A Smile

Qiancao saw that the girl had been silent for a while, so he took the initiative and continued writing the two Chinese characters for "Qiancao" on the ground.

Then he pointed at the characters and at himself, repeating, "Qiancao."

He meant, "I'm Qiancao."

As he kept saying "Qiancao," he watched the girl with a kind gaze. It was the warm, gentle look he'd practiced in front of the mirror.

Unfortunately, he'd never had a chance to use it before, so he had no idea whether it would work.

The sheltered girl felt uncomfortable under his gaze. This was the first time one of her clan had looked at her without disgust or fear. The look was a little too sappy, but it was still far friendlier than anything she'd received from those so-called fellow clansmen.

She couldn't help feeling a little fond of Qiancao. Lowering her head, she said softly, "Just call me... call me Wuming."

Unfortunately, Qiancao didn't understand the writing here, and couldn't make out what Wuming was saying. He could only shake his head frantically to show that he didn't understand.

Looking at Qiancao's dazed, foolish expression, Wuming didn't know whether to be annoyed or amused. So she demonstrated how to say her name again. "Na, na, si..."

"Na, na, si, na, na, si." Qiancao repeated the sounds to himself a few times, memorizing them. Then he looked up and smiled. "Qiancao, Wuming, tomodachi!"

"F-friends...? He just said... said we're friends...!"

Wuming said nothing, but inside she was in a complete fluster. She could only lower her head to hide her expression.

"How could he say we're f-friends when we've only just... just met?"

"But... I'm so happy he... said we're friends." Though Wuming was delighted, for some reason her eyes kept stinging, as if tears were about to spill over.

Lying on the ground, Qiancao saw Wuming's eyes turn red and hurriedly struggled to get up. In the process, he tugged at his wound and grimaced in pain.

Seeing this, Wuming quickly helped him sit on the bed. Calling it a bed was generous; it was nothing more than a wooden frame that looked ready to fall apart.

Sitting on the bed, Qiancao pointed at Wuming's eyes and shook his head, meaning, "Don't cry."

Wuming understood. Taking advantage of the fact that he couldn't understand her, she loudly protested, "W-who's crying? I'm just a little tired from treating your injuries!"

Just then, Uchiha Hiri's voice came from outside the cell. "The ninjutsu implanted in your body is still unstable. If you feel uncomfortable while using it, you must say so."

When Wuming saw someone coming, she quickly returned to her earlier withdrawn state, sitting on the bed without saying a word.

Outside the cell, Hiri and Naoto stood side by side, looking at the two children inside.

As if accustomed to Wuming's coldness, Hiri set the tray in her hands on the ground and said to them, "It's mealtime. Starting today, the two of you will be living together."

Qiancao couldn't understand what Hiri was saying, but seeing Naoto beside her acting like a leader gave him an idea.

If he could get him to let us go outside a few times, wouldn't that give us a chance to escape?

No one present, Qiancao included, noticed the faint pupil power slowly emanating from his eyes, subtly affecting everyone around him.

Naoto had originally only meant to placate Hiri and spare Qiancao's life for the time being. But under the influence of Qiancao's pupil power, a sudden urge to conduct research welled up inside him.

How could such a miraculous power, one that could bring the dead back to life, be handled so crudely? I have to come up with a thorough experiment to cultivate them.

So Naoto said to Hiri, "I agree with your idea. Just do your best." Then he turned and left.

Watching Naoto leave, Qiancao could only shift his focus to Hiri for now. He struggled to his feet.

Wuming had wanted to remain cold to the end, but seeing him stagger, she couldn't bring herself to leave him alone. She helped him up and supported him as he walked over to Hiri.

Perhaps because he wasn't used to this new body, Qiancao felt as if he couldn't control his limbs. Even those few steps were incredibly difficult, and he nearly fell several times. Thankfully, Wuming was there to support him.

When he reached Hiri, Qiancao caught his breath and first said to Wuming, "Thank you."

He didn't know how to communicate with Hiri, so he pointed at himself, then toward the door, showing that he wanted to go outside.

Finally, he even crouched down and wrote in Chinese: "I am not an enemy."

Though Hiri could guess what he meant, Qiancao's strange writing still puzzled her.

So she asked Wuming, "What's wrong with him?"

Qiancao saw that Hiri didn't understand him and grew disappointed. He couldn't help feeling dejected.

Wuming didn't want to speak to this cruel woman who had forcibly implanted ninjutsu in her and treated her like a weapon.

But seeing how dejected Qiancao looked, she couldn't help feeling sorry for him. She replied without emotion, "He seems not to know how to speak, and he doesn't know why he's being kept here either."

Realizing that further explanations would be pointless, Qiancao pieced together what he knew so far:

He had crossed over into his mother's womb in this life long ago. He just didn't know what had gone wrong; ever since birth, he hadn't been able to control his body, and he'd lived as a fool until now.

Now, with no memories of the past decade or more, he had no idea why the Uchiha Clan had locked him up.

Judging by what had happened to Wuming, he'd probably been taken as experimental material too.

All he could do was hope he wasn't disposable.

Tired of standing, Qiancao simply sat cross-legged, picked up the food Hiri had brought, and began eating.

The food was bland and barely edible, but Qiancao was starving, so he couldn't afford to be picky.

Whatever happened, he had to get his body back in shape as soon as possible. Then he could seize a chance to escape—and get revenge.

Watching Qiancao cheerfully wolf down his food, Wuming suddenly felt an urge to learn more about him. Awkwardly, she asked, "Why... why was he brought here?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Wuming quickly lowered her head and stared at the corner. She didn't dare look at Hiri, or at Qiancao.

Hiri's train of thought was interrupted. She looked at Wuming in surprise, sensing a hint of something between them, and couldn't help reflecting on it.

They were the same age, after all. She hadn't expected them to get close so quickly, even without sharing a language.

"Come to think of it, this child's situation is much like yours, Wuming," Hiri explained. "His parents were both fairly ordinary ninja who handled support duties for the clan."

"He had some sort of strange illness. From the moment he was born, he was dazed and vacant, like a child who would never grow beyond infancy."

"Fortunately, his older brother was very talented. He awakened the Sharingan at a young age, and the elders even thought he might awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan one day."

"Unfortunately, last month, the clan was ambushed during a conflict with Ino-Shika-Cho, and his older brother died fighting for the clan."

"I heard that when the news of his brother's death arrived, the dazed Qiancao awakened the Sharingan on the spot."

At that, Wuming stopped staring at the corner and turned to look at Qiancao beside her. So we're the same, after all?

Hiri continued ruefully, "The conflict between our clan and the Senju Clan is growing more intense. Every clan member who awakens the Sharingan must fight for the clan."

"Qiancao can't fight because of his intellectual disability, but his Sharingan still has to be offered to the clan."

"His parents didn't want their younger son to lose his life too, so they tried to flee with him."

"But hatred and war are everywhere now. Who can truly stay out of it?"

Hearing this, Wuming's expression turned angry. She had heard far too many tragic stories about the Shinobi World, and she blurted out, "A Shinobi World full of conflict like this should just be destroyed already!"

Qiancao had finished his portion of the food. Seeing how frighteningly angry Wuming looked, he instinctively wiped his hands on himself, then patted her head to comfort her.

Wuming froze as if she'd been shocked. She could only turn and glance at Qiancao, unsure what expression to make.

Qiancao just smiled and gently placed his hands at the corners of Wuming's mouth, pulling them up into a smile, as if to say, "At times like this, all you can do is smile."