Path Of War

The conversation flowed with each member of the group sharing their experiences today. The theme, however, remained consistent—disappointment.

Apparently, they were assigned a random Jōnin whom they'd never heard of before. Jada sighed and said, "Our sensei was this nondescript guy who kept trying to teach us the values of being a ninja. William and I basically sat back and watched Margaret handle it."

Margaret puffed out her chest, adding, "Yeah, well, I kept telling you guys I could mop the floor with anyone."

Turns out one of her hidden techniques was revealed: Tsunade's chakra-enhanced strength. Arthur listened intently, hoping to learn more about them in the event they ever deemed him an enemy.

William chuckled, sheepishly saying, "I thought she was gonna send him to the hospital."

Margaret nudged Alex playfully, saying, "Your turn, guys... Wait! Lemme guess: He or she was just as boring as ours?"

Alex straightened from the couch and said with a mischievous grin, "Well, ours wasn't exactly boring."

"Come on," Margaret hasted, "spill it out already!"

"Alice, Jasper, and I took the dude down in like five minutes."

The room erupted in a mixture of gasps and impressed whistles. Jada leaned forward, her eyes sparkling with curiosity, to ask, "Five minutes? How'd you manage that?"

Alex shrugged and cryptically answered, "Let's just say teamwork makes the dream work."

The conversation soon shifted to Naruto, with their excitement about his progress bubbling over. William, who grew an unhealthy soft spot for the character, explained that Naruto passed his "bell test," a timed trial in which his team had to secure two bells from Kakashi.

Arthur nodded along throughout their entire conversation. He knew what awaited that team once they passed their test.

Naruto and the rest of his team embark on their first C-rank mission: escorting Tazuna, a bridge builder, to the Land of Mist. Naruto, who was eager to prove himself, pushed for a more exciting mission but was assigned a seemingly basic task—guarding Tazuna.

Initially, the mission seems simple, but they soon discover the dangers lurking beneath it.

During their journey, they are ambushed by two Chūnin-level ninjas. While Sasuke and Sakura bravely defended Tazuna, Naruto was frozen in fear. This encounter exposed the truth: Tazuna was being targeted by a powerful businessman named Gatō, who had hired Zabuza to eliminate him.

Furious at being misled about the mission's difficulty, Kakashi threatens to abandon it. Tazuna confesses that he couldn't afford a higher-ranked mission due to Gatō's stranglehold on the economy.

Despite the increased risk, Naruto, determined to keep his oath to never back down, convinces the team to stay. Their journey takes a turn for the worse when they encounter Zabuza himself.

A fierce battle ensues, highlighting Kakashi's one Sharingan eye. Naruto, initially paralyzed by fear, remembers his oath and devises a plan with Sasuke. They use teamwork to distract and deceive Zabuza, allowing Kakashi to break free from his water prison technique and defeat the enemy.

However, before Kakashi can deliver the final blow, Zabuza is seemingly killed by Haku in the guise of an Anbu. They would later fight on the bridge Tazuna was constructing, where another pivotal battle in the story unfolded.

Regarding Sakura, she basically contributed nothing.

A question was finally brought up: How could they, as unlikely heroes, intervene and change their story?

William impulsively said, "We can't just let Zabuza and Haku die!" Arthur remembered that they were later backstabbed by Gatō, leading to their inevitable deaths. "Maybe if we tag along with our Jōnins, or even go on our own to help."

Jasper rolled his eyes to comment dryly, "Here you go again, William. Always trying to be the fanboy. Don't you get it? This isn't just about us playing make-believe. There are consequences to our actions."

Margaret chimed in, saying, "Jasper's right, Will. Besides, Naruto and Sasuke seem distant lately. If we get involved, Sasuke might not reawaken his Sharingan. We shouldn't mess with things so early on."

William opened his mouth to argue, but a sudden confidence filled him. He met Jasper's gaze directly and finally stood up for himself, saying, "Naruto's not the same weakling he was in the story. He and I have been training taijutsu together, and he's gotten a lot stronger. We can make a difference."

Arthur considered this change. Not in Naruto, but in William. He speculated that William, the nerdiest one in the group, likely built up the confidence after seeing him stand his ground against Jasper, a person playing as an Ōtsutsuki.

Alex, ever the mediator, raised his hand to interject, "Hold on, everyone. Let's not get carried away. Here's what I propose. We have three options: one, we let things play out as they did in the story. Two, some of us here intervene. And three, everyone here intervenes."

He looked around the room after gathering everyone's votes.

Margaret, Alice, and Jasper favoured option one, while William was vehemently pushing for option two. Jada and Alex, believing that it would be a little fair to help these poor NPC as opposed to leaving them suffer, went with option two as well—tying the votes.

Arthur was the last one left to vote.

He knew the story intimately and understood the significance of the Zabuza-Haku arc in shaping Naruto and Sasuke's bond. But he honestly didn't care and preferred to be more of a passive observer, garnering his strength until the end.

This was going to be the first real choice that would impact this world. With a firm voice, he said, "Two."

Surprise, denial, and cheers filled the room. Alex grinned after everyone finally calmed down and said, "Cool. Will, Alice… You two will go with them."

William was already jotting down supplies and formulating potential strategies in a notebook. Alice, however, felt apprehensive.

As the boys were escorted out, Alex delivered the final instructions, stating that the two selected were to travel to the Land of Mist with Team 7, ensure Sasuke reawakens the Sharingan, and find a way to save Zabuza and Haku. Any changes they make will be permanent.

William pumped his fist in the air and said, "Don't worry, guys! We won't let you down!"

Alice simply nodded, wishing she had watched Shippuden like the others.

Stepping into the elevator, William readied his descent, eager to embark on the mission. He was acting like the event was taking place tomorrow. Arthur was stopped by Jasper, to which William was too busy daydreaming to notice.

Arthur watched the elevator door slide shut with a sigh. As Jasper approached, he playfully asked, "Trying to ask me for another fight?"

Jasper rolled his eyes and scoffed, saying, "Come on, Arthur. We're beyond that now. Besides, I just wanted to know... Why option two?"

Arthur had anticipated this question from at least one player. He needed a response that wouldn't arouse suspicion. With a shrug, he offered a slick answer and said, "I'm here to help, remember? Not interested in rewriting a story that everyone already knows. If some intervention is necessary, then I'm not going to be the one holding us back."

Jasper studied him for a moment. To Arthur, it seemed like he was questioning how calm and poised the answer was. Ultimately, he seemed to accept it.

"Fine," he said with conviction. "Just don't go off doing anything stupid like William."

Arthur nodded in response. With a final parting glance at Jasper, he turned and walked to the elevator. William was long gone.

Under the cloudy night, Arthur, instead of heading back home, navigated the streets through back alleys. He stopped at one of the village's general stores.

With the use of his smoke jutsu, he dissolved into swirling vapour and bypassed the locked doors. Only he was here.

Inside, the aisles contained everything he needed. He moved in his smoky form and collected the following items: three large bottles of ink, a paintbrush, a cloth, a vial labeled "rat poison," eight wooden sticks, a lighter, and a sharp kitchen knife.

Arthur then slipped out of the store and navigated the deserted streets towards a secluded training ground. Here lies a clearing with a wide, flat surface obscured by many trees.

He removed his shirt, feeling the cool breeze on his spine, and unpacked everything. Dipping the brush into the ink, his hand precisely replicated the formula from the medical book he read across his stomach. It wasn't anything difficult to recall—a mixture of swirling symbols and cryptic script.

He then meticulously transferred the design onto the center of the cleared ground, placing two sticks in each cardinal direction—north, south, east, and west. With the light, he ignited the sticks.

The stage was set, but he wasn't done, staying outside the symbol.

Using the cloth, he tied it around his mouth. This was going to be the most painful part. With a grimace, he steeled himself and picked up the kitchen knife.

A quick stab to his arm sent a tremble throughout his whole body. With a series of quick, brutal jabs, he inflicted more wounds across his arms and legs, the blood threatening to wash away the formula.

The pain was sharp, but he bit hard on the cloth, preventing himself from screaming. Sweat and blood trickled down his body, forcing him to take a knee. Finally, he unwrapped the cloth, popped the vial of rat poison open, and drank it!

Taking a deep breath, Arthur stood up, feeling every sting. He stepped into the center of the symbol and readied himself.

This technique was known as the regenerative healing jutsu. It was shown to be used by Sakura once, who could channel the jutsu without the needed prerequisites.

Although Arthur was no stranger to chakra control, this was still inhumane. His very life hung by a thread. If he failed because of a desperate gamble for survival, he should surely die. Why he was doing this was because he had something Sakura didn't: a trait to easily learn support techniques!

Vision blurring at the edges, he fought the urge to collapse and activated the jutsu, channeling chakra into the swirling symbol on the ground.

An eerie emerald light glowed in the center, where he stood. He felt a prickling sensation all over his body, a sensation that intensified with each passing second. He expected something to happen, but the green light sputtered and died, leaving him panting in the darkness.

The wounds were marring his flesh; dejection threatened to engulf him, but he refused to surrender.

Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, he repeated the process, focusing all his chakra on the activation sequence. This time, as the green light formed, he felt a different sensation—one that was within his very cells.

It was as if his body itself was yearning for change, for the wounds to be closed.

However, instead of allowing the technique to run its course, Arthur did something unexpected: he stopped the bleeding and observed his cells, a microscopic landscape of activity. He felt them not just as his body but as individual entities, each pulsating with a faint force of their own.

Entranced by his own cells, he suddenly hacked up blood. The rat poison had taken effect.

Because he lost control, the light flickered and died, leaving the wounds on his skin still raw and angry. He forced himself to concentrate, restarting the technique with shaking hands.

This time, however, he wasn't just focusing on healing. He remembered the poison extraction from the book, a technique in which the user identifies a foreign element within the body and then coaxes it out.

He managed to perceive the disruption within his cells. It felt like a dark stain spreading through his veins. With a delicate touch, he manipulated the technique—not to heal but to isolate the foreign agent.

Carefully, he drew out the poison, seeing it as a black goo outside his body. Content but not satisfied, he willed it all out, expelling it onto the ground.

Exhausted, he finally turned his attention to the wounds on his skin.

This was nothing new to him since he had already learned and applied the healing technique to himself hundreds of times. Channeling his chakra, he converted the damaged cells, mending the torn flesh. Each cell knitted itself back together. The process felt almost effortless.

One by one, he closed the wounds, the fresh pain giving way to a dull ache. As the last cut sealed shut, the light dimmed, then vanished entirely.

Arthur collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. His body was healed, but his mind still remembered how painful the feeling was. Perhaps he had managed to learn new techniques, but he was by no means satisfied.

With a straight face, he rose to grab the knife and repeat the process.