Seven days had gone by.
Arthur's relentless grind of becoming stronger had progressed well. Each session with Tatewaki had brought him to new limits and pushed him further towards perfection.
The reanimated samurai, though initially skeptical, couldn't deny the sheer willpower Arthur had. His reanimator had eventually begun moving with brand-new fluidity during their sessions while wielding each of his unique blades with better efficiency.
At one instant of the training, Arthur summoned Mangetsu to make the corpse show him how to properly wield the swords. It was a well-deserved effort, as he even fought Mangetsu for an entire day.
The latter had used all six swords at once against him.
A brutal training session, to say the least, since Arthur had been bested more times than one. But he was okay with that because he got a better feel for how to properly use each of the swords.
Things had paid off well.
The techniques he added to his arsenal were the following: Explosive Blade Jutsu: Multiple Explosions of Death; Longsword Ninja Art: Massacre Method Formation; Ninja Art Long Blade: Stitching Spider; and lastly, Hiramekarei Bloody Mist Sword Art: Honenuki: Bone Mutilation.
The first unfurled the Explosive Blade to capture the opponent in a paper-bomb trap. The second tied the targets together with wires. The third setup had wire traps that he could manipulate.
The last one was perhaps the deadliest of all. It allowed him to summon a multitude of light-blue chakra needles that could then be propelled towards his adversaries. Upon a successful hit, the needles pierce the opponent's chakra pathway system, causing a gradual and ultimately fatal decline in their overall vitality.
Translation? They'd die.
The real gain was that Arthur had devised a fighting style that capitalized on each of the weapons' strengths.
The Long Blade, precise and deadly, for swift attacks and disarming maneuvers; the Explosive Blade, a storm of explosions, for overwhelming offense and creating openings. The Executioner's Blade, to overwhelm the opponent's strength. The Blunt Blade, to shatter every defense. The Boltswords, to shower the stage with lightning. And Hiramekarei, to always keep the opponents on their toes.
Each weapon was like a poem of violence.
✟
On an afternoon as Arthur was recovering, he sent a message to Hiromu, informing the latter to deliver documents to the Mist Village.
Around the same hour, a hawk was seen on Arthur's balcony. Thick, rolled-up scrolls were tightly gripped in its talons. Recognizing Hiromu's handiwork, Arthur retrieved the scrolls and let the bird go.
Inside, sealed with the Mizukage's official seal, were the classified documents he requested.
The first few reports were routine, detailing infrastructure projects and minor skirmishes at the border. These weren't anything he needed to know for now, so he jumped to the section with a specific name highlighted in green: Utakata.
Arthur skimmed through the reports, learning everything there was to know about the Six-Tails Jinchūriki.
Utakata wasn't that difficult of a character to grasp. Originally a loyal ninja from the Mist Village, he became a disillusioned wanderer after a tragic event with his teacher. Wherefore, he deeply distrusted the concept of a student-teacher relationship due to his past.
Utakata himself was written to have been quiet and stoic, preferring solitude. However, he had a strong sense of honour and a protective streak, especially towards those who have helped him before.
In terms of skill, he used soap-bubble ninjutsu by combining his water style with a special tool to create explosive or immobilizing bubbles.
The only thing Arthur cared about with this ninja was that he was still the current Jinchūriki of the Six-Tails, Saiken.
When Utakata transforms using the Tailed Beasts' powers, he gains new abilities like corrosive powers. Interestingly, he had a better relationship with his Tailed Beast than most Jinchūriki, being able to control its power to some extent.
There were nine Jinchūriki in total, one of which was already dead. That Jinchūriki was Yagura. It was never stated what happens to a Tailed Beast when the host dies. However, Yagura's Tailed Beast, Isobu, was currently fresh in a large lake within the country.
The other eight Jinchūriki, from what Arthur understood, were in their respective countries.
Naruto in the Fire Country, Gaara in the Wind Country, Killer Bee and Yugito Nii in the Lightning Country, Rōshi and Han in the Earth Country, and lastly, Fū in an unknown country, but in a village called the "Waterfall Village."
As of this moment, Utakata was the only Jinchūriki freely treading in Arthur's country unsupervised. Surely Arthur would not just sit idly by and let such an opportunity go.
According to the intel, Utakata was still a rogue ninja, a detail Arthur already knew from the bingo book. His bounty equaled ten million ryō, respectively. The reports also chronicled his escape from the Hidden Mist, his affiliation with a small ninja village called "Tsuchigumo," and the subsequent search for his capture.
However, based on intercepted communications and eyewitness accounts, Utakata no longer resided in Tsuchigumo Village. His whereabouts were currently unknown.
If Arthur wanted to hunt him, he was going to lure the beast out.
So he spent the following days scouring the remaining documents by searching for anything that could give him a clue.
Doing so allowed him to learn about Utakata's techniques, his fighting style, and even the rumoured location of his last known whereabouts. But none of this information helped him pinpoint the Jinchūriki's exact location.
Knowledge was power, and there was one crucial detail missing from the Hidden Mist files: the technique they used to seal the Six-Tails.
His eyes darted back to the section detailing Utakata's capture. There, buried in the text, was a single phrase: 'Tailed Beast Installation.' This was the first time he'd ever heard of such a technique. Almost every mention of Tailed Beasts in this world revolved around removing the creature from its host.
What did this 'installation' entail?
But when he sifted through the documents again, he found nothing relevant about it. There was simply no reliable intel on the technique.
But then something connected in Arthur's mind: 'Tailed Beast Removal'—that was the technique used by Utakata's teacher to try to extract Saiken from him.
Could the Installation technique be a counterpart or the opposite version? If a removal technique existed, there had to be an installation one as well.
It was a long shot, but it was a lead—something Arthur could chase.
✟
Two days later, another hawk arrived, bearing a scroll marked with Hiromu's personal seal. Arthur unfurled it and saw the instructions for the Tailed Beast Removal technique.
The technique itself seemed simple. It involved a ritualistic arrangement of stones, a complex sealing formula drawn in ink, and a point of rest for the host.
The real challenge lay in execution.
Therefore, Arthur spent the following days learning the instructions and memorizing the steps to perform it himself.
When he finished, there was really only one downside: should he lose control of the sealing technique, whatever Tailed Beast was trying to be sealed would rampage unchecked in the vicinity.
Arthur scoffed at the idea of him failing.
✟
The day finally arrived as Arthur had gathered the necessary supplies: ink and large parchment. He then departed from Wizened Town and ventured hundreds of miles into the desolate heart of the Water Country.
It was a wise decision, for he needed a secluded spot where he could conduct his experiment uninterrupted.
When he found a barren clearing, devoid of life or landmarks, he deemed it the perfect area for the ritual.
Following the instructions exactly as they were written, he erected stones in a specific pattern by carefully positioning them in the right manner. At the center, he then placed a flat slab of rock that was large enough to accommodate a man's body.
The seal design, a multifaceted web of lines and symbols, was finally drawn. That part took almost an entire hour. But even after he was finished, he was triple-checking it to ensure there were no mistakes.
It was a perfect replica.
The next step, however, was going to be trickier. So he placed a Flying raijin mark right in the center of the stone slab. If he were successful in his mission, this was going to be the point of extraction, at which he would teleport Utakata here without needing to spend time traveling.
The next day and a half was spent in quiet contemplation, revisiting the intel on Utakata.
Arthur's mind ran simulations by formulating strategies.
When he was done, the time came to act.
His supplies were packed, so he left the land and arrived in close proximity to Tsuchigumo Village. The journey itself was uneventful. Why he was even here was because the possibility that Utakata was close by was too great.
Finding a safe spot, he closed his eyes and gathered natural energy. Thanks to his training, he was able to gather the energy at almost twice the speed as before, being two and a half minutes faster.
'Simian Sage Mode…'
While his form shifted, his senses were already amplifying dramatically as his enhanced perception was focused on the village below. A mixture of chakra signatures flooded his vision. He saw the villagers going about their jobs, the guards patrolling the perimeter, and even the young Hotaru playing in the village square.
Hotaru was a young kunoichi from the Tsuchigumo clan who was housed within the village. Determined to honour her grandfather's legacy, she volunteered to have her clan's forbidden technique sealed onto her back.
This technique held the potential to restore her clan's glory but also posed a major danger: it could blow up an entire village.
In her story, she met Utakata, who initially refused to train her. However, she impressed him with her perseverance, and she eventually became his student. Together, alongside Naruto, they faced enemies who sought the forbidden technique's power.
Hotaru learned that the technique was too destructive and ultimately chose to have it removed. Unfortunately, Utakata was captured and killed by Pain shortly after.
Left alone, she was filled with grief, never to be heard from again.
The good thing for Arthur was that this event wouldn't take place for another three years from now. And while Hotaru was clearly the most notable filler character in the village, none of them held the specific signature he sought.
Disappointment didn't even register as he remained calm.
If Utakata didn't actively seek him out, he could make capturing him someone else's problem. For instance, Arthur could post an All-Bunting Person (ABP) warrant for Utakata's arrest, essentially turning the entire country into his hunting party.
But a quicker, more direct approach appealed to him more. It would be faster, less reliant on outside forces, and, most importantly, give Arthur complete control over the situation.
So he dismissed the notion of an ABP warrant.
After a while, someone finally reached his perception. He honed his focus, revealing a faint but unmistakable signature. It was Utakata's, but he wasn't anywhere near the village; the shinobi was seen traveling alone.
This was perfect.
Arthur preferred a one-on-one encounter anyway to keep the environment under control and his actions unknown.
So he deactivated Sage Mode, knowing how far his target was. Fifty miles—not an insignificant distance, but certainly manageable.
With a burst of speed, he launched himself in that direction.
As he drew closer, he formulated his approach upon knowing most of Utakata's techniques and fighting style, thanks to both the documents and what he had read about the character. To ensure a successful win, he had to make a decisive takedown.
At least that's what he hoped for.
By the time a good plan solidified in his mind, he reached the edge of a clearing. His eyes fell on the unsuspecting figure of Utakata, the first Jinchūriki he had ever encountered outside of the Leaf.
The ninja was dressed in a light blue kimono with grey pants and an orange sash. He also carried a bamboo jug and a hidden pipe for his bubble techniques. Most notably was the malevolent aura inside him: the Six-Tails.