Naruto: Swarm System

"So, Fu has become the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki..."

Seeing Fu being chased by three of Pain's bodies, Shishou frowned. He watched as Fu, weakened from excessive blood loss, fell from the sky to the ground.

Shishou pulled out the gourd from his back, unleashing a swarm of insects to disrupt the vision of the three Pains, and summoned the black-armored centipede to hinder them.

At the same time, he appeared beside Fu, caught her mid-air, and used the Body Flicker Technique to quickly escape.

Seconds after Shishou left, the black-armored centipede was defeated by the three Pains and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Next, Shishou's shadow clone, transformed to resemble the Flying Thunder God user, blocked the path of the three Pains with a cold expression. "Nagato, it seems you don't intend to honor our agreement."

The Animal Path replied indifferently, "This was a chance encounter, nothing more."

With that, the three Pains disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Shishou's shadow clone also vanished.

Meanwhile, Shishou, carrying the unconscious Fu, received the feedback from his shadow clone and frowned slightly.

If Nagato's target wasn't Fu, the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, then what was he after? What could be more important to him than the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki?

Pondering these questions, Shishou stopped under a large tree to check on Fu's condition.

"Tsk, Nagato really didn't hold back," Shishou remarked, seeing Fu's nearly severed left arm. He placed his hand on the wound and began using Healing Palm Technique to treat and repair it.

As Shishou healed her, Fu quickly regained consciousness.

Finding herself in someone's arms, Fu blinked, but seeing the Konoha headband on Shishou and realizing he was healing her, she relaxed.

"Thank you," Fu said gratefully.

"You're welcome," Shishou responded casually, continuing to heal her.

Seeing the mask on Shishou's face, Fu's curiosity got the better of her. While Shishou's hands were busy healing her, she impulsively reached out and pulled down his mask.

"Wow, so handsome..."

Seeing Shishou's face, Fu blushed. Even though she had guessed he was good-looking from his eyes and eyebrows, she was still taken aback by his appearance.

Shishou frowned, glanced at Fu, and kicked her away, sending her crashing into a distant tree trunk, then calmly put his mask back on.

This girl has no sense of boundaries, he thought.

"S-Sorry..."

Fu climbed down from the tree trunk and quickly apologized. She knew her behavior had been impulsive, and getting kicked was a reasonable consequence. But seeing Shishou's face was worth it.

Shishou glanced at her, clapped his hands, and said, "If you're sorry, show some sincerity."

Fu, holding her still-healing left hand, adopted a determined expression and loudly declared, "If you want to hit me, go ahead. I won't fight back."

Her personality was naturally carefree, and as a Jinchuriki of the Seven-Tails, she was tough. Getting hit didn't bother her much.

Shishou created a water sphere to clean the blood from his hands and said flatly, "Kneel down. If you kneel and apologize, I'll accept it."

Fu, picking a small flower nearby, approached Shishou, knelt on one knee, and offered the flower to him, mimicking a proposal.

"Can I see your face again if I kneel a few more times?"

Seeing her shameless behavior, Shishou's mouth twitched. He knew Fu had a very carefree personality, but this was too much.

Seeing Shishou's displeased expression, Fu felt a twinge of fear. Maybe she should try a different approach...

Fu placed the flower behind her ear and knelt formally in front of Shishou, speaking softly, "Master, please forgive your servant."

This was a trick she had learned from the entertainment district's sisters in Taki, known to be very effective on men, though this was her first time using it.

Shishou walked over to Fu without expression and kicked her away again.

If it were beautiful, mature women like Mikoto, Kushina, or Rimei doing this, it might be seductive. But coming from Fu, who had the physique of a bean sprout, it was just awkward.

After kicking Fu away, Shishou turned and left, not wanting to deal with her any longer.

Fu got up, shaking her now-healed left hand thanks to the Seven-Tails' chakra, and followed Shishou with a flattering smile, "My name is Fu. What's yours? I've apologized as you asked, so you can't stay mad at me."

"Where are you going? I can fly us there quickly," she offered, her insect-like wings spreading out as she hovered beside him, showing off.

Annoyed, Shishou glared at her and snapped, "Be quiet!"

"Oh," Fu obediently closed her mouth, glancing at Shishou occasionally.

After a while, Shishou asked, "Aren't you going back to your village?"

"I'm sneaking out. No one in the village talks to me except for the girls in the entertainment district, so I'm not going back," Fu replied cheerfully.

Sighing, Shishou asked, "How did you run into those people?"

Fu shrugged, "I was heading towards the Land of Earth after sneaking out of Taki, and I saw three people looking around under a tree. I tried to greet them, but they attacked me. Can you believe it? Just because they didn't want to be friends, they attacked me!"

She was genuinely upset, thinking those people, like the villagers, didn't want to befriend her because she was a Jinchuriki.

Hearing her explanation, Shishou was speechless. This girl practically walked into trouble. No wonder Nagato said it was just a chance encounter.

But with the three Pains around, Nagato himself couldn't be far. What was he planning?

Meanwhile, in Taki.

Nagato, led by Kakuzu, had smoothly infiltrated the village and found what he was looking for.

Holding the scroll, Nagato's eyes narrowed.