"Sparring?" Madara was stunned. "Right now?"
"Yes, right now." Ling patted Izuna on the back, signaling him to get off his back. Then he stood up and walked towards the open space on one side. "After all, Madara seems very restless. There's no better way to vent than a sparring match at this time.
As for the rules... as long as Madara can make me move my steps after the battle starts, Madara wins. Then I'll grant whatever wish Madara makes. On the contrary, if Madara drops his weapon or gives up voluntarily, I win, and Madara has to stay here with me for dinner. How about it?"
Madara silently glanced at the suspicious - looking charred stuff near the campfire. His expression became a bit more solemn, but his heart was still full of worries. "But big brother, you're not holding a weapon..."
"Hahaha, what's this? What's this?" Ling laughed out loud, putting the blind stick on his shoulder. "You want me to take a weapon... Does it mean Madara is so eager to experience my skills?"
Madara stared at the suspicious charred stuff on the ground for a while longer, then silently drew out the Tantō from his waist. "Then please give me some guidance, big brother. Please be careful."
"Right, that's the spirit. Come at me with all your might!" Ling hooked his finger in Madara's direction. "Let me see your progress! Izuna, come and give us the start signal!"
Izuna sat on the rock where Ling had been sitting before. Looking at the two who were starting to face off, his expression gradually became a bit excited. "Okay! Ready—Go!"
The moment Izuna's voice fell, Madara threw out several Shuriken. Those Shuriken surrounded Ling in the center at a strange angle and all aimed at his vital parts.
But Ling wasn't panicked at all. His feet remained still, and he precisely swept the blind stick in the direction of the Shuriken.
What puzzled Izuna was that Ling didn't swing at the Shuriken directly but at the area behind them. Just when he was worried, all the Shuriken changed their directions when the blind stick swept across. Only then did Izuna notice the extremely thin steel wires tied to the Shuriken.
That wasn't all. After using the blind stick to catch the steel wires, Ling quickly flipped his wrist and wound all the steel wires onto the blind stick, then pulled hard. Madara, who was rushing towards Ling, staggered as a result.
Before Madara could react, Ling smoothly transferred the blind stick to his left hand. At the same time, he gathered chakra in his right hand and swiped it across the blind stick, cutting off all the wound - up steel wires. Then he twisted his left wrist. Along with the tinkling sound of the Shuriken hitting the ground, he precisely poked the end of the blind stick at Madara's left shoulder and pushed the man to the ground.
"Hmm, it's a good tactic. "
Ling smiled and handed the blind stick back to his right hand. "It's a pity that this set of methods for dealing with sensory ninjas is still not well - considered... Wanna go again?"
Madara did a backflip and stood up. Finally, a fighting spirit rose in his eyes. "Again!"
Meanwhile, Izuna, who had been watching the fight from the side, started to see Madara lose repeatedly. Throughout the process, just as Ling said, he didn't move a single step. He only used the blind stick in his hand to defend. Later, when Madara started to attack with ninjutsu, Ling only added some upper - body movements but still easily dodged. He even had the energy to gently tap Madara's vital points with the blind stick and give verbal instructions.
When Madara rushed forward for the thirtieth time and Ling still easily defused his attack and knocked the weapon out of his hand after spotting his flaw, Madara finally covered the back of his head that had been tapped, looking extremely frustrated. "What the heck... "
"You've done very well, Madara." Ling laughed softly but didn't move. "But this little trick of hiding the Kunai to prepare for a sneak attack won't work on me, you know?"
Madara clicked his tongue softly, took out the Kunai hidden in his sleeve, looking even more frustrated. "… I lost."
"So amazing! As expected of big brother!" Izuna's eyes sparkled. "How did you figure out that Madara still had a Kunai hidden, big brother? I didn't notice at all!"
"Based on my understanding of Madara and a little bit of the magic of a sensory ninja's chakra perception." Ling walked over with a smile and ruffled Madara's hair. "Come on, don't be so down. Madara is still young. By the time Madara is allowed to go to the battlefield like I was before, his abilities will surely surpass mine."
Madara looked up at Ling and mumbled dejectedly, "There's no way... "
Ling just smiled, then rolled up his sleeves full of enthusiasm. "Alright, the sparring match is done! Now, let's taste big brother's cooking!"
Unlike Izuna's excited response, Madara suddenly panicked at the words. "No, big brother, why don't I do it instead?"
"Really, Madara, have a little faith in big brother..." Ling clearly understood Madara's concerns, and his tone became a bit disappointed. "Besides, how could I feed my little brother something like that...
Although I did cook a lot of awful dishes at the beginning of my training and even gave myself a stomachache, I'm not a monster. I wouldn't ask you to stay for a meal if I wasn't confident."
"… But big brother, didn't you burn down the kitchen while cooking?"
Ling: … Well, that's true.
"Don't worry, Madara. There's no kitchen here for me to burn down!" Ling gave a thumbs - up after a brief moment of shock. "So there won't be any Mondai!"
Madara: … Even more worried.
Watching Ling walking towards the river while tapping his blind stick on the ground, Madara's unease grew stronger - he still couldn't forget that day.
While he was practicing ninjutsu at home as usual, a terrifying chakra fluctuation suddenly came from beside him. Then a monstrous fire swept towards him. If Father hadn't been by his side and controlled the situation in time, Madara would have had to go to the medical department that day. It was all thanks to the fire Ling started in the kitchen.
What was most absurd was that Ling actually managed to save the finished - product. However, that finished product almost made Father vomit on the spot after tasting it...
After that day, in order to prevent Ling from entering the kitchen again, Father would definitely prepare meals for them even when he was extremely busy. Madara also worked very hard to learn cooking skills. But after Madara learned how to cook, he became even more puzzled about Ling's behavior back then. What on earth in the kitchen needed a ninjutsu of such great power to deal with?
Watching Ling standing in the river, spearing fish with a long knife from afar, Madara had an indescribable complex expression on his face. [Anyway, let's wait and see. If the finished product is too dangerous, I'll use illusions to deceive Izuna and eat it myself... I hope I'll still have time after eating to send Izuna back and then hold on until I reach the medical department.]