The other shinobi watching from their cells could only gawk in disbelief as many of their faces either mirrored shock, fear, or admiration.
"Just who is this guy?" William asked one of his clones taking a breather.
"I dunno, but he's crazy!"
It was good that he didn't know since Hoshikaze's name was never once mentioned in this world till now. And whatever William was going through, it was a challenge that felt insurmountable.
Arthur was simply an opponent who transcended the usual expectations of a shinobi, someone who Jada couldn't take her eyes off of.
So how was Arthur doing it? How was he preventing himself from being overwhelmed by so many of William's authentic clones?
Simple: he had experience; he had faced situations like this before and knew how clones worked. Add that to his Crimson Gaze, he could see all of their movements at once and easily react before they knew what hit them.
In center stage, Arthur's eyes darted from one opponent to the next. Then he dashed forward and knocked back several clones at once.
A clone lunged toward him, but without showing any signs of distress, he sidestepped, then smoothly knocked it aside with a perfectly timed backfist. Another clone incoming with a fist, so Arthur spun and caught its wrist with both his forearms.
Bang!
A sharp kick was delivered to its belly, propelling it backward. Arthur then closed the distance at another clone and jabbed it in its throat before quickly pinning it to the ground with his full weight.
He noticed something before attacking: the remaining clones had paused, watching their companion grapple beneath his physical dominance.
Something was different about this clone Arthur was holding.
So with explosiveness, he rained down dozens of punches in rapid succession against the helpless clone's torso. Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang! Each blow was strikingly fast, leaving the audience bewildered and amazed.
"He's from this country, right?!" exclaimed a spectator in awe as the clone struggled to escape.
But Arthur's pounding speed rendered it powerless.
When he transitioned from delivering punches to strikes against its head, it became almost mesmerizing.
Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!
By the time he straightened himself, the expression on the faces of the remaining clones confirmed what he had suspected: the William he'd just demolished was the real one!
Arthur remained stoic, eying the closest clone, which fidgeted in agitation as it fully understood the hopelessness of their cause.
"I heard you trained with a Sannin," he said. "Surely, you can show me something from that."
The nearest clone, feeling agitated by that comment, raced forward with its fists clenched. But the moment Arthur let the clone get inches from striking him, he swiftly intercepted its attack with his left forearm and then elbowed it in the temple.
As it stumbled back, he grabbed its right arm, twisted it around, and forced it to bend awkwardly.
Bang!
A knew right to its face launched it several yards away!
"What a combo!" the announcer shouted.
Another clone approached, attempting a spinning kick. Arthur reacted by grabbing the clone's leg, forcing it down to the ground with finesse.
Then, bang! He stomped on its back. The sound was sickening, sending chills across the arena. Lowering himself near the fallen clone, he struck again with his elbow right at its clavicle. Bang!
"Ooh!"
Arthur slowly straightened himself to survey his work. There were still four Williams left able to fight.
They all at once—a clear mistake.
Boom-boom!
Arthur neutralized two punches with one arm and blocked the last two with the other. Pushing against their collective momentum, he shoved the farthest clone back as the others followed up with kicks.
Bang-bang-bang!
Arthur had lifted his leg to stop one kick before knocking the second away. The third, he caught—letting it go just as the fourth clone recovered for a new attack.
The spectators were speechless. Every block, every parry was as if he were flowing in water.
A clone happened to stumble backward, allowing Arthur to raise his leg up and deliver a jaw-dropping kick to its neck.
Crunch!
Its bones had snapped!
Many were frightened, believing that might have been the real William. But when the clone finally dispersed, they let out a sigh of relief.
Arthur could tell what the real William was thinking: 'What if that was actually me?' Of course Arthur knew which one was the real one; he just had to send a message.
A few seconds later, only one clone was left standing. Some thought it was the real William. The true William, however, lay sprawled on the ground, still panting from those relentless strikes to its torso and head he had received.
As the last clone drew closer, unwilling to yield, it hurled two punches at Arthur.
Bang-bang!
He blocked them both with ease. Then, with a swift flurry of strikes, he rained down punches on the clone's chest as each impact gradually brought it down to the ground.
The crowd rose to their feet, hollering in wild encouragement, feeding the adrenaline coursing through the arena.
Then came the final blow with a boom! A devastating kick to the clone's throat just before it collapsed to the ground.
"He took them all down?!" a spectator's voice rang.
"Unbelievable!"
"He's unreal!"
The real William, still struggling to regain his footing, finally managed to sit up. He looked starry-eyed at the fallen clones. And at Arthur, his mind couldn't process the truth before him: he had lost.
These were supposed to be authentic clones with the same level of strength as the original. How was one shinobi able to take them all down?
William felt a deep sense of disbelief. This was the first time this had ever happened to him. No, it was more than that. This was the first time anyone had embarrassed him this badly.
Sure, many of Naruto Uzumaki's opponents had defeated his shadow clones virtually without concern. But those clones had always been a fraction of the main character's strength.
These clones on stage were different. They embodied William in every way, possessing the same chakra level. Yet they had been dispatched under Arthur's onslaught as if they were his playthings.
Gasp!
Arthur could see it on William's stunned face: the understanding that if Arthur could do all that to fifteen Williams, just one wouldn't stand a chance.
"How disappointing," he heard Arthur say. And when he looked up, Arthur was standing right in front of him! "I thought you were unconscious, seeing how close I got." He instinctively went in for a jab until, smack-smack! Arthur knocked it away and slapped him back to the ground. "Even if you summoned one hundred of you... the results would still be the same."
Those words landed hard, sinking deeper into William's consciousness. He made a face of despair, as if believing that all his training and experience were for nothing.
Forget about a fair fight or the idea of overpowering one's opponent; this was straight psychological warfare.
The added chatter in the audience only consumed him. He wasn't at all the hero he thought he was. No, he was a man playing pretend.
The realization made him cover his face with his forearm. Then he whimpered, "I... I trained so hard."
The crowd urged Arthur to finish him off, but just when he thought it might all be over, a voice broke through the haze of his dazed thoughts.
"Get up, cuz! Don't give up!" It was Naruto, and he was so loud everyone could hear him. "You're an Uzumaki, and you taught me that Uzumakis don't ever give up!"
That was it; that was exactly what he needed to hear to pierce the doubt in his heart. So in that moment, he slowly began rising to his feet.
"Come on, Will!" another voice encouraged. This time it was Iruka.
"Rise and fight!" Rock Lee.
"Get up!" Neji.
"You can do it!" Jada.
It was as if each of them were helping him slowly stand right back on his feet.
By the time he was finally upright, the world around him became clear. This wasn't the end of things nor a humiliating defeat. So there's no way he was going to just give up.
"Y-you're right, everyone!" he declared. "I won't back down!"
If there was ever a time for Arthur to laugh, now would be it. But his expression remained the same because he expected this to happen.
At any time, Arthur could have ended William's life.
But that's not why he chose to participate in this final match. He needed more strong contenders to test his skills against.
Who better to fight than the person claimed to be stronger than Jada?