The seventh day.
Senju Chen placed the food at the entrance of the hole as usual.
This time, he didn't turn around immediately.
He sat down at the entrance of the cave, took out a book from his arms, opened it, and wrote slowly with a pen.
There were gentle footsteps coming from deep inside the mine.
Fu walked to the entrance of the cave, but did not come out.
She stood at the intersection of light and shadow, looking at Senju Chen's profile.
Senju Chen didn't look back.
He writes and draws in the booklet, occasionally stopping to think about it before continuing to write.
Fu observed it for about ten minutes.
"What... are you writing?"
The voice was still very soft, but it contained a few more words than yesterday's "thank you."
"Bookkeeping." Senju Chen didn't look up, "Count how many rice balls I've given you in the past few days."
The mine was quiet for two seconds.
"... You want me to pay you back?"
"No." Senju Chen turned a page, "I'm counting my expenses. When you go out, you have to spend money wisely."
It was quiet for a few more seconds.
Fu moved half a step forward from the shadows.
"Who are you anyway?"
"Passing by."
"Liar." There was a hint of caution in Fu's voice, "No one would 'pass by' an abandoned mine for seven days."
Senju Chen put the pen in the booklet and finally turned his head.
He saw Fu's face.
The fourteen-year-old girl's face was covered in dust, her hair was tangled, and her clothes had several rips. But her orange eyes were very bright, not as bright as someone who had been in this place for almost a month.
"My name is Senju Chen." He said, "I belong to Land of Fire."
Fu's body stiffened.
Land of Fire.
Big country.
Ninja.
She subconsciously took half a step back.
"Are you here to catch me?"
"I don't even know your name, why would I arrest you?" Senju Chen put the book away, stood up, and patted the dirt on his pants.
"When you're done eating, remember to put the kettle back into the hole. I'll collect it tomorrow."
After saying that, he left.
Simple and neat.
Fu stood there, watching his back disappear from the edge of the cliff.
She lowered her head and looked at the food package at her feet.
Then he picked it up, held it in his arms, and returned to the cave.
Over there on the cliff.
Senju Chen found a place to sit down about eighty meters away from the mine.
Eighty meters.
Illusion Space The effective range is one hundred meters.
More than enough.
"Little Seven-Tails, I will have to wrong you next."
Senju Chen The left eye Mangekyō rotates slowly.
But he didn't rush to do it.
The last time Killer B was trained, he started exerting his strength almost from the first day. Although the effect was explosive, it was because Killer B himself had a strong psychological quality - an adult in his twenties, Perfect Jinchuriki, has a strong ability to withstand blows.
Fu is different.
Having been used as a weapon since childhood, the psychological defense line is already fragile. If it is too harsh, the person will collapse and run away, and everything will be in vain.
Go slow.
Be light.
Let's start with something small and inconspicuous.
Senju Chen made a list in his mind, and then laughed.
That night.
Deep in the mine, Fu huddled on the straw mat in the corner, hugging her knees and closing her eyes.
She didn't fall asleep.
The mine is very quiet, with only the occasional chirping of insects in the distance.
Suddenly, she heard a voice.
Very light.
It seemed like something was rolling on the ground.
Fu opened her eyes suddenly and touched Kunai beside her.
The moonlight shone in obliquely from the entrance of the cave, drawing a long strip of light on the ground.
In the light band, a stone is rolling.
It's not blown by the wind.
The stone drew circles on the ground by itself.
One lap. Two laps. Three laps.
Then it stopped.
Fu stared at the stone for five seconds.
The stone didn't move.
"..."
She held Kunai tightly.
"Chōmei." She shouted in her heart.
In my mind, the voice of Seven-Tails Chōmei sounded lazily.
"What's wrong? Have a nightmare again?"
"The pebble was spinning just now."
"Pebbles?" Chōmei's perception scanned the mine, "There is nothing abnormal. You are the only one in the cave, and there are no ninja Chakra fluctuations within a radius of two hundred meters outside."
"But it was really spinning just now."
"Then you're wrong. Go to sleep. You have to beware of Takigakure's pursuers tomorrow."
Fu looked away from the stones and closed her eyes again.
About twenty seconds passed.
She suddenly smelled the fragrance of flowers.
It's light, sweet, like the smell of daisies.
Fu opened her eyes and looked around.
There are gravel and hay everywhere in the mine, where are the flowers?
But the floral fragrance is indeed there. And it is getting stronger and stronger.
Fu sat up and looked around carefully in the moonlight.
Nothing.
The floral fragrance lasted for about a minute and then slowly dissipated.
It's like it never appeared.
"Chōmei!"
"No. Nothing. There's something wrong with your nose."
"My nose is very good!"
"That's the remnants of some plants in the mine. This place has been abandoned for more than ten years, and there is nothing there."
Fu pursed her lips, feeling a little embarrassed.
But she was too tired.
After a day of hard work and a month of continuous escape, my physical strength has long been exhausted.
She slowly lay down again and hugged her knees.
This time she fell asleep.
But what she didn't know was that on the cliff eighty meters away, Senju Chen was sitting under the moonlight, with Mangekyō in her left eye turning slowly.
"Well, let's stay here for the first night." Senju Chen yawned, "You have to give her time to adapt."
Day eight.
Senju Chen will deliver breakfast as usual.
This time there was an extra apple in the food.
After Fu got the package, she was stunned when she saw the apples. In the past few days, it was just rice balls and dry food, but today there were suddenly more fruits.
She hesitated for a second, then took a bite.
Sweet.
She couldn't remember the last time she ate fruit.
"Hey." She called outside the cave entrance.
Senju Chen had walked out for more than ten steps, stopped when he heard the sound, and turned around.
"Apples... are delicious."
Senju Chen smiled. "I'll change it for you tomorrow."
Then keep walking.
Fu looked at his back, still chewing an apple in her mouth.
This person is really weird.
He neither inquired about her identity nor why she was hiding here.
It's like he's not curious about anything about her.
But he came to deliver food to him every day.
Although he didn't look like a bad guy, he didn't arrest her or poison her, but she wanted to see what this weirdo wanted to do.
Nothing happened during the day on the eighth day.
Fu even moved around in a small area near the mine, found a water source and washed her face.
But at night--
As soon as Fu lay down, she found something on the rock wall above her head.
A Fire Fly bug.
No, it's not the Fire Fly bug.
The glowing spot is twice as big as the Fire Fly insect, and the color is wrong. The normal Fire Fly insect is yellow-green, but this one is light blue.
Fu stared at it for a while.
The light spot started to move.
Along the rock wall, slowly, a pattern was drawn.
a flower.
Light blue flowers made of light are suspended on the top of the mine.
Fu's pupils dilated.
"Chōmei!"