Koyuki Kazahana and Sandayū Asama were that easy to capture, he would have caught them long ago!

After a brief moment of thought, Dotō Kazahana decided to cooperate with Xuan Yu.

The strength Xuan Yu had displayed left him quite satisfied.

Furthermore, Xuan Yu had maintained a one-hundred-percent mission success rate up to this point.

Entrusting Xuan Yu to capture a Tailed Beast and deliver it to the Land of Snow for research was undoubtedly worth a try.

He asked immediately, "How shall we cooperate?"

Xuan Yu did not answer, but instead asked, "After I capture the Tailed Beast, does Your Excellency the Daimyo still require me to transport it to the distant Land of Snow? If so, this mission will require a commission of at least 500 million ryō to complete."

"A commission of 500 million ryō?" Dotō Kazahana's tiger-like eyes widened to the size of copper bells.

As the Daimyo of the Land of Snow, he could afford that amount, but he could not justify spending so much money to acquire a Tailed Beast for research.

Although he was extremely confident in the technological prowess of the Land of Snow, he could not guarantee that they would truly be able to fully decipher the secrets of a Tailed Beast.

He couldn't be bothered to haggle with Xuan Yu at this moment, so after a brief thought, he gave a final offer: "100 million ryō! I will pay a maximum commission of 100 million ryō to hire you to capture a Tailed Beast and deliver it to the Land of Snow for our research!"

"If you are willing to cooperate, I can provide you with some intelligence the Land of Snow has gathered regarding Tailed Beasts and their jinchūriki."