Hungry
This investment in the Leaf Village allowed her to create strategic plays that were far more sophisticated than those of her peers.
The trap she had used to corner Arthur was one that required great tactical foresight, signifying that she had thoroughly prepared. Be it here or on Earth, she was clearly not someone to be trifled with.
Unlike most players who relied predominantly on force, Alice didn't seem at all troubled by psychological warfare. Her emotions were in check, and her knowledge of combat was greater than what Arthur had expected.
As he took a moment to catch his breath, his mind felt damaged, each thought coming to him in fragmented pieces. He couldn't shake the feeling of vulnerability.
Had he been even slightly off in his calculations, executing the flying raijin might have failed.
In this world, chakra was comprised of physical and spiritual energies. Alice was heavily gifted in the latter, something he should have been prepared for.
He slowly shook his head to clear the remnants of disorientation.
Most shinobi had no counters for abilities like hers. She was not like Jada, whose ninjutsu strength could be overpowering, nor like William, who wielded so much chakra that he didn't know what to do with it.
No, Alice thrived in the workings of spiritual combat. Not even the creators knew what that entailed.
As he looked down into the valley, he saw an interesting sight.
There, standing tall yet a bit beat up, was Naruto, nearly unscathed by the battle that had just occurred. On his back, Sasuke lay unconscious. The Uchiha had suffered a grueling defeat at the hands of the main character!
This was a scene most fans would have drooled to see—a moment where Naruto Uzumaki triumphed over his rival.
"Come on now, Sasuke," the boy softly murmured. "It's time to finally take you back…"
A cooling sense of urgency rose within Arthur.
He had let everything escalate to this point. Sasuke had lost; Naruto was carrying him back to the village, and Arthur could not allow that to happen.
He couldn't simply dust himself off and let everything play out like others wanted. No—he had a plan to execute.
He would have to act swiftly, catching Naruto and Sasuke before they made it too far.
However, he could still feel the chakra within him draining from the remnants of the fight he had left in him—the black beetles that had managed to latch on.
How could I have been so careless?
His thoughts whirled as he considered the implications of his next move. Should he seize Sasuke and flee? Or would he confront Naruto?
Arthur couldn't shake the weight that Sasuke represented. The struggle between those two iconic figures had always encapsulated themes of rivalry, friendship, and the struggle to forge a relationship amidst darkness.
It was a narrative Arthur had observed from a distance, knowing he had to navigate through it if he desired to survive until the end.
He had never been surprised that Naruto had won against Sasuke—the boy had the Nine-Tails at his disposal, one of the most powerful creatures who had now befriended the main character. With such an asset, it was only logical that Naruto stood stronger than the Uchiha.
But there was something advantageous about this scene: Naruto wasn't in his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. This was his moment of vulnerability!
Arthur's mind finally comprehended what that meant.
He shut his eyes briefly and calmed his heart. He focused on the first activation of his seven heavenly breaths technique, clearing his mind and stabilizing himself. Each breath deepened his focus. Then.
'Simian Sage Mode…'
The scenery sharpened in his mind.
He fully recalled losing to Alice, feeling the sting of that defeat. He had prepared for every contingency except for Alice and her emotional ties to the characters around her. No more mistakes; this time, he would seize his chance without hesitation.
The moment the transformation completed, he opened his eyes and said, "Naruto deserves to die…"
He quickly stepped down the stone lip of the statue, following the contours of the valley toward an open area below, all while keeping his movements silent.
Approaching the valley's edge, where the ground sloped downward, he crouched low to prepare for a tremendous leap.
A shiver ran through Naruto like an instinctual warning, which made the whiskers on his face stand on end. He turned, only to be met with the full force of Arthur's fist plunging into his head!
The impact was visceral, practically echoing through the clearing as Naruto was propelled backward, crashing into several trees with a booming crack before falling unconscious.
Only the sounds of birds flying away could be heard. Arthur stood tall, a figure cast in shadow against the sunlight filtering through the branches.
He flexed his fist casually. It offered him a stoic appearance, both magnificent and defiant.
As he looked down at the unconscious form of Naruto and the fallen leaves around him, he was certain that his punch hadn't killed the main character.
He had the capacity to end the story that anchored this world—to slaughter the boy without a second thought, ending the very narrative that others would expect to unfold.
Yet this thought alone was an extremely terrible idea. If he were to eliminate Naruto, the flow of events would be irrevocably altered—the reason he sought Sasuke would be thwarted before it could even begin.
Arthur acknowledged within himself that, more than Naruto, he needed Sasuke—the entire reason he had ventured into this situation.
With a hardened gaze, he lowered himself to the ground, his observation set firmly on the fallen Uchiha. The sight of Sasuke truly sickened him; the boy had put him through far too much trouble, entangled within arcs and chronicles that wasted the limited time he had.
Collecting himself with a shake, he placed one hand over Sasuke, channeling just enough chakra to heal the Uchiha—a small restoration, allowing him to regain consciousness without fully awakening yet.
Arthur knew the danger of leaving the boy here would eventually lead him to be discovered by Alice and her team, thus leading him back to the Leaf Village.
The effects of the beetles still gnawed at Arthur's abilities. And while the current dilemma was unique, it was not insurmountable.
Rather than risk Orochimaru claiming Sasuke early, Arthur contemplated the options he had left. If he utilized the flying raijin to teleport Sasuke to Orochimaru, the snake would seize the opportunity to take over Sasuke's body. That was something Arthur would not allow—for now, he needed his pawn intact.
While he was deducing things, an unsettling presence drew near, just outside the periphery of his vision. Little did Arthur know, a figure was looming back in the shadows of the statues, watching him intently without detection.
"Oh-ho, this really is interesting," the creature murmured in a high-pitched voice.
"Wait until Pain finds out," it said again, this time in a lower tone.
This figure was none other than Zetsu, an entity skilled in subterfuge, having observed Arthur without revealing himself. It had been present back when the two main characters fought here. Arthur had forgotten—no thanks to Alice.
Some time later.
Rain began to pour heavily over Sasuke. The droplets glistened as they fell onto his face, waking him from unconsciousness.
Groggily, he opened his eyes and blinked away the disorientation that clouded his vision. Grass lay beneath him while an opulent city appeared not far off in the distance.
Confused, he rose slowly, feeling an ache pulse through his neck. It was from a recent confrontation with Naruto.
Anger burst inside him upon remembering the fight. He clenched his fists, willing himself to calm down. He then cast a gaze toward the town, recognizing that he was somewhere in the Water Country.
How he had gotten here remained a mystery, but one thing was certain: he could feel Orochimaru's chakra through the air thanks to the cursed mark he bore.
He demanded answers, unable to accept the loss he had faced. Because of it, he was now hungry—hungry for power that could one day satiate the fury he felt against Naruto.
Driven by that desire for power, he took steps away from the town. He would still seek Orochimaru.
As he moved out of sight, a shift occurred in the tallest castle in the city.
The blinds in a stately office closed. Seated behind the desk was Arthur.
"Hmph…" he scoffed.
His mind had already returned to its normal state. Through his actions, he had successfully teleported Sasuke to the Water Country, evading the capture that would have ultimately led to his doom.
However, after his return here, he had lacked the chakra to perform a flying raijin formula to place upon the Uchiha. That would have been grand—to have both main characters marked.
But Arthur, at the time, was not in the right state of mind.
He considered what he truly gained. Sasuke was free to pursue Orochimaru, ensuring that the story would go as he had desired.
Without this event, he wouldn't have been able to better calculate the upcoming timeline—the very gears that would allow Shippuden to commence.
'Two and a half years,' he thought.
That was an insane amount of time. He recalled the events that took place in the original story.
After having failed to bring back Sasuke, Naruto chose to depart for training with Jiraiya. Many other characters also expressed their ambitions to grow stronger.
In parallel, Sasuke's journey toward power took a darker turn at Orochimaru's base, where he expressed his singular focus on acquiring strength. Sakura, meanwhile, continued to excel in her medical training under the Fifth Hokage.
There was no need to think of characters like Ino and Shikamaru since they were dead.
With those concluding scenes, everyone saw Naruto return to the village after two and a half years.
His arrival was met with excitement and nostalgia as he reunited with Sakura and Konohamaru, who had both grown.
But before all of these things could happen, there was a long period comprised mainly of filler arcs. That was one of the main reasons most fans dreaded this world—it had too much filler with only a select few worth knowing.
Arthur, knowing what took place in most of those arcs, didn't want to bother with them. He had three years—three years before Sasuke and Orochimaru could make another appearance.
That was assuming the other players wouldn't be able to track him down in time.
Naruto, of course, was the biggest outlier. Would he go out into the world with Jiraiya again? Or would he follow a different course and dedicate himself to trying to find Sasuke?
He had the Nine-Tails and players like William by his side. Who would want to stop him other than the Akatsuki?
Within the confines of Arthur's office, he rested his arms on the desk, placing his hands over his face to think. The next chapter of his saga awaited.
With both Sasuke and Orochimaru in his sensing range due to the flying raijin marks at the Sound Village, there were certainly more than enough plays he was going to make. The last thing he was going to do was sit idle and let two and a half years go by without taking action.
The stakes and opportunities were far too high.
Both the tournament was over and this arc had concluded. Arthur was certainly a step ahead of the other players despite having lost to Alice.
As the rain continued to fall, he finally rose from his desk. It was time to make his next move.