Author’s warning/disclaimer: [Super OOC.
The first cycle takes place during the Warring States period.
Sixteen is adulthood then, and teenage romance is normal in this era.
The female lead is three years older than Madara.
Getting into this book requires at least three hours; if you can’t accept a slow burn, you can leave now.
There are foreshadowings everywhere, and it’s normal if you don’t understand them.
After falling in love with this book, there’s no need to explain it—only niche fans are wanted.]
[If, after finishing the first cycle, you don’t think it’s ghostly and satisfying, you can come yell at me.
The later cycles are like this too.
Though this book is satisfying, it is also angsty, and the angst has driven away quite a few readers.
The first cycle is still okay; the second cycle is already a disaster zone.
If someone asks, “This book is too long, what reason should I give for starting it?”]
[This book is very authoritative!
I’m not joking.
The author is good at writing multiple points of view, but this book’s second-person perspective is its special feature.
Some readers have said they aren’t used to it.
That’s fine—if you truly can’t accept it, just leave!]
[Same thing as always: I don’t discriminate against male readers reading otome fiction, but if a male reader gets in this book’s face, it’s 4000+ words.]
[Female readers may freely post character opinions and reading experiences, may freely self-insert as this book’s original female lead, may make fan creations, may post daily-life shares, and if you have worries you need help with, please post them in the author’s note so I won’t miss them.]
[The author knows very well that most of the audience for female-oriented Naruto fanfiction is students.
This book does not ask for tips, nor does it ask you to support it purely out of love.
Coming to read and comment is already the greatest support.]
When summer arrived at the Naka River, torrential rains began to fall, and the damp air was mixed with the scent of earth.
You put on the familiar cloak again.
The Uchiha clan grounds had changed quite a bit from what you remembered.
Listening to the sound of raindrops striking the eaves, you thought again of that night five years ago, which had also been a stormy one.
It was a tragedy filled with foolishness, and in the end, it closed with betrayal.
Four people had just come out of the council hall.
The boy leading them was the Uchiha young clan head, Uchiha Madara.
The other three were several other young masters of the Uchiha: Ryoei, Izuna, and Kiya.
They also had a youngest brother who had just turned five, Uchiha Gen, who was still being cared for in the clan head’s residence because he was so young.
Uchiha Madara walked through the dim candlelit long corridor, listening to the patter of rain.
He only felt that tonight was not peaceful.
A figure suddenly appeared ahead, accompanied by the clear sound of footsteps.
Behind the hawk-faction elder followed someone wearing a black cloak.
Upon seeing them, the elder stopped.
“Peace to the four young masters!”
Uchiha Izuna smiled slightly and answered, “Peace to you, Elder!”
The others merely nodded in greeting.
“It is so late.
Does Elder have some business with Father?” Uchiha Madara asked, though his gaze fell on the person behind the elder.
The cloak covered them very tightly, making it impossible to tell whether they were male or female.
The elder immediately replied, “Yes, young clan head.
An honored guest has come to visit tonight.
I dare not delay.
Please excuse me!”
After saying that, the elder led the person past them.
Watching their departing backs, Uchiha Ryoei turned his head and said, “Let’s go!”
“Onii-chan!” Uchiha Izuna tugged on Uchiha Madara’s right hand.
“I don’t like the smell on the person the elder brought just now!”
Among the Uchiha young masters, the liveliest was the third young master, Uchiha Izuna, who was also the little brother closest to Uchiha Madara.
Hearing Izuna’s words, Uchiha Madara asked, “You don’t like the smell?”
“Right.
It smells very bitter!” Uchiha Izuna thought back for a moment.
Uchiha Kiya added, “Like the incense of some unknown medicinal herb.”
“I see.” Uchiha Madara looked thoughtful.
The Uchiha clan members loved sweets, so it was very normal for them to reject bitter smells.
The brothers chatted casually, and very soon threw what they had just encountered to the back of their minds.
Uchiha Tajima had long since prepared tea and had been waiting in the council hall for quite some time.
After the elder brought the person in, he withdrew to stand guard outside the door.
Lowering the hood of your cloak, the red-and-black shikigami rune pattern turned in your eyes.
“Long time no see, Lord Clan Head.”
All these years, Uchiha Tajima had constantly been asking about traces of you.
If not for news related to Uchiha Asuku’s eyes spreading, perhaps you would never have appeared again.
“I imagine you have already heard that news.
Return to the Uchiha,” Tajima said earnestly.
“If the prerequisite is that I become an elder, then this truly is a reason I cannot refuse.”
On the Uchiha training field, the boys were practicing hard, sparring with one another.
“Onii-chan!
Your strength has increased a lot again!” Uchiha Izuna’s eyes were filled with admiration for Uchiha Madara.
Uchiha Madara paused.
“I still feel it is not strong enough.”
“Yes, Izuna.
Big Brother is right.
There are wars everywhere now, and there are too many powerful enemies.
We cannot be careless.” Uchiha Ryoei lightly patted Izuna’s shoulder.
“Onii-chan!
Second Brother!
I understand!” Uchiha Izuna nodded obediently.
As they were chatting, a high-spirited voice came from behind them.
“Young clan head!
Second Young Master!
Izuna, Kiya!
I’m back again!” Uchiha Kakunetsu ran toward them.
“Looks like your gains this time were pretty good!” Uchiha Ryoei was the first to speak.
“Of course.
It’s all thanks to me…” Seeing Ryoei speak to him, Uchiha Kakunetsu immediately became smug.
“Hey!
Don’t all leave!
Count me in for training!”
Before he finished speaking, Uchiha Madara had already led the others off to train.
There was no other reason.
Mainly, Uchiha Kakunetsu was a chatterbox.
If they kept listening to him ramble, they would not need to do today’s training at all.
Thinking that his big brother was going to teach him ninjutsu, Izuna grew extremely excited.
With that thought, he could not help running lightly ahead.
At the corridor corner, Uchiha Izuna happened to collide with the person coming from the other direction.
“Hiss!” Izuna was knocked away to a short distance and fell to the ground in some pain.
“Izuna!” several people cried in unison.
Uchiha Madara reacted first and helped his third brother, who had fallen to the ground, up.
Uchiha Yasumichi looked awkwardly from one side to the other.
“Lord Nagi, the one who bumped into you is the third young master, Izuna.
The others are the young clan head Madara, Second Young Master Ryoei, and Fourth Young Master Kiya.
The other one is this humble one’s son, Kakunetsu.”
Hearing this, the boys looked toward you, the person who had collided with Izuna.
You wore a black samurai robe, two long blades crossed on your back, and a jade-green flute tucked at your waist.
Your long black hair was tied high.
Your brows and eyes were unruly, your expression careless, your nose bridge high, your thin lips crimson as if about to drip blood, and your skin coldly pale.
And there was the incomparable coldness that unintentionally seeped from your bones, something that made people addicted.
Looking around, your gaze paused on Ryoei for a few seconds before you withdrew it.
This was their first time seeing you, but judging from your clothing and manner, you seemed to be an extremely arrogant female ninja.
Uchiha Izuna stood up.
Thinking of the bitter medicinal scent he had smelled earlier, he immediately pointed at you and shouted, “She’s the person in the black cloak from last night!”
You stood there quietly, your posture straight and tall, your beautiful face expressionless.
You did not care about this situation at all, as though you had placed yourself outside it.
Madara looked at the female ninja before him, and an inexplicable throb suddenly surged in his heart.
The surrounding clamor gradually faded, until only her figure remained in the whole world.
You seemed to sense Uchiha Madara’s burning gaze.
You tilted your head slightly, and your cold eyes swept across the boy’s face.
There was not the slightest emotional fluctuation in your eyes, as if you were looking at a lifeless stone, or a leaf drifting down with the wind.
Yet this extreme indifference made Uchiha Madara’s heart abruptly speed up.
This was a scorching and indescribable feeling Madara had never experienced before.
He clenched his fist slightly, his fingertips trembling unconsciously.
This sense of losing control left him both confused and excited.
“Do not delay proper business.” The look you cast at Yasumichi carried a superior’s warning.
Leaving those words behind, you walked toward the council hall on your own.
Only after you had gone far away did Uchiha Kakunetsu dare to breathe.
“So scary.
Her eyes were like she was looking at objects.
There wasn’t the slightest trace of human feeling.”
Ryoei hurriedly nodded in agreement.
Especially because she had looked at him a few seconds longer—he had almost thought there was some deep hatred between them.
“Who is she?” Madara looked at the Great Elder.
Uchiha Yasumichi wiped cold sweat away.
“Replying to the young clan head, she is Uchiha Nagi.
She used to be one of the old faction’s people.
Five years ago, she betrayed the Uchiha.
These years, the clan head has been searching for news of her, and at last, hard work has paid off.”
From the Great Elder’s words, Izuna learned something extraordinary.
“She betrayed the Uchiha?”
“And she belonged to the old faction?” Uchiha Kakunetsu added in surprise.
Your identity was actually so contradictory, and this stirred great curiosity in Madara.
“The clan head is convening a clan meeting in the council hall.
Would the young masters like to participate as well?” Uchiha Yasumichi did not answer questions about you, but invited them instead.
“We can.” Uchiha Madara made the decision for the others.
As they walked, they kept asking Yasumichi about your experiences, but Uchiha Yasumichi kept his mouth shut about all of it.
Inside the council hall, candlelight swayed among carved beams and painted rafters.
Light and shadow danced strangely on the walls, as though also peering at the power struggle about to unfold.
The clan members wore traditional clothing, each with a different expression, yet all faintly carried a trace of unease.
Hearing footsteps outside the door, Tajima reproached, “Uchiha Yasumichi, everyone has been waiting for you.”
When the door was pushed open, only then did the boys clearly see the situation inside.
Basically all the elders and ninja with a voice in the clan who ought to be present had come.
“Lord Clan Head, I met the young masters on the road, so I was delayed.” Yasumichi hurriedly bowed and let them enter first.
So the children had come too.
Suddenly thinking of something, Uchiha Tajima looked toward his eldest son.
“Madara, you came at just the right time.
It saves me from having an elder invite you specially.
Come to my side.”
As the young clan head, Uchiha Madara receiving such treatment was normal.
The others stood with Uchiha Yasumichi.
Standing beside his father, Madara only then discovered that there was another person in the shadowed corner of the council hall.
It was you, the one Izuna had bumped into just now.
You watched coldly from there, as though observing a dull farce, or examining the struggles of a group of ants.
Whenever a clan member occasionally and unintentionally looked toward the corner where you stood, and their gaze touched those cold eyes, they could not help shuddering before hurriedly looking away.
Under the hall’s lamplight, your figure was stretched long, its shadow twisting across the floor.
You still maintained an aloof and lonely posture, as though silently telling of your estrangement from this world.
“The purpose of convening the clan meeting today is to announce an important matter.
I have decided to let Uchiha Nagi become an elder and participate in internal politics.” Uchiha Tajima observed the clan members’ expressions, especially the position where the old faction was located.
The clan members immediately burst into commotion, whispers filled with shock and doubt.
The position of elder held a respected status within the Uchiha family.
It had always been held by someone of high virtue and prestige, formidable strength, and rich experience.
You turned a blind eye to everyone’s reaction, only slightly raising your head as your contemptuous gaze swept across the hall.
One of the elders from the old faction stepped forward.
“Uchiha Tajima, do not speak nonsense here!
Though she has some strength, her qualifications are still shallow, and she is so arrogant.
How can she hold an elder’s position and lead the Uchiha family?”
There was no need to wait for Uchiha Tajima to speak.
You moved first.
Your figure flashed, and that elder only felt a thread of chill against his neck.
“So-called qualifications are not worth a single blow before absolute power.”
That elder’s body began trembling involuntarily, his forehead covered in bean-sized beads of sweat.
The elder could clearly feel the aura of death coming from your fingertips, like an icy snake slowly crawling up his spine.
The council hall instantly fell into deathly silence.
Madara silently watched everything.
The absolute command over power and undisguised ambition on you actually made him feel a sense of kinship.
“Lord Nagi, let him go.
I believe no one objects to your elder position now.” Uchiha Tajima stepped out to smooth things over.
Since the clan head had already spoken, you had no choice but to release that elder and return to the corner from before.
“Then, regarding Uchiha Nagi becoming an elder, there are no objections.” Uchiha Tajima had not expected today’s clan meeting to end so quickly.
As expected, she was worthy of someone who had once been able to intimidate the old faction.
The clan members left one after another.
Just as you stepped out of the council hall, a call came from behind you.
“Elder Nagi.” Madara stood not far from you, his gaze fixed tightly on you, carrying a bit of inquiry.
You paused slightly, and an almost imperceptible ripple flashed through your eyes.
It was an instinctive vigilance toward the strong.
Turning around, you saw it was Uchiha Tajima’s eldest son.
In your heart, you were somewhat puzzled by Madara’s intention in calling out to you, but your face still held that cold expression.
“Although I do not know your past, welcome back to the clan grounds.” There was a faint emotion in Madara’s eyes that you could not understand.
You looked straight into Madara’s eyes and curved your lips disdainfully.
“Clan head family’s little brat, did you call me just to say such irrelevant things?”
“…Clan head family’s little brat?” Though Madara was somewhat surprised by the way you addressed him, he quickly adjusted his emotions.
“Of course not.” Saying this, Uchiha Madara took a few steps forward and stopped half a meter away from you.
The faint scent of bitter medicine spread through the air.
For some inexplicable reason, Madara felt it smelled pleasant, calming him greatly.
Madara’s action was clearly not something you could predict, but you were not so timid as to fear a child still wet behind the ears.
When you heard the four words Uchiha Madara spoke, your first reaction was to find them utterly ridiculous.
Watching the female ninja before him cover half her face and stand there bent over, body trembling, Madara only then realized you were laughing at him.
“How interesting!
Little brat, proposing a duel?
You really are the first person who has dared make such a request of me!” After you finished laughing, you looked at Madara, and as expected, his expression had darkened considerably.
“Is this something so laughable?” Madara did not understand why you would react this way.
“Of course.” You spread your hands helplessly.
“It is normal for children to have chuunibyou.
I’ll be generous and not argue with you.”
After saying that, relying on your height advantage, you ruffled Uchiha Madara’s hair.
Although it looked very spiky, it actually felt very good—silky and soft.
Uchiha Madara clenched his fists tightly, veins faintly jumping on his forehead.
He glared fiercely at you, who were taller than him, his cheeks dyed with a layer of red from shame and anger.
“Don’t touch me!” Madara nearly squeezed the words out through his teeth, his voice carrying a trace of angry trembling.
“I only ruffled your head a little.
How did you get this angry?” Your teasing made Madara even more annoyed.
Madara abruptly turned his head away, not wanting you to see the unconcealable embarrassment on his face at this moment.
Being treated like a child by you made Madara’s pride suffer a great blow.
You put away the thought of teasing him.
It seemed you had wasted a little too much time.
Without waiting to say goodbye to Madara, you quickly left this place.
Madara had never seen such a wicked person.
Among the Uchiha, who else had courage like yours?