Some time later, Arthur found himself walking through an open terrain.
Prior to journeying here, he had made a secretive visit to the Leaf Village. Mainly to understand the aftermath of the Sasuke Retrieval Arc.
The mood in the village was somber, and many were frustrated, particularly Tsunade, who was in a rage over the Uchiha's betrayal.
That made Sasuke only the fourth Uchiha in history to abandon the Leaf Village.
Jada and William, too, shared the weight of bewilderment; their skepticism only compounded as they grappled with the baffling disappearance of Sakura's Flying raijin paper and this mysterious 'Kaito'.
Things had escalated so significantly that Jada double-checked the distributed Flying raijin papers from the essential cast members.
Arthur wasn't entirely sure how others, such as Alexander and Margaret, perceived things. But for him, their sentiments were irrelevant.
The fallout of Sasuke's betrayal was no longer his concern; his focus remained on the extra years given to hone his own skills.
Then there was Kaito's involvement. When Alice found out he wasn't from the Shippuden franchise, she was truly at loss.
"What did he look like again?" Jada asked her at the time.
"He had silverish hair and was really strong; he didn't at all look like fodder."
None of the players managed to link Kaito to Arthur. Not because they simply couldn't make the connection, but because he had placed so many layers in masking his identity that it became nearly impossible for anyone to tell.
Among those revelations that had emerged, the Leaf shinobi, responding to Alice's team, captured Tayuya and took her back to the village for interrogation.
The other Sound Fours' bodies were harvested for research since they had curse marks that could potentially lead back to Orochimaru.
Tayuya proved to be defiant, adamantly refusing to provide any information about Orochimaru. Attempts to probe her mind were also met with a similar dead end, due to a contingency seal being placed to prevent Orochimaru's loyal subordinates from squealing.
It reminded Arthur of Danzō Shimura's tactics, which was the use of sealing techniques on Foundation members meant to protect his identity.
Ultimately, Tayuya's disobedience led to her being sentenced to the notorious Hōzuki Castle.
That's where Arthur was headed now.
This particular castle was a prison and not your normal one. It was first featured in one of the movies titled "Blood Prison."
Arthur remembered the events of that movie quite well.
The story began with a scene in the Cloud Village, where the fourth Raikage was discussing strategies with his subordinates—Omoi, Karui, Samui, and Mabui.
A gas suddenly filled the room, causing everyone to fall into a deep sleep. This allowed for a hooded figure to attack the sleeping Raikage.
But A managed to thwart the assassination attempt, seemingly uncovering the identity of the attacker: Naruto Uzumaki. Taking advantage of A's shock at this revelation, this fake Naruto managed to escape the scene.
Back in the Leaf Village, Tsunade announced that Naruto was now a fugitive for allegedly attempting to assassinate A. Despite Naruto and Sakura's protests of innocence, she chose to imprison him in Blood Prison, located in the Grass Village.
Naruto attempted to escape but was recaptured by Yamato, who sealed his chakra with wood style and confiscated his forehead protector.
Upon his arrival at Hōzuki Castle, the head of the prison, Mui, placed the "Fire Style: Celestial Prison" seal on him, rendering him unable to use his chakra.
That technique, utilized by Mui's clan, prevented victims from executing any techniques. Should a person with the seal attempt to move beyond a specified distance from its user, they'd risk experiencing severe internal combustion, resulting in their incineration.
Additionally, the performer can choose to activate the seal at will, which further enhanced its potency.
However, particularly powerful individuals may manage to exert some chakra control.
Other than that, the technique does have limitations. Being a fire-based ability, its effectiveness is nullified in water; victims can easily circumvent their restrictions by submerging themselves.
Furthermore, while the seal inhibited normal chakra usage, it did not prevent the employment of enhanced chakra derived from external natural energy. Interestingly, Shadow Clones created by individuals with the seal—if they could be performed—do not carry the effects of the imprisonment.
As the story in the movie progressed, Naruto found himself being manipulated by Maroi, an accomplice of Mui, who unknowingly brought the real Naruto to a laboratory while the fake Naruto remained behind.
Although Naruto eventually managed to escape, the effects of the seal soon incapacitated him again, leading to his confinement in solitary.
There, he met Ryūzetsu, who secretly sought to kill Mui and destroy the Box of Paradise, a powerful artifact linked to Mui's dark ambitions.
This particular box was quite ominous, as many believed that it had once allowed the Cloud Village to almost conquer the world when Hagoromo was present. After being lost for years, the resurgence of the box incited fear among the five ninja nations, prompting an uneasy truce to deal with its implications.
Opening it required an immense amount of chakra—sufficient to draw forth a devil known as Satori, a puppet of the box who captured enemies by dragging them into its confines.
Those unfortunate enough to be absorbed into the box would become extensions of its will.
In the confines of Hōzuki Castle, Mui harboured ambitions surrounding the box, having previously lost his son, Muku, to its dark influence. He believed that by accessing the chakra of Naruto Uzumaki, the host of the Nine-Tails, he could finally unlock the box and reunite with his son.
This was hidden under the guise of reviving the Grass Village to its former glory.
Thus, Mui and his conspirators had orchestrated a scheme to frame Naruto so that his chakra could be stolen to unleash the box's power.
Naruto, therefore, aligned with Ryūzetsu to thwart Mui's plans.
In the ensuing battle, Muku, Mui's long-lost son, was resurrected by the box. However, he turned against Mui, fatally wounding him, which only added to the surreal plot.
Like all of the franchise's movies, the climactic struggle ended with Naruto eventually defeating the bad guy alongside friends like Killer Bee—who knew he was innocent.
Of course, the story was not without its faults.
That same Ryūzetsu sacrificed herself to help Naruto after the boy died, thus reviving him to continue the franchise.
As Arthur reflected on these events, he could already see Blood Prison looming over the waters of the Grass Village. It truly was a grim fortress.
This particular castle was designed ostensibly as a criminal containment facility, a place for those deemed too dangerous to remain in society.
The structure, built on a cliff, was also surrounded by whirlpools, rendering escape nearly impossible for anyone who dared to swim away.
Inside, death traps awaited the imprudent, designed to prevent any form of rebellion among the prisoners. And those who attempted to escape were met with severe punishment.
The guards, more akin to orderlies than officers, maintained command through intimidation rather than proactive measures, relying on the Celestial Prison seal of Mui to keep the inmates in check.
The Box of Paradise was surely hidden deep within the laboratory where cruel experiments took place.
If anything, Arthur knew that prisoners were still being used as unwitting test subjects to extract their chakra in an attempt to unlock it.
Mui had long ago succumbed to its sinister influence, so trying to fix anything here now—this early—would serve Arthur no purpose.
Besides, he was only here to free Tayuya.
But why would he do such a thing?
There was something he had learned after his defeat against Alice. He needed more authority—those he could manipulate—an army that would follow him like how Alice led her team of Genin.
The wind howled through the crags of Hōzuki Castle, carrying with it the sounds of the sea crashing against the rocks below. Its dark walls seemed almost alive.
Arthur approached the gates from above in smoke form, evading the watchful eyes of the guards patrolling the outer perimeters. He soon paused his advance, knowing that the new moon night would be advantageous.
'Crimson gaze…'
As he scanned for potential entry points or vulnerabilities in its defenses, he noticed that this place was honestly not as fortified or as difficult to navigate as he thought it would be.
As such, he slipped into another concealed spot and scanned the deeper layers.
An empty room was discovered all the way at the opposite end of the castle. And inside it, Mui's secret archives about the Celestial Prison technique could be seen.
Arthur didn't need to head over there to read the contents. But some of the texts were positioned in rolled-up scrolls, making them a tad illegible.
By the time he arrived without being noticed, he selected the scroll marked with Mui's clan's symbol and began to study.
Everything was absorbed. From the method of binding to the chakra-draining properties, all critical elements came together in his thoughts.
After an hour, he was finished.
'Is that it?' he quietly mused.
Although he couldn't replicate Mui's technique, he certainly had the means to create a countermeasure. All Arthur needed was to apply a specific application of water to form an advanced sealing method that mimicked the original.
This, by theory, could neutralize the fire's destructive essence while allowing the victim to regain their chakra, turning the tables on their captor.