Chapitre 55: A New Path
Arthur hovered to the top of the village walls.
The Leaf stretched out before him. Destroyed houses huddled together, black smoke curling from various areas, and a strange barrier over the Chūnin Stadium.
That could only mean one thing: Orochimaru was trying to kill Hiruzen.
Arthur deactivated his smoke technique. He closed his eyes for a moment, focusing his chakra.
'Tamashii.'
The world around him sharpened—the cries of distant voices, the fluctuation of various chakra signatures, even the tremor from villagers scattered to hide underground.
Something else snagged at his senses: a familiar musk—Kiba Inuzuka.
Arthur's eyes slowly open.
Tracking him? How? When? Had he revealed something during the fight with Lee? Or had it been his escape from Alice?
It didn't matter. He couldn't allow himself to be captured, not now.
He crouched low to look down at the village, assessing his options. The gate was quite close, but it was also slightly guarded.
As Arthur was thinking, Kiba was zeroing in on his location.
Arthur himself wasn't surprised. The Inuzuka clan, with their heightened sense of smell, would have picked up his trail in an instant.
But why was Kiba alone? Where was his backup?
After Kiba leaped over the top of the walls, he landed with a crouch right behind Arthur.
"Kiba," he called out, slowly rising to face him. "What brings you here?"
Kiba's brow furrowed as he growled, "Don't play dumb, Arthur! We all know what you did to Lee and Sasuke."
'News travels fast…'
Arthur felt a tad annoyed. The last fight couldn't have happened any more than about ten minutes ago.
But maybe he could turn this to his advantage. Maybe he could use Kiba's stupidity to create a diversion.
"Did what?" he asked, feigning innocence. "I had a spar with Lee; nothing more. Things got a little rough, but he'll get better."
Kiba scoffed, saying, "Rough? You crippled him! You left him lying there, unconscious and broken!"
"Is that right? Typical Lee, always pushing himself too hard. He does break easily…"
Anger radiated from Kiba, his fists clenching and unclenching as Akamaru barked out loud.
"Don't try to justify your actions!" he roared. "You're a danger to this village, and I won't let you get away with this!"
This was good. Kiba was enraged. Arthur pushed him further.
"Danger?" he repeated. "What danger? I'm just a visitor here, trying to understand your world. But if this is how you treat your guests, perhaps I should reconsider my welcome."
Kiba's eyes narrowed, and he said, "Don't try to weasel your way out of this, Arthur. You think you can just hurt people, kill them, and think you can get away? No! I'm taking you down!"
Arthur felt amused.
"On what basis do you think I consider you people?"
"W-what?!" Kiba snarled.
"I'll tell you only once: try to block my path or you'll die."
Silence filled the scene.
Kiba stood frozen, his eyes narrowing at Arthur's unmoved expression. Akamaru could sense the impending conflict.
The moment Arthur took a single step forward, Akamaru launched himself up, immediately transforming into Kiba.
"Don't even think about it!" the real Kiba snarled. "Fang-over-fang!"
Arthur remained motionless, showing no fear or surprise.
With a synchronized movement, both Kiba and Akamaru spun around in opposite directions, creating a whirlwind of brown fur and white fangs.
Presumably, it was a tactic to disorient Arthur, but it felt more like an unsure dance than a genuine threat.
When they chose to close in, they lunged at Arthur from opposite sides. Arthur, still calm, stretched his arms out to his sides moments before their attacks landed.
'Water prison jutsu.'
A sphere of water erupted from his palms, encasing both Kiba and Akamaru in an instant!
They yelled in surprise, scrambling inside the barrier. Trapped, they snarled and clawed at the water prison, but it held firm.
"Your techniques, your method of fighting," Arthur taunted, "they're all so predictable that I almost can't stand being around your character... And you think fighting with dogs at your side makes your clan real police?"
Kiba continued to pound his cage with frustration.
"Hardly impressive. No… A lack of creativity. Amateurish at best."
Akamaru whimpered, knowing it couldn't hold its breath for much longer. Animal cruelty, yes, but for Arthur, it was nothing more than another obstacle who chose not to heed his warning.
He had offered Kiba a means to avoid confrontation, but Kiba had chosen pride over reason.
"You had your chance," Arthur continued. "But you chose blind egotism over the truth; you walked right into your own death."
He raised his hand. With a flick of his wrist, the water prison around Kiba and Akamaru began to implode. At that moment, Arthur quickly unfurled a scroll from his pouch, drawing out his Boltswords.
In one motion, he stabbed through the water, charging it with electricity!
Kiba and Akamaru's struggles intensified, their frantic barking and yelping muffled by the electrified water. But Arthur felt no remorse, only a chilling sense of purpose.
Suddenly, with a crackle of lightning, their torment ended in a blinding flash. It was a brutal and agonizing execution, one that filled the air with the unmistakable scent of ozone and singed fur.
Akamaru was no longer breathing. Kiba's lifeless body stood there without any pupils in his eyes. Only Arthur's footsteps toward the edge could be heard after it plopped to the ground.
Then silence.
Arthur resealed his weapons back into their scroll. Where Kiba and Akamaru had been, there were only smoking craters and their charred remains.
There was still time to spare since Orochimaru's barrier hadn't receded yet.
So Arthur planted his feet over the ledge, taking in the scene of the destroyed village. Buildings burned, smoke billowed into the sky, and villagers continued to scream, fleeing in panicked chaos.
None of it fazed him.
The brutal efficiency with which he had been eliminating these characters was horrifyingly easy.
No one could judge him for his actions. He had made his choice, and now he had to carry it out.
The wind moved past his hair as someone landed behind him. He didn't turn around, knowing who it was beforehand.
"Arthur," the person gasped. "Did you... did you really kill them?"
"Hmph… Jada… What difference does it make?" His back was facing her. "They're all just data constructs in this fabricated world."
Jada's voice cracked as she said, "They were our friends! Kiba… Akamaru… you knew what they meant to me!"
Arthur's expression remained unchanged. He still hadn't turned, but his voice dripped with icy indifference.
"Friendships forged in virtual reality are as ephemeral as the world itself. Don't cling to illusions."
"Illusions?!" her voice rose to a desperate shriek. "This isn't some cheap game! Your actions are being watched, Arthur! Can't you see that? Were you ever on the village's side?"
Her words were like nails on a chalkboard to him. Cheap? These NPC's were predetermined; AI's that were able to adapt. And when left unchecked, they could truly kill him.
The only reality was the one outside, waiting for him to escape Elysium's clutches.
"There is no village, Jada," he said, finally turning around to face her. "There are no friends. There are only players and Elysium—the ones who trapped us in this hellhole."
Jada stumbled back, her eyes wide with disbelief. She choked, "Heartless... You never cared, did you?"
Arthur met her gaze, unflinching, and said, "Cared for what exactly? These fictional characters from someone else's fantasy? Now why would I ever do something like that?"
Jada's heart pounded louder than she ever felt it. Suddenly, Arthur had seen something he never would have expected: Jada's eyes were beginning to bleed.
Her Sharingan transformed into a crimson kaleidoscope. Two intricate black lotus patterns unfolded within the red, swirling with an unsettling power. Jada had awakened her Mangekyō Sharingan!
An oppressive silence was between them. Only the sound of the distant crackle of flames from the village below could be heard.
Jada stood rooted to the spot, her crimson eyes locked on Arthur. He could almost see the gears turning behind her gaze—the cogs of denial grinding against the brutal truth he had revealed.
The fabled "Uchiha curse" had taken hold of her.
From the moment she awakened the Sharingan, Arthur had a feeling this moment would come. He had hoped that his logic and reason would be enough to anchor her.
But now, with the Mangekyō in her eyes, he saw a whirlwind of emotions swirling within them—betrayal, rage, a desperate yearning to stop him at any cost.
"Arthur, you—"
Before she could articulate anything, the world lurched beneath their feet. A thunderous explosion set off far from them but powerful enough to shake the very foundations of the village wall.
Dust and debris rained down around them, momentarily obscuring their vision.
Arthur saw the hesitation in Jada's stance, momentarily eclipsing her burning desire to confront him. It was the opening he needed.
He wouldn't play this charade any longer. This wasn't a world of genuine connections and emotions; it was a digital prison, a cruel game designed to break them.
Arthur would never allow himself to be manipulated!
With a powerful thrust of his legs, he launched himself off the wall, his body defying gravity for a fleeting moment before plunging into the chaos below.
He wouldn't spare a single glance back. Jada's eyes—he had seen that look a thousand times before. It was the look of a hunter, and he, Arthur, was now the hunted.
'Tamashii.'
Looking at his surroundings without needing to turn to the left or right, he could feel Jada's menacing glance still perched on the wall.
But beneath the rage, he saw something else in her eyes—a twisted sense of responsibility, as if she felt the burden of this world's fate fall upon her shoulders alone.
Arthur continued his run.
He knew Jada wouldn't chase him today. The flames, the screams, and the very destruction of the village she held dear demanded her attention. But he also knew, with certainty, that their paths would cross again.
The look in her eyes promised that.
This encounter fundamentally transformed their dynamics.
Jada, once a reluctant ally, was now his adversary. With the power of the Mangekyō at her disposal, she would surely be a formidable opponent.
Arthur had to find a way to escape Elysium, not just for his own freedom but to prevent Jada from succumbing entirely to the darkness that now threatened to consume her.
None of the players deserved to die. But if they continued to defy Arthur, he might have to do the unthinkable.
Bursting out of the ravaged village, he didn't stop running.
Trees were like green streaks as he raced past them. He needed to put serious distance between himself and the Leaf Village, and fast.
Finally, the trees thinned, revealing a small, secluded clearing. He skidded to a halt, knowing no one had followed him.
He then focused his chakra before forming the correct hand signs and resting his palm on the ground. Smoke coalesced, revealing a small primate covered in a thick coat of brown fur.
"Daddy!" Koko shrieked. She flung herself toward him, swinging around his neck with surprising strength.
Her innocent joy wasn't at all deterred by Arthur's lack of a smile. Koko, still very much a child, remains blissfully unaware of the chaos unfolding within the village walls.
"You've gained some weight," he said, scratching her head lightly.
She giggled, her laughter sounding like tinkling bells.
"Uh-huh!" she chirped, burying her face into his neck. "I've practiced lots! I'm faster now, too!"
A warm statement, but there was no possible way Koko could have expanded her fighting skills in that short period of time without proper guidance—so Arthur believed.
Even her vocal skills seemed to have improved. There was only one logical explanation, considering she was the only one in her race: she was a gifted genius.
"I'd like to see that one day," he said. "But right now, you need to stay by my side."
Koko's head rubbed affectionally on his neck as she said, "Okay, daddy!" Arthur made a wise choice in raising this baby chimp, for she trusted him implicitly. "Where are we gonna go?"
He scanned Koko's body. He needed to ensure Hiruzen hadn't and couldn't summon her in the fight with Orochimaru.
During that skirmish, Hiruzen summoned Enma to help him. If he tried to summon anything this time around, only Koko would appear.
Arthur was never going to let that happen.
"We're going for a little walk," he said in a calm voice. "So don't leave my side, alright?"
Koko readily agreed, snuggling closer to his arm.
As he turned his back on the burning village, he knew this was just the beginning. He had escaped a potential life sentence, psyched out the best ninja in taijutsu, and defeated several beloved characters.
With Koko safely clinging to him, Arthur set off on a new path.
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone