Capítulo 86: Exceptional Teamwork
As the battle raged on, Arthur was considering his chakra reserves.
Hardly any techniques were performed except his Regenerative Healing technique to defend and recover from the explosion and his Tamashii. If things continued as they were, he'd have more than enough chakra left.
Suddenly, Sakura launched a kunai at him like a missile hurtling through the air. The force it was thrown at was not normal. He dodged the kunai by flipping back several yards away.
As he recovered his balance, she charged forward, ignoring her teammates. Arthur met her attack with a counterattack, his fist colliding with hers with a thunderous impact!
The force of the blow sent Sakura reeling backward, but she quickly recovered, confused at what had happened.
"That punch," he said, flexing his fingers. "That was the chakra-enhanced strength jutsu…"
Sakura was now muddled. How could he have possibly known that?
Arthur himself could only speculate that it was indeed Margaret who had taught it to her. No other character could except Tsunade.
The battle continued. Arthur and Sakura exchanged epic blows that thundered the air. His chakra-enhanced strength easily outmatched hers.
The other two charged in, but his Tamashii was tracking their every move. Naruto lunged as he unleashed a barrage of punches. Arthur, despite being interlocked with Sakura, dodged each strike.
Sasuke aimed a kick, but Arthur flipped over it, reappearing behind him. Sakura, seeing an opening, launched a fist forward. Inches from landing, it was dodged with a mere sidestep.
Frustration began to creep into Team 7 as they regrouped. They were hitting nothing but air, making their attacks quite futile.
That's when he heard Sakura relay to her team about his eyes. Sasuke found this revelation the most suspicious.
"We'll take him down no matter what!" Naruto declared.
"Hmph." Arthur scoffed. "Come and try…"
Sakura charged in first, her movements a lot faster than before. She launched another attack, her fist aimed at his chest. He blocked the blow with a raised forearm.
Naruto followed up with a kick, which managed to connect with Arthur's side. The pain was hardly felt. But this wasn't their real attack, for if he had dodged, Sasuke would have landed a more impactful blow.
Arthur elegantly shoved the Uzumaki's leg away and dove to dodge a kick by the Uchiha. Sakura recklessly went in for punch, having thought Sasuke's attack would land. So Arthur let her get closer before rising from the ground and connecting a jab right to her stomach!
The impact sent her reeling backward, her body crumpling to the ground.
"That was a stupid mistake," he commented.
Before Sakura could recover, he moved in for the kill. His foot lashed out, connecting with her side with the force of a battering ram. The impact sent her sliding across the ground, skidding to a halt against a rock.
Sakura lay motionless for a second, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The pain was excruciating, but she refused to give up. She forced herself to her feet, clutching the area that was kicked.
Naruto and Sasuke, witnessing the brutal attack on their teammate, wouldn't let that stand. They charged at him in anger.
Arthur didn't blink, meeting their next assault with a sense of calmness. He continued to dodge and weave through their attacks.
Sakura, unable to join the fray, used the basic Healing technique to mend her wounds. When she felt how bruised her injury was, she suddenly coughed up blood. Arthur was no joke!
The battle raged on, a spectacle of endurance and willpower. The outcome was uncertain, but one thing was clear: this was a fight for the ages.
Arthur watched as Naruto unleashed a barrage of shadow clones.
"You should know," he said as he dodged and weaved through the clones, "the same tactic doesn't work on me twice."
Naruto was undeterred by the taunt. He continued summoning clones, prompting Arthur to take a different approach.
'Seven heavenly breaths: first activation.'
Before he could be overwhelmed, his speed and strength amplified. His blows became faster as they landed with a devastating force. Just one punch was enough to remove up to two clones from existence.
The Narutos were no match for his raw power, their bodies dwindling by the second.
But this wasn't a solo battle. Sasuke appeared right behind Arthur, a katana aimed at his back—the same katana Arthur had dropped earlier. The blade pierced right through the heart, only for Arthur's body to be replaced with a rock.
"Substitution!" Sasuke screamed.
They all began looking for him. When they spotted him, he was standing right behind Idate.
With an iron grip, he grabbed Idate by the neck and held him up. Idate's legs swayed back and forth helplessly.
"Guys, help!" the boy screamed.
"Let him go," Naruto shouted, "or I'll—"
"Or you'll what?" Arthur interrupted.
"Guys, please!" Idate cried, tears welling up in his eyes. "I don't wanna die!"
With a sickening crunch, Arthur snapped Idate's neck. The boy's body went limp. Arthur let go, allowing the filler character to collapse to the ground.
A stunned silence fell over the scene. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were frozen in shock. They had never witnessed someone die before their eyes. Not a brutal act of violence.
The trio just stood there in silence. Who knows what they were thinking? They had underestimated their opponent, and it had cost them dearly.
Forget that they failed their mission; someone died before their very eyes. Now they were paralyzed by fear.
Arthur understood things. Because the players prevented any malicious events from occurring in the main characters' story, they hadn't undergone their much-needed development.
He was by no means going to let them go, so he launched another attack, prompting the trio to wake up from their daze.
The battle resumed, but this time, the stakes were even higher. Idate's death ignited something within Team 7, a burning desire to make Arthur pay at all costs!
He charged at Naruto first. The two fighters met in the middle, colliding with their fists. He couldn't just sense it; he could see it in Naruto's eyes—the blue slitted pupils of the Nine-Tails' chakra waiting to be released!
Sakura knew that she had to do something.
"Ninja art: snow Sakura dance!"
Arthur, in the midst of a battle with Naruto, had never seen her technique before. How could he when he's never played any of the video games?
Sakura threw several bags into the air where the two were fighting. Sasuke, working in tandem with her, finally activated his Sharingan. He then launched a barrage of shuriken to distract Arthur and create an opening for Naruto to escape.
Some of the shuriken ripped open the bags, revealing what appeared to be hundreds of Sakura blossoms. Arthur found himself in a barrier of flower petals.
Upon closer inspection, they weren't at all flower petals; they were explosive tags!
"Fire style," Sasuke screamed, "fireball jutsu!"
The flames ignited a falling tag, creating a chain reaction. One-by-one, every tag exploded, causing a series of explosions to fill the battlefield.
"Wind style,' Naruto howled, "giant air bullet!"
Arthur could still see inside the explosion, crossing his arms so as not to inhale the fumes. Naruto never had any other wind style techniques, save what he used with the Rasengan. Only a player would have taught him one!
The wind technique collided with the explosion, further enhancing the blast while creating a wall of fire that engulfed Arthur. The heat was intense; the flames threatened to consume him.
"Fire style: dragon flame jutsu!"
A torrent of flames erupted from Sasuke's mouth. The technique reached the wall of flames, causing an explosion to shoot towards the sky like a fiery dragon.
It took almost an entire minute for them to see the results. And when they did, they were stunned beyond measure.
The fire subsided, revealing Arthur encased in a dome of ice. The flames had melted most of the ice, creating a surreal spectacle. He emerged from it, dusting away the ash from his shoulders.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura couldn't say a word. They had unleashed their most powerful attacks, but Arthur had remained unscathed. His resilience was terrifying, his power seemingly limitless!
As the flames danced around him, he looked at them and said, "I'll admit, it takes a powerful jutsu to break that ice… Your teamwork was exceptional, the best I've seen since I've arrived here."
The trio exchanged worried glances. They had faced countless opponents, but none as powerful as him. They were outmatched, outclassed, and outgunned.
Then something finally registered in Sasuke's head. In a straightforward tone, he asked, "You… who are you really?" Naruto and Sakura were confused, both asking what Sasuke was getting at. "Look at that ice… Doesn't it look familiar?"
Arthur stood amidst the chaos, letting them figure things out for themselves.
"H… Hey, you're right, Sasuke!" Naruto announced. "It's like Haku's Kekkei Genkai."
"How can he have two Kekkei Genkai?!" Sakura wondered.
Arthur, having no need to hide himself, finally dropped the disguise. The light from the fire radiated off his face, revealing his true form. And when the trio saw him, they were amazed.
His appearance was striking, his features sharp and angular, and his were eyes piercing. His aura was that of a predator, a force of nature to be reckoned with.
Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were speechless. All of them had seen him more than once in the Leaf Village. To think he had fooled them this much and would appear before them now of all times.
The revelation hit them with full force.
"Get back!" Sasuke anxiously screamed to his teammates. "You two, get out of here now!"
They were confused, their fear momentarily forgotten. Why would Sasuke get so nervous at one man's presence all of a sudden?
"No way," Naruto growled. "We're a team, Sasuke. Let us help you!"
Sasuke is reluctant to answer at first. Then he tells them how dangerous of a person Arthur truly is. Of course Sasuke would know. After all, he was the only one out of the three to actually fight Arthur and survive.
"Sasuke," Sakura tried assuring. "Naruto's right. We're a team. If we stick together, then—"
"Shut up, Sakura!" he screamed, interrupting her.
She had never heard Sasuke raise his voice that way. She was terrified of whatever Arthur had done to him to make him so uneasy.
"Character development," Arthur finally said. "You three lost because you couldn't fully develop into who you were supposed to be."
"Quit spoutin' nonsense!" Naruto threatened. "You're gonna pay for what you did to our friends." He was referring to the rest of the Rookie Nine who Arthur had slaughtered.
"Don't think this world revolves around you, boy…" Arthur mocked.
Naruto didn't let Arthur psyche him out. In a triumphant tone, he said, "Just because your justus are like Haku's, doesn't mean anything. I'm still gonna beat you!"
"Haku?" Arthur repeated. "I slew a Haku once…"
"You what?!" Naruto yelled. His anger was at the tipping point.
"You heard me… I slew your gay little friend."
Suddenly, the wind started to howl, carrying with it the scent of salt. Naruto has had enough.
Driven by a primal rage, his nails elongated into sharp claws, and his hair grew spikier. As the character's teeth sharpened, Arthur could see the Nine-Tails' chakra coursing through his veins, transforming him before everyone's very eyes.
Sasuke and Sakura watched in horror as Naruto underwent this transformation. They were scared of what their friend might do because they had never seen him like this.
Arthur, however, remained calm. He had faced powerful opponents before, and he knew how to handle them.
Naruto's eyes turned red as he let out an animalistic roar into the sky. Without waiting for his teammates, he charged.
"Naruto!" the two yelled. But their cries fell on deaf ears.
The distance was closing quickly. Naruto aimed a claw at Arthur's head. The moment the attack landed, Arthur turned into pure smoke.
It quickly condensed into Naruto's seven orifices. Suddenly, the Nine-Tails' chakra began to fade. His body returned to its normal shape. He coughed uncontrollably.
Sakura tried to rush in to do something, but she was stopped by Sasuke.
"Don't!" he said with urgency. "Whatever's happening, Arthur's inside Naruto's body. If you get near him, you might get caught in whatever jutsu he's using."
The two felt helpless. They couldn't do a thing!
Naruto finally collapsed to the ground, exhausted and vulnerable. Arthur reappeared right on top of him, holding a broad sword. The other two immediately recognized the weapon—the Executioner's Blade!
Arthur raised his weapon high above his head to deliver the final blow. Sakura screamed out Naruto's name as Sasuke tried his best to dash forward. The Uchiha wasn't going to make it!
"Time to die…"
Blade coming down fast, a figure blurred past, swiping Naruto's body away just as the weapon crashed to the floor.
Arthur stood there, staring at the empty spot the main character was just at. There was no telling what was going on in his head. He was so close, yet so far.
Not a single other character was nearby. No, he would have spotted them with his Tamashii if they were. So who could have possibly stopped him from ridding this world of its main character?
When Arthur turned around to confirm things, his face remained unreadable.
It was Jada holding Naruto's limp body in her arms!
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