Seven hours had already passed since they set out from the village.
"This looks like a good spot," Alice announced.
Aoba quickly dismounted, and the rest of the team followed suit, eager for a moment to rest.
Setting up tents and pulling supplies from the carriage, they each worked with smiles.
As twilight settled in, they gathered around a small crackling fire to eat.
"So, Alice, is it true that you're in line for the next Hokage?" Aoba asked.
At that, Inoichi laughed loud enough for the nearby animals to hear. "I wouldn't doubt it! She has that in her, don't you think, Iruka?"
"Absolutely," the academy teacher chimed in, crossing his arms with a proud grin. "Alice had one of the highest test scores in our class one year."
"Right," Hayate added, "and I think Baki told me she scored a perfect score on the written exams."
Alice honestly didn't know what to think. Perhaps she did do all those things, but the prospect of being Hokage was never part of her aspirations. And while she appreciated their encouragement, she wanted to stay humble—just a woman in a girl's body with a secret mission that didn't involve leadership or gain.
"Come on, guys," she said, waving a hand with a lighthearted smile. "I'm just here to help. I don't want to be Hokage anyway. Besides, it's about serving the village regardless of what our titles are."
Her words, while genuine, did little to curb their enthusiasm.
"Still, it's nice to dream, right?" Aoba said, chuckling. "Knowing you could be Hokage someday is kind of amazing."
"Dreams are important," Inoichi added. "Remember that, Alice. They help our clan push forward, sometimes help us become who we're meant to be."
Alice felt grateful for their support.
A moment later, she closed her eyes for a moment, focusing inwardly.
"I haven't sensed anything out of the ordinary since we left the village," turning things back to business. "So if things go smoothly, I think we'll reach our destination without issue."
"By the way," Aoba pressed, feeling intrigued to ask, "how far is your sensing range?"
Alice hesitated. She had worked very hard to refine her skill, and the truth was, she had grown her sensing ability far enough to sense the entire village from her apartment—but revealing that would only alarm them.
"I can't give an exact distance," she carefully replied, "but I can sense more than seventy-five percent of the Leaf Village at a time."
The revelation took everyone by surprise, especially Inoichi. "Seventy-five percent? I thought it was only fifty!"
The light banter continued until Hayate interjected, asking, "Speaking of our destination, where exactly are we headed again?"
Iruka answered, "We're heading to a docking station where they'll transport the bodies to Blood Prison."
Inoichi frowned, saying, "I recall Tayuya was last seen there. They said that she managed to escape somehow."
Aoba leaned forward, shaking his head, and said, "But we don't actually know if she did escape or if it was just rumors."
"True," Inoichi agreed, contemplating the situation.
Alice had foreknowledge of this world but found it troublesome to navigate; ever since their meddling, she felt unable to fully predict what lay ahead. She didn't want to create unnecessary fear among her team, so she wanted to keep quiet about the matter.
"What do you think?" Inoichi probed, seeking her input as he often did.
Alice opened her mouth, surprised they would ask for her perspective.
"Well, it's likely Orochimaru's doing," she simply stated, trying to keep her tone casual. "He tends to have a hand in these things."
Everyone agreed, recognizing the truth of her words. Orochimaru was a figure entwined in so many sinister plots, always doing things in the shadows.
"I guess we should stay cautious, then," Hayate suggested. "If he's involved, we'll need to be ready for anything."
"Exactly," Alice agreed, placing herself firmly back into the leader role. "You're all free to relax tonight, though. If anything feels off, I'll sense it immediately."
Inoichi regarded her with care, reminding her that if things got too hard for her, he'd take watch without a second thought.
With a collective agreement, the group began to settle into their tents. And as the night wore on, Alice oscillated between restlessness and sleep, keeping her senses on the rise.
Eventually, as she was drifting off into slumber, a sensation jolted her awake. She abruptly sat up.
Sensing the air around her, she slipped from her tent and scanned a wide vicinity of the surrounding forest. Her range instinctively searched for anything out of place.
Something felt off. Or at least she thought.
As she concentrated to expand her senses, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"Alice?" Hayate emerged from his tent, sleepy yet alert. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," she whispered. "Sorry to alarm you."
With that, she returned to her tent and managed to get some rest. Yet her dreams were filled with unsettling images that went in and out of her mind.
By dawn, they all arose.
Once they had gathered their things and packed the tents, they returned to the road, moving quickly to reach their destination.
Hours passed by until they reached an open clearing with green hills in the backdrop. Alice kept her senses attuned for any disturbances. And as they marched onward, something unusual caught Aoba's eyes.
Afar off stood a figure. He was quite a distance away, but he remained still.
"Hey, Alice," Aoba said, pulling his gaze from the figure to the team. "What do you think about that?"
"About what?" she wondered.
"The guy in the black robe—over there. What do you make of that?"
She placed her head out the window and squinted at the unknown man draped in a black robe. A straw hat obscured the figure's face, setting off alarms in Alice's head.
"That's strange," she softly confessed, trying to sense the figure's presence. "I haven't felt anyone since we left."
Iruka had surprise written all over his face as he said, "You can usually sense everything, Alice. This might be a little concerning."
"I can't sense anything from him either," Inoichi murmured, casting a wary glance at Alice.
"Everyone, stay on your guard," she replied with a steely tone. "I don't like the look of things."
The closer the carriage got, the more Alice could sense the group's collective anxiety—she felt it in the way Aoba's hands clenched around the handle of his weapon, the way Inoichi furrowed his brow in concentration. Even Iruka, usually the calmest among them, couldn't shake off the feeling of impending danger.
Finally, they came to a complete stop directly in front of the figure, who remained positioned squarely in the middle of the road as if not willing to move.
They all stepped outside, and Iruka moved forward slightly, clearing his throat to ask, "What business do you have standing in our way?"
He spoke assertively, attempting to gauge the stranger's intentions. Yet the figure remained silent for a moment.
Then, with slow movements, he lifted the hat from his head. As it fell away, silver hair was revealed, gleaming in the sunlight. Who else could it be other than Arthur Bennett?
Already, Alice's hairs stood up as she exclaimed, "Kaito!"
Without wasting a moment, she reached for her pouch, intending to pull out a slip of paper to alert Jada for backup—only to find it missing.
"What? Where is it?" She turned her wide eyes toward Iruka. "You have to call Jada! Use your paper!"
But Iruka's own expression mirrored hers. He reached for his pouch before gasping in disbelief, "It's gone!"
"Looking for these?" Arthur said in a chilling tone.
He held up both slips of paper between his fingers, glowing a sinister red as if sealed.
The team stood frozen in shock for an instant, struggling to comprehend the sudden and bewildering turn of events.
Arthur had long since known that Jada equipped not just Alice with monitoring papers, but also Iruka. Then there was the fact that he also knew that Alice was alone in all of this, far from the protection of the players back at the Leaf Village.
"Just who is this...?" Hayate started to ask, but before he could finish, Alice's voice flooded into his mind through the telekinetic transmission technique.
The technique was a rare and powerful tool, one that allowed the user to bypass the limitations of space and transmit their thoughts directly into the minds of others. And when she used it, she could link dozens of people at a time.
Inoichi's eyes widened as he heard Alice's voice relay quick messages to them. And based on Arthur's calmness, he felt the unease of the fact that he was aware of this technique as well, and that Alice was using it to keep them informed.
Arthur's expression remained unchanged, and his eyes were unnaturally cold and dark. He took a step forward, and in an instant, the air around him began to distort. He then blurred past the team, cutting loose the carriage's restraints.
The frightened horse recoiled in terror. It let out a shrill whine and then suddenly turned and ran, fleeing in the opposite direction. The carriage, now free from its constraints, toppled over, and the caskets lurched before tumbling to the earth.
Arthur stood in the middle, no longer wearing a black robe that obscured his appearance. Everyone saw the signature purple rope wrapped around his waist—the signature attire of a Sound shinobi.
Aoba immediately leaped back, and he threw two kunai, but the latter simply raised a hand, and with just a single finger, the kunai were knocked back, falling harmlessly to the ground.
Before Aoba could throw another attack, the rest of the team had fallen back. Their faces were filled with shock and confusion; they were stunned not just by Arthur's speed but also by his power.
"What are you after?!" Hayate demanded.
Arthur's response was unexpected. He corrected, "Not what, but who…"
Each of their faces darkened as they clenched their jaws.
"There are three things that don't belong to you," he continued. "Just hand them over while you still can…"
The team's faces turned pale, and they exchanged worried glances. It was clear now that Arthur was after the corpses.
"You're not going to take those bodies," Inoichi stated with authority. "We won't let that happen."
The team began to move into a formation. Arthur watched them with intrigue.
There was no chance that such an off team would be so well organized. It was almost as if they had practiced together for years and had developed what looked like perfect chemistry. All thanks to Alice's technique.
Arthur's gaze shifted to her, who stood at the center of the formation and said, "Alice, was it? Let's see how your world crumbles after I show you real power..."
Could they do it? Could they stand a chance against his might?
Iruka was the first to act. His form was obscured by a sudden puff of smoke. Before the vapor dispersed, two large shuriken were hurled toward Arthur.
With grace, Arthur sidestepped twice to dodge each projectile as they whizzed by. He recognized this maneuver as mere theatrics, for behind the distraction, he sensed the real threat—Hayate Gekko's swift approach.
"Secret Sword: Tsukikage!"
His form left afterimages in his wake as he charged with a katana.
"Nice try," Arthur muttered under his breath.
After Hayate closed the distance between them, aiming directly for Arthur's heart, Arthur caught Hayate's wrist in an iron grip, halting his attack midair as if it were nothing more than a plaything.
Shocked by the sudden halt in momentum, Hayate heard Alice mentally relay to abandon the weapon. It was a mistake, one that Arthur capitalized on.
As the sword slipped from Hayate's grasp, Arthur allowed Hayate to slip away. He then bounced the sword off his feet and caught the blade in midair. With four quick swipes, he knocked back four additional large shuriken thrown by Iruka and Aoba, sending them flying off course.
For a brief moment, Arthur lost sight of Hayate, but he knew what this was: 'The Transparency technique…'
Such a technique made Hayate nearly undetectable to the naked eye. But Hayate wasn't Arthur's immediate threat.
All around, Aoba's crows took flight, forming a black swirling mass around the clearing. With their wings beating violently, they obscured visibility further and filled the air with screeches and disembodied cries only affecting Arthur.
'Scattering crows jutsu…' Arthur knew it as.
Such a tactic was to distract him with avian allies, but the spiraling crows were barely an obstacle to him.
Inoichi, on the other hand, had already unleashed his binding technique, immobilizing Arthur in an attempt to restrain his movements.
One could say that this was the perfect strategy, able to execute a series of techniques timed perfectly that wouldn't obstruct their allies while flawlessly capturing their opponent.
"Not bad, Alice…" Arthur coolly said. At that moment, Hayate, still invisible, launched his assault, moving in close with another sword at the ready. Before he could find his mark, Arthur's eyes suddenly glowed red as he broke free from Inoichi's binding technique and impaled Hayate right in the chest with the katana! "Now let's see what else you can do…"
The unexpected pain caused Hayate to violently cough up blood just as he turned visible again.
"Hayate!" Iruka screamed in horror.
He was desperate to help, but it was too late. Before anyone could process the scene, Arthur twisted the sword, pulling it free, then spun around in one smooth motion. With a final, deft slice, he severed Hayate's head from his shoulders.
In that moment, it felt as if time had frozen.
Blood sprayed into the air, staining the ground. The body stood for a heartbeat longer, rigid and still, before collapsing motionlessly to the dirt floor.
Their most skilled kenjutsu user, their stalwart ally, had fallen just like that. The sight struck grim terror into the hearts of Alice, Iruka, Inoichi, and Aoba, each one in disbelief.
Arthur swiped the blood from the blade and said with a low, composed voice, "This may be worthwhile after all…"