However, the shelves in front of him were far too high. For young, short Qile, reaching the scrolls on the middle and upper levels was practically impossible. And there was nothing in the storeroom he could climb on.
With no other choice, he turned his attention to the scrolls on the bottom shelf.
By the faint glow of the candle, Qile began carefully examining the swordsmanship scrolls.
Soon, one of them caught his eye. The character "Wind" was written on it. It seemed to be related to Wind Release.
Unfortunately, although Qile had an innate talent for Wind Release, he had already decided to focus his training on Lightning and Fire. As a result, he wasn't particularly interested in this scroll, which was closely tied to Wind Release.
He casually set it aside and continued searching for a scroll that better suited his needs.
In fact, just as Madara had said earlier, Qile had a very clear purpose in coming here: he only needed to find a basic swordsmanship scroll.
He wasn't hoping for a scroll containing profound secrets of swordsmanship. Some basic knowledge, such as how to hold a sword, would be enough.
As Qile continued searching, he found an ordinary bamboo scroll among the many sealed scrolls. It could be opened freely, unlike the other ninjutsu scrolls, which were sealed. However, it was also rather large. Qile had to hug it just to get it off the shelf.
Qile set the candle, already burned halfway down and flickering, on the cold floor. Then he slowly sat cross-legged and carefully unrolled a small portion of the bamboo scroll with both hands.
At first glance, the scroll bore the deep marks of age. Its surface had turned a dark yellow. It was clear just from its appearance that no one had touched it in many years.
It had been placed in the most concealed corner, further proof of how neglected and overlooked it had been.
Qile gazed at the gradually unfurling scroll and gently blew on it twice, trying to clear away the dust that had settled there long ago.
But when he looked closely at the writing, his expression instantly grew complicated.
A moment later, he clicked his tongue repeatedly, even sucking at his teeth in frustration.
He couldn't read a word...
The characters looked like chicken scratch. There was no way he could make sense of them!
Even so, he continued unrolling the scroll little by little. Along with the densely packed characters, he found drawings of little figures holding swords. He guessed they depicted the sword techniques recorded on the scroll.
Unfortunately, since he couldn't read the writing at all, he had no idea how to train in those techniques.
In the end, he could only roll the scroll back up. That was when he noticed the character "Gen" written on it.
It was probably some clan's insignia...
He picked up the bamboo scroll and returned it to the shelf, then swiftly put the other scrolls back in their places as well.
Once he was done, he held the faintly flickering candle and slowly backed away. His gaze rested on the shelf lined with all kinds of swordsmanship scrolls, his thoughts unreadable.
A moment later, a soft creak sounded as the tightly shut door to the storeroom, packed with countless precious scrolls, slowly opened.
Qile stepped out, clutching two scrolls to his chest. His face held a peculiar, helpless look.
"Let's go, Yeling. Back to the room," Qile said, walking slowly and sounding rather bored.
Yeling, following behind him, was surprised by his words. She looked up at Qile, her eyes full of confusion. "What happened? Why do you seem so down?"
Qile shook his head slightly. "It's nothing... By the way, Yeling, can you read?"
Yeling paused, as if she understood what was going on. Then she nodded. "Yes, I can."
Qile's face brightened at once. He turned to Yeling and said, "Ahem. Teach me to read later." With that, he quickened his pace toward the room.
The night was peaceful, and moonlight spilled like water over the courtyard. Madara sat motionless on the steps, as still as a statue.
A lantern stood in one corner of the courtyard, its light always burning. But its feeble glow seemed tiny in the vast grounds and couldn't illuminate the entire courtyard.
Madara tilted his head slightly, gazing at the full moon hanging high in the night sky. His eyes were hidden in shadow, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Just then, a shadow swept over like a ghost and appeared before Madara in the blink of an eye. The figure dropped to one knee and leaned forward, posture utterly respectful.
"Have they made their choice?" Madara slowly shifted his gaze from the moon to the newcomer. His voice was as calm as still water, without a hint of emotion.
"Yes. Young Master Qile has made his choice. He picked the Flame Blade Technique and a bamboo scroll. However... that scroll is extremely old, and I don't know what it contains." The newcomer reported the situation quickly, not daring to waste a moment.
"A bamboo scroll? Can you confirm that it's related to swordsmanship?" A hint of curiosity flashed in Madara's eyes as he pressed for details.
"Forgive me, Clan Leader. I can only confirm that Young Master Qile took it from the shelf where the sword techniques were kept. I can't say for certain whether it's actually related to swordsmanship." The man answered nervously, a fine sheen of sweat forming on his forehead as he worried his response might displease Madara.
"Understood. You may go." Madara waved a hand dismissively, signaling for the man to leave.
But when the man heard the order, he didn't leave. Instead, he remained kneeling straight-backed, head lowered, as if he still had something to say.
"If there's more, then say it," Madara's cool voice suddenly rang in the man's ears.
The man took a deep breath and spoke hesitantly. "Young Master Qile may have awakened his Sharingan, but I..." His voice trailed off, as though something had suddenly lodged in his throat, and he couldn't continue.
Madara had abruptly fixed his gaze on him. Under that oppressive stare, the man's legs went weak, and the words that had been on the tip of his tongue refused to come out.
The silence stretched on for a while before Madara finally broke it. His brows furrowed, his expression turning serious as he asked, "You can't be certain?"
"I... I can't," the man hurriedly explained. "Young Master Qile only took a candle into the room, but from what I observed, he could still see his surroundings clearly in the dim light, so..."
"That's enough!" Madara cut him off. "Go find Yan and choose an A-rank ninjutsu from the clan scrolls. And don't tell anyone about this without my permission."
A moment later, the courtyard fell quiet again. Madara continued gazing at the moon. "Who would've thought? Not only did he choose the sword technique of a long-extinct samurai clan, but he may have awakened his Sharingan, too... What an unexpected turn of events."
Before you continue