Learning Ninjutsu

Another day of life in the dark, sunless prison.

Chigusa woke up on the creaking wooden bed, Wuming curled into a ball, sleeping in his arms.

He had felt a bit shy about sharing a bed with a beautiful girl at first, but once they were actually sleeping together, he didn't have any impure thoughts.

The two were simply acting as human pillows, providing each other warmth in the dark, damp cell.

Chigusa couldn't bear to hurt this girl with such a tragic past. Having been treated as a weapon since childhood, Wuming was ignorant of the differences between men and women and felt no shame regarding such matters.

Perhaps it was Chigusa's movement upon waking that stirred her; Wuming woke up groggily, rubbed her eyes, and stared blankly at Chigusa.

Chigusa smiled and greeted her, "Good morning!"

Chigusa had managed to learn enough common Japanese to communicate simply with Wuming, no longer needing to wave his arms and legs about as he had the past few days.

Wuming stared at Chigusa with sleepy eyes for a long time, but before she could say a word, she closed them again and drifted back into a deep sleep.

Yesterday, she had been forced to fight an elite squad from the Hyuga Clan without using her Mangekyo Sharingan. They had fought for five full hours without a result before both sides called it a day.

It wasn't until the middle of the night that Wuming returned to the cell, falling asleep in Chigusa's arms in a daze.

Chigusa knew how hard things were for Wuming and carefully pulled his arm out from under her head.

He got out of bed and did a set of radio calisthenics to warm up his body. After a few days of rest, his physique had returned to normal; he was no longer in a state where every movement caused aches and pains.

It was the perfect time to start learning ninjutsu.

Trapped in the dungeon, Chigusa couldn't tell the exact time, only inferring sunrise and sunset from the two meals delivered each day.

Shiri brought the daytime food as usual; she had been the one delivering their meals for the past few days without exception.

Today, Chigusa didn't start eating immediately as he usually did, but instead asked Shiri solemnly, "May I... learn... ninjutsu?"

Shiri found this strange. "If you want to learn ninjutsu, why not just have Wuming teach you?"

Chigusa struggled to organize his words. "I fear... Uchiha... not... happy... Wuming... teaches ninjutsu."

Shiri appreciated his caution. "I will go ask Lord Naoto. If he agrees, then no one can say anything if Wuming teaches you."

Chigusa bowed his head in gratitude. "Thank you." This was the first time Shiri had encountered such a humble and polite member of the Uchiha clan, and she thought to herself, He really does still have something wrong with his head.

In Naoto's small room, Shiri relayed Chigusa's request to learn ninjutsu to Uchiha Naoto. Naoto frowned as he looked at the documents in his hand, remaining silent.

After waiting for a long time with a nervous heart, Naoto finally spoke, but he didn't answer Shiri's question immediately, asking her instead:

"Have you read Keisuke's medical report?"

Shiri was startled. Even though it might be detrimental to Chigusa and Wuming, she told the truth:

"According to the subsequent investigation, there were no traces of any genjutsu on Keisuke, yet his behavior was extremely bizarre."

"The intelligence squad speculates that the Senju Clan must have developed a new, high-level genjutsu, which is what controlled Keisuke into attacking everyone present."

Naoto smiled after hearing this and countered, "When it comes to discussing genjutsu, who can compare to the Sharingan of my Uchiha clan?"

Shiri quickly said, "But, no mark of the Eight Thousand Spears was found on Keisuke."

Naoto maintained his calm, indifferent expression. "Besides you, me, and Wuming, wasn't there another clansman who had awakened the Sharingan who saw him?"

Seeing that she could no longer hide it, Shiri had to bite the bullet and say, "You mean... Uchiha Chigusa?"

"Although this child has never received formal ninja training, he awakened the Three Tomoe the moment he unlocked his Sharingan. That is an outstanding talent even within the clan."

"Given his parents' defection, he should have been executed long ago."

Hearing this, Shiri's heart tightened. She gripped the corner of her clothes behind her back so hard that she barely managed to keep from crying out.

As if noticing Shiri's loss of composure, Naoto gave her a look that was neither a smile nor a frown, and continued:

"However, judging by his performance over this period, he shouldn't be thinking of revenge anytime soon, so I have agreed to your 'Friendship Plan'."

Just as Shiri was about to say something, Naoto interrupted her:

"I have been observing Wuming these past few days. Not only has her ocular power increased significantly in a short time, but her desire to fight has also grown much stronger."

"Her state before was one of seeking death; while she might have erupted with unknown potential, it was uncontrollable."

"If that child, Chigusa, can become a means to control Wuming..."

At this point, Naoto walked over to the kneeling Shiri and patted her shoulder from an angle where she couldn't see his expression.

"You will remain in charge of this matter. Do not let me down." With that, he walked straight out of the room, though he kept his inner thoughts to himself:

Lately, I have been having some inexplicable impulses in my mind. Is this also an effect of Chigusa's Sharingan?

Having obtained permission to learn ninjutsu, Chigusa sat cross-legged on the wooden bed in the cell.

Wuming sat opposite him, also cross-legged, as she introduced him to the basics of ninja chakra:

"So-called chakra is a mixture of spiritual energy and physical energy, a power that can be used to perform ninjutsu or genjutsu."

"And this process of fusion—the process of creating chakra—requires the consumption of a ninja's stamina."

Chigusa looked blank. "Don't understand..." He hadn't learned these relatively complex terms yet and didn't grasp what she meant; Wuming's explanation was essentially for the reader's benefit.

Wuming pondered in distress for a moment before deciding to use body language to express the problem.

She first pointed to her own head and said, "Spirit, energy."

Then, she struck a pose flexing her bicep: "Body, energy."

She repeated the motions, as if pulling two water spheres from two different locations and holding one in each hand.

Finally, she cupped the two imaginary water spheres in her hands and brought them slowly together, rotating her hands continuously as if fusing them into one.

Qiancao gradually recalled memories from watching the Naruto anime in his past life, so he nodded while repeating Wuming's words:

"Body energy, spirit energy, fusion, chakra."

Seeing that Qiancao understood her meaning, Wuming nodded repeatedly in great relief, then pointed to her own small feet and said, "Chakra."

Qiancao watched as a faint blue light gradually emanated from Wuming's small feet. Wuming rose from the bed and stepped onto the wall, standing there while defying gravity just like Spider-Man.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Qiancao clapped his hands while letting out an exclamation of admiration.

Wuming climbed down from the wall and gestured for Qiancao to learn how to refine chakra just like her.