Jinchuuriki Hunt III

As Shiki and Fu left Takigakure, a soul clone of Fu with the Seven Tails Image inside her was left behind fo the Akatsuki to find later.

Shiki had to play his cards carefully so that Kaguya's revival would come to pass, it was a major part of his plans after all but he had been making moves that put it at risk. Still, backups were in place to make up for it so he was not that worried about it just yet.

Back in the Desert Fortress, Fu showed her childlike wonder at the magnificent structure and environment, as they were going inside, they crossed paths with Yagura who greeted them.

"Hello there." Yagura greeted Fu.

"'Sup!" Fu greeted back.

"A new addition to the roster boss?" He asked Shiki.

"That's right. This is Fu, the jinchuuriki of the Seven Tails." Shiki introduced, much to yagura's surprise.

'He sure works fast!' He though in admiration for his leader.

"I'm Karatachi Yagura, jinchuuriki of the Three Tails and formerly, the 4th Mizukage." Yagura introduced himself.

"Whoa! You're a jinchuuriki too!?" Fu responded, still in high tension.

"That's right. But I got to go now though. Job to do and all of that." Yagura said.

"Sure thing, don't let me keep ya!" Fu waved her hand.

"People here are nice!" She commented to shiki after Yagura had left.

"Any more jinchuuriki?" She asked.

"Not for now but I will be speaking with other jinchuuriki soon so who knows." Shiki replied.

"I see. Well good luck!" Fu supported.

"Thank you. Everyone here is like family so don't hesitate to ask for something if you need it alright." Shiki advised.

"You got it!" Fu replied.

Shiki then took Fu to see Tsunade to have her show the girl around since he wanted to continue on his jinchuuriki hunt.

"We're going to see my second in command now, she'll show you around since I have stuff to do at the moment but we can catch up later." Shiki informed.

"The vice leader huh? I imagine I'll have work to do too right?" Fu asked.

"Of course! Aion is the one in charge of giving missions though." Shiki replied.

"Aion?" Fu inquired.

"You'll see . . ." Shiki dodged the question much to Fu's annoyance.

"Guuuuuu . . .

"Hehehehe. You're pretty cute when you're annoyed." Shiki commented.

Fu immediately blushed while pouting.

"Glad you're entertained." She quipped.

Shiki just chuckled in response.

In the meanwhile, they both arrived at R&D where Tsunade could pretty much always be found.

"This our new addition?" Tsunade asked after exchanging greetings with Shiki.

"Yup. This Fu." Shiki introduced as Tsunade looked up and down the jinchuuriki.

'Wow! What a beautiful person . . .' Fu thought to herself absentmindedly.

Tsunade then turned to Shiki and asked.

"Why are you still walking around with that getup?"

Shiki usually took of his Reaper outfit inside the base but sometimes forgot and just went about his business inside without taking it off.

"Oh! I totally forgot!" Shiki suddenly realized while Tsunade just shook her head.

With single hand seal, Shiki dismissed his outfit to storage, returning to his casual getup and leaving Fu staring at him dumbfoundedly.

"So . . . Handsome . . ." She murmured with an enamore expression.

'Another one bites the dust . . .' Tsunade thought with exasperation while Shiki who was in a hurry to finish his job didn't even notice Fu's change, which was rather uncharacteristic of him.

"Anyway Tsuna-nee. Please show Fu around while I complete the rest of my errands." Shiki requested before throwing his outfit back on and disappearing again.

"And there he goes." Tsunade said to no one in particular.

"Come on girl! You can be enamored later, let's settle you in." Tsunade said.

Fu stuttered and blushed before simply nodding and following behind Tsunade with a quiet that was quite unusual for her.

Back to Shiki, he was currently deciding on his next target.

'Numbers 1, 3 and 7 are taken care of, numbers 8 and 9 don't really need any interference frome since even without my actions to ruin the Akatsuki's plans, they would not have been captured so I only have numbers 2, 4, 5 and 6 left . . .' Shiki pondered.

'I can wait for 6 to become a nukenin which would improve the chances of getting him as an ally so I'll stay away from him for now. 2 and 4 seem like hard targets to convince from the personalities they showed in the series but I might be able to talk to 5 so I'll go for him next.' He decided.

And so, Shiki travelled to Iwa. Much like Fu before him, Han, the jinchuuriki of the Five Tails lived isolated from the rest of the village but close enough to still be counted as a citizen.

He was noted to be lively and direct, having a friendly and reasonable disposition towards others. Kokuo, the Five Tails, was also one of gentlest and most reasonable of the Tailed Beasts.

As such, Shiki was very much confident both jinchuuriki and tailed beast would his reasoning and join up or at the very least, fully cooperate.

Appearing in front of Han who was resting, sitting with his back against a tree, Shiki greeted the jinchuuriki.

"Greeting Han-san. I assume you know why I am here." He started.

"Indeed! I have been awaiting your visit!" Han heartily responded.

"I have learned the basics from Kokuo but I would like to hear it all from you directly as well." He requested.

"Very well." Shiki agreed.

"Follow me inside my house." Han bade Shiki.

"Why don't we discuss this serious matter over a nice cup of tea." He suggested.

"Then I shall be in your care." Shiki accepted.

"Good!" Han exclaimed in response and led Shiki into his humble home.

And so, Shiki explained his plan and concerns to Han over some hot tea as the jinchuuriki carefully listened and asked questions here and there for clarification.

'You know . . . I'm liking this guy!' Shiki thought to himself.

'He's reasonable, a good listener and a smart fellow that thinks about his decisions. My simping has left me somewhat lacking in the male friend category but Han is the kind of guy I'd honestly want to be friends with.' He said in his mind.

After a long talk, Han fell into thought.

"Hmm . . ." He pondered.

"Both Kokuo and I are of a mind to assist you but we'd like to know more of what would be expected of us in that case." Han said.

"Missions will be attributed based on you abilities and personal code. You'll be core members and that comes with a lot of personal freedom. So long as you have a proper reason, missions can be refused unless it is an emergency, during which such rights are temporarily repealed."

Shiki explained how work as a core member of Mugetsu was distributed.

"Quite a nice system." Han commented.

"Very well. Even though you have an agenda of your own, it doesn't change the fact that my life and the lives of many others will be improved by your actions and the execution of your principles. As such, he accept your offer." He declared.

Sealing the deal with a firm handshake, preparations were put in place for Han's joining.

Much like it was for Fu, a soul clone of Han with the Five Tailed Image sealed within was left behind with Kokuo establishing a connection with her image so as to not cause any suspicion.

In the meantime, Gaara's matter was also taken care of. Shukaku was replaced by his image and Shiki left an invisible Soul Substitution Seal on Gaara so that he would not die when the Akatsuki captured him in the future and extracted the image from inside him.

Now, with numbers 1, 3, 5 and 7 taken care of, numbers 8 and 9 not needing intervention and number 6 relegated for later, only numbers 2 and 4 were left.

'The tailed beasts must be sealed in order so Nii Yugito and the Two Tails Matatabi are the priority, they will probably be less difficult to convince than the other pai as well . . .' Shiki thought as he showed Han around, leaving the more complicated stuff to Tsunade later.

"How far are you along convincing the other jinchuuriki?" Han asked.

Shiki revealed his progress to him.

"Looks like your way of dealing with Shukaku and his jinchuuriki was quite different from your way of dealing with the others." Han commented.

"Their relationship to each other is in complete opposition after all." Shiki shrugged.

"Roshi and Son, the Four Tails, will probably be difficult as well, even though their relationship is not quite as antagonistic as Gaara and Shukaku's" He added.

"Well, good luck!" Han said.

"Appreciate it."

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