Eye Power, Will

"Uchiha Madara? Could he really have undergone this training?" Uchiha Izumi was shocked. He had thought the message Third Elder had asked him to pass on to Katsuo before was just a bluff.

"He did train. He underwent it twice. The first time was around when he was ten. He was pecked so badly he began questioning his life. After several rounds, his eyes were nearly ruined. I heard that time, his eyes were full of blood from the pecking, and that Ninja Hawk was directly stewed by the old Patriarch..."

"The second time was when he had just become Patriarch. He faced his own Summoning Beast, a Ninja Hawk in adulthood. After enduring a round of abuse and confronting it with his gaze, he completed that training with a single look."

"I reckon he underwent the training again to make up for the childhood trauma!"

"He succeeded with just one look?" Uchiha Izumi asked in surprise.

"Yes. As I recall, he said this training had three keys: unwavering will, a cold indifference more unruly than a wild beast's, and killing intent locked onto the target like an eagle hunting a rabbit!

"When the eye power forged from those three became one, it could make this kind of Ninja Hawk submit directly!"

"It could also make enemies tremble!"

Uchiha Feng looked into the distance.

"If that was the case, why abandon this training method? Such a valuable method of training was rare..."

"Because it was meaningless... Lord Madara said so..."

"Why would it be meaningless?" Uchiha Izumi hurriedly asked.

"Lord Madara said will was forged through tempering. He did not believe it could be trained through this method. Killing intent was forged through fighting on the battlefield, and had nothing to do with it either..."

"Lord Madara not only abolished this harsh training method, but even called the predecessors fools... for creating such a foolish method of training..."

"..."

Uchiha Izumi fell silent. Upon careful thought, Uchiha Madara's words were indeed logical and well-founded. He could not refute them.

"Then why did you still have that little fellow undergo this training, Elder?"

"Besides, that little fellow has never even seen blood, right? How could he have cold indifference or killing intent without seeing blood? He simply could not control that Ninja Hawk..."

Uchiha Izumi felt that Third Elder had become confused. Sending Katsuo to undertake an impossible training task was completely meaningless!

"He truly cannot control it now, but he can gain much more from it."

"You are right, and Lord Madara is right as well. But Lord Madara's words were too arbitrary. Still, that did suit his personality."

"Why do you say that?" Uchiha Izumi found Third Elder's words increasingly difficult to understand...

"Because I underwent that training method too!"

Ignoring Uchiha Izumi, who had stopped in shock, he continued.

"That training method is useful, and it proceeds step by step. If those special Ninja Hawks are used merely as Summoning Beasts, that would undoubtedly be extremely foolish."

"Lord Madara's words are correct, but they cannot be accepted entirely. He did not understand the true meaning and value behind why the ancestors left behind these Ninja Hawks and this training method. He has always been so arrogant!"

"This training method does indeed have three steps. The first step, as Lord Madara said, requires unwavering will!"

"Once the first step is completed, the Ninja Hawk will no longer hurt people. But that is all. The moment one's will slackens, then sorry, punishment will descend!"

"I see! So that was what the ten-minute limit you mentioned earlier was for! Why didn't you explain it more clearly? Then I could have told that little fellow, and he could have suffered a little less..." Uchiha Izumi first hammered his palm in realization, then rolled his eyes.

"There is no need to explain it so clearly. He is smarter than we imagine!" Uchiha Feng said with great certainty.

Recalling the unwavering will Katsuo had displayed when he opened his Double Tomoe Sharingan, Uchiha Izumi nodded seriously.

"The first step will not be difficult for him!"

Because he had already clearly sensed Katsuo's will just now!

It was only that the shock had been far less than the impending breakthrough of the Sharingan into Three-Tomoe. As for the way Katsuo's Two-Tomoe had spun just now, Uchiha Izumi felt it had merely been his imagination, so he had not intended to mention it.

"I know that. It is the key to the first step, but it is not what one gains from the first step. Like Lord Madara, you have always fallen into a misunderstanding. That is..."

"This is training for the eyes! It is not training for the will. The purpose of this training is to channel will into the eyes. When one opens their eyes, every glance embodies their will!"

Seeing Uchiha Izumi too stunned to speak, Uchiha Feng continued.

"Although this training completely forbids the use of the Sharingan, its true manifestation and effects act upon the Sharingan. That is the most brilliant part of this training method!"

"Perhaps you do not know this, but the best age for this training is actually Katsuo's age. Take Lord Madara and us, for example. By the time he was twenty, there was no longer any point in training this way."

"But for Katsuo, unwavering will is the foundation for becoming strong. Though he is different from others, he is still too young. Children are proud and high-spirited. Without restraint, their will will inevitably be worn down and become lax over time. That is why this kind of training is very necessary now."

In the end, he still underestimated Katsuo. What he feared most was that Katsuo's so-called hard work was merely the whim of a five-year-old child, nothing more than play. If that happened, then all the effort he had invested in Katsuo... would likely yield returns far below his expectations.

There was no such thing as a free lunch. Uchiha Feng was even less of a good man who expected nothing in return. Everything he did came with his own thoughts and purposes.

After Uchiha Feng explained the significance of this training, Uchiha Izumi nodded repeatedly. He inwardly sighed that Third Elder truly possessed foresight and vision far beyond his own.

"Besides, you should know that much of a ninja's knowledge must be remembered through action. No matter how much theory one learns, they may not necessarily be able to apply even a fraction of it."

"What he needs to focus on most right now is still physical training."

With a single sentence, Uchiha Feng got to the heart of the matter. His view was the same as Uchiha Izumi's.

There was simply nothing much left to teach at present...

Trying to swallow too much would only lead to indigestion. Go play staring games with that little chick for now!

Back in the camp, Katsuo was doing push-ups with his eyes closed. That peck from earlier had left his eyeballs still burning with pain, but he did not immediately retaliate against the little eaglet. Instead, he continued training his body on his own. He did not look at the little thing because he was worried that, in his anger, he might crush it to death...

Katsuo was not looking at it, but that did not mean the little fellow was willing to let things go...

Its eyes remained fixed firmly on Katsuo. Its head even bobbed up and down along with Katsuo's rising and falling movements as he did push-ups, making for a particularly comical sight...

Before they knew it, Uchiha Feng and Uchiha Izumi had returned to the clan grounds. Uchiha Feng sent him away, then headed alone to the courtyard where the Great Elder lived.

After the guards at the entrance announced him, Uchiha Feng smoothly entered the courtyard and met the Great Elder waiting for him in the room—Uchiha Sou.