After Kaito arrived and flung Jasper away, Jada sat there in confusion. Was what she was seeing correct? His face, Arthur's face, it was the face she remembered; the same expression that once plagued her in her sleep.
There was no way—no way—he could be here, standing in front of her. She knew, instinctively, that this was impossible. That such a man, so incredibly powerful, so deeply woven into this world, could not be real in this moment.
Her mind refused it. Her eyes refused it. But her heart betrayed her. A frantic emotion overtook her. She couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Stop!" she shouted.
For a moment, Arthur just stood there. But then he slowly turned, only to see Jada's Totsuka Blade inches from his face, and her Sharingan locked onto his eyes with sheer anger.
Three strikes flew from her as he evaded every single one of them without much effort. And, in each of those strikes, she noticed something strange: he never once broke eye contact with her. Not once did he even flinch.
In the next few strikes, he continued moving with a grace that defied what her Sharingan could track. So her heart pounded faster. His eyes—their coldness—made her feel as if she could drown in them.
Then the fear welled up inside her, causing her to back away by several steps. Her breathing was ragged, and her mind raced to process what was happening.
Was this a genjutsu? Was this all truly taking place?
Then, suddenly, he was in front of her. His hand reached out and touched her forehead.
"Didn't I teach you better than that?" he asked, almost amused.
Before she could react, a pulse of chakra radiated from his fingertips. "Argh!" she screamed as her body was thrown backward. Her grip on her weapon loosened before it clattered to the ground. She had landed hard, and now she was aching everywhere.
'Chakra dissection blade…'
When she looked up, the tip of his finger was already closing in to pierce her eye. She barely dodged in time, feeling the rush of air as Arthur's hand sliced past her.
"Is that all you've got?" he mocked.
Then, he advanced, slashing with a chakra-infused hand again and again. Jada danced desperately as her Sharingan spun furiously just to keep up with his movements. But no matter how fast she responded, his speed was terrifying.
Each swing was like he knew her every move.
Several strikes grazed her, leaving scratches on her arms and legs. She winced, feeling the sting but more so the confusion. How was he doing this? How could he possibly anticipate her dodges without using any Kekkei Genkai?
She backed up again, trying to create space as her breathing became even heavier than the last. Her body was also marked by small cuts and bruises now, yet none of them had hit her vital spots.
"Arthur!" she shouted in desperation. Her eyes burned with fury. "Why are you here? How—how are you even alive?"
She stared at him, trying to see some sign—something that would tell her this was all just an elaborate illusion that she was having trouble breaking. But his expression was unreadable and calm as ever.
That only made her more upset.
Arthur gradually saw the flicker of a faint pink chakra swirling around her before her Mangekyō Sharingan instinctively activated. Then it happened: her flaming Susanoo emerged and roared into existence as it formed its entire armour.
Everyone, mainly the Uchiha clan close by, looked in their direction.
"I'll kill you!" she yelled, unleashing her move. Her Susanoo raised a hand, crackling with electricity. "Susanoo: lightning blade!"
She then charged forward, and with a mighty roar, she slammed her technique down on him, causing an electric explosion to erupt on the field in a storm of lightning and chakra.
The shockwave alone was enough to send quakes rippling outward and knock debris and dust into the air. The attack drew the eyes of many. Among them, Itachi was the most alarmed.
"Ugh!" he unwillingly let out.
Fugaku's expression darkened upon seeing his son's reaction. Was there something about those two that he wasn't aware of? Either way, it did not stop his eyes from narrowing at his disloyal son.
Inside the cloud of dust and sparks, the technique was still raging like a storm of lightning. Jada's figure was momentarily obscured. And once the swirling dust settled, Arthur was still standing tall amidst it all!
His body was shrouded in black electricity, like armour, as he held the Blade of Chaos in front of her Susanoo-enhanced lightning blade. That weapon. It was a weapon Jada remembered from Margaret's explanation of when the latter fought Arthur as John—an overpowered, dangerous weapon that she, nor any of the players, had ever seen before.
Its presence alone made others on the battlefield shudder.
Jasper, who had been flying above and evading Kaito's chakra chains at all costs, looked equally stunned. The last time he had fought Arthur, the latter was nowhere near that level. But now, standing here in this war, he had grown exponentially dangerous.
Arthur himself remained composed while keeping Jada's Susanoo in place. He could tell by the look of her shocked face what she was thinking: 'Didn't they say it was John who carried that weapon? So why did Arthur have it?!'
Arthur's voice carried over the sounds of electricity like a calm breeze. "You've gotten strong…" Jada didn't even have time to register his tone before his next words hit her like a freight train. "Tailed beast: fracture strike."
The Blade of Chaos glowed for a moment, and the instant Arthur slashed, the world around her came crashing down. The attack hit from all angles, and the force slammed her entire body as it split apart her Susanoo in an overwhelmingly destructive blast.
Just the sheer magnitude of the power behind it had significantly drained her chakra.
When things cleared, her Susanoo had inevitably been destroyed. She was still on her feet, but the blood running down her eye and face said it all. The feeling of her chakra slipping away was almost as painful as the attack itself. But it wasn't just the physical toll that hit her hardest; it was the realization.
She had lost.
Just how was this happening? The last time they had fought, she was at least able to overwhelm him and could even keep up with his movements. She had even kept up with her training.
Forget that Arthur was alive; just how could the tables have turned by this much?!
Jada stumbled to a knee, struggling to hold herself up. Thanks to her Susanoo, she still had a bit of semblance left. Without it, she surely would have died.
Yet it had done little to protect her. The battlefield around looked blurry, and the sounds of war had become muffled. The only person that she could see was Arthur.
It was painful. The physical toll he had inflicted hurt like there was no tomorrow. But why did it hurt so much? This was different. He was different.
"I... I don't understand," she whispered. Her hands shook as they touched the floor, grounding her in the harshness of what had just happened. "We..." She couldn't finish the sentence. The truth was too hard to accept. So she forced herself to look at him. "We killed you..."
"Jada… You don't know a thing."
His reply made her want to scream, to shout, to lash out at him for the pain he had caused her. But the words didn't come, and he no longer wanted to acknowledge her. His gaze was now fixed on something else in this war.
Though her vision was blurry, she saw him turn around and begin walking away.
"Don't move!" she cried as she forced herself to stand. Her legs wobbled beneath her, but she didn't care. She wouldn't let him just walk away. Not like this. Not after everything he had put her through. "I'm... I'm not done with you!"
Each word felt like it could break her.
"Too bad," Arthur said, colder than before, as he kept walking, never turning around.
Her chest tightened, and her chakra was running low. But still, there was something inside her that refused to yield. She couldn't let him leave. Not like this. So she clenched her fists and drew in what little chakra she had left.
Then the ground cracked beneath her feet as she lunged forward with her fist aimed at him. But then, before she could connect, she felt an immense weight catch her punch.
A loud, resounding boom had echoed through the air after Hoshikaze appeared in front of her with his hand gripping hers effortlessly.
"S... Sensei...?"
The words had slipped in a daze that clouded her thoughts.
Without Arthur even needing to look, Hoshikaze pushed Jada's fist back, drawing some distance. When she landed, her knees buckled, and for a moment, she thought she might collapse again.
But why was Hoshikaze here? Why was he stopping her of all times?
"Go home, Jada," he firmly said. There was no warmth in his tone. Surely, this could not be the same beloved sensei she had trained with. "This war is not for you."
Her mind spun as his words sank in. As if she hadn't been confused before, now she was utterly lost. Hoshikaze? The man who had been her teacher and saved her life so many times was protecting her enemy?
It didn't make sense. She had trusted him. She had thought… She had thought he was on her side.
But then she saw it: that cloak, the same white cloak that matched the ones worn by Kaito and the rest of Arthur's forces. Then the truth hit her hard: Hoshikaze was standing in her way because he was part of Arthur's army!
Now it made sense; it made sense why Arthur had known exactly how to fight her. Every skill, every technique, every strategy—had all been because of him, too? Had she been his weapon all along?
The realization crushed her, and her body went cold as the full weight of the betrayal settled in. She slowly lowered her head, causing a shadow to cast down on her face.
How could she have been so blind? How could she have trusted someone so easily? The holy bible, his constant reference to him being a Christian—how had she not seen it coming?
The world felt as if it was closing in on her. Everything she had worked for, everything she had fought for—it all seemed so pointless now. She had been nothing but a pawn in a game she hadn't even known was being played.
Arthur himself didn't even look at her. He was too consumed by the war and by the plans that had been set in motion long before she had even known it.
Just how long had she been left in the dark and unaware of everything that had been happening behind the scenes?
Her stomach churned, and she felt the bile rise in her throat. The weight of it all continued to press down on her, and for a moment, she thought she might throw up. She was dizzy. Her head ached, her heart hurt, but the most painful thing of all was that he wasn't even paying attention to her.
She had never felt so small and so insignificant by someone else before. And that was what hurt the most.
Without thinking, her voice rang out in a desperate plea for recognition, for something—anything—to prove that she hadn't been forgotten: "Look at me!"
Arthur didn't respond right away, but after a long moment, he turned. Slowly, his cold eyes met hers. She could see the indifference in them, the lack of emotion, and the hollow look of a man who had already made his choice long ago.
Before she could say any more, he moved. One moment, he was standing across from her, and the next, he was behind her.
She gasped, but it was too late. Bang. His strike to her throat was swift as she felt the air leave her lungs as her body collapsed. She didn't fight it. There was no point. Her chakra was now near zero, and her body was too exhausted to move.
She couldn't do anything. She had no more fight left in her. As the darkness began to close in on her vision, she heard Arthur's voice one last time. "Make sure she doesn't die…"
Then everything went black.