Learning the Language

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

The cell's ceiling was uneven, old, and dilapidated, covered in cobwebs and moss.

Unlike before he'd passed out, Qiancao was now lying on a bed.

He recalled why he'd fainted. He must have forcibly activated his Sharingan to attack that man, exhausting his ocular power.

In the extreme anger he'd felt earlier, he'd been desperate to teach that man a lesson and had unconsciously activated his Sharingan before his body had recovered.

He hadn't even had time to find out what his Sharingan could do before his strength was drained and he blacked out.

It seemed that if he wanted to use his Sharingan skillfully, he'd first need to get his body back into peak condition.

With that in mind, Qiancao struggled to sit up. The pain he'd expected in his chest and shoulders never came; it seemed someone had treated him while he was unconscious.

After looking around, Qiancao saw that Wuming had returned to her usual corner, where only her little feet and the shackles on her legs were visible.

The bandages on her calves were spotted with blood. Qiancao's heart raced, and he hurried out of bed to her side.

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

Seeing how worried Qiancao was about her, Wuming felt a hint of warmth in her heart as she sat in the shadows. But then she was overcome by self-loathing, and said expressionlessly, "I'm fine."

Hearing her speak Japanese reminded Qiancao that they couldn't understand each other. He could only point at the blood on Wuming's legs and gesture wildly to show his concern.

After watching him gesticulate for a while, Wuming thought, What a pain. Why does this person keep pestering me? But she couldn't maintain her cold demeanor any longer.

So she pulled back the bandages on her legs, showing him that they were perfectly unharmed. The black markings on them were the only thing marring her appearance.

Seeing that his first friend wasn't hurt, Qiancao felt a little relieved.

But when he looked up, he noticed that half of Wuming's blue robe was stained dark red with blood. In his panic, he pulled her robe open and saw that her pale waist and stomach were completely uninjured. Only then did he relax.

But then he remembered that if the blood wasn't hers, where had it come from? He couldn't help freezing in place.

Wuming noticed Qiancao staring at the blood on her clothes and felt uneasy. Will all this blood scare him? She curled up, trying to hide the stains.

She'd seen many clan members who had once treated her kindly look at her with fear and keep their distance after learning what her Sharingan could do.

Especially after she'd been trained as a weapon by the clan. Every time she fought the Senju Clan and killed all the enemy survivors, she received no praise—only even colder treatment.

But Qiancao didn't think much of it. For one thing, he'd come from a peaceful era and still didn't understand the cruelty of war. He had no real grasp of how many lives Wuming had taken.

For another, the adorable Wuming seemed much more like a good person than the fierce Uchiha man who'd captured him.

In wartime, it was only natural for shinobi to attack one another. What mattered was who treated him well.

Wuming was the kind of girl who acted tough but had a soft heart. Her words weren't very friendly, but she'd still attacked that man for his sake. It was clear she cared about him.

With that thought, Qiancao patted Wuming's shoulder to get her attention, then pointed at himself and babbled away.

Seeing his eager gaze, Wuming gradually understood what he meant: he wanted to learn to speak.

Though Wuming grumbled, "What a hassle!" she obediently began teaching him simple words like "you" and "I."

And so Qiancao settled into life in the prison.

He was puzzled by his living conditions. Everyone except Wuming treated him as if he didn't exist.

The only restriction was that he couldn't leave his cell. No one cared what else he did.

He hadn't seen Uchiha Keisuke—the Uchiha who'd treated him so badly that day, though Qiancao didn't know his name—in a long time. He still wanted to find out what his Sharingan had done to him.

Wuming had thought that once he understood her situation, he would keep his distance. She hadn't expected him to stick by her all the time. When he learned that she went outside to kill people, he hadn't looked disgusted or afraid. Instead, he'd shown her deep sympathy.

Though Wuming said she hated having Qiancao pester her and talk to her all day, she actually loved teaching him to speak and chatting with him.

After spending this time together, Qiancao was one hundred percent sure that Wuming was an adorable girl who acted tough but had a soft heart. Although she seemed to dislike him, she never turned down his requests.

By asking her questions indirectly, he'd also learned why Wuming was imprisoned. Her power was too great, so the Uchiha had trained her as a weapon, and her own clan feared and despised her.

That reminded Qiancao of Naruto, the protagonist of Naruto. He'd felt sorry for Naruto's circumstances in his previous life and had been a fan of his, so he treated Wuming with even greater gentleness and care.

Unfortunately, every few days, Uchiha shinobi took Wuming away. Whenever she returned, there were more bloodstains on her clothes—some belonging to others, some her own.

At times like that, Wuming was always in low spirits, making Qiancao feel even more sorry for the girl.

But with his frail body, there was nothing he could do for now. All he could do was talk to her and cheer her up.

Qiancao didn't know many words, but seeing how hard he tried to comfort her gradually softened Wuming's heart. She no longer let her thoughts run wild like before.

Uchiha Hiri watched them getting along so well, feeling both comforted and worried.

She was touched by the story of two innocent young people helping each other, but saddened that she could do nothing to change the tragic fate that awaited them.

So she always volunteered to escort Wuming back to the cell, then casually let Qiancao in on bits of information.

From their first meeting, Qiancao had sensed that Hiri was helping him, whether intentionally or not. The more information she shared with him, the more certain he became.

Hiri also knew far more than Wuming about the era and the current situation. Gradually, he confirmed that he was in the early Warring States period, before Hashirama and Madara were born.

He also learned why he'd been locked up. It turned out that his parents had tried to flee with him after his Sharingan awakened.

Although he had no memories of the past ten years or so since his transmigration, a few hazy figures in his mind had always been kind to him. He understood that they were his family.

Whenever he thought of them, Qiancao's eyes and head throbbed violently, the pain making it impossible for him to open his eyes.

So he could only force himself not to think about them and focus on how to escape.

Now that he knew why he'd been imprisoned, Qiancao no longer expected the Uchiha to let him go. He could only fight for his own freedom.

For now, he had no choice but to keep growing stronger. Then, when the opportunity came, he might have a sliver of hope of escaping.

Qiancao had a feeling that his Sharingan had already planted the seeds of his freedom without him realizing it. He just didn't know when they would finally bloom.