Chapter 264 Family Dinner [Combined Chapter]

When leaving the council hall, Ling made a detour to Uchiha Yugu's house, avoiding Youlu and whispering to him for a long time, until Youlu couldn't help but stand up from the cushion and peek around.

"What are you doing sneaking around?"

"Oh, well... can you guess?"

Youli shook his tail and said, "Humph, you mysterious boy..."

Ling didn't answer, but just chuckled a few times, "I'm going to go to the civilian market again, is there anything Xiaoyan wants to eat?"

"Well, let me think about it..."

When Ling returned home, Quan Nai was busy in the kitchen on a small stool. When she saw Ling coming back, she immediately threw the soup spoon into the pot and rushed towards Ling, "Brother, welcome back!"

"You have to be more careful about safety in a place like the kitchen, Izumi." Ling picked up his brother and walked in with the things he had bought. "What are you doing? How can I help?"

Izumi first reached out and rubbed Youlu who was lying on top of Ling, and then counted on his fingers what he had not prepared yet, "The soup is already cooked, the ingredients are all washed, and the rice is already seasoned... Well, there are only ingredients left to make rice balls and cut the ingredients for miso soup. Which one do you want to make, brother?"

"Well... then shall I chop the vegetables?"

"Okay, but I heard from Brother Ban that the last time my brother came to the kitchen to help, he cut up the vegetables and the cutting board together..."

Ling put Izunai down and started to roll up his sleeves. "No problem, I will control the strength this time! So trust me!"

"Yeah! I always believe in brother!"

The price of this trust is that the chopping board that I had just bought less than two months ago is once again about to die.

Izuna looked at the chopping board, which had every knife mark very clear and full of stories, and the vegetables of exactly the same length. After being silent for a long while, he quietly stepped on the small stool and took out a new spare chopping board from the cabinet. "Should I say that my brother is good at it or not..."

"Well... although I didn't cut the chopping board this time, I guess I'm not good at this." Ling's voice was a little distressed, but unusually calm. "Sure enough, some things can't be forced - I'll still make rice balls? What shape does Izuna want to eat? Triangle, square, ball, or rabbit or cat?"

After cleaning the cutting board and preparing to continue chopping vegetables, Izumi was stunned. "Rabbit and cat? Can rice balls be molded into that shape?"

"Of course, do you want it?"

Thinking of Lingna's skillful handwork that could even fold a bird out of soft cloth with one hand, Izuna nodded vigorously, "I want it! I want both the rabbit and the cat!"

"Okay! Wait for me to make lots of little rabbits and cats for you!"

So when Madara and Uchiha Tajima came back in the evening, they saw a table full of rabbits and cats.

Faced with this overly lovely dinner, the father and son who came back late seemed a little surprised, but did not say anything. They simply cleaned themselves up, sat down calmly, and began to eat, occasionally discussing ninjutsu and praising the food in the detailed conversation during the meal.

Halfway through, Madara spoke up between swallowing his food, "Brother, are you going out again after you come back this time?"

"Not for now. After all, we have done almost everything we can do... What's wrong? Is there anything wrong with Madara?"

"Um... nothing," Madara and Izuna exchanged glances, "I just feel that I haven't practiced with my brother for a long time, so I wanted to ask if my brother is free."

"Of course I'm free... Did Madara encounter any problems?"

"Well, sort of. I've been having some doubts about my practice lately."

"What exactly is it? Taijutsu? Ninjutsu? Or genjutsu?" Ling put down his chopsticks, picked up the wine cup, and took a sip with a smile, "Or is it that Madara is the worst at interpersonal relationships?"

Ban had never expected Ling to ask so many details, and immediately began to stammer, "Uh, well, there are a few..."

"Eh—Madara still can't get along well with his peers?"

"No, we've been getting along pretty well lately...I swear I haven't scolded them lately."

"Really? You can't lie to me, brother?"

Uchiha Tajima looked at his second son, who was racking his brains to make up a story and constantly making eye contact with his youngest son in an attempt to get away with it. Then he looked at his eldest son, whose smile was becoming more and more doting, yet also had a hint of bad taste. He also took a sip of the wine in the glass with a smile, but his eyes soon became filled with disappointment. If he had been able to protect Ling...

Shaking his head slightly, Uchiha Tajima cleared all the chaotic thoughts in his mind. Now that things have come to this, there is no point in regretting. What he has to do now is to let the existing children grow up to have the ability to protect themselves before he passes away.

Thinking of this, Uchiha Tajima glanced at Madara and sighed in his heart, "When will this child wake up?"

Ban, who was trying hard to get away with it from Ling, didn't notice his old father's worry, and just continued to stammer and make up stories for himself about how he got along with his peers.

Finally, Izuna couldn't stand it anymore and started to cover for Madara, "Brother Madara is much better now. I saw Brother Fire Core asking Madara for advice a few days ago!"

Madara quickly nodded in agreement with what Izuna said and told Ling about his training with Uchiha Fire Core a few days ago, in order to show that he was really trying to build good relationships with his peers.

Ling knew that handling all kinds of interpersonal relationships was not a one-time thing, and it couldn't be rushed, so he stopped teasing his brother on purpose, and took the opportunity to ask about the details of Madara and Uchiha Fire Core's training that day.

Madara, who no longer needed to cover up for himself, breathed a sigh of relief. He raised his hand to rub Izuna's head, gave her a grateful look, and began to answer those questions about cultivation - he was not bragging, cultivation was much easier than getting along with others!

In the end, Uchiha Tajima also joined the topic and taught Madara and Izuna a lot of practical tricks.

But in the end, Uchiha Tajima looked at the expressions of the two children and knew that Izuna was the only one who had heard these little tricks to heart and decided to use them. Madara simply wrote them down to make it easier for himself to be alert to such tactics of the enemy.

Uchiha Tajima was not disappointed or angry because of Madara's careless behavior. After being a ninja for so many years, he already knew that everyone's fighting style would be very different due to their personal characteristics.

Madara's fighting style has already begun to take shape. He is not the kind of wise general who likes to set numerous traps to play with the enemy at will, but rather a reckless general who prefers to fight head-on. Therefore, Uchiha Tajima just gave more examples to signal Madara to be more vigilant in the future and not fall into other people's traps.

Although they were talking about a dark and bloody topic, it did not affect the family's appetite. However, the topic was rather heavy, so after making sure that the children had taken careful notes, Uchiha Tajima changed the subject and asked about trivial things that happened today.

The atmosphere at the table also became cheerful when Izumi complained that Ling came to help but ruined a cutting board.

"Ling, you are already very good now, so there is no need to force yourself to do things you are not good at." Uchiha Tajima shook his head slightly, full of helplessness, "Talent is an illusory concept that cannot be compensated by hard work... and I don't want us to have to rebuild the house when the year is coming to an end."

Youlu, who was eating raw fish slices, couldn't help but stand up when he heard this, "So you are also capable of doing something as unsound as burning down a house?"

"Well, I also grew up gradually." Ling was not embarrassed. "If I come again now, although I can't guarantee the finished product, I probably won't do something like burning down the house."

"Now that you mention it, I also want to ask, what on earth did you do to burn down the house?" Madara took the last bite of food, "What on earth is so dangerous in the kitchen?"

"Well..." Ling raised his hand and touched his chin, "I ate some delicious medium-rare grilled meat when I was on a mission in the Land of Hot Water, so I wanted to let you guys have a taste of it, but I couldn't control the heat well, so I wanted to try using Fire Style to finish it all at once... I didn't control the range well, sorry, I almost burned you at that time."

Madara: ... Is the kitchen the place to use ninjutsu?! If you want to grill the food rare, why not just use the iron plate?

Youlv looked at the stunned Ban, raised his paw and patted his arm, "It's not easy for you to live to this day."

Madara reached out and rubbed the cat's head in frustration, "I'm done eating - Izuna, you don't need me to clean up."

"Then let me help—"

"Brother," Ban raised his hand to hold down Ling who was about to help, "From today on, for the sake of our family harmony, you should not enter the kitchen - if there is anything you want to eat, just tell me and I will make it for you."

"I will never again--"

"Allow me to refuse."

Looking at Ling who was firmly rejected by Ban, Youlu laughed out loud without any hesitation.

Ling just shook his head helplessly, drank the last sip of wine in the cup, reached out and picked up Youlu, "Then I will go to rest, and I will come to you to practice tomorrow morning."

Spot nodded, "Do you need me to prepare anything?"

"Well - put on your bandages, I'll teach you some joint techniques." Ling chuckled, "Don't give up halfway, okay?"

Ban was originally a little confused as to why Ling had deliberately mentioned that one should not give up halfway, after all, he never complained about being tired during training.

It was not until the second day of sparring, when Ling dislocated the joints of his shoulders with a single move and pinned him to the ground, that Ban understood the deeper meaning of his brother's smile.

Although Ling quickly reconnected his arm and massaged him to relieve the pain, Ban still broke out in cold sweats from the pain, and his hands were unable to exert any strength for a while.

However, Ban did not back down. After careful questioning, he started practicing with Ling again with great interest.

This also resulted in him being carried back by Ling with his hands and feet covered in bandages over the next few days.

Although it is extremely painful, hard work will always bring rich rewards to those who pursue it.

Madara was completely unable to fight back in the beginning, but later on he struggled reluctantly, and even once successfully broke Ling's wrist during his counterattack - but before he could be happy about his victory, Ling shook his wrist again, reconnected the joint and pinned him to the ground once more.

Although he was defeated miserably in the end, the fact that he successfully counterattacked was enough to make Ban happy. He even ate an extra bowl of rice that night. After the meal, he did not forget to ask Ling for advice on how to quickly reconnect a dislocated joint.

Izuna, who had been counting the days to celebrate Ling's birthday, secretly pulled Madara over to remind him that the day was approaching. Madara then ended his training with regret.

After all, he had made an appointment with Izuna to give Ling a surprise.