Nightfall.
Inside Xuan's room, the little maid knelt obediently before him, carefully keeping her head bowed. She didn't understand why her master had suddenly called her in, especially since he hadn't asked for a massage like he usually did.
"Hotaru, look up."
"Huh?" Hearing Xuan's voice, Senya Hotaru subconsciously raised her head.
She trembled violently. A pair of blood-red eyes materialized in her vision, the three tomoe within them spinning slowly. They were enchanting, hypnotic, and utterly inescapable. The moment her gaze met his, she couldn't look away. Her mind grew heavy, her consciousness gradually blurring until it dissolved into complete chaos.
Seeing the little maid's face go slack and the three tomoe reflecting in her glassy pupils, Xuan knew the hypnosis was a success. Although the Sharingan's Genjutsu casting was merely one of its baseline abilities, it was exceptionally useful against ordinary civilians especially when interrogating someone for their deepest secrets.
"What is your name?" Xuan asked softly.
"Senya Hotaru."
"Who am I?"
"You are Uchiha Xuan. You are my master."
"Very good." Xuan nodded in satisfaction and proceeded to the next step. "What was Uchiha Tajima's purpose in sending you to me?"
"The Clan Head sent me to serve you, to be your maid."
"No other purpose?"
The little maid didn't answer. Under hypnosis, her mind couldn't process such an ambiguous question.
Seeing her reaction, Xuan confirmed that she truly wasn't sent by Tajima to spy on him. Then again, it made sense. Only an absolute idiot would send an untrained civilian maid to spy on an Uchiha who had awakened a fully matured three-tomoe Sharingan.
After a moment of thought, Xuan didn't release the Genjutsu just yet. Instead, he asked, "Are you a maid of the Uchiha clan, or are you my maid?"
"I am a maid sent by the Uchiha clan to serve my master," she replied blankly.
Xuan furrowed his brows. That answer did not satisfy him in the slightest.
"If, one day, your master comes into conflict with the Uchiha clan what will you do?"
The little maid began to tremble slightly. Her hands unconsciously gripped her dress, revealing the intense, subconscious conflict raging within her mind. Perhaps she had never even considered such a terrifying scenario.
"Master is a genius of the Uchiha. He will not come into conflict with the clan," she finally answered after a long pause, her mind attempting to reject the premise entirely.
Xuan tapped his finger gently against the floorboards. It seemed the Uchiha clan held an incredibly high position in the little maid's heart. This was not a good sign.
However, it was understandable. She had been abandoned as a child, and the Uchiha clan had saved her life, providing her with food, shelter, and an education. It was only natural for her to harbor deep gratitude toward them.
"If, one day, your master ordered you to betray the Uchiha clan what would you do?"
The Sharingan in Xuan's eyes spun faster, intensifying the visual prowess pouring into her mind. The three tomoe reflected in the maid's eyes grew sharper. Her small hands gripped her skirt so tightly her knuckles turned white. A look of profound agony surfaced on her face as her whole body began to shake.
Xuan asking this didn't mean he actually wanted to betray the clan right now. This was the Warring States Era. Unless one reached the realm of a literal god, even a Kage-level powerhouse would struggle to survive entirely alone. The "Uchiha" name was an impenetrable golden shield, and he had absolutely no intention of discarding it anytime soon.
He was asking this simply to force her to make a choice: would she be a loyal subordinate who belonged solely to him, or a pawn who ultimately answered to the Uchiha clan? This distinction was absolutely crucial if he was going to build his own faction.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes passed.
A full ten minutes went by, and the little maid still hadn't spoken. Her face was deathly pale, sweat beading on her forehead. There was no telling what kind of psychological torture she was enduring in her subconscious.
Sigh.
Xuan let out a soft sigh. He had underestimated the weight the Uchiha clan held in her heart. Shaking his head, he stood up. It seemed this little maid would only ever be just that a maid.
Just as he lifted his foot to walk away, a pair of cold, trembling little hands suddenly grabbed his ankle.
"I will listen to Master I will betray the Uchiha clan. Please don't abandon me, Master. I don't want to be thrown away a second time."
Her voice was fragile and weak, yet it carried an undeniable, desperate conviction.
Xuan looked down. Two streams of clear tears tracked down Senya Hotaru's pale face. Her small hands gripped his ankle with surprising strength. Astonishingly, the three-tomoe reflection in her eyes had vanished. She had forcibly shattered the Genjutsu through sheer willpower and emotional distress.
Xuan quietly knelt down and pulled her into a warm embrace. "Good girl," he whispered softly, stroking her hair. "As long as you listen to me, I will never abandon you."
The little maid buried her face in his chest and sobbed uncontrollably, shaking her head wordlessly as her tears and snot completely soaked the front of his yukata.
Once her crying finally subsided to soft hiccups, Xuan spoke again. "How about I teach you the method to condense chakra?"
Hotaru abruptly lifted her head, staring at him in absolute shock. Forgetting to even wipe her tears, she was rendered completely speechless.
"Do you want to learn or not?" Xuan chuckled.
Snapping out of her daze, Hotaru nodded furiously like a chicken pecking at grain, terrified that if she hesitated for even a second, he might retract the offer.
Wasting no time, Xuan began explaining the intricacies of chakra condensation. The little maid listened with rapt attention, immediately asking questions whenever she hit a roadblock. Xuan patiently guided her through the theory, pointing out the precise chakra pathways and the dangerous bottlenecks she needed to be aware of.
To Xuan's genuine surprise, Hotaru was actually quite talented. While she obviously couldn't compare to monstrous prodigies like himself or Madara, her comprehension speed rivaled that of most mainline Uchiha youths. After just two hours of instruction, she had fundamentally memorized the internal chakra network and the correct meditation techniques.
Having a smart disciple made the master's job incredibly easy. Xuan pulled a scroll from his robes and handed it to her. "This is the Blood Secret Art I looted off the Blood Ninja. I looked it over, and it's actually incredibly powerful. Take it and study it. But remember, you must be extremely careful when practicing your chakra control. Do not let anyone in the compound find out. Privately teaching Ninjutsu to an outsider is a severe crime."
Hotaru nodded with absolute solemnity, clutching the scroll tightly. "I will be very careful, Master. Once I become a real ninja, I'll be able to help you."
Hearing this, Xuan laughed silently.
[Ding! Side Quest Issued: The Twelve Divine Maidens.]
[Quest Description: As the future Final Boss destined to conquer the world, how can you not have a sufficiently powerful vanguard at your side? The System has specially unlocked this side quest branch, gifting you the 'Contracts of the Twelve Divine Maidens.' The System hopes the Host will continue working hard to build a supreme personal legion and unify the world as soon as possible.]
[Time Limit: Same as the Main Quest time limit.]
[Penalty for Failure: Obliteration.]
Xuan was stunned. Why would the System suddenly issue a quest right now? Shaking off his surprise, he decided he needed to investigate this unexpected development immediately. He prepared to dismiss his newly minted disciple.
Hotaru, however, was staring at Xuan's chest. Blushing fiercely in embarrassment when she saw the massive wet patch her tears and snot had left on his robes, she stammered, "Master let me wash your clothes for you."
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