Naruto: Swarm System

Forest of Death, inside an abandoned laboratory.

"Who are you? Why did you save me?"

Uchiha Mikoto, sitting on the floor with her hands and feet tied, looked coldly at Shishou as he walked in and asked.

In her memory, she had already died at the hands of her son, Itachi Uchiha.

Before she died, she had witnessed Itachi kill Fugaku.

Such a scene made her feel worse than death.

If her hands and feet weren't tied, she would have already committed suicide.

Seeing Mikoto's lifeless eyes, filled with despair, Shishou did not answer her but sat cross-legged in front of her, quietly appreciating the look of despair and sadness on her face.

Her beautiful face combined with the current despair and sorrow gave Mikoto a kind of broken beauty.

Shishou had always liked the gentle and caring aura that Mikoto exuded.

So, after seeing her this afternoon, he had parasitized her with healing insects, allowing her to enter a state of pseudo-death after receiving fatal injuries, thus saving her life.

Along with Mikoto, he had also saved a dozen Uchiha children and a young girl.

Regarding the massacre of the Uchiha clan, there wasn't much Shishou could do, but he was willing and able to save the children.

Even if it would attract attention and suspicion, he wouldn't regret it.

As he had mentioned before, the worst-case scenario would be becoming a rogue ninja.

"Itachi Uchiha slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan today."

"There were men, women, elders, and children."

Seeing Mikoto's suicidal resolve, Shishou smiled as he cruelly reopened her wounds, like a devil.

Mikoto shuddered at his words, covering her face in pain.

Shishou, however, ignored this and continued,

"There was a child, only a few months old, killed in front of his mother."

"Some had their eyes gouged out, dying with grievances."

"..."

Shishou's words were like knives, each stabbing into Mikoto's heart, filling her with unspeakable guilt, making her kneel on the ground, begging softly,

"Stop, please stop..."

Shishou grabbed her hair and caressed her face, smiling as he asked,

"As the mother of the executioner, seeing your clan slaughtered by your own son, how do you feel now?"

Mikoto tightly closed her eyes, not daring to look at the man in front of her. Her tears flowed incessantly, revealing her immense pain.

Shishou cut the ropes binding her with a kunai, threw it on the ground, and left the room.

"If you want to die, I won't stop you. But before that, I need your help to save people."

"To save Uchiha people."

"Of course, if you want these children to die, that's up to you."

Mikoto was stunned, then quickly wiped her tears and stood up, hurrying to follow Shishou.

Seeing the dozen or so children and the young girl lying on the ground, Mikoto quickly ran over to check on them. Seeing that they were alright, she sighed in relief.

Whether out of guilt or as the former wife of the clan leader, Mikoto couldn't ignore these children.

"Thank, thank you for saving them."

As a member of the Uchiha clan who had already awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan, Mikoto was clearly no fool. After a moment of calm, she understood Shishou's intentions.

It was evident he wanted her to take care of these children.

Tch!

Seeing the three-tomoe Sharingan in Mikoto's eyes due to her excitement, Shishou clicked his tongue in disappointment.

He had hoped that by provoking her, Mikoto might awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, but it was a letdown.

But it made sense. Even after witnessing her son kill her husband, she hadn't awakened the Mangekyō. His provocation was unlikely to succeed now.

"It seems you don't want to die anymore."

Shishou mocked, looking at Mikoto.

"Yes, at least not until they grow up safely."

Mikoto replied firmly.

Some of these children were only two or three years old, the oldest barely ten, and they needed someone to care for them.

This was also her chance for redemption.

"That's good."

Shishou stood up, walked to Mikoto, and stared at her as he said,

"However, while I saved them for free, that doesn't mean I don't want something in return. You should understand what I mean."

As someone who admired Cao Cao and saw him as a role model, Shishou genuinely liked the mature charm that Mikoto had.

Feeling Shishou's invasive gaze, Mikoto blushed in a panic.

As a married woman, she was all too familiar with such looks.

Then, she suddenly froze, staring at his eyes in shock,

"Your eyes..."

Because she saw the Sharingan, a three-tomoe Sharingan, in Shishou's eyes.

"Heh."

Shishou patted her cheek and smiled.

"Don't worry, these are my own eyes. You don't need to worry about me coveting your clan's Sharingan."

Seeing the Sharingan in Shishou's eyes disappear, Mikoto visibly relaxed, knowing that outsiders couldn't deactivate the Sharingan if they obtained them.