"I thought you had him!" Koko said after landing on Arthur's back.
His gaze stayed locked on Alice as he hissed, "Let's see you save the rest…"
Chōji, get back! He knows our strategy!
Alice's mental command finally reached the boy.
I… I'm sorry,he admitted after retreating.
It was apparent that he lost his cool. Not because he was emotionally weak, but because Arthur knew how to exploit those from the Akimichi clan quite well. They were an easy target, especially when talking about their weight.
Add that to the disrespect of Chōji's fallen comrades, the boy was not at all prepared for this battle.
"Still shaken by their loss?" Arthur hissed at him.
"Be quiet!" a female's voice shouted. Chōji looked up, only to see that it was Sakura. "We're not ever gonna lose to a punk like you!"
At her words, Chōji clenched his fists, allowing his butterfly wings to reform.
"She could be mommy!" Koko jeered.
"Then go test her…" Arthur commanded.
At that, Koko bounced off his arms and darted toward Sakura's direction. "Oh-kay!" Sakura swung her fist, but Koko weaved through it like a bullet. "Whoops!" she said, dodging another attack. With every failed attempt Sakura made, Koko teased her further.
"Missed me, missed me, now ya gotta kiss me!"
While amusing, Arthur's focus returned to Chōji, who was preparing for another assault.
This time, the boy seemed more levelheaded as he threw in some enhanced punches.
Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh!
Each attack was thwarted. Even then, Chōji in his Butterfly Mode was the least of Arthur's problems; he had to be wary of Shino, who was plotting to corner him.
On the other side of the field, Sakura ground her teeth, summoning her full strength as she launched an overhand punch.
Bam!
It shattered the earth, but when she looked, she was astonished that Koko had caught her fist!
"You're strong!" the monkey girl grinned mischievously. Her barred teeth made her look intimidating. "Can you marry daddy after this?!" Sakura quickly leapt back, ignoring the comment. "I mean, if you don't die here."
Sakura, Alice mentally relayed. Her body's infused with natural energy.
Like Sage Mode or something?
Exactly!
"Why aren't you talking back to me?!" Koko begged, preparing for another round.
Amidst this, Shino waved his arms at Arthur. "Parasitic insect: typhoon!" A massive swarm of black beetles began to flurry into the sky, creating a hypnotic whirl. Suddenly, they all engulfed Arthur on the spot.
"What's happening?" Chōji asked as he watched the spiraling storm of insects.
From within, Arthur remained calm. Or rather, he was impressed by this level of technique that he'd never seen before. That's because it was yet another one from the video game franchise.
Alice soon sensed what she hadn't wanted to happen: Arthur began casually walking through the storms of bugs without taking any damage!
"You call yourself an Aburame?" he hissed, brushing a cluster off his shoulder. "How pathetic…"
The trio couldn't at all comprehend what they were witnessing.
When Shino finally saw the answer, he mentally relayed it to the others.
My beetles can't pinpoint his location!
In this relentless swarm, Shino's bugs looked at Arthur as if he were part of their own species. Some even thought he was charming. That made them unwilling to attack their own.
Such was the power of the Chakra Disguise technique at play.
Shino! Alice relayed. Use your beetles to target his summoning instead!
With one wave of his hands, the swarm of bugs removed themselves from Arthur and were now darting toward Koko.
Sakura and her were engaged in a taijutsu skirmish, of which the latter was easily countering. Suddenly, Sakura leapt back.
"Where you going, mommy!" Koko then smacked her cheeks at the incoming swarm of bugs. "Uh-oh!"
'Golden chain: bonding jutsu…'
Arthur swiped his arm, forming a protective barrier around her just before drawing her back toward his shoulder.
"Sorry, daddy," she murmured adorably, lowering her head. "I wasn't able to take down mommy in time."
"You met my expectations," he said, "now return home."
His comment made her happy, and in that moment, she vanished in a puff of smoke.
Arthur had no more reason to test her capabilities in this fight. Had she stayed here longer, the beetles would have eaten away at her chakra.
What was more was that he wasn't even thinking about winning; he was merely testing his own skills against the odds.
Koko herself displayed enough fighting prowess that she hadn't before. Even if it was just against Sakura, the experience gained was worth it. All thanks to having watched film.
Arthur readied himself for the next round as his eyes slid toward Shino.
That boy had to be taken down because Arthur was using up a lot of chakra. Both from his chains and the Chakra Disguise technique. Should he falter even once, those bugs would instantly drain him.
Swoosh! He ran forward.
Alice sensed the murderous intent. Shino, shield yourself!
Immediately, Shino barricaded himself with insects.
'Seven heavenly breaths: first activation…'
When the attack never came, Shino lowered his defenses, only to see Arthur charging at Chōji instead.
The groups' eyes all widened as Chōji ducked a high-speed uppercut. Then, swish! Arthur instantly appeared behind the boy with a kunai ready to be jammed in his skull.
"Chōji, no!" Sakura screamed.
Immediately, Alice's eyes bulged opened. Spiritualization jutsu!
As if time had slowed down, her own, tangible spirit quickly emerged from her body and shot toward Arthur at blinding speeds.
"Hmm!" Arthur said, coming to a sudden halt.
Chōji looked up, shocked to see that he had almost been impaled in the head by a kunai. And when he leapt back, Arthur's body suddenly collapsed to the ground, caught in that moment of suspended motion.
✟
'Where am I…?' Arthur thought to himself.
Around him was a surreal world filled with a white void. The surroundings were ethereal, adorned with stars twinkling softly like scattered diamonds across incandescent clouds.
He had surely seen this place before.
This was the deep level of inner subconscious often shown in the Naruto world when others formed a bond with their chakra.
It felt strangely like a dream—a disorienting realm where the normal laws of reality seemed to ebb away.
But how on earth did Arthur of all people get here?
Had he died? No, not possible.
The last thing he recalled was him about to kill Chōji.
Arthur furrowed his brows. Then, as if feeling someone's hand press against his shoulder, he swiped his hand behind him.
"Get back…"
Crash!
A shockwave coursed outward, momentarily disorienting Alice's figure the void shattered like glass.
✟
Back on the battlefield, Arthur finally awoke.
Everything now felt askew, and his mind was in disarray. Almost as if had just woken up from a bad dream.
The worst surprise greeted him when he noticed his arms were swarmed by black beetles.
His Chakra Disguise technique had faltered, and now he was being drained at an alarming rate.
His chakra disguise technique had faltered.
'Dang it…'
There was no way he could afford to use emergencies like Sage Mode, nor could he allow himself to use any other powerful techniques that might reveal his true identity.
Arthur had underestimated Alice by a large margin, and now he was paying the price.
"You alright, Alice?" Sakura said, holding her by the shoulder.
"I'm fine, but… Shino!"
"On it!"
Arthur tried to push himself up from the ground, but the movement Shino got the signal from Alice, he sent another wave of black beetles to pin Arthur down.
"Now, Chōji!" cried Alice.
From the corner of his eye, Arthur saw the boy powering up his Butterfly Bomb technique again.
Arthur had to move, despite the bugs. But the moment he tried that, he found himself fully stunned. Not by Shino, but by Alice now.
He locked eyes with her, feeling a strange energy that wasn't at all chakra. No, this was the same technique she used in their last encounter back at the Land of Tea.
Alice watched him with a smirk, believing the battle to be theirs. But when he saw Arthur's lips moving, her gaze faltered.
"Here I go!" Chōji cried, coming down. "Butterfly bomb!"
Ka-bam!
The very ground trembled and cracked beneath the force of his attack, causing dust clouds to fill the air as tremours rippled outwards from the shockwave.
It took several seconds for things to finally settle.
When they did, Sakura peered through the haze. "Did we get him?"
Shino squinted before becoming astonished at the results. "My parasitic insects can't sense anyone!"
Arthur was gone from the impact area. The only thing left behind was the damaged beetles inside a massive crater. Not even Alice could sense his location.
"I could have sworn I hit him," Chōji said after regrouping with everyone. "I guess I should've been faster."
"It's alright," Alice reassured, shaking her head. "I'm the one that let you guys down; I didn't know just how strong he was compared to the Sound Four."
"It's not at all your fault," Shino encouraged.
"I guess, but I'm glad nobody died."
"Where could he have possibly gone?" Sakura wondered aloud.
Alice sighed, reflecting hard for a moment as she answered, "I… I don't know. No one's inside my sensing range, so even if he substituted with something, he'd be miles away from here."
The only logical explanation was that he had simply escaped with the little chakra he had. How he had done so was beyond their comprehension since no one in this group knew who he was.
That's when Sakura remembered something. "What was it that he said before he vanished?"
Alice's face fell. "He said, 'This isn't over…'"
✟
Elsewhere.
Arthur reappeared on top of a statue in a fetal position while his face grimaced in pain. There was a huge hole on the back of his shirt as sweat continued to trickle down his brow.
When he felt a beetle crawling on his neck, he crushed it, still feeling the effects of chakra shortage.
'Dang it..' he thought, trying to refocus. 'She was more dangerous than I thought…'
As he looked at his palm, he noticed that he was no longer Kaito. It took him a second to recoup his thoughts, but when he did, he stood upright, only to find his vision still hazy.
Whatever technique Alice had used, it undoubtedly messed with Arthur's mental faculties; he could barely think straight even after escaping.
And just how did he escape?
Within milliseconds of feeling Chōji's Butterfly Bomb, the shock jolted his senses enough for him to teleport out with the Flying raijin.
And where was he now? On top of Madara Uchiha's statue in the Valley of the End.
This was the closest Flying raijin mark he had placed after discovering its location during his journeys. It wasn't hard to find once he remembered the destinations within this arc.
But none of that mattered because Arthur had lost.