"Sixty percent of the reward?" Upon hearing Butō, Aizen paused in his departing steps. He nodded inwardly, thinking to himself, "It seems Iwagakure is really in a hurry, willing to expend so much to keep them here."
In truth, he didn't really intend to give up on the mission; he just wanted to gauge the situation and get Iwagakure and the others to offer more incentives.
Sixty percent of the reward means they received more than half of the prize money without doing anything – that's quite a generous sum.
Seeing that Aizen and his group had successfully stopped, Butō breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Ōnoki was more persuasive than he was. He knew that only tangible benefits could change the minds of the members of this organization.
Thinking of this, Butō spoke up again, emphasizing, "That's right, it's exactly sixty percent of the total reward. As long as your organization agrees to the mission given by our Iwagakure, then we can offer you sixty percent of the mission reward right now."
It must be said that Ōnoki had a very good grasp of their psychology, hitting the nail on the head regarding the organization's early stages: money and resources.
Just like the reward that Ōnoki gave this time, the most ordinary one is a basic bounty of 300 million taels of silver, plus two B-rank Earth Release Ninjutsu.
Leaving aside the two Earth Release Ninjutsu, the silver taels worth ten Asuma alone would have allowed Aizen to roughly establish the organization's base in Rōran, instead of just verbally establishing Rōran as it is now.
This enormous reward is the reason why the original owner was willing to sacrifice Konoha's interests and did not refuse Iwagakure's offer.
Now, Iwagakure is even more generous, offering to give 60% of the mission reward before the mission is completed.
Such extravagant behavior was simply impossible for Aizen and the others to refuse.
"Since the Tsuchikage has extended such a warm invitation, then I shall accept it."
There's no way around it; like I said, he gave us too much, and we simply couldn't resist.
Upon hearing Aizen's agreement, Butō didn't hesitate at all. He conspicuously took out a scroll from his pocket and reluctantly handed it to Aizen.
Clearly, such a huge bounty is something even someone like Butō, who doesn't care much about money, cannot ignore.
"There are two hundred million taels here. The remaining one hundred million taels, along with the B-rank Earth Release Ninjutsu, will be delivered once you bring Roshi back here."
"No problem, you just need to prepare the rewards. We'll bring Roshi back in no more than three days. Please trust our strength." After receiving the actual rewards, Aizen nodded gently in assurance.
Many of these claims weren't just Aizen exaggerating.
He was truly confident he could rescue Roshi within three days. After all, Konoha's strongest fighter on the front lines was their inside man.
They knew exactly where Roshi was being held and the secret agents stationed along Konoha's borders.
With such comprehensive intelligence and a combination of strength exceeding that of a typical Kage Level, he simply couldn't think of any reason for defeat.
Seeing Aizen's confident demeanor, Butō, with a hint of doubt, couldn't help but remind him, "You shouldn't be too careless, sir. Konoha isn't so easy to deal with. Even with the current Konoha forces, Jiraiya and the Wood Release brat Kōki Itō are already formidable, not to mention Minato Namikaze who's about to arrive. With so many Kage Level shinobi present, your mission to rescue Roshi won't be easy."
He wasn't genuinely trying to be helpful by reminding Aizen and the others; he simply didn't want the plan to rescue Roshi to encounter any setbacks. Otherwise, Iwagakure would have to pay an even higher price to redeem Roshi from Konoha.
This is why Iwagakure was willing to pay such a high price to hire Aizen and his men, rather than negotiate with Konoha. After all, they felt that even if they suffered, they couldn't let Konoha gain any benefits.
Upon hearing the warning about Butō, Aizen simply smiled and offered no further explanation.
After all, he couldn't possibly tell Butō about the relationship between the organization and the main body. Moreover, he discovered from Butō's words that the people of Iwagakure didn't know that Kōki had left the Iwagakure battlefield. In the end, they only needed to deal with Jiraiya and the possible appearance of Minato Namikaze.
Therefore, he simply nodded to indicate that he would pay attention.
Then he turned and left with Jörmungandr and Setsugetsu.
Watching Aizen turn and walk away, the Iwagakure Ninja who had been stopped by Butō finally couldn't hold back their questions. "Lord Butō, why is our Iwagakure cooperating with this unknown organization, and why are they offering such a large reward?"
Three hundred million taels, plus two B-rank Ninjutsu. Giving such a reward to an unknown organization is a waste; they could easily hire several elite ninjas to help them at a gold exchange.
The problem is that not only do they offer money, but they also want Ninjutsu.
In the Shinobi World, power is paramount; with power comes wealth, and Ninjutsu represents power. To include Ninjutsu as a reward is simply too high a price to pay.
"Yes, Lord Butō Arts, these guys are wearing masks and white coats, looking like they're ashamed to be seen. They don't seem like they have the strength to rescue Roshi from Konoha's territory at all. Besides, even if we wanted to rescue Roshi, we in Iwagakure can do it ourselves; we don't need to rely on others."
The Iwagakure watching the Butō were all talking at once, criticizing Aizen and his group as worthless, but even so much doubt had no effect on the Butō. This was because he was someone who had truly witnessed the strength of Aizen and his group, even though he had only fought Jörmungandr, one of Aizen's three.
"You don't need to say anything more. I know more about them than any of you do. Putting aside that female ninja for now, the other two ninjas are both genuine Kage Level ninjas. Besides, this was Lord Tsuchikage's decision, and even I can't change it."
After explaining to his companions, Butō thought of Jörmungandr Setsugetsu, and his expression turned serious.
He discovered that there was a new face among Aizen's group that he had never seen before.
This caught his attention. Judging from Aizen and his group's strength, he didn't believe that someone who could join Aizen's group was an ordinary guy.
The Iwagakure around Butō were speechless after hearing Butō words. They really didn't know that Butō had already fought Aizen and his Aizen. No wonder Butō had no objection to the Tsuchikage's outrageous arrangement.
"Let's go back and report to Lord Tsuchikage. Whether they really aren't worth such a generous reward, as you say, will be clear in three days. Let's just wait patiently in the village." With that, Butō turned and walked towards Iwagakure.
Upon seeing his actions, the other Iwagakure ninjas followed suit.
Finally, the already remote and desolate Red Rock Valley fell silent once again after Aizen and his group and Butō and his group left.