Xuan Yu's initial offer had been a classic case of quoting an outrageous price and haggling down from there.
After all, his employer this time was the Daimyo of a nation. Even if Dōtō had taken the title illegitimately, Xuan Yu couldn't afford to underestimate his wealth.
Dōtō was willing to pay a hundred million ryō in commission, which was already a very generous offer.
But Xuan Yu figured that he and Dōtō were only doing business once, so he might as well squeeze a little more commission out of him.
He smiled and said to Dōtō, "Your Excellency, you're still underestimating the power of Tailed Beasts. Since you've been keeping an eye on intelligence related to them, you should know that the Tailed Beasts are currently held by the Five Great Shinobi Nations and powerful villages like Takigakure."
"Even if the Land of Snow has an advantage in technological ninja tools, it can't grow from a small or medium-sized country into a great nation without the power of a Tailed Beast. I'll be frank: on the Black Market, Tailed Beasts are priced by the tail."
"If Your Excellency is only willing to offer a hundred million ryō, then I'll have no choice but to try to capture the weakest of the Nine Tailed Beasts, One-Tail Shukaku. I imagine you don't want to risk offending the Five Great Shinobi Nations just to capture the weakest one, do you?"
"Well..." Dōtō hesitated. He couldn't let word get out that the Land of Snow coveted a Tailed Beast.
But if it came to light that the Land of Snow had one, they were bound to offend either the Five Great Shinobi Nations or the Land of Waterfalls.
If they were going to offend someone anyway, they certainly shouldn't capture the weakest Tailed Beast.
A cold glint flashed through his eyes, and he came up with a good plan.
He could pay Xuan Yu a hundred and fifty million ryō to capture a Tailed Beast and deliver it to the Land of Snow to complete the job.
The Land of Snow was his territory. Once Xuan Yu arrived, Dōtō could ambush him and take him out.
That way, the Land of Snow would get a Tailed Beast without paying a single ryō in commission. And by killing Xuan Yu, Dōtō could silence him and keep the secret!
At the thought, Dōtō smiled coldly and said, "I can't set a price based on the number of tails. But I can offer you a hundred and fifty million ryō to capture a Tailed Beast other than the One-Tail."
Xuan Yu shook his head. "Your Excellency, if that's what you're saying, then we can't have it that way! This mission is exceptionally difficult, and after capturing the Tailed Beast, I'll have to deliver it to the Land of Snow to complete the job. I can't take it unless you offer at least two hundred million ryō."
"Besides, Your Excellency will need to post the job through the Bounty Exchange. Once I've completed it, I can collect my commission there."
Dōtō flatly refused. "No! We can't let anyone find out that the Land of Snow is trying to seize a Tailed Beast! Besides, what if you collect your commission from the Bounty Exchange and then don't deliver the Tailed Beast to the Land of Snow?"
Xuan Yu replied without hesitation, "That's easy. Your Excellency can have a wandering ninja post the job through the Bounty Exchange. After I capture the Tailed Beast, I'll need a certificate from you before I can collect my commission. That should work, right?"
"Fine."
This time, Dōtō didn't refuse. That arrangement would work perfectly.
If Xuan Yu failed to capture a Tailed Beast, so be it. Even if he really succeeded, he wouldn't be able to take a single ryō out of the Land of Snow.
Once they'd reached an agreement, the rest was simple.
Following Xuan Yu's suggestion, Dōtō had a wandering ninja post the job through the Bounty Exchange, and Xuan Yu accepted it right away.
After everything was settled, Dōtō smiled coldly at Xuan Yu. "I hope our cooperation goes smoothly!"
Xuan Yu smiled back. "Don't worry, Your Excellency. I've never failed a mission I've accepted. Just wait for good news."
With that, he didn't waste any more words on Dōtō and left.
After parting ways with Dōtō and his party, Xuan Yu began thinking through the details of how to get paid three times over.
He planned to take a Tailed Beast capture mission from Nagato and Konan.
That way, he could turn a Tailed Beast worth two hundred million ryō into three hundred million.
He also needed to find Princess Kazahana Koyuki, the actress who went by the stage name Fuyukaze Yukie.
Fuyukaze Yukie and Sandayū Asama wanted to restore the Land of Snow's former regime.
If he could get them to hire him to kill Dōtō, then after delivering the Tailed Beast to Dōtō, he could wait a while, kill him, and take the Tailed Beast back.
Then he could deliver it to Konan to complete that mission, and collect another commission from Koyuki, the Land of Snow's future Daimyo.
What Xuan Yu didn't know was that things wouldn't be nearly so complicated when he actually carried out the plan.
Dōtō had no intention of letting him leave the Land of Snow with the money. Once Xuan Yu delivered the Tailed Beast, Dōtō would attack him. Xuan Yu could then kill Dōtō on the spot in self-defense.
But that was for later. For now, he had other matters to handle.
While his clone was meeting with Dōtō, his real body had already set out with Kakuzu for the next Black Market.
Kakuzu had picked out a lot of missions this time, including jobs at the Black Markets in Grass Country, Land of Fire, Land of Rivers, and Land of Rain.
They'd set out from the Land of Rain, sweep through the surrounding areas to complete a round of jobs, then return to the Land of Rain.
Xuan Yu didn't need to worry about choosing missions. His attention was on his balance.
He might have to fight a Tailed Beast or a Jinchūriki within the next six months, perhaps even sooner. He'd decided to turn every last bit of his savings into strength!
He'd already worked out his plan for spending his points, so he didn't hesitate. He got straight to it.
[You spent 30 million ryō. Your stamina increased from 2,000 to 5,000! Current balance: 50.1739 million ryō!] [You spent 10 million ryō. Your strength increased from 4,013 to 5,013! Current balance: 40.1739 million ryō!] [You spent 40 million ryō. Your spirit increased from 951 to 4,951! Current balance: 173,900 ryō!]
After a flurry of activity, Xuan Yu had gone all in with the eighty million ryō he'd saved up.
As he invested his points, a vast, mysterious power surged through his entire body, continuously transforming him from the inside out.
His stamina had increased two and a half times. Even Kakuzu, with his five hearts, couldn't match him in stamina anymore.
Then there was his weakest attribute, spirit, which had finally been brought up to par.
Neither the Three-Tails nor the Five-Tails, nor even the Five-Tails Jinchūriki, specialized in genjutsu.
But when he had the resources to spare, it was still worth shoring up this weakness as a precaution.
Once the transformation of his body had gradually subsided, Xuan Yu took a look at his current system panel.
[Name: Uchiha Genba] [Age: 18] Four Attributes: [Stamina 5000: Your stamina is like a mighty river, surging on without end! Even Kakuzu's five hearts combined can't match your one heart!] [Strength 5013: Your strength is terrifying! In a contest of pure strength against Kakuzu, you would have an overwhelming advantage!] [Speed 10102: You're as fast as lightning, and you're at the pinnacle even among Super Kage Ninjas! Your speed isn't just speed—it's the helpless tears in Kakuzu's eyes as you steal his mission target right in front of him!] [Spirit 4951: Excellent! You're full of spirit! You're basically immune to genjutsu that doesn't involve a Kekkei Genkai!] Talents: [Speed Force: With the Speed Force, you've become a speedster. However, the strength of your Speed Force is tied to your speed attribute, and your stamina is tied to your stamina attribute. With your current attributes, you're still just taking your first clumsy steps among speedsters.] Abilities: [Leaf Whirlwind lv10: Your Leaf Whirlwind Taijutsu has gained the special effect "Whirlwind Fierce Kick." Whirlwind Fierce Kick: When you use this move, you can unleash a powerful whirlwind capable of blowing even Kakuzu away!] [Three Body Technique lv10: Your Three Body Technique has gained the special effect "Chakra Clone." Chakra Clone: You can create Chakra Clones that are Chakra-based life forms, like Tailed Beasts. The Chakra Clones' strength depends on the quantity and quality of their Chakra.] [Body Flicker Technique lv10: Your Body Flicker Technique has gained the special effect "Phantom Body Flicker." Phantom Body Flicker: Within a certain range, you can create multiple Shadow Clones that are somewhere between solid and illusory. Your real body can switch between them. The illusions aren't affected by attacks, and multiple illusions can attack at the same time. The strength of this ability is affected by the Sharingan.] [Mystical Palm Technique lv2: Your grasp of the Mystical Palm Technique is a complete mess. Work twice as hard!]
Before you continue