Capítulo 156: Even If You Summoned One Hundred
Other shinobi watching from vantage points could only gawk in disbelief. Many of their faces either mirrored shock, fear, or admiration.
"Just who is this guy?" William said to himself.
Arthur's name, Hoshikage, was never once mentioned in this world. Whatever William was going through, it was a challenge that felt insurmountable, an opponent who transcended the usual expectations of a shinobi.
While his clones implemented a strategy of sheer numbers, attempting to overwhelm Arthur, it swiftly became clear that this tactic was bound to fail.
So how was Arthur doing it?
Simple: he had experience; he had faced situations like this before and knew how shadow clones worked.
His eyes darted from one opponent to the next. With excellent movements, he began to parry and evade once more.
To an untrained eye, it was a choreography of battle—but to those with understanding, it was refined skill. Each strike he landed sent clone after clone reeling back, staggering under the relentless assault.
In that moment, a clone lunged toward him. But without showing any signs of distress, he sidestepped, smoothly knocking it aside with a perfectly timed fist.
He then spun seamlessly to catch the next attack from a different clone, trapping its fist between both forearms. Reacting in the same motion, he delivered a sharp kick to the clone's belly, propelling it backward.
"He's from this country, right?!" exclaimed a spectator in awe.
Arthur closed the distance, leaning in to jab the clone right in the throat, then quickly pinning it to the ground with his full weight. The remaining clones looked on, watching their companion grapple beneath his physical dominance.
Something was different about this clone—a nagging instinct; Arthur sensed this one needed to be dealt with swiftly.
With explosiveness, he rained down dozens of punches in rapid succession against the helpless clone's torso. Each blow was strikingly fast, leaving the audience bewildered and amazed.
The clone struggled to escape, but Arthur's speed rendered it powerless.
When he transitioned from delivering punches to strikes against its head, it became almost mesmerizing. It felt as if time slowed, allowing each impact to echo throughout the arena.
By the time he straightened himself, the expression on the faces of the remaining clones confirmed what he suspected: the William he'd just demolished was the real one!
He remained stoic, eying the closest clone, which fidgeted in agitation as it fully understood the hopelessness of their cause.
"I heard you trained with a Sannin," Arthur said, "and this is the best you can do?"
The nearest clone, feeling agitated by that comment, raced forward with its fists clenched and its jaw set.
With composure, Arthur stood, letting the clone get inches from striking him before he swiftly intercepted its attack with his left forearm. The impact was absorbed as he elbowed the clone sharply in the temple, knocking it off balance.
In one smooth motion, he then twisted the clone's right arm around, forcing it to bend awkwardly before he kneed it in the face, launching it back several yards.
"What a combo!" the announcer shouted.
As if fueled by that comment, another clone approached, attempting a spinning kick. Arthur reacted by grabbing the clone's leg, forcing it down to the ground with finesse.
Then he stomped on its back, and the sound that followed was both sickening and impressive—the crack of its spinal cord resounded, sending chills to those who heard it.
Lowering himself near the fallen clone, he struck again with his elbow, targeting its clavicle before shattering it.
After all that hard work, there were still four Williams left able to fight. Despite the odds, things were still in Arthur's Favor.
The remaining clones charged all at once, a desperate united front, knowing this was their final stand. Arthur understood that he had to be even more precise now than ever due to extra space.
As all four Williams attempted to strike, Arthur executed a flawless defense. With both forearms, he neutralized two punches, and with his left elbow, he blocked the last one. Pushing against their collective momentum, he shoved the farthest clone back as the others followed up with kicks.
The spectators were speechless.
Arthur lifted his leg to stop one kick, knocking the second away. The third he caught—letting it go just as the fourth one recovered for a new attack.
Every block and parry turned into flowing water; his body moved instinctively.
With each passing moment, the remaining clones fell one by one, succumbing to the relentless power that was Arthur.
Because he knew which William was which, he knew that he had to send a message.
A clone happened to stumble backward, allowing Arthur to raise his leg up and deliver a jaw-dropping kick to its neck. A crunching sound was heard, indicating the clone's bones had snapped.
Many were frightened, believing that might have been the real William. But when the clone finally dispersed, they let out a sigh of relief.
Arthur could tell what the real William was thinking: 'What if that was actually me?'
Only a few seconds passed, and only one clone was eventually left standing.
Arthur eyed it, sensing the distress within; this wasn't the real William. The true William lay sprawled on the ground, still panting, recovering from the earlier blows.
The last clone drew closer, relentless and unwilling to yield, yet Arthur remained poised.
When the clone hurled two punches in quick succession, he blocked them both with ease. Even as panting breaths passed through his lips, he maintained his steadiness.
With a swift flurry of strikes, he rained down punches on the clone's chest, each impact sending it staggering back as if it were weighed down.
The crowd rose to their feet, hollering and shouting in wild encouragement, feeding the adrenaline coursing through the arena.
Then came the final blow—a devastating kick to the clone's throat, and with that, it fell, collapsing to the ground as it dissipated.
"He took them all down?!" the spectators celebrated as their voices rang overhead.
"Unbelievable!" someone hollered. "He's unreal!"
William, still struggling to regain his footing, finally managed to sit up. He looked starry-eyed at the fallen clones and the victorious Arthur standing before him.
His mind seemed to struggle to process the stunning truth before him.
These were supposed to be authentic clones with the same level of strength as the original. How was one shinobi able to take them all down?
William felt a deep sense of disbelief. This was the first time this had ever happened to him. No, it was more than that. This was the first time anyone had embarrassed him this badly.
Sure, many of Naruto Uzumaki's opponents had defeated his shadow clones virtually without concern, but those clones had always been a fraction of his strength.
These clones were different—they embodied him in every way, possessing the same skills and strategies, yet they fell before Arthur's overwhelming onslaught as if they were illusions.
Finally, it registered to William: these were all parts of himself, and they had all just been dispatched as if they were nothing more than a child's playthings.
"How disappointing," he heard Arthur say.
Without even knowing, Arthur had been standing right in front of him, staring him down.
"Even if you summoned one hundred of you, the results would still be the same."
Each word landed hard, sinking deeper into his consciousness.
William made a face of despair, as if believing that all his training and experience were for nothing. Forget about a fair fight or the idea of overpowering their opponent; this was straight psychological warfare.
The added chatter in the audience only consumed him.
He wasn't a hero of this world; he was just a man playing pretend. Arthur's words were just a factor at play to his pride.
"How could this be happening?" William whispered. Arthur could practically hear the disbelief in his voice amidst the cheering crowd. "I… I trained so hard. I thought I was ready…"
"You sought strength," Arthur replied, "but strength isn't always about numbers; it's about how you use the power you have. And William… your power is weak…"
The crowd, whom William had sought to impress, now urged Arthur to finish him off. Faces reflected the hope that he would pulverize him. And the resolve in Arthur's stance signaled the end of this encounter.
As William lay there, the world around him began to blur.
Just when he thought it might all be over, a voice broke through the haze of his dazed thoughts. It was loud and truly infectious; it was Naruto.
"Get up, cuz! Don't give up!"
His voice cut through the noise, piercing through William's confusion. He couldn't gauge how long Naruto had been cheering him on or how many words of encouragement had been relayed.
But before he could fully grasp the moment, Naruto's voice rang even louder: "You're an Uzumaki! You taught me that Uzumakis don't ever give up!"
Finally, those words ignited something deep within him. In that split second, the world around him faded, leaving only the strength of Naruto's rallying cry, urging him to rise against the odds.
A new understanding began to dawn. This wasn't the end of things nor a humiliating defeat, but a transformative experience.
Arthur straightened and watched as William managed to stand, still wobbly yet resolved to face his opponent. Whatever Naruto had said, it had a bigger impact than the crowd predicted.
"I won't back down!" William defiantly declared.
If there was ever a time to laugh or smirk, now would be it. But Arthur's expression remained the same.
What was there to be proud of? He knew William's personality as well as the main character's determination to never give up on his friends. William standing back up was all according to his expectations.
At any time, Arthur could have ended William's character, thus ending his life.
But that's not why Arthur chose to participate in this final match. He needed to test skills against another player. And who better than the player who claimed to be stronger than Jada?
"You're just another tough guy I've gotta take down!" William declared, adopting a fighting stance.
"Hmph…" Arthur scoffed, flexing his fingers. "Your world's just beginning to crumble… You should have stayed down."
The spectators gasped in delight. If the battle had ended like that, they might have been content but wouldn't have been satisfied. They wanted more from both sides!
In truth, Arthur had not even pushed himself to the limits, holding back a wealth of techniques that could have turned the battle in his favour long ago.
His greatest advantage lay in the deep understanding he had cultivated about William—his past and what was written beforehand.
Arthur was ten moves ahead, knowing exactly how to counter each of William's attempts. On paper, William was a fierce wolf among scrambling rabbits, but in actuality, he was more like a rat facing a lion within the barriers of this arena.
If Arthur needed to continue beating this man down to knock some rationality into him, then he had more than enough chakra to do so.
At that moment, William summoned two more clones. The process felt liberating; he could show Arthur what being an Uzumaki truly meant.
Stepping forward, he conjured the Rasengan in his right hand. His two clones then began to incorporate their chakra into the technique, each of their hands moving to align it with William's Rasengan.
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