Path Of War

Raiga cried out, "Ranmaru!"

It was clear that he was both furious and fearful at the sight of the only thing he cared about in this world, which was about to die.

"Don't even think about it," Arthur warned, bringing the tip of the sword to the boy's eye. Ranmaru, personally, couldn't do anything because he was handicapped. "Drop the swords and step away. Slowly…"

Raiga hesitated, struggling internally with the command. But when he saw how serious Arthur's eyes were, the swords clattered to the ground. He took a slow, deliberate step back, his eyes never leaving the terrified Ranmaru.

Suddenly, one of the abled Kurosuki members materialized behind Arthur to launch a sneak attack. He silently lunged, his claws aiming straight for Arthur's back. But before the blade could connect, a figure blurred between them.

A tall, masked Anbu ninja from the Leaf Village kicked the attacker away.

"I wouldn't try that again," the Anbu said in a gravelly voice. His mask hid his expression, but Arthur knew how capable a member of the Anbu Black Ops was.

Then something registered. Why was an Anbu from the Leaf here in the first place?! There could only have been one logical explanation: Hiruzen.

The Anbu cast a brief glance at the Kurosuki members before turning his attention to Raiga.

"Arthur, I was under orders to make sure your journey was safe," he said, "but to think the situation took a dire turn for the worst."

Arthur should have known the Hokage wouldn't let him disappear on a mission without some form of backup. He mocked his own naivety and calmed himself. At least he hadn't done anything truly reckless, revealing any of his secret techniques.

Arthur thanked Anbu for arriving when he did. Granted, there was no need for the save. The earlier incoming attack was predicted and would have been handled, no doubt.

"It seems you had the situation under control until now," the Anbu continued. He then stared down at Raiga.

Raiga, now disarmed and with Ranmaru still in immediate danger, growled, "I dropped the swords like you wanted. Now leave Ranmaru alone and let us walk away."

"Unfortunately, Raiga Kurosuki, you are a wanted criminal," the Anbu replied. "I'm taking you into custody. Dead or alive..."

Raiga's face contorted in fury as he said, "Custody? By you? You think you can handle Raiga, a Seven Swordsman of the Mist?!"

"Raiga, no!" Ranmaru screamed. "Don't get hurt for my sake!"

The Anbu ignored both of their cries and pulled out a short sword. Arthur watched the standoff unfold without saying a word.

This wasn't part of the plan.

The Anbu and Raiga clashed. But Raiga's movements lacked their usual ferocity. His every action seemed to hesitate, a constant awareness of the captive Ranmaru still held by Arthur.

He opted for ninjutsu instead of a direct sword attack. Hand signs formed at a rapid rate as Raiga unleashed his technique: "Water style: water dragon jutsu!"

A torrent of water surged from his outstretched hands, aiming to overwhelm the Anbu. But the Leaf ninja was ready. With ease, he countered with a water dragon of his own.

Two gargantuan water serpents met head-on in a clash of watery fury. For a moment, the canyon floor became a battleground of raining water, the spray misting the air in a temporary fog.

Arthur watched from the sidelines, furrowing his brows. Raiga seemed drained, his movements sluggish compared to their earlier fight. Was it because of Arthur, or was he holding back due to Ranmaru?

The stalemate didn't last. With another technique unleashed, the Anbu sent a second water dragon to engulf Raiga in a torrent of water. Raiga, soaked and disarmed, collapsed to the ground, sputtering.

The Anbu quickly moved, apprehending the defeated ninja. The fight was over. He glanced back at Arthur, saying, "Apologies for the delay. Let's get you—"

But before he could finish, Arthur was nowhere to be seen. What surprised the Anbu more was a single, crimson line that marred Ranmaru's pale forehead!

The Anbu froze, confused at what had happened. He raced to Ranmaru's dead body. But the moment he reached it, a strange phenomenon occurred: a stream of gray smoke, undetectable, swirled into his seven orifices.

'Body oxidation jutsu.'

Disoriented, the Anbu spun around, searching for his quarry. It was too late. He coughed, his eyes widening in shock. He clutched his throat, his breathing becoming increasingly unrhythmic. Not long after, his eyes rolled back, and he fell to the floor, dead.

Smoke began to seep out of his body before slowly reverting into a physical form—Arthur.

There was no laugh, no smile—only the shadowy features of a man in a child's avatar. The three remaining Kurosuki members, who had been watching the entire scene unfold, stared at Arthur in disguised horror.

They watched as he walked to the Boltswords and stored them in his waist. The trickery, the ruthlessness—it was beyond anything they had ever witnessed.

Arthur ignored their stares. He made his way to Ranmaru's body and slung the corpse over his shoulder. The boy was just as light as the bag Raiga carried him in.

With the Anbu eliminated and Raiga incapacitated, the canyon fell into an eerie silence. Arthur, however, wasn't finished. He had loose ends to clean up.

"Water style: surface slice..."

A sharp, thin blade of water was carved through the earth. In a split second, the technique parted the earth and passed through flesh and bone, slicing off Raiga's neck. A single gurgle was heard before his body went limp.

The silence that followed was broken by the sound of panicked footsteps. The remaining Kurosuki members, witnessing the quick execution, turned and fled.

Arthur remained impassive.

Their escape presented a new problem. The Anbu, in his last moments, had uttered Arthur's name within earshot of the Kurosuki members. They were potential witnesses.

He sprang into action, using the high-speed movement technique. All three members stopped upon seeing their path blocked.

"Don't kill us!" the smaller one yelled. "We were forced to be Raiga's henchmen; we won't tell anyone."

Arthur knew better than to trust those words. The first time he tried helping anyone in this world, he was lied to and thrown in prison.

"As if," Arthur responded.

A few moments played out, and Arthur easily deposed them like flies. And with the last tremor of their demise, he turned to the Anbu's body.

Examining it, he found a small pouch containing his identification. To make sure this wasn't a fake, he removed the mask but still couldn't identify who this character was.

Leaving the Anbu's body for scavengers or worse was unthinkable. Raiga's body, too, needed to be hidden. It wouldn't do for a member of the Seven Swordsmen to be found in such an undignified state.

He used what tools he could find, dug a hole deep enough, and disposed of both bodies, burying them miles away in a remote forest clearing. The location was marked in his mind as a mental note in case he ever needed to retrace his steps.

Now, there remained the final piece: Ranmaru.

Arthur hid the body and moved elsewhere. He needed medical supplies—bandages, IV bags, syringes, ointments—anything that could help with the task at hand.

Katabami Town, a small, neutral trading post, was his closest option.

The journey was swift and uneventful. Arthur navigated the trails, utilizing his knowledge of the map. He slipped into Katabami Town under the den of night.

Finding a small apothecary tucked away in a back alley, he performed the transformation technique and exchanged a few coins for the supplies he needed. The exchange was brief and impersonal—nothing he hadn't done before. No questions were asked, and no suspicions were raised.

Returning to where he had hidden Ranmaru's body, Arthur meticulously cleaned the area, erasing any traces of his presence. Now came the most delicate part of the operation: he needed to perform a complicated surgery.

Unlike before, where Yukimi Iburi's blood was all that was needed, this task would be daunting. Arthur needed Ranmaru's blood and eyes. Without the former, he'd never be able to deactivate Ranmaru's Kekkei Genkai, forever having his chakra drained without covering his eyes.

That was why characters like Kakashi and Ao, a ninja from the Mist Village, had to constantly keep one of their eyes hidden.

Arthur, however, knew better than them.

He first began transferring the blood. With the medical tools he'd purchased, he carefully siphoned blood into his own veins, merging them into a precise chakra-infused solution.

Thanks to chakra, this process proved to be exceptionally effective. The merged blood, circulating from Ranmaru's body, began the arduous task of fusing with Arthur's own cellular material. New cells were slowly being produced.

Now came the intimidating task—the eyes. He wasn't simply about to replace an eye with his; he was aiming for a complete cellular merger.

Relaxed, Arthur channeled chakra into his fingertips. They glowed faintly as he carefully reached towards Ranmaru's left eye. Precise control was key. Any misplacement could leave him permanently blind.

With practice, he severed the optic nerve connecting the eye to Ranmaru's brain. The blood flow ceased momentarily, a single tear escaping Ranmaru's closed eyelid.

Arthur had already performed the body activation technique, effectively numbing the excruciating pain he was about to inflict upon himself.

The sickening squelch of flesh parting could be heard as Arthur ripped his own left eye from its socket with a swift, brutal movement. The feeling was abnormal, but nothing compared to what he had experienced in the past.

He couldn't afford to waste time. Freshness of flesh was paramount.

With trembling hands, he carefully placed Ranmaru's still-warm eyeball into his own empty socket. It felt alien and incongruous, like a foreign object wedging into his skull.

Then came the true test.

Using a refined version of his healing technique, he meticulously reconnected the optic nerves to the mangled remnants of his own. The combined blood facilitated fusion. Arthur channeled his chakra, focusing on coaxing the nerves to knit together and recognizing the foreign tissue as his own.

This was nothing like Shisui Uchiha ripping his eye out while remaining composed, or Madara Uchiha putting his Rinnegan eyes back in a matter of seconds; this was a painstaking, agonizing process.

Minutes passed; sweat slicked Arthur's face and body, his muscles screaming in protest that he could barely quell.

The first sign of progress came as a dull ache replaced the initial emptiness in his left eye socket. A quick twitch under his eyelid filled him with a sense of relief.

The first eye was successfully attached.

He allowed himself a moment to catch his breath, his body trembling from the ordeal. But there was no time for rest. The second eye needed to be transplanted and merged with the same precision.

The process seemed less excruciating this time, but the tension remained, and the stakes were just as high. With the same amount of focus, Arthur repeated the steps—severing his own right eye, transplanting Ranmaru's, and then fusing the optic nerves.

Finally, after what felt like hours, he finished.

His body ached; his chakra reserves were low. But as he closed his eyes to rest at the base of a tree, a grim satisfaction filled him.

Morning finally came.

When Arthur awoke, it was to the chirping of birds. He cracked open his eyelids, blinking away the blurry vision. Things felt strange, but he sat up and cautiously brushed his cheeks. He could more than just feel it; he could see it—he could truly see it!

Birds soared high above, their chakra signatures vibrant blue against the clear sky. Insects scurried on the forest floor, their movements as predictable as the faint chakra inside their shells. Even the leaves themselves seemed to glow with a faint emerald glow, indicating they also had energy.

This was the power of Ranmaru's Kekkei Genkai, now his own. He could sense everything for miles—the world around him, bound together by threads made of chakra.

Raising his hand to his face to confirm things, he perceived the red glow emanating from his own eyes, reflected on his palm.

While an incredible gift, this power was also his secret—he couldn't afford to let anyone know yet. The very act of transplanting someone else's Kekkei Genkai, of which the other players knew Ranmaru was the only one in the world, would cause a transgression.

Arthur would be ready if things were ever revealed outside his plans.

Then something registered: this Kekkei Genkai never had an official name. He needed a name that reflected its uniqueness in case someone ever found out.

After a moment, he thought of something quite befitting: 'Tamashii,' a name that translates to "Soul Vision," highlighting the Kekkei Genkai's ability to sense a person's life force and see through their innermost actions. Tamashii was his secret weapon, one he would wield with cunningness.