Path Of War

They both stood, shaking hands firmly as she said, "Fine. It's a deal on both fronts, but allow me some time to work out the details on my end after I get back."

"Oh, but of course, my lady," he warmly complimented. "Please, enjoy your time here for as long as you want!"

As Arthur turned to leave the table, Shizune chimed in playfully, "You know, Lady Tsunade, he should join us! Spend more time getting to know one another!"

Tsunade threw an amused yet firm punch at Shizune's arm.

"Sorry! Just putting it out there!" Shizune chuckled, shrugging off her boss's playful fury.

"I'd enjoy that," Arthur jokingly interjected. "Especially if it means getting to know the illustrious Lady Tsunade."

"Not happening," she declared, only half-jokingly, as Arthur stepped away.

He laughed before adding, "As much as I would enjoy that, though, I have some matters to attend to myself."

There was a slight sign on Tsunade's face that said she really had wanted Arthur to tag along, but she managed to hide it well, faking disinterest in him.

With that, he reached for a napkin, writing his name and address down. He then handed it to her with an earnest expression.

"You can send the permit here, and if you ever want to talk more, feel free to send a messenger bird. I promise I'll respond immediately."

Shizune's eyes lit up at that as she dug an elbow into Tsunade's side again.

"He really does seem interested!" she blatantly whispered. "That's a good sign!"

Tsunade rolled her eyes but accepted the napkin, promising, "I'll try to have it filed within a week."

Arthur smiled, though it seemed a touch too long for his liking. And right now, he wasn't in a position to complain.

With that, he bid farewell to the two women, leaving the casino behind him. As he walked out, however, he was abruptly halted by Shizune, who had followed him toward the door.

"Hey, wait!" she called, jogging to catch up.

Arthur turned to see her handing him another napkin.

"This is where Lady Tsunade lives," she winked before running back into the casino.

Once she disappeared from his view, Arthur crumpled the napkin and tossed it away, feeling truly disgusted.

A relationship? With a woman like Tsunade? He shook his head. There wasn't even a single genuine connection between a real, living man like him and a fifty-year-old fictional character.

He scoffed, labeling her an artificial construct, a representation of ridiculous shipping fantasies layered with complex expectations that he couldn't possibly think about.

He left the casino that evening still feeling triumphant due to his earnings. And one thing was clear: things were finally going his way again.

The week passed faster than expected.

What Arthur had been doing was nothing short of what was expected of him.

He had returned to the Water Country. Though he hadn't set foot in the capital, he had only chosen the last day to return when the letter was scheduled to arrive at his hotel.

Arthur skimmed through the neatly written letter and recognized Tsunade's unmistakable signature. The permit—a key to his plans—was now given to him.

But was this small piece of paper worth the effort to have obtained? Would it have been possible to forge it? Perhaps.

But once things started moving in the Leaf Village and someone started to ask questions, he would become a suspect.

What he had done so far to obtain the eventual reward had made things that much sweeter.

'Flying raijin…'

After teleporting, he found himself in the Lightning Country. He had business to attend to, and this was the safest land to do it in.

His first stop was the office of the local shipping company in a small town. Without spending too much time there, he managed to make a copy of the permit as well as a letter detailing his desires.

The message was clear: he needed construction to begin as soon as possible on the funeral lot within the Leaf Village, designated for repurposing.

Of course, Arthur technically didn't have any money to his name right now, so the costs would be directed to Tsunade.

Truly, he didn't care about the financial ramifications; nothing mattered more than getting everything set in motion.

Once the paperwork was filed, he settled back into his seclusion in the forest.

The bureaucratic processes would take at least three days, after which he would finally return to the Leaf and enact his true goal.

As he waited, he knew that he also had to stay prudent with his previous actions; he had to reply to Tsunade, thanking her for her efforts and playfully hinting at how much fun he had in Tanzaku Town.

The way he wrote the letter, however, was intended to end any further correspondence. Disengaging now would be the best course to ensure he wasn't entangled with anyone from the Leaf Village longer than necessary.

And the last thing he wanted was for Tsunade to grow so interested that she would start an investigation.

The days passed, and finally, the time to act came.

Arthur teleported himself back to the Leaf Village. It was past the dead of night, and there was a new moon out.

Arthur hadn't set foot in this village ever since news broke out about Sasuke's departure. Because of that small incident, security had been increased tenfold here.

Even minor wrongdoings were rapidly detected.

He couldn't afford any slip-ups. Especially tonight.

To the untrained eye, the village might have seemed normal; however, someone, be it an Anbu or another ninja, was always keeping an eye out everywhere.

But in the funeral lot, it was different.

News was relayed that construction was taking place. That meant that the public couldn't go near for hazard and safety concerns. At least for the first day.

Arthur, having already utilized both his Chakra Disguise technique and his smoke form, softly glided across the earth, flowing just above the surface as his senses expanded in search of the true prize hidden beneath the soil.

It was a certain grave—the grave of a child, no less.

As he swiftly moved through the darkness, he spotted it: a marked grave surrounded by the remnants of faded flowers.

He took physical form again, pausing just long enough to ensure no hidden sensors or Anbu members lurked nearby. With the genjutsu cast in the nearby areas, he felt assured that he wouldn't be disturbed.

The grave itself was modest, yet it was who was underneath that held value.

Arthur began to unearth the sealed ground. His fingers dug into the disrupted soil. Soon enough, he reached the casket and unlocked it. The lid creaked in crepuscular silence as he pulled it open.

Who lay before him was beyond what anyone would have expected.

Inside was not just the remnants of a child but the decayed remains of Rin Nohara!

Rin Nohara was one of the most controversial characters throughout the entire series. Not because of her strength, which she virtually lacked none of, nor her fame, which she too had none of.

But because of her ties with Obito Uchiha.

Rin was written to have been a Chūnin from the Leaf Village and a member of Team Minato, whose leader was Minato Namikaze.

She had been forcibly made the Jinchūriki of the Three Tails, Isobu, as part of a sinister plot by the Hidden Mist Village, aimed at destroying her village.

Ultimately, Rin sacrificed herself to ensure the safety of those she loved by dying at the hands of Kakashi.

Her story was nothing short of a tragedy—like most characters.

During her childhood, she played alongside her best friend, Obito, often cheering him on during his struggles. On the day they entered the village's academy, she had been present when Obito arrived late, leaving him disheartened.

However, she had handed him his entrance documents, for which he expressed gratitude. She was also the first to congratulate Kakashi after he graduated from the academy a year before the rest of their class.

Once she herself graduated from the academy, she was placed under Minato's tutelage, who was a Jōnin at the time, and her teammates became Obito and Kakashi.

Just like most Genin teams, Minato had challenged them to take one of two bells from him in a combat scenario. Initially, Rin and her teammates acted independently, but Kakashi later persuaded them to work together, which led to them passing the real test of teamwork.

When Team Minato participated in the Chūnin Exams, Rin and Kakashi waited outside the gates of the Forest of Death for a notoriously late Obito. Inside the forest, they encountered Might Guy, Genma Shiranui, and Ebisu.

Rin was shocked when Obito attacked, only to see him knocked down by Guy. Afterward, she tended to Obito's wounds while he shared his dreams of becoming Hokage with her.

If a fan didn't understand by now, Obito, like Iruka Umino, was essentially another failed Naruto. The only difference was that he was an Uchiha.

During the Third World War, Rin's team was assigned to destroy the Kannabi Bridge.

During this mission, she was kidnapped by a character named Taiseki. Her strong will prevented her from breaking under torture.

With help from Kakashi and Obito, she was rescued; however, Obito seemingly perished in a tragic end during the escape after asking Rin to implant his Sharingan into Kakashi's eye.

Later, Rin was secretly kidnapped again, this time by Madara Uchiha, who had Isobu sealed within her. Set with a technique that would release the Tailed Beast upon her return to the Leaf Village, she, unable to end her own life, implored Kakashi to kill her to protect their village.

When he refused, she ultimately chose to commit suicide by impaling herself on Kakashi's Chidori, which was meant for an enemy ninja.

Her death devastated both Kakashi and Obito, who had just arrived, leading Obito to slaughter their captors in a fit of rage. This event had also allowed both characters to awaken their Mangekyō Sharingans.

Rin's story was just one of the many dark narratives that helped drive the plot.

She was known as the girl whose fate was intertwined with key fragments of the story that helped shape the village.

For a man like Arthur, he, by all means, found her worth to be greater than what he had bargained for.

Confirming the identity was not without its revelations; there was no denying that this was the real corpse of Rin Nohara.

With ease, he extracted several samples of her cells, sealing them within a scroll that had been kept in his pocket. The decaying organic matter crumbled to his touch, yet this was to be expected since she died more than thirteen years ago.

While he was here, there were two other corpses worth his attention.

He found their graves not too far off from Rin's. Performing the same procedures, he tore through the earth and collected their cells.

Those two weren't as valuable as Rin's, but who knew when he would be able to return to the village like this?

Regarding the Hokage's cells, they weren't located at this funeral lot; they were closer to the Hokage's office, which was heavily guarded.

Once he finished his endeavor here, he placed everything back in its rightful place and restored the grave as best as he could. He took care to ensure that it would appear untouched should anyone dare to investigate the grave after his departure. 

As a final precaution, he re-entered his smoke form and melded into the shadows.

The mission was complete. He had come and gone as if he had never existed in the first place.