Chapter 14: The Training Begins

On the way back, Izuna just slumped dejectedly in his father's arms. It wasn't until he saw the small courtyard of their home again that Izuna looked up at his Father and asked, "Father, about big brother's eyes..."

"It seems Izuna has figured it out...," Tajima Uchiha looked sad and helpless but didn't hide the truth from his youngest son. "Yes, Ling doesn't choose to be blind; he can't regain his sight... He's doomed to spend the rest of his life in darkness."

"...Did I do something wrong?"

Izuna tightly grabbed the front of his Father's haori. "Even though my big brother was so sad, I still uttered those words like 'Blind swordsmen are really awesome'..."

"No, on the contrary, Ling might even be grateful to you, Izuna," Father slowed down his pace. "Ling is a child who is good at working hard and quite talented. However, he unconsciously sets overly strict requirements on himself. He values others' expectations too much, even to the point of ignoring his own needs.

Under normal circumstances, these expectations might just be an invisible pressure, and gradually push him to a dead end. But in the current situation, others' expectations will only be the motivation for him to get back on track.

Ling currently needs a reason to break free from the seemingly non - existent yet tightly Coiling Around knot in his heart. With one more expectation, he will cheer up faster. So, Izuna, there's no need to blame yourself."

Izuna didn't quite understand his Father's words and still looked dejected. "But..."

"Don't say 'but'," Father ruffled his youngest son's hair. "If you really want to help Ling, then work hard to become stronger. After all, Ling's current wish is just to protect you and Madara."

"...Yes!" Izuna clenched his fists. "I will definitely become very, very strong, strong enough to fight side by side with my big brother! By then, I'll guard my big brother's back!"

Father let out a soft laugh. "Good job! As expected of my son."

...

As Father led Izuna away, there was no more human voice around Ling. All that remained were the sounds of Ryūsui and the gentle whispers of the passing breeze.

However, even in this natural symphony that could easily wash away the complexity in one's heart, the smile on Ling's face gradually faded.

After standing still in place for God knows how long, Ling squatted down, burying his fingers in his hair. His voice carried a sense of dejection he had never shown in front of others. "Has it become so difficult to even do this now..."

This dejection didn't last long. Ling quickly slapped his cheeks and stood up with a smile. "Come on, Uchiha Ling. Don't be so down because of this. You're an Uchiha! It's just blindness. Yeah, it's just blindness...

Really, it's a good thing I destroyed my tear glands back then. Otherwise, it would be so embarrassing to be sitting here crying alone... Well, look on the bright side. At least there won't be any more tears in my life from now on. That's not so bad.

Moreover, there are still many things to prepare for training. If you want to be dejected, save it for your free time after the next mission! There's no time to slack off now!"

After taking a few deep breaths, Ling calmed down, concentrated on distinguishing the various sounds around him. After confirming his position, he started tapping his blind stick to explore the nearby terrain. However, after roughly sketching out the environment in his mind, Ling couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Sure enough... I've made Father worry."

Realizing this, Ling couldn't help but start denying himself on the spot, then quickly shake off his self - doubt and perk up. After repeating this process several times, Ling picked up the ninja tools bag, took out the Scroll of Seals prepared by Tajima Uchiha from it, carefully opened it, and then slowly felt across each spell with his finger.

"Hmmm... A long sword, Military Rations Pill, a change of clothes, and emergency medicine? With these, it's okay not to go on a Hunt for a short time... But if I want to return to the battlefield, I must be able to accurately distinguish the living beings around me. Hunting is an inevitable thing..."

Ling took out the long sword from the Scroll and awkwardly tied it to his back. He then rolled up the Scroll again, frowned slightly, and walked in the direction where the sound of water was coming from. "The location chosen by Father should be near a tributary of the Minato River close to the clan land. There are fewer wild animals here. The place with the most living things should be this river near me..."

"Well, I should also work hard for dinner while training. After all, the Military Rations Pill really tastes terrible - and my cooking skills aren't much better... I hope I won't poison myself by the end of the Training - Ugh, I'm already starting to miss the side dishes made by Madara."

Here, Ling finally started his Training, but this training made him quite embarrassed.

First, when trying to spear fish in the river, he stepped on a mossy rock. Before he could react, he fell into the river and got completely wet.

Then, when he got out of the water, he got the direction wrong and almost got lost. He had to release a large amount of chakra to sense his surroundings before he found his way back, but the large consumption of chakra made him extremely exhausted.

When he finally caught a fish and wanted to start a fire to cook and warm himself up and dry his clothes, he almost set the ninja tools bag on fire along with the firewood.

By the time he had arranged everything in a hurry and in a mess, the sun had set for quite a while.

Ling sat tiredly on a flat rock, feeling the warmth from the fire in front of him and finally let out a long sigh. "It's so inconvenient not being able to see... After the Training is over, I must remind Madara and Izuna to protect their eyes well."

Judging from today's performance, what I need most is guidance on movement. Releasing chakra to sense the surroundings is indeed a way, but it consumes too much. If an accident really happens, I'll lack ways to deal with it...

But if I use too little chakra, I might as well just use the blind stick to knock and infer the surrounding environment... Instantly bursting out chakra and then containing it lacks concealment and can't be applied in actual combat at all..."

Ling kept putting forward guesses one by one and then denying them. Then he began to finalize tomorrow's Training plan. It was not until the smell of burning filled his nostrils that he suddenly came to his senses. After a brief moment of stunnedness, he panicked again. "Oh no... My grilled fish!"