Path Of War

The giant shadow hands aimed to completely crush Arthur from below.

Ino, in retaliation, used her binding technique to ensure he wouldn't escape. Then, in a moment's notice, the hand closed, producing loud crunching sounds.

Koko's eyes remained wide open, fixed on where Arthur had been.

As the light faded and the dust settled, Ino asked, "Shikamaru, did we get him?"

"Y-Yeah, but…" Shikamaru's voice trailed off as he saw Arthur walk forward, cracking his neck as if nothing had happened. "His body's too dense; my jutsu didn't do anything."

Arthur's walk transformed into a sprint, and Zabuza quickly rushed in to confront him first, brandishing the Executioner's Blade. He lunged forward, swinging multiple arcs, each one avoided by Arthur, who sidestepped effortlessly.

Just then, Koko appeared behind him as she reached out to touch him. "Gotcha, Daddy!"

'Substitution jutsu…'

Arthur narrowly evaded her reach, substituting with the grass just as her tiny hand brushed the air where he had been standing.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Koko exclaimed, indignant at being outmaneuvered.

Tatewaki, wielding the Long Blade, engaged Arthur directly, though his swings were frantic and mindless.

"Get ready, Ino!" Shikamaru urged, hoping to relay hasty instructions.

But before she could respond, Arthur stomped heavily on the ground.

'Shattering ice spears…'

A rumble surged beneath them as ice began to form, ice spears erupting like stalagmites, piercing upward toward Tatewaki. Shikamaru and Ino watched in horror as Tatewaki was impaled by the ice spikes. The sight of him suspended stunned them both into silence.

Only a moment passed before they witnessed something dismaying: Tatewaki's wounds began reforming, the ice instantly disintegrating as dust and light melded together—a reminder that they were merely reanimated corpses and, against all odds, could not truly die.

Shikamaru's fears and anxiety threatened to overwhelm him. They were up against someone who could best death, and their very survival depended on quick thinking—and perhaps a stroke of fortune that was fast dwindling.

"Got you this time, Daddy!" Koko triumphantly exclaimed as she sprang from behind Arthur, her small frame darting at him with gleeful excitement.

In a blur, Arthur didn't even turn to face her directly. Instead, he swiftly spun to his side, catching the hem of her kimono in one fluid movement.

Koko squealed as he expertly spun her around and, with a firm toss, sent her flying toward Ino.

"Oh no!" she yelled with a smile on her face.

"Ino!" Shikamaru shouted, "Look out!"

Yet the force she was thrown with was too great. Koko collided right into Ino's startled face. The unexpected force sent them both tumbling to the ground in a heap of limbs and squeals.

"Get off!" Ino cried as she struggled to push the small girl off of her.

"That didn't count, right, Daddy?!" Koko protested, crawling all over Ino's frame.

"Enough playing around!" Shikamaru snapped, shaking off the surprise. He quickly refocused. "Mangetsu, or whatever your name is, use your swords however you can!"

At that, Mangetsu wasted no time in responding. He first activated Hiramekarei, summoning a massive chakra hammer. The weapon cast an eerie blue glow on the field as he brought it down, aiming directly for Arthur.

As the enormous weapon descended, Arthur's attention split strategically. He noted both Zabuza and Tatewaki positioning themselves, ready to exploit any openings.

This was teamwork, exactly what he needed to put him on edge.

As Mangetsu swung down, Arthur lifted his palms, channeling chakra to brace himself. The ground beneath them shattered upon impact with Hiramekarei, shaking the very roots of the forest.

Arthur had managed to halt the descending hammer midair with sheer force.

When Shikamaru saw that Arthur's defenses withheld, he was once again shocked beyond measure.

"What the heck is he made out of?!" Shikamaru panicked.

Zabuza and Tatewaki seized the opportunity and sprang in from both sides with their weapons, aiming to cleave Arthur in half. But at the moment their steel would have met flesh, Arthur's form dissipated into a cloud of smoke, leaving the two warriors swiping through the air.

"Ino, move! He's going after—"

But before Shikamaru could finish, a shadow fell over her. Koko, perched comically upon Ino's face like an innocent bird, peered up and immediately registered the danger.

"Uh-oh," she said, bouncing right off Ino's head.

With a single heel, Arthur brought his foot crashing down toward Ino's chest, causing her to scream. The impact was overwhelming. The force behind the blow left a deep wound where his heel struck her.

"Ino!" Shikamaru exclaimed.

Ino's eyes widened in horror, for she had never experienced a wound like this before.

Before Shikamaru had a chance to react further, Arthur appeared next to him and kicked him aside like he was merely an afterthought.

Shikamaru hit the ground hard, instinctively rolling to regain his composure.

"I should have just summoned the fourth Hokage if this is the best you two could do," Arthur remarked with idle disdain.

Part of him knew it might indeed be a terrible idea, given the absurd strain required to control so many reanimated warriors at once. Even though he had gained more experience, even now, his chakra was being consumed at an above-average rate.

Shikamaru scrambled to his feet, clenching his fists as he witnessed the futility of the situation. Orchestrated tactics might not work against the intensity of Arthur's might. So he glanced over at Zabuza and Tatewaki.

"Zabuza," Shikamaru called out, "do something!"

"Ninja art: hidden mist jutsu!"

Immediately, mist began to shroud the area. But as it was forming, Shikamaru turned, only to see that Arthur had already assumed a different stance.

With one arm extended forward and the other up, an ethereal, angelic figure began to materialize behind him.

'Raigo: one thousand hand strike…'

Hundreds of spectral hands formed in an astounding array, moving toward the reanimated ninjas like a hailstorm of fists.

Shikamaru's eyes widened in dread as he could only watch. The sheer number of hands overwhelmed Zabuza, Tatewaki, and Mangetsu in a flurry. The reanimations, despite their skills, found themselves caught in the onslaught of inexorable strikes.

Koko tilted her head, watching the spectacle with childlike wonder as if it were the most magnificent display of fireworks.

"Look at that! Daddy's amazing!" she chirped, completely unfazed by the peril surrounding her.

The striking hands pummeled the air around them, exploding in blinding flashes and clearing the mist that almost filled the battlefield.

Just when Arthur's attention was fully diverted toward his barrage of fists, Koko, with a mischievous grin, tiptoed stealthily toward him.

"I can see you," Arthur unexpectedly declared, not bothering to glance back.

Koko comically froze in her tracks in shock. Yet she was still determined. Instead of backing down, she leapt at him, her small frame soaring through the air.

Arthur, still without turning his gaze, opened one of the thousand hands mid-attack and had it swoop down to catch her in a soft grasp, pulling her away from the pandemonium and safely depositing her on the ground several feet away.

She gently landed and looked back, giggling excitedly as though she had just been given the best ride in the world.

Just as the dazzling display of yellow fists began to conclude, clouds of dust rose from the aftermath.

"We need a whole new strategy!" Shikamaru hastily shouted.

Arthur merely scoffed. He then taunted with a cold gaze, saying, "Take as much time as you need… This is going to be a long night."

With that ominous declaration, Shikamaru turned to Ino, who was attempting to regain her composure.

"Ino," he wondered, "are you alright?"

"I... I'll be fine," Ino relayed, trying to push herself upright. "He's just toying with us. We can't let him keep doing that, Shikamaru!"

Nodding, Shikamaru knew she was right. There was really only one thing they could do at this point: try to figure out his weakness.

But did someone like Arthur even have that?

From a distance, Mangetsu and Zabuza had regained their stances. Tatewaki, however, was taking much more time to recover.

"Go!" Shikamaru yelled, directing the two to attack. "Shadow possession jutsu!"

Zabuza charged forward while Mangetsu ran to pick up the nearest weapon—the Long Blade. Shikamaru's shadow snaked toward Arthur, keen on capturing him this time.

But Arthur was no slouch. He noticed the creeping shadow and sidestepped, causing Shikamaru's attempt to miss entirely.

Mangetsu raised the Long Blade, causing wires to snake across Arthur's area, preventing him from escaping further. And in perfect timing, Zabuza launched himself forward with the Executioner's Blade poised to carve open a layer of Arthur's defenses.

But the revelations kept coming.

Arthur turned back sharply, slipping through the wires that would have otherwise sliced him if he was off by even a millimeter.

Zabuza tried to catch him off guard, but Arthur knew better. He dodged the first vertical swing and then ducked under the second horizontal one. Then, he spin-kicked the shinobi directly into Shikamaru's incoming shadow technique.

"You really thought that would work?" Arthur taunted.

With the momentum swinging in favor of Arthur, Shikamaru felt the dread starting to swell again; it was as if Arthur was reading his mind.

No, there was something odd about the way Arthur was fighting. Almost as if he were playing shogi.

"Concentrate!" Shikamaru yelled to himself.

Mangetsu picked up the call.

"Water style: water clone jutsu!"

Three clones came into existence. The Long Blade wasn't cloned, however, easily allowing Arthur to tell which was the real one.

But the bigger problem was Ino, who was subtly waiting for him to make a move. Then there was Tatewaki, who had finally managed to get up. Afterwards was Shikamaru, who was surely going to release Zabuza.

Arthur had successfully scanned his surroundings, spotting each opponent as mere pieces on a game board. Then, in the blink of an eye, they made their move; Arthur knew he had to act fast to shift the momentum.

The first Mangetsu clone charged as it aimed to strike. Arthur, however, swiftly turned on his heel, narrowly dodging the attack.

Across the battlefield, Tatewaki stood upright. In that split moment, Mangetsu lunged forward, brandishing the Long Blade. It came straight for Arthur's midsection, causing Arthur to pivot, allowing the blade to hiss past him.

He took the opportunity and unleashed a jab at the weapon, causing it to clang out of Mangetsu's hand.

Arthur's gaze swept across the ground, spotting the rest of the discarded weapons. With a quick movement, he dashed toward Hiramekarei, snatching it up before Tatewaki could. Then he swung the blade in a wide arc, sending a wave of chakra that forced Tatewaki to crash back to the floor.

At that same moment, Ino had already swiped the Leaf Fan, while Mangetsu had enough time to pick up both the Explosive Blade and the Blunt Blade.

A powerful gust aimed toward Arthur. Likewise, Mangetsu released a technique: "Explosive Blade jutsu: multiple explosions of death!"

The instant the paper tags scattered, the wind swept them up, causing them to explode on contact while creating an intensified blast, whipping dust and debris that raced toward Arthur.

This was truly a scary sight.

Arthur had no other choice but to evade. Yet the moment he tried to take a step, he was caught in Shikamaru's shadow possession technique!

Their combined technique created a loud explosion that nearly shook the foundation of the chains!

The dust finally settled as Koko merely sat on the floor with a joyful expression. Shikamaru noticed the little chimp looking at him, wondering why.

That was because Arthur was standing right behind him.

"What?!" Shikamaru said upon noticing. "How—" Before he could finish, he was met with Arthur's backhand, sending him to the ground.

Arthur found Zabuza advancing from his left, intent on capitalizing on a perceived opening. Slicing low with the Executioner's Blade, he aimed to catch Arthur off guard.

But Arthur rolled just in time, avoiding the strike, and retaliated with a thrust of Hiramekarei. Their blades collided with a brilliant clash.

"Try harder," he taunted.

A water clone from Mangetsu lunged from the side, striking out with its fist aimed at Arthur's torso. But this was just a ploy since it was going to explode.

Arthur sprang to his right, barely evading the assault that splashed against Zabuza instead.

With Hiramekarei gripped firmly in his hands, Arthur turned to face the real Mangetsu and Tatewaki once more.

Koko no longer seemed interested in trying to tag Arthur. Not because she wasn't having any fun, but because out of everyone here, she was the only one who knew that Arthur Bennett cannot lose!