Fifty henchmen lay scattered across the lobby, defeated.
"Just what the heck's goin' on?!" the boss cried out.
"What do ya mean?" William triumphantly laughed. All of his clones then poofed away. "You guys were cakewalk!"
Jada noticed how hard the little girl was gripping her shirt.
"Don't worry," she assured them, "you're safe now, and gonna to take you back to your mother."
The father choked, "Thank you! I owe you all so much!"
"I think you've dealt with enough debt at this point," she smiled. Then her expression shifted to anger as she turned to the boss. The man was startled, stumbling back at her approaching figure." "If I ever find out you're doing this again," she threatened, lowering herself to meet his gaze, "I'll hunt you down myself!"
Arthur knew better than anyone not to doubt that proclamation.
The boss, visibly terrified, went to his knees, shaking. "I knew it was wrong the whole time; I don't deserve to live!"
Touched unexpectedly by his admission, Jada's features softened as she smiled, letting her Sharingan deactivate.
"I forgive you," she gently said. "Just… I hope you find a way to make better use of yourself one day."
The moment she turned away, the boss's demeanour shifted into contempt as he produced a hidden kunai from his cloak and lunged. And when Jada turned, the tip of the blade was inches from her eye.
"Hmph..."
Time slowed.
That icy scoff from Arthur was the only thing she heard until, boom! The boss was caught in the face with a devastating palm strike that sent him flying through the wall with a sickening thud!
Jada slumped to the ground as William stood frozen in disbelief.
She could have died.
After a moment, the thrill of the earlier victory gave way to horror upon seeing the man's mangled body half-embedded in the wall. Blood seeped through the hole in the wall from his twisted form.
"You…" Jada breathed. "You killed him."
"Earlier," Arthur said, standing upright and unfazed, "that man said I was a good guy." Then he turned to the group with an icy stare. "Only God is good. Remember that as your third lesson: to never trust anyone."
✟
A day later, the group eventually found themselves back at the town, guiding the father and daughter on their way.
When the mother saw them from afar, tears welled up in her eyes.
The reunion was nothing short of emotional as the family enveloped one another.
"Thank you," the father said again, looking up at Arthur, Jada, and William. His gratitude was genuine and profound—something Arthur was not used to in this world. "You've given me my family back. We won't forget this."
"Just make sure to stay together from here on out," Jada replied with a smile.
"The loan company's going to be disbanded," William added, "so they won't be coming back."
Tears streamed down the family's faces once more. Quite the bittersweet moment, filled with the aftermath of triumph and horror, all intertwined.
The trio soon turned their backs and moved on.
"Umm…" Jada said in a sincere tone, "Hoshikaze-sensei, thanks again for saving me back there."
"Don't mention it…"
Yet she bowed her head as a show of respect. "No, really. I know I keep saying that, but I'm in your debt now."
"Oh come on," William muttered under his breath.
Even he couldn't deny that Arthur had indeed saved Jada's life, which made it hard to argue anything.
"You still have much to learn," Arthur replied. Then he began walking the opposite direction. "That concludes your training for now…"
Hardly a few paces away, Jada called out, "When are we having our next lesson?!" Her answer was met with a sudden 'swoosh!' as he vanished. It kept her smiling. "Guess I'll have to be patient."
"Hey, Jada, do you always have to keep calling him sensei? I mean, it's not like I can't beat him in a real battle."
The statement made her giggle.
✟
Some time later at the Leaf Village.
Hiruzen Sarutobi strolled through the streets while nodding amicably at the villagers who offered him warm greetings. Besides him was his son, Asuma Sarutobi.
Children waved happily and shopkeepers threw them respectful smiles. Clearly Hiruzen no longer the Hokage, but many still revered him for his work.
Now, Hiruzen and Asuma's relationship had been tumultuous over the years due to not being able to see eye-to-eye. But after Hiruzen's near-death experience, it had ignited a deep-seated desire within Asuma to reconnect with his father.
Now they were walking alongside one another with a budding camaraderie.
"Tsunade has been doing a fine job at maintaining the village," Hiruzen rasped.
"I guess she is keeping the trouble to a minimum."
"Yes… Everyone's hard work has been contributing quite nicely. Such is the Will of Fire."
There were many times Asuma disagreed with his father's philosophy, but now was not the time to say anything. Instead, he shrugged, looking ahead with a faraway expression.
"At least it gets me out and about," he quipped.
"That's good to hear," Hiruzen added. "Speaking of work, how's your Genin doing?"
"You mean Chōji?" At the mention of his pupil, it brought a frown to Asuma's face. "He's been having nightmares lately."
"Nightmares?" Hiruzen's eyebrows knitted together. "When did this start?"
"As you know about that incident in the Forest of Death, his memories of it resurfaced after coming back from the mission to rescue Sasuke Uchiha…" Asuma then ran a hand through his hair. "He keeps seeing that Sound Shinobi when he wakes up."
"Which one?"
"The one that got away: Kaito…"
Hiruzen had not read the report. Neither had he ever heard of any shinobi named Kaito.
"I'm sorry to hear that," he apologized. "I'll have a talk with him about it later."
"Thank you. I'm sure that would mean a lot. He's a tough nut to crack, so he'll get better in no time."
"Good to hear. Pliability is a valuable trait."
Their walk continued as many greeted them with deference.
"How about some tea at my place later?" Hiruzen invited. "I could use some father-son time."
"I appreciate it, but I've got a mission to head to in the Hot Spring Village. There've been reports of missing tourists in that area."
"Strange. Jada and William returned from there today."
"Oh, yeah…" Asuma muttered, recalling their names. "What was their mission there?"
"I don't recall the details, but I know it wasn't a mission."
"Guess I can talk to them before I head out then. They might help my case."
As the two were yet speaking, Kurenai emerged to greet them.
The first thing she did to show her respect was bow to Hiruzen. While it wasn't necessary, he was still, after all, an elder of the village.
"Asuma," she said, "I came to see you off."
"Thanks, Kurenai… I was actually gonna let you know."
Hiruzen merely observed their exchanges. Even in his old age, he could see a relationship had formed between them.
"You two are doing well, I assume," he said with a smile.
Those words were quite informal, making Kurenai blush. "Yes, we're doing great, lord Sarutobi!"
"Calling me Hiruzen is quite alright." That was more of a traditional way of him wishing for her to get closer to his son so that he could one day call her his daughter-in-law. "It would make me feel much more comfortable."
After a while, she eventually left, wishing the two well.
Before Asuma himself departed, he had to ask, "How're you holding up since you recovered?"
"Me? I'm fine."
But Asuma wasn't so easily swayed. "I mean your overall health."
"Honestly, there have been some ups and downs. But I can assure you that I'm managing quite fine."
"Care to explain?"
Hiruzen's expression turned somber as he gazed at the sky. "The up is that my chakra is stable. The down, however, is my connection with Enma."
What many already knew, Hiruzen fought Orochimaru. During that battle, he tried to summon Enma after Orochimaru reanimated the first and second Hokages. The problem was that Enma never showed up.
"Did you try summoning him afterwards?" Asuma asked.
"Yes, several times… But nothing happened. Not even when I tried summoning someone smaller."
"That's strange," Asuma thoughtfully replied. "It might have had something to do with irregularities in your chakra flow. Enma does require a lot of chakra, after all."
Hiruzen said nothing, contemplating his son's words as he stared into space. He hoped that Asuma was right, that it was simply a temporary issue.
"You got up only recently," Asuma finished, "so give it some more time."
"That means a lot being comforted by my own blood."