Konan unleashed a flurry of origami blades. Yet her eyes narrowed upon seeing Ryugetsu's technique thwarted every single one of them.
"You should learn new tricks," Ryugetsu mocked.
Konan actually smiled at the comment. "We'll see how long you last." With a flick of her hand, she sent a barrage of paper shuriken.
This time, the angelic spirit behind Ryugetsu used its fists as a shield, causing the paper shuriken to seemingly halt on the spirit's chakra. But when Ryugetsu looked, the shuriken all had explosive tags on them.
Ka-boom!
All that was seen was Ryugetsu flying out of a cloud of debris in the sky.
"Impressive," he calmly acknowledged. Then he sent out a giant fist in her direction. "But you're far from my level."
Konan quickly shrouded her body in an orb with her paper wings. The ethereal fist collided with her defenses, almost knocking her out of the sky.
"Argh!" she screamed from within her shield.
Her gaze sharpened upon feeling that she was falling at a high rate of velocity. She quickly released her shield to fly back up. But the moment she did, a smaller ethereal fist knocked her off course.
It took only a second for her to recover midair before skyrocketing to safer skies.
"You're resilient," Ryugetsu admitted, flying after her.
"I'm just getting started," Konan concentrated, keeping her flight pattern.
Again, she swiped her arm, sending a storm of razor-sharp paper blades that darted like a swarm of deadly insects. The angelic spirit responded once more, forming an ethereal fist to act like a wall that deflected the paper blades.
"Tsk!" Konan let out, aware her strategy was faltering.
She was about to press another attack when suddenly, the atmosphere shifted. From below, a giant drill-beaked bird with Rinnegan eyes swooped up, blocking Ryugetsu's flight course!
Its wings beat the air with a crashing sound, and atop it sat Pain's Animal Path. Ryugetsu soon recovered, unperturbed by the new arrival.
The creature slowly hovered near Konan, who didn't flinch. Instead, she looked up and nodded, acknowledging the help. As much as she didn't want to admit it out loud, she most certainly needed backup.
"Thanks," she said.
The Animal Path, speaking through Nagato's voice, responded, "We'll focus on Ryugetsu while I handle Arthur below."
Nagato, wherever he was, was referring to his other Paths that would take care of Arthur.
"Understood," Konan said, refocusing her chakra.
As the bird circled closer, Ryugetsu was forced to reposition himself and avoid the sharp beak that gleamed like a dagger.
Below, pandemonium reigned even more.
A colossal ox, summoned by Nagato, rampaged across the field. Its hide was thick, and it crushed everything in its wake—specifically among the Uchiha clan.
They were fighting hard, with many of them launching fireballs at the beast. But despite their efforts, the creature's tough skin seemingly absorbed their fire-based attacks, rendering them useless.
Fugaku Uchiha, fighting elsewhere, had trained his clan well. He had Arthur to thank for having helped him advance their skills.
Still, the ox pressed on, stomping and crushing his forces.
"What can we do against it?!" a member asked.
"Add on more pressure!" Izumi demanded. Izumi, having never been in war before, was doing her best to keep her clan's morale up. It was quite interesting to see this girl in a woman's body actually trying. "Don't let the enemy gain ground!"
Suddenly, the beast reared its head, slicing through many of the clan. Izumi was forced to retreat, only to be met by the beast's massive size. Her Sharingan eyes widened as its foot descended on her.
Then, out of nowhere, a blazing red laser hit the side of the ox, causing a loud banging noise!
Izumi turned to see that it was Shisui that came to her rescue.
"Thanks," she called in relief. The sight of him, with his characteristic calm and focus, steadied her nerves. "I thought I was going to die again."
Shisui placed on his blindfold before meeting her. "That took a lot out of me," he said, taking a chakra pill from his pouch. Swallowing it helped restore his stamina. "Can you help me with something?"
"What is it?" Izumi asked, still catching her breath.
"Thrust me into the air," he explained, "so I can get a better view of the field."
"Okay, but please be careful."
"I will…"
Straightaway, she got into position. Shisui sprinted forward, then leapt onto her outstretched arms. With her help, he was launched high into the sky. And once airborne, he removed his blindfold, causing his Mangekyō to flare with intense light.
Then he unleashed a barrage of lasers as the battlefield lit up with destructive energy. Rain shinobi either fell or were completely incinerated from his relentless assault.
"He's a freak!" one yelled before being engulfed by the beam.
The enemy here was getting wrecked by all accounts. But the Preta Path, sensing the threat, quickly moved into action. It reached out its hand, palm facing outward, and absorbed the lasers, nullifying Shisui's attack.
"I forgot he was on our side," a Rain shinobi commented.
"You're telling me," another panted.
Shisui groaned, landing roughly back on the ground with his eyes closed. "I don't remember anything about him in the reports," he said, smirking. His confidence was unshaken, but before he could rejoice, vines suddenly erupted from the ground beneath him. They wrapped around his legs and torso before pinning him in place.
From the vines, a figure emerged—White Zetsu (likely a clone), with its characteristic half-mimicry, grinning wickedly.
"Never thought I'd meet Shisui of the Body Flicker," it sneered.
The thought of the Akatsuki being aware of his character was less honourable than it seemed; it was truly disturbing, to say the least.
The vines kept tight, and as Zetsu's eyes gleamed, the Preta Path approached and placed a hand on Shisui's chest, beginning to drain his chakra.
He wanted to open his eyes and shoot out another laser beam, but deep down, he knew that was a horrible idea. His chakra was already low from that last attack. And with an opponent capable of draining chakra, this was the worst possible matchup.
Suddenly, the Preta Path's expression changed. It sensed something approaching—an even greater threat. So it quickly backed away after releasing its grip on Shisui. Zetsu's grin then faltered as his vines were incinerated in an instant by a burst of unknown chakra, destroying them.
Shisui stumbled free, turning to thank Izumi, believing she had helped him. But he was met with a different figure: Arthur, holding the Blade of Chaos while walking slowly forward.
Shisui quickly dropped to a knee, bowing his head and saying, "My lord, I am sorry that you came to my aid."
The Preta Path by no means wanted to engage with the likes of Arthur right now. So it made the smartest decision, and fell back.
Arthur, seeing this, let it go for now as his attention was redirected at the ninja he saved.
"Stand up," he commanded. Forthwith, Shisui straightened, feeling the weight of the moment. Arthur's gaze hardened as he continued, "Our formation is not where I need it to be. Rally a few on that side."
He pointed toward a section of the battlefield where Itachi Uchiha was engaged. Arthur knew full well that the best ninja under his reign to deal with that Uchiha was the same Uchiha's best friend. Shisui himself didn't even hesitate to accept the order.
Without another word, Arthur vanished, leaving Shisui to assemble his troops.
Izumi approached him cautiously. "Was that truly lord Arthur?"
"It was," Shisui answered, placing his blindfold back on.
"But how do you—"
"No one, not even the four lords, carries that weapon…"
"I see…"
"He wants us to move where Itachi is, so we need to go now."
Izumi hesitated as her past feelings stirred inside her. She had once loved Itachi, and now, with him on the opposite side, her heart was complicated.
Shisui, noticing her unease, placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and assured, "Stick with me until we get there."
She nodded, following him as they moved toward the area where Itachi fought.
Arthur soon reappeared, standing at the very center of the war without a weapon in sight.
His senses were overwhelmed with sounds of clashing weapons, screams, explosions, and the constant roar of combat. Everywhere he looked, there was fighting—some close, some distant, some brutal, some desperate.
Yet, despite the madness surrounding him, he remained still, as if he was simply observing the world rather than being part of it.
A handful of figures had undoubtedly caught his attention.
First there was still the zombie duo, Kakuzu and Hidan, both of whom were wreaking havoc on his forces. The problem with them was that they were moving with reckless abandon, attacking anyone—even their own forces—who got in their way.
Nagato's Deva Path was also lurking. Some might have thought that this Path was the biggest threat. They wouldn't have been completely wrong. Arthur had been aware of its movements—how it was focused solely on him, shifting from its original position to set up an ambush.
The last thing he wanted for that Path was to use its "Grand Almighty Push," the same technique Nagato had used to utterly lay waste to the entire Leaf Village.
But for now, the Deva Path was waiting, likely watching Arthur from afar.
Suddenly, Arthur's focus was interrupted by the approaching sound of fast and heavy footsteps. Then he heard his attacker's voice: "Now it's time for the grand sacrifice!"
It was Hidan's shout, and he was already swinging his triple-bladed scythe at Arthur's neck. Big mistake.
Arthur merely tilted his head, moving just enough to avoid the longest blade. His calm was unshaken, and his face showed no surprise or anger as the scythe sliced through the air, missing by inches.
Hidan's eyes widened in shock at how easily his attack was dodged. "No way you just—" Before he could react further, Arthur smoothly spun around. His hand materialized the Blade of Chaos as he gripped the handle, and with a measured, precise motion, he drove it into Hidan's chest!
"Dang, that hurts!" Hidan coughed, blood spraying from his mouth. It was hard to believe that such a simple move could cause such damage. Yet the blade was no ordinary weapon; it was constantly chipping away at its target's insides. "What the heck is that sword made out of?"
Arthur responded by touching the hilt of his blade. Instantly, ice began to form where Hidan had been pierced.
'Ice style: shattering ice spears…'
Then Arthur ripped the weapon from Hidan's belly before casually walking away. Sharp, jagged shards soon erupted from Hidan's body, creating a thick prison of frozen spikes around him.
Arthur then stretched his neck, aware that Hidan wasn't dead—just immobilized, at least for now.
'That takes care of my first problem,' he thought, dematerializing the Blade of Chaos.
His mind then shifted back to the threats that still loomed. Like he was originally thinking, there were a select few dangers within this war.
The first was the players. Jada was still unconscious, lying on the ground, watched carefully by Hoshikaze, who kept a wary eye on any movement. If anyone tried to rescue her, they'd have to get past that clone first.
Meanwhile, Jasper was locked in combat with Kaito. The two were exchanging blows left and right, each trying to outdo the other. Kaito's speed and agility kept him just ahead of Jasper's strikes, but Arthur wondered how much longer that could last.