There was a pervading silence until Alice screamed out in fury, "You crazy monster!"
And in an instant, she used her telekinetic abilities, summoning an invisible force that tore through the ground, racing toward Arthur. The earth trembled, dirt and debris flying as her attack surged forward like a wave of telekinetic energy.
Despite the power behind it, Arthur remained calm, assessing the chakra's potency. He could practically see the method behind her attack, and it had a critical flaw—it was slow.
With ease, he sidestepped the incoming force. Then, without breaking stride, he turned his attention to Inoichi, who was standing his ground.
"Playtime's over," he remarked, closing the distance with swift strides.
Inoichi momentarily froze, understanding all too well the threat he faced. He instinctively pivoted, trying to forestall Arthur's strike. The weapon flashed in Arthur's hands as he swung the sword. Inoichi found himself frantically dodging as sweat poured down his face, narrowly avoiding each attempt.
One could tell that he was forcing his trembling limbs to keep pace with Arthur's relentless assault. Just when he thought he had evaded an attack, he slipped up just enough for Arthur to close the gap.
At the last moment, Arthur aimed his blade for Inoichi's heart. But just as he prepared to deliver the fatal blow, a sudden, invisible force clamped down on the weapon.
He hadn't been thwarted not by Inoichi's skill but by Alice's timely intervention once again.
"Get away from him!" she shouted as she maintained her hold.
Inoichi quickly leapt back, thankful that Alice had just saved him. If she had been even a fraction late, he wouldn't be standing anymore.
Arthur took the moment to test the strength of her bind. When he found that his base strength couldn't retract the weapon, he slowly let go of it just before the blade completely shattered.
"Hmph…" he scoffed.
Before he could reassess their strategy, Aoba launched an attack: "Fire style: fire dragon bomb!"
Flames that roared from his mouth. The heat could already be felt from Arthur's side as he instinctively raised his forearm to shield himself. The dragon-shaped inferno barreled toward him and engulfed him in a torrential blaze.
"We got him!" said in triumph.
But Alice's instincts were above his, so she warned in a tense voice, "No, something's wrong."
As the flames dissipated, revealing the aftermath of Aoba's technique, there stood Arthur—unscathed and entirely composed. He had his eyes elsewhere, brushing away the ashes from his shoulder as if they were nothing more than flecks of dirt.
"Is that really the best you could do?" he taunted.
The shock was apparent on all of their faces as they tried to process his nonchalance. It was then that they began to notice the little things, his gaze, the way he watched them with an unsettling sort of curiosity, as though he were waiting for their next move.
The crows still flapped in the air, obscuring the landscape. Iruka sprinted forward, undeterred, but Arthur merely stood his ground. The team watched as Iruka closed in, only to stop abruptly.
"Coordinated Light Formation!"
Black symbols outstretched on the ground, spreading across under Arthur. He knew this technique—a barrier designed to trap anyone within its confines, making it seemingly impossible to escape once the user was sealed in it. And in addition to Iruka's own technique, Inoichi was using the Mind Destruction jutsu again but at an even more intense pressure.
Arthur's entire movements, down to his very cells, felt restricted.
A pained expression crossed Inoichi's face as he strained to keep his opponent in check. Arthur, however, merely closed his eyes, looking completely unfazed by their combined efforts.
Alice, believing they had him trapped, took the cue: "Spiritualization jutsu!"
Her spirit manifested out of her physical body and hurtled toward Arthur. By the time his eyes opened, he stood within a vast, white space.
"This again?" he muttered in disdain.
Arthur wasn't the least bit caught off guard. He raised a hand, and his fingers seemed to close around something intangible. With a swift motion, he pulled, and the fabric of this ethereal world shattered like glass.
Alice's spirit recoiled, and Inoichi's face contorted in panic. He had never seen anyone counter Alice's technique before, let alone do it with such ease. The sudden spectacle left everyone breathless.
Arthur flexed his hands as he said, "You didn't think that would work twice, did you?"
Before anyone could react, he vanished. One moment, he was a stationary figure; the next, he stood right behind Iruka. Iruka spun around, swinging a fist at him, but it was a futile attempt. Arthur knocked Iruka's hand away, followed by a crushing punch to the throat.
The next instant, Arthur gripped his neck and lifted him up from the ground.
"Time to die..."
As he squeezed Iruka's neck, the shinobi's body began to change. His limbs transformed, feathers sprouting from his skin as he morphed into one of Aoba's crows.
"Tsk…"
Aoba had been watching from the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Appearing behind Arthur, he aimed a kick at Arthur's head. Arthur ducked without looking, then faced the one who dared rob him of his kill.
The two then engaged in a minor taijutsu scuffle, Arthur effortlessly parrying Aoba's attempts to strike. The real Iruka leapt into the fray.
Together, they unleashed a barrage of punches, kicks, and kunai slashes. But no matter how fierce their attack, Arthur remained dancing around each of them. He wove through their assaults like flowing through water.
It was as if they were just easy obstacles to be cleared.
Inoichi's eyes widened in frustration as he finally understood the depths they had fallen into. Two highly skilled Leaf shinobi were unable to even touch Arthur—let alone make him sweat.
Aoba gritted his teeth as he launched another attack, but it, too, fell short. It became clear to the team that they had to adapt, to come up with a new tactic that would allow them to break through.
As this was happening, Alice finally recovered, finding herself in an unexpected embrace. It was Inoichi, holding her in place to steady her mind.
"You alright?" he asked in concern.
Ignoring him, her attention was immediately drawn to the battlefield. Aoba lay crumpled under Arthur's feet, and Iruka was helplessly clutched by Arthur's grip while being held in the air.
No, she couldn't let Iruka die—not after everything they had fought together for.
"Stop!" she instinctively yelled, raising her hand.
At that very moment, a massive force surged, blowing Arthur away with a sudden ferocity. He tumbled through the air, flipping gracefully before landing softly on his feet.
"Oh…" he mused, glancing at his forearm.
There was a subtle mark there. He had known Alice was strong, but this impressive display brought to mind why she was considered the third strongest player among them, being ranked higher than both Jada and William.
But even with her level of strength, Arthur couldn't help but think, 'It's still not enough…'
As if scripted, the wound on his arm rapidly healed, knitting itself together like it had never happened. He then watched the group rally, each of them preparing for a coordinated four-man sealing technique.
Aoba's crows multiplied, surrounding him in a fluttering dark cloud, obscuring his view. But what could that do against his Tamashii?
'Golden chain: bonding jutsu…'
He raised his palm as an adamantine chain shot forth in a straight line, effortlessly slicing through the myriad of crows.
"Aaah!" Aoba screamed as the chain ensnared him.
He was then pulled toward Arthur. But for a brief moment, Aoba was halted, thanks to Alice's telekinetic technique. She struggled to keep him from moving, yet Arthur knew she would opt in to protect her teammate rather than attack herself.
Before Aoba could regain his senses, Arthur was already upon him, his hand aglow with a menacing blue light.
'Chakra dissection blade…'
With one quick swipe as he passed Aoba mid-air, Inoichi's eyes widened in horror as he registered the gruesome sight. It was a momentary flash, and then, without ceremony, Aoba's head fell from his neck.
Time stilled. They had lost another comrade.
"No… Aoba!" he cried.
Arthur turned to face them, his expression still intact and unfazed by the kill. "Two heads down, two more to go..."
Alice's heart sank, but in that instant, she found clarity in all of this.
"No more!" she shouted. Everyone looked at her. "You… You came here for the bodies, so we'll give them to you if that's what you want."
"Is that so?" he retorted.
She was right in a sense. Arthur wasn't here to simply kill them for sport; he desired the corpses they were transferring. This all could have been avoided had they complied. But he knew they wouldn't.
She could hear Iruka and Inoichi bombarding her mind with surprised reactions to her willingness to abandon the mission.
Did they not understand that this mission had cost them so much already?
"Don't do it, Alice," Inoichi urged, voicing his thoughts.
Arthur didn't need to read her thoughts to grasp her idea; it was clear she wanted to prevent any more deaths. That was why she was seemingly giving up. The more characters that died, the larger the void it created in this story.
And of all of them, Iruka was the most pivotal character here that mattered the most.
Arthur became amused by her desperation.
"You said two more to go, right?" she continued. "That means you didn't come here looking to kill, so just take the bodies and leave."
"Not quite," Arthur replied in a chilling tone. "You've been in my way for some time now…"
Alice didn't understand. What did he mean by "some time?" The two had only met once, and even then, it wasn't that long ago.
As he uttered those last words, two chains emerged from his sleeves, instantly wrapping around Iruka and enveloping him in a tight cocoon.
"Iruka!" she screamed, launching herself towards him in a bid to save her friend. "Let him go!"
She raised both hands to shatter the chains binding the shinobi and unleashed a huge telekinetic force. The chains broke apart in an explosion of shards. Yet to her surprise, only one of them had shattered. Iruka remained trapped, unable to form a single hand sign.
Alice felt despair. Something was holding her back from unleashing that attack again. She looked toward Inoichi, so the Jōnin prepared to unleash the Mind Transfer jutsu. It was a plot to take control of Arthur's body and turn the tide.
But Arthur was always a step ahead.
In a blink, he vanished just as the technique released. Inoichi found himself without a target, causing his body to collapse limp to the ground.
"Inoichi!" Alice screamed.
Before she could gather her thoughts, Arthur materialized right behind Inoichi, clutching the back of his head. Her eyes widened when she understood—Arthur was going to snap his neck.
"No!" she screamed, lunging forward.
But it was too late. With a crack, Arthur broke Inoichi's neck without a second thought.
Alice stopped mid-run. Tears flooded her eyes. Emotions overwhelmed her—grief, anger, despair.
"Why are you doing this?" she whispered as she faced Arthur. "They didn't deserve this!"
Arthur didn't provide a response. He only watched Inoichi's body to make sure that it was indeed dead.
This made Alice even angrier. "I'll make you pay for that!"
Closing the distance, she unleashed a series of taijutsu attacks with all her strength. But Arthur was more agile than her, sidestepping her weak punches and kicks. It was as if he had already assessed her capabilities and was merely playing with her emotions.
He let her land just one hit, but as his body was momentarily absorbing the impact and her fist was digging into his abdomen, he sensed that telekinetic chakra suddenly shroud her strike.
"Hmph…"
Already feeling the full force of her power, he swiftly retreated to maintain control of the situation. He landed by Iruka's cocoon, activating more chains that spiraled into existence around the shinobi.
"Iruka!" she shouted in terror as her teammate's fearful eyes widened within his prison. She began swiping the air in frantic motions, attempting to break the chains binding him, but more and more multiplied under Arthur's direction. "Stop! Please!"
Yet each of her attempts was met with failure, driving her to madness as Arthur continued to add more chains, each one tightening around Iruka's body.
"I said stop!" she declared, swiping again with waves of telekinetic energy. Arthur was relentless. With each addition, he began to squeeze the chains around Iruka tighter. "Iruka, I'll save you! I promise!"
Why was she crying? This was just a virtual world. She had her own mission, her own responsibilities that no one else was aware of, yet she felt this inexplicable need to save this fictional character.
From within the cocoon, Iruka's voice echoed in a final plea before the strength of the chains completely crushed him: "Naruto!"
Crack!
Somewhere far away, Naruto was walking side by side with William. He suddenly came to a halt, pausing as if he felt a disturbance from behind.
Something was wrong, but he couldn't quite place what it was.
William glanced over and asked, "What's wrong, cuz?"
"I… I don't know." Naruto replied, perplexed. "I just thought I felt someone touch my shoulder."
William frowned, not understanding at first. The last time he remembered Naruto doing something like that was three years from now when Jiraiya had died at the hands of the Akatsuki. Yet Jiraiya was here, with them.
"You alright, Naruto?" Jiraiya asked, turning around to the two.
"It's nothing," Naruto replied, trying to brush it off.
But deep down, he couldn't shake the feeling—an overwhelming sense of foreboding like something terrible had just happened.