Path Of War

Arthur had seized the moment to take to the air, condensing himself into a wisp of smoke and drifting toward the shadows.

It was alright that he used his Smoke technique, as the two wouldn't notice. And right now, it was time to gather intelligence that would ensure their mission's success.

Using his Tamashii, he assessed the facility from above. He managed to pinpoint the number of bodies inside: approximately twenty workers and a staggering fifty armed men patrolling the premises. Hardly any of them had chakra levels that could be considered real threats.

More importantly, he had located the captives; the father was restrained and appeared to have sustained bruises, while the daughter remained untouched in a separate cell.

'Hmph…' Arthur internally scoffed. 'It seems this group has a soft spot.'

Slipping through the vents, he maneuvered silently toward the security room, mindful to avoid detection.

The facility's inner workings were seamless for a shady loan shark operation. Their technology was more advanced than the average norm, likely due to the kind of money that was illicitly gathered.

It was oddly impressive.

Seeing no guards stationed outside the control room, he slipped inside, quickly assessing the situation.

His Tamashii was quite useful in situations like these, effortlessly allowing him to pass all obstacles. He found himself confronting only a pair of guards lazily watching the bank of monitors.

Without a moment's hesitation, he put the two guards to sleep with a simple knockout. Their bodies gently rested on the floor. And with the coast clear, he deactivated their security feeds.

Next, he hacked into the control panel, disabled all monitoring systems so they wouldn't observe or record what was to happen, and then he raised all of their alarms.

A loud sound permeated through the building, and the room flashed white and red, signaling everyone inside that there was a problem.

The alarms changed the entire atmosphere of the facility, making it unpredictable.

Men who were either playing cards or taking a nap stopped what they were doing, confused at what was going on. They each got up from their positions and raced to the main lobby.

There was little use in leaving any area under surveillance. With his Tamashii keeping an eye on Jada's and William's progress, there truly was no need to linger here longer than necessary.

Slipping through the back exit of the room, he followed the route leading elsewhere.

After he finished what he needed to do, he slipped back into the vents and could already see Jada and William nearing confrontation with the armed men below.

In the main lobby, chaos erupted. The building's dwellers scrambled about, demanding answers.

"What's going on?" one shouted. "What are the guards doing?"

The boss of the operation, a burly man with a silver tooth and an oblivious expression, stepped forward, equally aghast.

"What are you idiots doing?" he barked. "Get back to your posts!"

The alarms then stopped. It was in that confusion that Jada and William stepped out from the shadows and made themselves known.

"We're here to put a stop to this!" Jada declared with fierce conviction.

The room momentarily fell silent as the men turned to assess the newcomers. The boss's brows furrowed in confusion and disdain.

"Who are these kids?" he glanced around at his men, who were clearly unimpressed.

"Just some rats," one henchman scoffed, dismissively crossing his arms.

Jada pressed on, unfazed by their condescension, and said, "It's wrong to separate people over money! You're hurting innocent families!"

The boss smirked before saying, "And how do you think the world works, girl? This is how it runs. They signed the contract—I'm just abiding by it. Why should I be the evil one here?"

There was a clear challenge in his words. Jada and William exchanged glances, struggling to find words to counter his logic.

It was then that the silence was broken. A single voice rose above the din, both confident and authoritative: "It makes you very evil, in fact."

All heads turned upward, mouths agape as they glimpsed Arthur, casually perched on the ceiling with one leg dangling nonchalantly. The sense of disbelief immediately spread.

"That's… That's Hoshikaze!" one henchman shouted, his eyes widening in shock.

'Oh…' Arthur thought, feeling a tad bemused. "So they've heard of me?"

It was true that he had only made a brief appearance at the tournament, but to think his moniker, "Hoshikaze," had traveled so far beyond those fleeting hours. But fame was never his aim.

"There's no way he's here!" another muttered in panic.

Undeterred by their confusion, Arthur ignored the men and looked at the boss to announce, "You neophyte truly don't know a thing…" Then he commanded, "Disband your work…" His tone left no room for argument. "Or else."

"Or else what?" he retorted, though the quaver in his voice betrayed him.

Their boss had actually hesitated for a second there, trying to mask his fear. To think that he was still looking to maintain some semblance of authority, or so they thought.

Arthur, unimpressed, said, "You really want to find out?"

A wicked grin spread across the boss's face as he took a bold step forward.

"You don't have room to make demands, Hoshikaze! I'll hold that father and daughter as my hostages and end them right here if you don't—"

"You mean them?" Arthur interjected, pointing toward an opposite entrance.

Gasps filled the room as everyone turned to see the daughter and father standing together, free from their prison! They were no longer bound and seemed to have been treated for their injuries.

Both Jada and William understood what Arthur had done after having set off the alarm.

"While you were busy gathering your men," he announced, "I had ample time to free and heal them."

The boss's bravado faltered; his face flushed with anger and embarrassment. This was not how the day was meant to go.

One moment, he was the embodiment of menace, and now he stood cornered by the very symbol of hope he'd sought to eradicate.

Confusion quickly gave way to rage, and he turned on his men, raising his voice to declare, "It's only three of them! Attack!"

"Three against fifty? That's hardly what I—" William attempted to add, but before he could finish, he felt the rush of air as Arthur had already leapt down and sprinted forward with breathtaking speed.

"Hey! I was going to say something cool!" William shouted after him. A moment later, he added, "Oh fine! Multi-shadow clone jutsu!" In a blink, two more William clones emerged, ready to join the fray as the trio sprang into action.

With the surprise factor in their favor, the three of them moved in sync, attacking the fifty armed men head-on.

Arthur flowed like water through the crowd. He dodged a kunai thrown his way, ducked under a sweeping sword strike, and countered with a simple palm thrust that sent his attacker sprawling backward toward other men.

William couldn't help but be impressed, having remembered the sting of defeat when even ten of his authentic clones couldn't take Arthur down. What hope did these fifty regular men have?

As they tried to surround him, Arthur utilized a mix of martial arts and finesse, combining swift punches and roundhouse kicks to incapacitate the men around him.

"Have a taste of this!" the Williams shouted as they threw a barrage of shuriken at their adversaries.

They managed to land, so the trio of Williams walloped on a group of stunned guards with combos.

One clone backflipped to dodge an incoming sword, only for another to send a spinning kick into the stomach of the next attacker who charged forward.

Meanwhile, Jada spun around a bigger henchman, dodging a wild swing aimed at her head. She seized the man's arm, using the momentum to throw him over her shoulder, right into another henchman coming in behind.

'She's gotten a little stronger since last time,' Arthur analyzed, dodging a slow sword strike.

"What are you bozos doing?" the boss shouted in frustration. "Can't you let guys take down three people?!"

As the fight intensified, Jada moved to protect the father and daughter. She lunged forward, relying on her speed, and then struck, quickly dispatching five armed men with swift blows and water-based ninjutsu attacks.

"Stay behind me!" she urged the rescued pair. They listened without question. "You're safe now!"

Meanwhile, the fight raged on as Arthur and William executed a series of tag-team combos that astonished just about everyone in the room.

This was the first time the two had ever fought together, but to think they moved so well in sync.

Arthur hopped onto the shoulders of one henchman, launching himself off and landing perfectly behind another before sending a brutal kick that sent him sprawling forward into William's raised knee.

William laughed at how nice of a move that was as his other clones punched some guards away.

Arthur spun back into the mix, performing a rapid three-hit combo—a punch to the gut, a knee to the chin, and finishing with a sweeping leg kick. The dozen or so henchmen nearest him soon learned that the name "Hoshikaze" wasn't to be taken lightly; it was to be feared!

Then, just when it seemed as if they were gaining the upper hand, one of the few shinobi slammed his palm against the ground: "Earth style: rock barrage!" A flurry of sharp rocks then erupted toward them like a hail of missiles.

"I'll handle this," Arthur said, calmly stepping forward.

He then quickly let the chakra flow to one hand. As the barrage of rocky missiles closed in, his arm became a blur, smacking them away!

To the untrained eye, it appeared as though he was simply standing there, effortlessly deflecting danger with smooth elegance. What was more was that he was doing it without so much as a scratch.

"Don't count me out!" William called out with a cocky grin as he surged forward to join the fray.

Inspired by Arthur's seamless defense, all three of him covered the ground and, with a single punch, sent the attacking shinobi sprawling to the ground, unconscious before he could even react.

They each looked at each other and chuckled, "Can you believe these guys?"

To Jada, however, Arthur's maneuvering was not ordinary. Because she had the Sharingan, she could see what others, like William, could not.

Arthur's defense was an astounding display of skill that hinged upon extraordinary perception and timing. It was a reminder of just how far above he was compared to the two.

"Let's wrap this up!" William cheered, throwing a punch before turning on his heel, two of his clones jumping in to assist as well.

As the battle escalated, the henchmen became more desperate.

Some charged with swords raised, while others released chakra-based techniques—spherical fireballs and streams of water launched toward the trio.

Arthur ducked below one fireball while giving William and Jada a nod.

"You got it!" she shouted as she sprinted forward.

"On it!" chimed all three Williams.

In synchronization, Arthur brought one armed man to the ground while Jada used her agility to leap high above them, executing a mid-air somersault that allowed her to land perfectly behind two unsuspecting enemies.

In one seamless motion, she struck them both with the flat of her palms, using enough force to send them into a staggered retreat.

But they weren't the only adversaries in her vicinity; six armed men pressed their advance against her, only to be met by a beatdown from all three Williams.

One man wielding a sword lunged at Arthur, but with a simple sidestep, he redirected his momentum and followed through with an uppercut that disarmed him. In quick succession, Jada spun around Arthur to deliver a knee to the same man while a William punched him to the ground.

"Just what the heck is going on?!" the boss cried out.

Never before had he seen three people move so well, as if they had perfect chemistry. But the one that left his jaw hanging was Arthur.

Arthur, although in sync with the two, was fighting with unparalleled finesse. He ducked under two fists, effortlessly bending backward before delivering a punishing roundhouse kick to both guards like they were never there to begin with.

He was nothing short of a maestro with grace flowing through his violent movements.