Chapter 7: Summoned Beasts

Uchiha Akihiko lay on the slightly uneven ground of the training ground, utterly confused about how he had lost.

Obviously, he had the upper hand in their fight. But at the last moment, he slapped Ling on the back with his palm, trying to subdue him. At that time, Ling actually grabbed his wrist precisely. At the same time, Ling threw himself into his arms and rammed his elbow viciously into his lower ribs. Then, before he could catch his breath, Ling flipped his elbow up and hit him on the chin.

In a pure Gitai exchange where the use of illusions and ninjutsu is prohibited... the result of the battle was self - evident.

Uchiha Akihiko propped himself up and sat up, looking rather depressed. "Hey, are you really blind?"

Ling was still groping around for the blind stick he had put aside before the fight. Hearing this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly and pointed at the scar on his face. "I'm in such a state that I can't even have the eyeballs left by my clansmen transplanted. What do you think?"

"How did you grab me so accurately then?" Uchiha Akihiko did a backflip and stood up. He picked up Ling's blind stick and put it back into his hand. "I thought the angle I attacked at was pretty tricky, though."

"Ah, thanks..." Ling took the blind stick and faced Uchiha Akihiko. "If you had stabbed at me with your palm upright, I probably wouldn't have been able to do anything. But when you slapped, I could roughly tell from the sound of the wind. I just got lucky and grabbed you."

"The sound of the wind, huh..." Uchiha Akihiko patted the dust off his body. "Are you training your hearing?"

"Yeah, well, I used to do some training to locate things by sound. It's a quicker way to improve this way." Ling nodded slightly, with a faint smile on his lips. "And how should I put it? After losing my vision, the world seems so strange. A lot of things I didn't notice before have been magnified infinitely."

"Should I also do some anti - darkness training?" Uchiha Akihiko looked rather depressed. "Why do I feel like there's a bigger gap between us since you went blind?"

"Hahaha, be more confident. At least I'll never catch up with you in illusions."

"Your illusion skills were never as good as mine. You wouldn't have caught up even if you weren't blind!" Uchiha Akihiko snorted. "On the contrary, you'd better watch out. I'll surpass you in ninjutsu."

Ling stood there for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Makes sense. After all, it already takes a lot of energy for me to use chakra to sense the outside world during a battle. I really shouldn't waste my energy on ninjutsu."

Uchiha Akihiko: … Keep being so competitive. [Cursing emoji]

But he just thought about it in his mind and didn't really say it out. Instead, when he saw Ling struggling for a long time and finally choosing the wrong direction, he reached out and pulled him back. "You're going the wrong way. Seriously, you should apply for a summoned beast.

You might be talented in fighting and eventually overcome your difficulties and catch up with the team. But in your current situation, you can't always rely on yourself to find the right way, right? After all, even in group missions, there are times when you have to split up."

Hearing this, Ling fell into silence again.

Uchiha Akihiko is right. Even if I can keep fighting and carrying out tasks, the top priority is to overcome the obstacle of my vision as soon as possible. It's just that there's a problem...

Ling forced a helpless smile. "Let's wait a bit longer. If I want to fight now, I don't even have enough chakra to maintain my combat strength... Moreover, our clan has only established diplomatic relations with the Ninja Cat clan for a little over a decade. The friendship isn't deep. I'm afraid it'll be difficult for me to pass the tests of the Ninja Cat clan."

"Then you must have some money, right? When I went there last time, I met a money - grubbing cat. It accepts all summoning requests, and it goes to the highest bidder. The basic hourly rate is a thousand."

"No, it's just too unethical for it to accept all summoning requests and choose the highest bidder."

"Better than nothing... Oh, by the way, Yugu is allergic to cat fur, so he's been raising crows lately. You can ask him about this later."

"Crows? They are indeed smart birds. They can even talk after learning chakra... Thanks, I'll go to Yugu later." Ling nodded slightly in Uchiha Akihiko's direction. "By the way, does your Father have any news from the battlefield?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you slowly..."

As Ling listened to the intelligence conveyed by Uchiha Akihiko, she couldn't help but frown. "The elders have assigned a task of attacking from the rear?"

"Yeah, they said to take the opportunity to attack their camp and kill the sensory and medical ninjas of the Senju clan."

"Is the intelligence accurate?"

Uchiha Akihiko nodded slightly upon hearing this, but quickly realized something and said, "Uncle Kenji risked his life to bring back this intelligence, and we killed all the chasing Senju squads. It should be authentic.

However, to ensure that the intelligence doesn't become outdated or inaccurate, several planned assault squads will set off from the clan tonight. Why do you ask?"

After a brief silence, Ling stopped walking. "You should also sign up. It'd be best if you can become the captain of one of the assault squads."

Uchiha Akihiko raised his eyebrows but didn't respond, only letting out a grunt to signal Ling to continue.

"Based on past assault experiences, the Senju should have another stronghold within ten to thirty miles of their main base. It usually houses sensory ninjas and young trainees. You'll be in charge of the search team for this [Korega] stronghold."

"What? You want me to take the credit?"

"No, it's to guard against possible [Booby Trap]s," Ling shook her head slightly, her voice cold. "Although you said that Uncle Kenji risked his life to get this intelligence, the Senju and the Uchiha have been at odds for decades. Both sides are bound to know some of each other's habits. It's not the first time they've set up ambushes based on this.

Unlike us, the Senju clan is a clan of [universal benevolence]. If someone informs the base personnel in advance, what you'll face won't be a poorly - defended base, but a group of fanatics willing to sacrifice themselves for the [Uchiha clan] and that so - called [just cause]."

I don't care what the Senju clan members think or how they act. But as for us Uchiha, even if we were to die in a head - on battle, we shouldn't die because of a momentary oversight due to the schemes of our old rivals (the Senju clan). If you're willing, I'll explain everything in detail and let you take the lead in handling it. If not, I'll go find the elders myself and ask someone else.

"…I understand," Uchiha Akihiko finally said seriously, "Let's talk somewhere else."