The sun was obscuring Arthur's features as Utakata abruptly stopped. He couldn't shake the feeling of being stared at and scrutinized from head to toe.
The silence continued until Arthur finally stepped closer, revealing a calm expression.
"Can I help you?" Utakata asked in a wary voice. Arthur responded by cracking his neck. The message was clear: a challenge. So Utakata frowned since he had no desire for a fight, especially not with someone he didn't know. "Look, I don't want any trouble. You best turn around and keep on walking."
Arthur remained silent as he performed a series of limbering jumps to warm himself up.
"You should know," he finally said after the last hop, "the only person in trouble here is you."
Utakata bristled at the threat. With a growl, he cupped his hands together. "Water style: water waves!"
A geyser of water erupted from his mouth as a torrent engulfed Arthur whole. But through this torrent, Utakata could see that it was having no effect.
"What?" he said, ending the technique.
There stood Arthur, drenched but unscathed as he ran a hand through his wet hair. "That the best you could do?"
Utakata clenched his fists. He wouldn't be underestimated. "Water style: soap bubble jutsu!"
A flurry of bubbles surrounded Arthur, each one filled with explosive water. Before Utakata could detonate them, Arthur quickly raised a hand sign, causing a faint blue aura to spark around. Then suddenly, the bubbles hardened into ice spheres before shattering harmlessly to the floor.
Utakata's eyes widened in disbelief. Ice style was rare, even in this country. Clearly his opponent was something entirely different.
Determined to gain the upper hand, Utakata launched several kunai and shuriken.
But Arthur was ready with his Crimson Gaze now active. He leaned back, closing his eyes, as two kunai whistled past him. Then he leaned forward again, evading a few shuriken that were way off course.
The dodges caused Utakata to growl again.
"You're nothing special, I see," Arthur coldly pronounced.
At that, he summoned the Explosive Blade. Utakata marveled at the sight because almost every ninja in the country knew about the Seven Swords. And if it wasn't in the hands of the one they thought had it, then it only meant that there was a new sheriff in town!
Arthur charged as Utakata sidestepped the initial swing by a hair's breadth. Hair follicles fell from his head. He retaliated with a punch, but Arthur deflected it with ease. So he tried to create more bubbles again, but Arthur swung his weapon, popping all of them before they could fully form.
Now Utakata was forced to be on the defensive as sweat beaded on his forehead.
Suddenly, as Arthur was trying to lunge in again, his foot caught on something sticky. It froze him in place, and when he looked at the ground, there was a glue-like substance beneath his feet.
One of the bubbles had been filled with it when he was destroying them. Now his foot was stuck in the viscous substance.
Utakata, seeing his advantage, backflipped away. "Looks like you're all out of tricks, pal."
Yet Arthur remained unfazed by his predicament as he let go of his weapon, allowing it to return to its scroll.
Utakata squinted at him, unsure of how someone could remain so composed. Then, something sparked in Utakata's eyes as he heard a faint, sizzling sound. When he looked directly down, he noticed a small, unassuming explosion tag stuck to the ground!
His eyes widened in horror as a flash of white detonated with a roar.
Boom!
When the dust settled and the smoke cleared, Arthur stood calm and collected.
Utakata, on the other hand, wasn't so fortunate. Clothes singed and hair singed, he coughed, clutching at his singed arm.
It was humiliating. No, it was mortifying to think that he, a Jinchūriki, was being toyed with.
With a howl that echoed through the clearing, he unleashed his Tailed Beast chakra. Playtime was over!
A swirling vortex of black smoke engulfed him. Arthur watched with detached interest as the smoke coalesced, revealing Utakata in his version two Six-Tails Jinchūriki form. A thick, malleable cloak of dark red chakra draped his body, and his eyes were glowing a menacing white. More obvious were the six tails protruding from his back, each casually waving in the air.
"You must be really glad to be a walking well of chakra," Arthur taunted.
Utakata responded by lashing out all six of his tails simultaneously.
Arthur's Crimson Gaze glowed brighter than ever as he moved out of the way like a whirlwind, weaving between the colossal limbs with impeccable agility. The air threatened to burn his skin as the tails narrowly missed, sending shockwaves through the ground with enough force to shatter steel.
Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!
Just as one tail threatened to whip him from behind, he launched himself forward and flipped over the appendage. Another tail anticipated this maneuver, but with a surprising burst of chakra, he managed to hover midair for a split second, long enough to evade its grasp.
Arthur managed to land gracefully on his feet, an inch too close to being pulverized.
Suddenly, Utakata spat out a viscous stream of acidic liquid.
'Ice style: glacial dome...'
A dome encased Arthur as the acid hit the ice with a hiss, causing it to sizzle and melt at an alarming rate. Once the last of the acid sputtered and died, he deactivated the technique.
Utakata, however, remained undeterred. His body changed colours, activating another technique known as 'Leech Slip.' Then his now-blue skin contorted in a grotesque manner before dissolving into a caustic liquid that oozed towards Arthur.
Arthur quickly began leaping and backflipping to narrowly avoid the liquid that sizzled and smoked wherever it touched the ground.
'He's gotten faster…'
Utakata, growing increasingly frustrated, deactivated his technique. Then, with an animalistic scream so primal that it could splinter eardrums, he lash out one of his tails again.
Arthur sidestepped and used the momentum to flip right onto the beast's back.
'Ice style: chakra-enhanced strength...'
Boom!
The new attack did seemingly nothing as Utakata whipped one of his tails around, slamming Arthur into a nearby tree. That moment of vulnerability was all Utakata needed, so with another scream, he lunged at Arthur, shattered the tree, and pinned his opponent to the ground with all four limbs.
Most men would have succumbed to fear under such pressure looming over them, but Arthur remained eerily calm.
"I see you're more talented than they gave you credit for…"
Yet Arthur's words were met with none other than a Tailed Beast Bomb forming within Utakata's mouth!
As an orb of swirling blue and dark red chakras grew larger with each passing second, combining together to create a black sphere, Arthur's eyes flashed.
Ka-boom!
The detonation rocked the clearing, creating a massive dust cloud. But when things settled inside the formed crater, Arthur was nowhere to be seen.
Utakata roared in frustration, searching for his quarry.
Elsewhere, Arthur was seen appearing at the edge of Tsuchigumo Village.
Had he not used the Flying raijin in time, he would have surely died because that Tailed Beast Bomb was no joke. And seeing it firsthand truly showcased just how deadly it was, a precise mix of positive and negative chakras that could level mountains.
Deeming it safe, Arthur wasted no time entering a lotus position and closing his eyes to focus.
'Simian Sage Mode…'
The instant his transformation was complete, he returned to the battlefield.
Utakata's head darted towards the reappearance of Arthur's chakra signature. A devilish grin spread across the creature's face. Clearly, he knew Arthur would return; otherwise, he would have deactivated his form.
"You've proven to me just how strong you things are." Arthur's words, however, were met with another growl of disdain. "Just like I thought. There's no getting through to you."
Before Utakata could do anything, a spectacle unlike any other unfolded: Arthur simultaneously unfurled six scrolls as all of his unique weapons were brought out!
On his back, secured by straps, were the Executioner's Blade and the Explosive Blade. The Long Blade was held by his teeth, his left hand grasped the Blunt Blade's hammer and axe, while his right hand held Hiramekarei. Finally, behind him, the Boltswords rotated in the air, forming a cross.
Never before had anyone witnessed such a breathtaking display of weaponry.
Perhaps in his regular form, this level of weapon handling would be unbearable, but with the enhanced strength and reflexes of Sage Mode, it was more than possible!
Utakata immediately charged with all four limbs flailing. Yet Arthur only slightly lowered himself to prepare.
The moment the beast threw out a tail, Arthur twisted his torso, causing the wind to ruffle his cloak. He then swung his left arm, slamming the Blunt Blade into the exposed tail.
Boom!
The impact sent a shockwave through the clearing and a screech of pain from the Jinchūriki. But Arthur was far from finished.
He launched himself into the air, soaring over Utakata's back. Then he let go of the Blunt Blade and drew the Long Blade from his mouth. The Jinchūriki contorted his body, whipping his tail upward in a desperate attempt to block the incoming blow. But Arthur used the wires of his weapon to slice right through the tail.
When Arthur landed behind the beast, he reached for the Executioner's Blade on his back and severed three more tails!
Shing-shing-shing!
Suddenly, Utakata spat out a torrent of acidic bubbles, aiming to engulf Arthur in a corrosive trap.
But Arthur was ready. He sheathed the Executioner's Blade, brought the Long Blade's hilt back to his teeth, caught the falling Blunt Blade, and simultaneously raised Hiramekarei in front of him.
Chakra then erupted from the blade, forming a large shield that defended against the corrosion. The shield quickly coalesced into a crescent-shaped blade that slammed right down on Utakata's remaining tails.
Shank!
The beast roared across the clearing as he staggered back, clearly weakened by the loss of his multiple limbs. But he wasn't finished yet.
In a last-ditch effort, he began forming another Tailed Beast Bomb. Yet unbeknownst to him, the Boltswords were levitating only a few feet behind him!
'Flying raijin…'
Arthur disappeared, only to reappear slightly off the ground, exactly where the swords were. The instant he grabbed them, they crackled with electricity powerful enough to cause his hair to stand.
"Get lost…"
Kracka-boom!
Both blades pierced through Utakata's cloak, disrupting the Tailed Beast Bomb as a maelstrom of electricity and chakra caused a devastating explosion that ripped through the surrounding trees, sending debris flying in all directions.
✟
When the dust finally settled, the clearing was a cratered landscape. Utakata lay motionless in the center as his Tailed Beast cloak slowly began to fade.
Arthur stood a few meters away. His Sage Mode finally receded, causing all of his swords to drop and clang to the floor.
That last attack had broken the Boltswords. The blades were now in pieces.
Arthur's body ached, and he was all out of chakra. But he had done it; he had defeated a Jinchūriki.
Drawing closer to his opponent, he could see Utakata's chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. The Six-Tails Jinchūriki was unconscious but still able. Arthur knew that killing Utakata wasn't an option since he didn't know what happens to a Tailed Beast if the host died.
If anything, like the lore dictated, the death of a Jinchūriki could mean the death of the Tailed Beast as well. That or, a freed Six-Tails rampaging in the countryside.
That was the last thing Arthur needed. Not to mention, drawing that level of attention would blow his cover and bring most of the ninja world down on his hiding spot.
"You were strong. I'll give you that… But I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13."