Chapter 263 After Returning to the Clan [Combined Chapter]

After Ling finished speaking, he just hugged Youlushunmao and said nothing more. After a brief silence, Youlu wrapped his tail around Ling's wrist and pressed the cold Monster Pearl against his arm.

Ling's smile spread a little, but it didn't give people a feeling of joy. "I don't mean this kind of meeting... Well, maybe I shouldn't talk about this topic with Youlv - it should be late now, right? Let's take a rest too?"

Youlu could sense Ling's obvious attempt to change the subject, but he didn't point it out. He just tilted his head to look at the sun that was just being swallowed by the horizon and nodded in agreement, "Indeed, although I didn't do anything, a lot of things really happened today - even a tailed beast would feel tired."

Ling laughed softly, put Youlv gently on the cabinet beside him, and began to make the bed, "Yes, but I am really happy. At least now, I have successfully put everything on the right track. As long as there are no major mistakes in the future, within ten years, the ninja world - no, at least in the Land of Fire, will definitely usher in preliminary peace.

If - I mean if... if I didn't die for this, would Xiaoyou still be willing to accommodate me?"

"You kid, don't you really understand what the recognition of the tailed beasts means?" Matatabi's voice is always so gentle, "If the tailed beasts are willing to tell you their names, then no matter what their attitude is, it means that they value you more than their own lives, so what exactly are you worried about?"

Ling just smiled somewhat sadly, but didn't say much. He just picked up Youlu and rubbed his forehead with his nose, "Good night."

Youlu, who was put on the pillow, felt extremely confused. This was the first time that Ling avoided a question for him since they were together. He wanted to ask in detail, but chose to remain silent because he felt Ling's disappointment.

[He speaks so strangely, he must be drunk, right?] Youlu watched Ling lie down beside him, and found his position in the crook of his neck very familiarly, [I'll make a note of it for now, and ask him again tomorrow when he sobers up.]

But even after telling himself this, Youlu still found it difficult to calm down. He ended his doze when Ling began to breathe evenly. He stared at Ling's face in the darkness with his strange-colored eyes. Finally, he set his gaze on the hideous scar that ran across his face. He kept staring at him in the same posture for a long time.

It was not until the sunrise was approaching and Ling's breathing rhythm changed that she stretched out her claws to grab his chin and licked his face with her pink tongue. "Well, never mind. This kid will always say what he wants to say. Even his family can't ask him what he doesn't want to say. He was in such a difficult situation yesterday, so I'd better not ask him."

Anyway, human beings have been complex and changeable for a long time. Even if something happens, it only means that I made a wrong choice again. 】

When Ling felt the wetness on his cheek, his consciousness quickly returned to normal. Just like he had done for more than a thousand days and nights in the past few years, he smiled gently and kissed Youlu's forehead, saying good morning.

Youlu also hummed a laugh in response.

It seemed as if the man and the cat had forgotten the topic that was deliberately avoided last night.

After packing himself up, Ling went downstairs and checked out of his residence. At the same time, for convenience, he ordered a breakfast prepared by the B&B for himself and Youlu - cat food.

Cat rice is not real cat rice, but a simple dish that is made by sprinkling freshly shaved bonito flakes on hot rice and then pouring sauce on it.

However, when the boss saw Ling Jiantou peeking out from his shoulder, he specifically instructed the kitchen to reduce the amount of sauce in the ordered bowl of cat rice by half.

But the boss didn't expect that the blindfolded young ninja would mix the bowl of cat food with more sauce and put it next to the blue kitten that was only the size of a palm, and then he would eat the bowl with less sauce.

The boss wanted to remind the young man, but seeing the satisfied expressions of the man and the cat, he swallowed his words silently - forget it, why should he care about such trivial matters? It would be better to send these ninja masters away peacefully.

When Ling was about to finish eating, Uchiha Masaki also came downstairs yawning and also ordered the breakfast prepared by the store.

"Where are Eida and Kenji?"

"Eiji can't be woken up yet. Kenji said he wants to sleep." Uchiha Masaki yawned as he mixed the rice. "I say, can you keep your wine a little better next time we have a dinner?"

"what happened?"

"Eiji is okay. When he's drunk, he just talks in his sleep. But when Kenji is drunk, he's really annoying. He wants to climb onto the roof, then climb through the window, and his movements are extremely agile. He's just as annoying as you when you're drunk."

Uchiha Masaki couldn't help but yawn again, "At least don't let me take care of two drunks at the same time next time. It's almost killing me."

Ling chuckled, "Okay, next time I'll hide the wine well... I'm done eating, I'll go wake up Xiansi. We should report to the clan as soon as possible if we expect the cooperation to be successful. We should set off early."

"Ah, go quickly and take this childish trouble away—" Uchiha Masaki watched Ling leave, biting his chopsticks and sighing rather depressedly, "I really can't understand why God always gives such good talents to those with troublesome personalities..."

Youlu, who was eating, raised his head and said, "Maybe he is afraid that his creation will be beaten to death."

"…Why didn't you go with Ling?"

Youlu looked strange, and looked down at the cat meal he had only eaten halfway, "Of course it's because I'm eating, are you deliberately looking for trouble?"

After a brief silence, Uchiha Masaki quietly took out the dried fish originally prepared for Sherryko from his bag and put it into the bowl. His rice-eating movements also became noticeably faster.

Youlu had no desire to tease anyone at this time. He just snorted and continued to eat. It was quite harmonious for a man and a cat to sit at the same table.

But on the other hand, Ling's wake-up call was not going smoothly. Uchiha Kenji kept grumbling and pulling at the quilt, unwilling to get up. He was suddenly awakened when he heard Ling say that he was going to leave him here. He began to wash with a resentful look on his face.

Uchiha Eiji woke up in a daze to go to the bathroom. After looking at the two of them for a few seconds, he fell back on the bed. It was obvious that he was not fully awake yet.

Uchiha Kenji even laughed at Uchiha Eider's poor drinking capacity with Ling.

It was also because Uchiha Eiji was not yet completely sober, so after the two of them had cleaned themselves up, they simply said goodbye to Uchiha Masaki and left.

On the way, he also took on an escort mission in the black market, which was another extra income.

As they were about to return to the clan, Ling slowed down his pace and told Uchiha Kenji what he knew about the Mangekyō Sharingan, and hoped that Uchiha Kenji would not report the matter to the clan for the time being.

This made Uchiha Kenji very confused, but he didn't ask any more questions, just nodded and agreed, "It's fine on my part, but this matter shouldn't be kept secret for too long - after all, I can feel the obvious improvement in my pupil power, and the ninjas in charge of patrols in the clan, as well as my companions on missions, cannot do without the perception system, so this matter will soon be exposed."

"It won't take too long. Just give me a little more time so that I can ask the clan members to set up a few sealing spells on the clan stone tablet."

Thinking of what Ling had just said to him, Uchiha Kenji suddenly realized, "You want to see if the mastermind behind this will attack me after knowing my eye technique? Not bad, Ling! You are finally willing to use us as bait! You have grown a lot, hahaha!"

Ling couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh when he heard that, "Sorry."

"Why should I apologize? If he comes, I will meet a fun enemy before you, so it doesn't matter at all!"

Uchiha Kenji smiled and patted Ling's shoulders, his expression looking extremely expectant. "But you actually did such a fun thing without telling me, it's really unkind! As compensation, you have to go on missions with me in succession - at least ten times!"

"Okay, we'll set off after I return to my tribe to rest." Ling chuckled, "I'm going to the Kingdom of Rivers again next year, do you want to come with me?"

"Hey - I don't want to go outside the country... Have you made a date with anyone?"

"Not really. Yi just told me there is an opportunity there for people to become stronger."

Uchiha Kenji touched his chin, "Yi? Is it the one whose hair you pulled and threw him up, or the one whose arm you nearly cut off? Or the one who laughed and fought with you when Yashu was kidnapped by the other side?"

Ling sighed, "Xian Si, you are talking about the same person... and let me say it again, what I grabbed was the King Kong seal, not the hair."

"Then I'll go. It's always fun to see you two meet each other," Uchiha Kenji said with a smile, holding Ling's shoulders, "and I also want to see which one is more powerful, the sealing technique attached to my eye technique or the sealing technique of Uzumaki.

Ah, yes, tell me more about the kaleidoscope. After all, if I want to hide it for the time being, I can’t go to the stone tablet to look up the information.”

Ling nodded slightly, and after briefly organizing his words, he began to speak eloquently, and only stopped talking when they were about to enter the civilian market of the tribe. "Go find Hong to find out the follow-up. After all, I haven't been able to open the kaleidoscope yet, and I don't understand the more detailed things. Just show him your kaleidoscope when we meet, and he will understand."

Uchiha Kenji, who had just received a large amount of information, nodded slightly, "Yes, I see. Anyway, my medicine is almost used up, so I just went to him to replenish it. By the way, can you give me a ride to the medical department? You know my situation."

"Okay, which entrance did we enter from Minshi?"

"Let me see... these are all clothing stores and dyeing factories. Is this the West Market?"

"West Market - the Hui area should go this way."

Well, in a sense, people with poor directions who need a blind person to lead the way are completely hopeless [laughs].

……

After sending Uchiha Kenji to the medical department, Ling asked Lu to identify the direction, quickened his pace and ran towards the council hall, found Uchiha Tajima, and reported all the results of his trip.

"Hmm - you chose Blood Pond, who is also a ninja clan that can use eye techniques, as your opponent..." Uchiha Tajima nodded slightly after pondering, "Although the effects of eye techniques are more troublesome, it is still an ideal opponent. I will discuss with the elders the subsequent cooperation with the Sarutobi clan. Well done, Ling."

"Yes, then if my father has no other instructions, I will leave first. I want to go home as soon as possible."

"Wait a moment, I have something else to say."

"Yes?"

Uchiha Tajima reached out and picked up the scroll on the table, "Try to read it."

Ling was a little confused, but still reached out to take the scroll, and after a moment's hesitation, he carefully released his chakra onto the scroll.

Suddenly, a faint feedback was transmitted back along the fingertips that touched the paper. Ling was stunned and concentrated to distinguish it.

Uchiha Tajima stopped paying attention to the situation and continued to deal with the clan documents that had been preliminarily screened by the elders.

After carefully analyzing the information sent back from the scroll, Ling couldn't help but frown, "The letter of alliance from the Yuyi clan? They took the initiative to send it? This is not a good sign."

Uchiha Tajima put down what he was doing, his expression still showing no emotion, "Yes, as you said, this is not a good sign, but we must respond to it. I want you to pick a few people and take Madara with you."

Ling also knew the importance of this matter and his father's intention, and immediately agreed, "I understand, what's the departure time?"

"Don't be too anxious about the time. The truce period is coming soon. I can visit you then. Besides, your birthday is in a few days, right?"

Uchiha Tajima finally laughed, "It's okay to send you out at this time. Even if Izuna doesn't say it, she will be angry with me for a few days, right? Isn't this also the reason why you are in such a hurry to come back?"

Ling's expression softened, "Yes, after all, the two of them have been preparing for so long in secret, I don't want to disappoint them."

“Isn’t this the same as you did back then?” Uchiha Tajima chuckled, his expression unusually gentle. “Back when Hui and Shun were still around, you and Shun also secretly prepared this for Hui… Now that I think about it, it was a really cute move.”

"You're making fun of me again..." Ling shook his head slightly, "Since we don't have to leave right away, I'll go home first. Do you want to eat anything? I'll prepare it for you."

"Ahem... Ling, if you really want to prepare something, just buy some ingredients and go back. Izumi finished her mission yesterday and is now at home, and Madara will be back tonight. You just completed such an important task, it would be bad to keep you so busy."

Ling's eyebrows drooped, and he looked lost. "It's rare that I have been working hard to train myself in the past few years..."

Uchiha Tajima helplessly reached out and tapped Ling's forehead, "Don't be vague here, why haven't I seen you practice your cooking skills?"

"When I was practicing on my own, I was already able to grill fish and meat very well."

"…Are you planning to burn the house down again?"

Ling turned his head away silently. Alas, he didn't get away with it.