Madara and Izuna trimmed the branch to a proper length. In fact, Madara only let Izuna make a couple of symbolic cuts and did the rest himself. After smoothing it and confirming it could barely pass as a usable blind stick, Madara picked up the newly - made blind stick in one hand and led a very happy Izuna to Ling's room with the other.
But just as they reached the door, they heard running sounds inside. Madara was taken aback and gently knocked on the door. "...Big brother?"
The running sound stopped immediately, but there were sounds of heavy objects falling and things scattered messily. Madara was worried and reached out to open the door. What he saw was Ling sitting in a pile of clutter, silently groaning as he covered the back of his head. There was also a toppled storage cabinet beside him.
"Big brother, what happened...?"
Hearing Madara's voice, Ling stood up while rubbing his head. "It's nothing, nothing. I just couldn't help but exercise now that my injury is better. I was running on the roof at first. Then when I heard the knock on the door, I got a bit anxious. When I came down, I forgot about the distance and accidentally stepped on the cabinet. Not being able to see is really a big Mondai, haha!"
Madara:...
Letting out a long sigh, Madara handed the blind stick he was holding to Izuna, motioning for him to wait at the door. Then he walked into the room. "Big brother, there's no need to rush to adapt... I'll clean up here. You take Izuna for a walk in the yard. The weather is nice today. Your injury is almost healed. It'll be good for you to go out and change your mood after so long."
"Sorry, Madara. I'm troubling you again."
"It's okay. I've finished today's lessons and training," Madara supported Ling's arm and guided him around the mess on the ground. "We can do the extra practice later. It doesn't matter. And cleaning the room won't take much time."
On one side, Izuna couldn't help but run over, holding a blind stick. "Big brother! Korega for you!"
Ling took the object Izuna had stuffed into his hand. After feeling it carefully, he was a bit confused. "…What is this? A branch? No, it seems to have been polished… A wooden stick?"
"It's a blind stick! I just made it with big brother Madara, and I helped too!"
Ling paused slightly, then held one end of the blind stick and reached out his other hand to gently ruffle Izuna's hair, smiling as he spoke. "Really? Our Izuna is so sweet! Big brother really needs it right now. Thank you guys for giving me Korega… Let's go try it out now! After all, big brother's never used one before."
"Yeah! Then let's go to the yard together—" Izuna grinned and hugged Ling's arm from the other side. "Also, I've started learning to refine chakra. Big brother, help me check if there's any Mondai!"
"Sure. Our Izuna is so smart. There's definitely no Mondai."
Madara watched the two walk away along the corridor. Without realizing it, he clenched his fists tightly. Maybe Izuna was too young to notice, but Madara clearly saw Ling's unnatural pause just now.
[Sure enough, big brother still minds it a lot… It's all those hateful Senju. Otherwise, big brother wouldn't have—]
Madara was shocked. He shook his head hard to shake off those Malice thoughts in his mind. He kept clenching and opening his hands. After a long while, he couldn't help but let out a sigh looking at the mess all over the ground. "Big brother doesn't transfer his hatred because of personal grievances, nor does he complain about himself due to his own losses… Instead, I've been dwelling on this.
Can I really, like big brother before, win over my peers and become the heir? I—"
Madara shook his head forcefully again, forcing himself not to think anymore. He just stared at the mess on the ground, and his expression slowly became firm. "Although compared to big brother, I'm still far from enough, but as big brother said, all hardships are just the cultivation of a new beginning…
Big brother has done his best for me. So, I have to do my best too. In fact, I must take on my corresponding responsibilities. I can't let big brother down. At least, I need to be as good as big brother and win over all my peers!"
After saying this, Madara clenched his fists again. After strengthening his conviction repeatedly in his heart, he began to clean up the house. Just looking at his vigorous and eager-to-go momentum all over his body, it seemed that he was over - exerting himself.
On the other side, Ling also came to the corridor of the front yard with Izuna's company.
This was the first time he had left home after his injury. The various sounds in his ears made him feel extremely curious.
Among them, the most obvious was the rhythm brought by the wind.
The low wail when it blew across the eaves, the sparse chirping when it swept over the leaves, and then the fresh smell of the earth came over with it. Finally, it gently brushed over your hair, taking away the annoyance in people's hearts quietly.
Before losing his eyesight, Ling had never experienced such a feeling. This was also the first time he felt that the completely dark world showed him a side free of any Malice.
After a brief moment of stupefaction, Ling let out a soft laugh. "It doesn't seem that bad... People should really go out more often."
Izuna looked up at his big brother beside him, confused. He couldn't quite understand why his big brother would smile so gently just because of a gentle breeze.
But he liked his big brother's current smile. During this period of recuperating at home after the mission was over, although his big brother also smiled, it always made him feel that there was something between them. Those smiles weren't as heart - warming as this one here.
[Sure enough! Big brother just lacks a blind stick like the blind swordsman in the story. After I become stronger, I must give big brother a better blind stick!]
Ling didn't know that his little brother had secretly labeled him, but he was really in a good mood at the moment. He tilted his head slightly. "Didn't Izuna say he wanted to show me what he learned newly? What do you want to show me?"
"Yeah! It's about chakra refinement! The clan school teacher said I'm the fastest in progress!"
"Really? Our Izuna is so amazing~" Ling reached out and ruffled Izuna's hair. "Big brother will feel it attentively. Try to refine chakra, Izuna?"
Izuna nodded vigorously and pulled Ling to sit down on the corridor edge, closed his eyes, and concentrated on condensing chakra as the teacher had taught him a few days ago.
Ling placed his hand on Izuna's shoulder, carefully feeling the flow of energy in Izuna's body. After a moment, he retracted his hand with a soft smile and said gently, "It seems there's a little genius in our family too."