New Mission

Wuming's cute phase lasted only half a day before it ended, and she returned to treating Qiancao with cool indifference.

But now Wuming no longer complained when Qiancao focused on training.

She just sat off to the side, grinning foolishly. First she looked at Qiancao meditating, then at her own little feet, and then her smile grew even sweeter.

At night, Wuming held Qiancao even tighter as they slept. Sometimes she even sprawled her whole body across him.

Although it was exhausting, Wuming was small and soft, and hugging her felt wonderful. Qiancao was tired, but happy.

Though the dark dungeon was a harsh place, the two of them supported each other and managed to live in warmth and happiness. The days no longer felt so hard to endure.

Uchiha Naoto was surprised to discover that Wuming, who had once been extremely averse to fighting, now actively sought to eliminate her enemies, all so she could return to the cell—and to the home in her heart—sooner.

This discovery raised Qiancao's standing in his estimation.

Uchiha Naoto began to think carefully about whether to use Qiancao as a disposable tool to enhance Wuming's strength, or to cultivate him as a means of controlling Wuming over the long term.

Qiancao held many interesting secrets, and he was well worth cultivating in his own right.

But the Uchiha had killed his parents. If they raised him, wouldn't he end up becoming one of the Uchiha Clan's enemies?

A month passed in the blink of an eye. Thanks to Wuming's outstanding performance, the latest clash between the Uchiha and Senju ended in victory for the Uchiha Clan.

When Qiancao had first crossed over, the two ninja clans had been hired by the daimyo of the Takeda and Imagawa clans to fight over ownership of Tanzaku Castle.

Now that the outcome had been decided, Wuming no longer needed to leave the cell so often to fight.

All the Uchiha were busy with the aftermath of the war, and Wuming and Qiancao finally had some rare free time.

After training for this long, Qiancao could now control the chakra in his body with ease. Even though his seal hadn't been undone, he could walk upright on walls.

Next, under Wuming's instruction, Qiancao mastered twelve basic Hand Seals.

He also learned the Uchiha's classic beginner ninjutsu, Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique.

In the cell, Qiancao stood facing the wall and rapidly formed Hand Seals. "Snake—Ram—Monkey—Boar—Horse—Tiger!"

In his mind, he shouted with all the fervor of a chuunibyou, "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

As soon as he finished the Hand Seals, Qiancao took a deep breath and blew hard.

Unfortunately, the blazing inferno he'd imagined never came. Only a feeble little flame drifted out. In his previous life, he could at least have used it to light a cigarette.

Utterly exhausted, Qiancao collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. This was already his 124th attempt in five days. He'd made some progress, but there was still a lot of noise and hardly any results.

After recovering a little, Qiancao asked Wuming, who was beside him, "Is there something wrong with my Hand Seals?"

Wuming didn't answer directly. Instead, her hands flashed through the same set of Hand Seals, and she blew toward the brazier in the cell.

A bowl-wide stream of fire poured from Wuming's little mouth, relighting the nearly extinguished brazier. The temperature in the cell rose considerably.

Though Wuming hadn't answered his question, Qiancao understood what she meant.

"Can't be helped. If you're bad at something, you have to practice more." Qiancao understood that ninjas in wartime often matured very early. Compared to them, he was still a greenhouse flower.

By the time they'd reached his age, they'd already been through who knew how many life-or-death trials.

For that matter, Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi might already have been jonin at his age.

But Qiancao wasn't discouraged. As long as he kept working hard, maybe one day he'd awaken some incredible bloodline and surpass all those geniuses in one fell swoop.

Still, his training over this period hadn't been for nothing.

At the very least, his sensory abilities had improved significantly. He could clearly tell that the cell was deep underground, while countless Uchiha Clan members patrolled the surface day and night.

Without undoing the seals on Wuming and himself, getting out of the cell directly would be practically impossible.

He could only seize an opportunity to escape while out on a mission.

He had no idea when such an opportunity would come. For now, all he could do was strengthen himself, train seriously, and wait patiently for the right moment.

Another morning, Qiancao lay bare-chested on the straw in the cell, building his strength with push-ups.

Wuming sat on his back, serving as extra weight while counting for him. "One hundred sixty-six, one hundred sixty-seven!"

Just then, a familiar male voice came from outside the door. "I didn't expect you to be such a hard worker."

Qiancao had been so focused on training that he hadn't seen the visitor's face. He felt like he'd heard the man's voice before, but couldn't remember his name.

He straightened his back and tapped Wuming's thigh to signal her to get up.

Once Wuming had climbed off his back, Qiancao looked up. It was the man who had shoved him that day, Uchiha Keisuke.

"What are you doing here?"

Qiancao took the towel Wuming handed him. It was supposed to be a towel, but it was really just a strip of cloth he'd torn from his coat. He wiped away his sweat as he asked.

Seeing Qiancao's wary expression, Keisuke bowed at the waist as if deeply apologetic. "Don't be so wary! I hit you that day, but Wuming already gave me a thorough beating."

"I was laid up for a whole month before I recovered!"

Qiancao was hearing about this for the first time. As he handed the towel back to Wuming, he patted her little hand to thank her.

Wuming looked like she wanted to laugh but held it in. Putting on a cold expression, she said to Keisuke outside the cell, "You were the one who hit me first."

"That's why I'm reflecting on what I did, isn't it?" Keisuke said with a deep bow. He was like a completely different person from a month ago. "I hope we'll get along from now on!"

At that moment, Uchiha Hiri also arrived at the cell. She glanced at Keisuke, her expression complicated. She had no idea what had gotten into him.

Uchiha Keisuke was a powerful elite among the clan's younger generation, but his personality was awful. He looked down on fellow clan members weaker than him, and always preferred to act alone on missions, ignoring his teammates' safety.

Someone like him was poorly suited to leading a ninja squad, so he'd been sent to the cell to handle escorting Wuming to and from the battlefield.

That day, Keisuke had attacked Wuming on his own. In the end, Uchiha Naoto had intervened, and Keisuke had lost badly, suffering serious injuries that left him bedridden.

The old Keisuke would probably have challenged Wuming to another duel as soon as his injuries healed.

To Hiri's surprise, Keisuke seemed like a different person. He had gone to Lord Naoto of his own accord to admit his mistake.

Uchiha Naoto had seen how sincere his attitude was and had given him a new mission.

Hiri had thought that someone as arrogant as him would refuse, but Keisuke had agreed at once.

The two of them had come to the cell to announce the new mission.

Thinking of this, Hiri addressed the two inside the cell. "Lord Naoto has assigned us a new mission. Starting today, you two will temporarily come with us to carry it out."