Learning Languages

When Qiancao woke up again, the first thing he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.

The ceiling of the cell was uneven, dilapidated, and covered in cobwebs and moss.

Unlike before he fainted, Qiancao was now lying on a bed.

Recalling the reason for his collapse, it must have been the excessive drain on his ocular power when he forcibly activated his Sharingan to attack that man.

In that state of extreme rage, desperate to teach that man a lesson, he had subconsciously activated the Sharingan before his body had fully recovered.

Before he could even experience the effects of his Sharingan, his energy had been completely drained, causing him to pass out.

It seemed that to use his Sharingan proficiently, he would first need to bring his physical condition to its peak.

Thinking of this, Qiancao struggled to sit up. The pain he had imagined in his chest and shoulders did not come; it seemed someone had provided him with systematic treatment while he was unconscious.

Looking around, Qiancao noticed that Wuming had returned to her original corner, with only her small feet and the shackles on her legs visible.

The bandages on her calves were stained with spots of blood. Qiancao's heart raced, and he hurriedly got off the bed and ran to her side.

In his anxiety, Qiancao blurted out in Chinese, "Are you hurt?"

Seeing Qiancao's concern for her, a warmth welled up in Wuming's heart as she sat in the shadows, but it was immediately followed by endless self-loathing. She said expressionlessly:

"I'm fine."

Hearing her speak in Japanese, Qiancao remembered the language barrier and could only point at the blood on her legs, gesturing wildly to express his worry.

Watching him gesticulate for a long time, Wuming thought, How troublesome, why does this person keep pestering me? But she could no longer maintain her cold demeanor.

She unwrapped the bandages on her legs to show him that they were perfectly fine, though the black runes on her skin severely detracted from her beauty.

Seeing that his first friend was uninjured, Qiancao felt slightly relieved.

However, when he looked up, he noticed that half of Wuming's blue robe was stained dark red with blood. In a panic, he pulled open her robe, only to be reassured when he saw no signs of injury on her fair waist and abdomen.

But then he wondered, if this wasn't her blood, where did it come from? He couldn't help but freeze in place.

Wuming noticed Qiancao staring at the blood on her clothes and felt a sense of irritation. Will this blood scare him? She curled her body into a ball, trying to cover the stains.

She had seen many clansmen who were originally friendly to her show fearful eyes and distant behavior after learning of her Sharingan's power.

Especially after she was raised as a weapon by the clan; every time she fought the Senju clan and silenced all the enemies, she received not praise, but even colder treatment.

Qiancao, however, didn't think too much about it. On one hand, he had transmigrated from a peaceful era and did not yet understand the cruelty of war, nor did he have a concrete concept of how many lives were on Wuming's hands.

On the other hand, the cute Wuming always seemed more like a good person than the fierce, menacing Uchiha man who had captured him.

In times of war, it was normal for ninjas to attack each other; whoever treated him well was the only truth that mattered.

Wuming was a tsundere; although her tone wasn't very friendly, the fact that she had attacked that man for his sake showed some affection toward him.

Thinking of this, Qiancao patted Wuming's shoulder to get her attention, then pointed at himself, making "aba-aba" sounds with great conviction.

Wuming looked at his eager eyes and gradually understood his meaning—he wanted to learn how to speak.

Although Wuming said, "What a pain!" she still dutifully began to teach him, starting with simple words like "you" and "me."

And so, Qiancao began his life in the prison.

Qiancao was also puzzled by his living situation; everyone except Wuming treated him like air.

The only restriction was that he was not allowed to leave the cell; no one cared what he did otherwise.

He hadn't seen Uchiha Keisuke—whose name Qiancao still didn't know—since that day, and he still wanted to see what effect his Sharingan had had on him.

Wuming had expected him to distance himself once he understood her situation, but to her surprise, he kept sticking to her. When he learned that she went outside to kill people, he didn't show disgust or fear, but deep sympathy.

Although Wuming complained about Qiancao pestering her to talk all day, she actually enjoyed teaching him and chatting with him very much.

After spending this time together, Qiancao was one hundred percent certain that Wuming was a cute tsundere; although she seemed to despise him on the surface, she never refused his requests.

Moreover, through probing, he roughly understood why Wuming was locked up—because her power was too great, she was raised as a weapon by the Uchiha, and was feared and loathed by her own kin.

This reminded Qiancao of Naruto Uzumaki, the protagonist of Naruto. In his previous life, he had sympathized with Naruto's plight and was a fan of his, so he became even more gentle and careful with Wuming.

Unfortunately, every few days, Wuming would be taken away by Uchiha ninjas. Each time she returned, there would be more blood on her—some belonging to others, some to Wuming herself.

Whenever this happened, Wuming would be in low spirits, making Qiancao feel even more heartbroken for this girl.

But with his current frail body, there was nothing he could do for the time being, so he could only rely on conversation to cheer her up.

Although Qiancao didn't know many words, seeing him try his best to comfort her caused Wuming's heart to gradually melt, and she stopped overthinking things as she used to.

Uchiha Hiri watched their affectionate interactions with a mix of relief and worry.

She was moved by the story of two innocent youths helping each other, but she was saddened by her inability to change the destructive fate that awaited them both.

Therefore, she always volunteered to escort Wuming back to the cell, then pretended to inadvertently leak information to Qiancao.

From their first meeting, Qiancao had felt that Hiri was helping him intentionally or otherwise, and receiving her information confirmed his judgment.

Moreover, Hiri's understanding of the current era and the political situation was far richer than Wuming's. He gradually confirmed the era he was in—the early Warring States period, before Hashirama and Madara were even born.

He also learned the reason he was imprisoned: his parents had tried to flee with him after he awakened the Sharingan.

Although he had no memories of the dozen years since his transmigration, there were always a few blurry figures in his heart who had been very kind to him. He understood that these figures were his family.

Whenever he thought of them, Qiancao's eyes and brain would throb with a maddening pain, so intense that he couldn't even keep his eyes open.

Consequently, he had no choice but to force himself to stop dwelling on it, shifting his focus back to how he might escape.

Having understood the reason for his imprisonment, Qiancao no longer expected the Uchiha to let him go; if he wanted to gain his freedom, he would have to fight for it himself.

The only plan for now was to continuously strengthen his own power, so that when the opportunity arose, he would have a glimmer of hope to escape alive.

Qiancao had a premonition that his Sharingan had already inadvertently planted the seeds of freedom for him, and he didn't know when they might finally bloom into success.