In the end, Ling didn't bring out any weird and unpalatable food to torture his younger brothers' stomachs. Apart from being tasteless and slightly burnt, the grilled fish was normal, which finally made Madara completely relax.
However, seeing Ling's precise movements of removing fish bones for Izuna, Madara became curious again. "Big brother, did you also do this by using chakra sensing?"
"Yeah, that's right," Ling handed the boneless fish to Izuna. "After all, I can't see my surroundings, so I have to keep sensing all the time. This method is quite useful, but it consumes a bit of chakra.
If Madara wants to learn sensory ninjutsu, I'll teach you after I perfect it. I'm just not sure if Madara has the talent to be a sensory ninja. If not, it might be a bit difficult to learn."
"Sensory ninja..." Madara bit into the fish. "In that case, maybe it'd be better for Hiro to learn it, right?"
"Hahaha, even if I don't say a word, Hiro will come to me to learn all by himself. He never misses an opportunity to get stronger," Ling laughed. "After all, it's quite common for that guy to peek at me during my training."
Hearing this, Madara remembered the rumors in the Uchiha clan that Hiro was constantly getting into scuffles. He couldn't help but fall silent again. How on earth did big brother manage to make such a crazy guy convinced?
[Sure enough, as Uncle Kei said, there's still a lot for me to learn from big brother...] Madara threw the remaining fish bones and the branch used for grilling the fish into the fire. [But it seems there isn't such a crazy guy among my peers. Oh well, anyway, they're all too weak to look at. I'll just pay them no mind.]
For the rest of the time, Madara asked some Mondai about training. Then he took Izuna to the riverside to wash his hands and face, and then left after saying goodbye.
After Madara left, the smile on Ling's lips faded, and his expression looked rather gloomy. "I thought he would ask me more about how to get along with the clan members. It turns out Madara is also a person who is not easy to accept others... This is really a headache."
After fretting about his younger brother's development, Ling subconsciously reached for the crow eggs in the inner pocket of his clothes and began his daily Shibuki of channeling chakra.
These days, aside from dealing with survival issues, what Ling was most concerned about was undoubtedly the two crow eggs he got from Uchiha Yugu.
According to Uchiha Yugu, the chakra attributes he possessed - wind, fire, and lightning - were all offensive and not suitable for guiding and nurturing summoned beasts.
Ling was a sensory ninja who could manipulate chakra precisely. That's why Yugu gave him the crow eggs. Otherwise, Uchiha Yugu would rather help Ling find a way to get a ready - made ninja cat from the Cat Village, even though he was allergic to cat fur!
You know, if he were to raise these two eggs, they would become two useful ninja crows. There's no way he'd let Ling squander them.
After completing the chakra channeling and confirming that his chakra hadn't damaged the life signs of the eggs, Ling finally let out a sigh of relief. He carefully put the eggs back into the pocket on his chest. "Do I have to do this for at least ten more days... Sure enough, summoned beasts are a huge hassle.
If I had known I'd be saved in the end, I shouldn't have been so terrified of the Senju clan digging out my eyes and stabbed myself... I have to change most of my old habits. Even if I like training, this is just unreasonable...
No, no. Pull yourself together. There are still too many drawbacks to the current sensory method I'm using. It consumes too much chakra and requires physical contact with the environment. I still need to improve it...
At least I can't waste more than sixty percent of my chakra just having a normal meal with my younger brothers... I can't stand it anymore. Thinking about all these things is so tiring..."
Ling flopped onto the ground, exuding an air of decadence. "Let's take a break today, okay? At least I don't want to study new jutsu today. It's just too exhausting to deduce them just by thinking and practicing without pen and paper. But I can't just waste time...
Well, let's do something that doesn't require much thinking, like refining chakra or practicing [Gitai]. After all, I'll need both in the future. But if it's [Gitai], I still need to combine it with my sensory ability... Well, maybe I'll just refine chakra. Let myself relax a bit."
As he said that, Ling sat cross - legged again. After taking a few deep breaths, he entered a meditative state and began to refine chakra.
After Madara took Izuna home, he also told his Father about his mission and Ling's current state.
Tajima Uchiha was both pleased and worried after hearing this, but he didn't show it. He just gave Madara some guidance on a few training - related Mondai and told him to go rest.
The following days were quite peaceful. Madara started going on missions with his peers under the supervision of the adults, and Uchiha Akihiko and the others, whose injuries had recovered, also started taking on missions again.
Madara had seen several times that the faces of Ling's peers, either strange or familiar, would sneak off to the back mountain and then return cursing. It was as if they had made an appointment. Everyone would stagger their trips, but someone would go to the back mountain every day.
It's worth mentioning that Uchiha Hiro, the most troublesome one among Ling's peers, never went to the back mountain after learning that Ling started his training. Instead, he silently went to work at the medical department, which he usually hated the most.
Madara was worried about Ling's situation because of this. But when he accompanied his teammates to the medical department for supplies and happened to hear Uchiha Hiro mockingly sneer at his peers for being reckless and engaging in Gitai battles, he felt relieved.
After all, when Uchiha Hiro's words were like a carpet - bombing attack and those who were scolded all looked embarrassed and no one dared to refute, it was obvious that these people hadn't gotten any advantage from Ling.
Since Ling hadn't suffered, Madara temporarily put his mind at ease and began to focus on completing missions. However, there was one thing that really annoyed him - his peer teammates in the same group were such a burden!
The mistakes were so simple that they could be avoided with just a little thinking. But the teammates rushed forward and got themselves killed as if they had rocks in their heads.
It's okay to be bad at it. After all, people have different talents and you can't force it. But it's unforgivable that they kept making mistakes even after the team leader had clearly pointed them out. Have the Senju eaten your brains!
After being repeatedly let down by his teammates' stupid actions, Madara finally learned on his own how to put on a cold face. The first thing he did in every mission was to intimidate his peer teammates thoroughly.
Even after he got permission to act independently, he still endured and did a few more missions with his teammates. When he was still so angry at his teammates' stupid actions that he wanted to go crazy, he resolutely abandoned the team - based mode.
He swore that if he teamed up with his clan members again, he would be a stupid [expletive] - except for his big brother and little brother!
However, all these were things to come. At present, Madara was still in a state of trying to convince himself to tolerate his teammates and do his best to salvage the situation - although he had already scolded his teammates in his heart.
During this period, Uchiha Yugu, who was not good at fighting and had been busy in the logistics, also went up the mountain to see Ling. However, it was obvious that he didn't go to have a spar with Ling like the others - after all, no one who wanted to have a spar had ever managed to bring Ling down the mountain.
Ling, who came down the mountain with Uchiha Yugu, also caught the attention of his peers. However, the focus of this attention was not Ling himself, but the two dark, fluffy creatures on his shoulders.