Immediately, Shikamaru pulled out a flash bomb from the pouch and threw it behind himself.
'Crimson gaze…'
Arthur could already see through the ruse as the flash bomb detonated.
Quickly, Shikamaru raised his palm. "Shadow crushing palm jutsu!"
A colossal shadow hand loomed below Arthur's feet. Ino, in retaliation, used her binding technique to ensure he wouldn't escape. Then, in a moment's notice, the hand closed on his entire body, producing loud crunching sounds.
Koko's eyes remained wide open from their combined assault.
"Did we get him?" Ino asked.
"Y-Yeah, but…" Shikamaru's voice trailed off once the light faded, seeing Arthur walk forward like nothing happened. "His body's too dense, so my jutsu didn't do anything."
Arthur was only a little impressed by Shikamaru's execution, hardly expecting him to know such a specific technique. That was because it was a game-derived maneuver.
Regardless of where Shikamaru learned it from, Arthur did not plan to lose.
His walk transformed into a sprint, so Zabuza quickly rushed in to confront him first.
Swish-swish-swish!
Each brandishing of the Executioner's Blade was effortlessly avoided.
Just then, Koko appeared behind him. "Gotcha, daddy!"
'Substitution jutsu…'
Poof!
Her tiny hand brushed only grass blades. So she turned around to his new location and smiled. "Hey, that's cheating!"
Now Tatewaki, wielding the Long Blade, engaged Arthur directly. Though his swings were frantic and mindless.
"Get ready, Ino!" Shikamaru urged.
But before she could react, Arthur evaded a slash and stomped heavily on the ground.
'Shattering ice spears…'
A rumble surged beneath them as ice spears erupted like stalagmites and impaled Tatewaki. Shikamaru and Ino could only watch in horror.
A moment passed before they witnessed something dismaying: Tatewaki's wounds began reforming, causing dust to meld together where he had been pierced.
Arthur could tell by the looks on their faces what they now understood: they were merely reanimated corpses and, against all odds, could not truly die.
While that might have seemed like an advantage, Shikamaru's anxiety threatened to overwhelm him. They were up against someone who could best death.
"Got you this time, daddy!" Arthur swiftly spun to his side, catching the hem of Koko's kimono. Then, with a firm toss, he sent her flying toward Ino. "Watch out, mommy!"
The force she was thrown with was too great, so she collided right into Ino's startled face.
Bang!
Both tumbled to the ground in a heap of limbs and squeals.
"Get off!" Ino cried.
"That didn't count, right?!" Koko protested to Arthur while crawling all over Ino's frame.
"Ino!" Shikamaru snapped, "Now's not the time to play around!" He then quickly refocused. "Mangetsu, or whatever your name is, use your swords however you can!"
At that, Mangetsu wasted no time by activating Hiramekarei, forming it into a massive chakra hammer. Then, in one leap, the weapon cast an eerie blue glow on the field as he brought it down on Arthur.
A simple dodge would work here, but both Zabuza and Tatewaki had already positioned themselves to exploit any openings.
This was the teamwork Arthur needed to put him on edge.
Crash!
The ground beneath shattered upon impact with Hiramekarei, shaking the very roots of the forest.
When the dust cleared, Arthur had managed to stop the hammer with just his palm.
'Chakra-enhanced strength…'
Shikamaru was once again shocked beyond measure. "What the heck is he made out of?!"
Zabuza and Tatewaki quickly sprang in from both sides with their weapons, aiming to cleave Arthur in half. But at the moment their steel would have met flesh, Arthur's form dissipated into a cloud of smoke straight to the air.
"Ino, move! He's going after—"
But before Shikamaru could finish, a shadow fell over her.
Koko, perched comically upon Ino's face, peered up to register the danger.
"Uh-oh," she said, bouncing right off.
Bang!
Arthur came crashing down on Ino's chest, causing her to scream.
"Ino!" Shikamaru exclaimed.
When Arthur removed himself, her eyes widened in horror at her caved-in body, for she had never experienced an injury like that before. Even Shikamaru couldn't believe it.
"You should pay attention," Arthur said, appearing behind the boy.
Bang!
A kick sent him to the side as he hit the ground hard before instinctively rolling to regain his composure.
Arthur remarked with idle disdain, "I should have just summoned the fourth Hokage if this is the best you two could do…"
Part of him knew it might indeed be a terrible idea, given the absurd strain required to control so many reanimated warriors at once. Right now, his chakra was being consumed at an above-average rate.
Who knew how long he could keep this up?
Shikamaru knew orchestrated tactics might not work against the intensity of Arthur's might, so he instead glanced over at the others.
"Zabuza," he called out, "do something to block his vision!"
"Ninja art: hidden mist jutsu!"
Immediately, mist began to shroud the area. But as it was forming, Shikamaru turned, only to see that Arthur had already assumed a different stance.
'Raigo: one thousand hand strike…'
An angelic figure quickly materialized behind Arthur as hundreds of spectral hands formed in an astounding array.
"What the heck is that?!" Shikamaru said aloud.
At Arthur's command, the fists shot out like a hailstorm.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
Shikamaru's eyes widened in dread as he could only watch Zabuza, Tatewaki, and Mangetsu all get overwhelmed in an onslaught of inexorable strikes.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
"It's like fireworks!" Koko chirped.
Just when Arthur's attention was fully diverted toward his barrage of fists, Koko, with a mischievous grin, began tiptoeing toward him.
"I can see you," he said, not bothering to glance back.
She froze in her tracks in shock. Instead of backing down, she suddenly leapt at him.
Swoosh!
A giant, ethereal hand caught her before safely depositing her several yards away.
"No fair, daddy!"
Just as the dazzling display of yellow fists began to conclude, the three reanimated warriors plopped to the ground as clouds of dust rose from the aftermath, clearing the mist away.
"We need a whole new strategy!" Shikamaru hastily shouted toward the recovering Ino.
There was really only one thing they could do at this point: try to figure out Arthur's weakness.
But did someone like Arthur even have one?
From a distance, Mangetsu and Zabuza had finally regained their stances. Tatewaki, however, was taking much more time to recover.
"You two!" Shikamaru yelled. "Attack from either side of him!" Zabuza charged forward while Mangetsu ran to pick up the nearest weapon. "Shadow possession jutsu!"
A shadow snaked toward Arthur, but he noticed and sidestepped it, causing Shikamaru's attempt to miss entirely. But Mangetsu used the Long Blade to create wires that prevented Arthur from escaping further. At the same time, Zabuza's weapon was poised to carve Arthur in two.
Swoosh!
Arthur slipped past both the wires and the slash, shocking Ino at his acrobatic skills.
When Zabuza pressed with two more attacks, Arthur moved from the first vertical swing and ducked from the second horizontal one.
Bang!
A spin kick sent directly into another one of Shikamaru's incoming shadow techniques.
Ino felt the dread starting to swell again. Just how could a shinobi possibly have slipped through both the wires and a giant sword attack? Because from what she saw, she knew that if he was off by even a millimeter, he would have sliced to pieces.
"You really thought that would work?" Arthur taunted.
Ino quickly looked at Mangetsu. "You there, do something!"
"Water style: water clone jutsu!"
Three clones came into existence. But the bigger problem was Tatewaki, who had finally managed to get up.
The first Mangetsu charged in with a Long Blade. Arthur dodged the initial strike just as another Mangetsu came straight for his midsection.
Hiss!
The tip went right past him.
Then, after a quick scan, he dashed toward Hiramekarei and snatched it up before Tatewaki could. Shikamaru finally recovered, only to see Arthur swing the weapon in a wide arc, creating a wave of chakra.
Ka-bang!
Tatewaki crashed back to the floor.
The last Mangetsu managed to pick up both the Explosive Blade and the Blunt Blade to release a technique: "Explosive Blade jutsu: multiple explosions of death!"
Paper tags scattered from the weapon. But just as they had, Ino swiped the Leaf Fan, causing them to explode on contact while creating an intensified blast racing toward Arthur.
He had no choice but to evade. But the moment he tried to take a step, he was caught in Shikamaru's Shadow Possession technique!
'So they figured me out…'
Ka-ka-boom!
A loud explosion nearly shook the foundation of the chains.
While the scary sight of the dust and debris was still going, Koko looked at Shikamaru with a frown.
He noticed. "No more daddy. It's over!"
Koko then suddenly smiled. Because behind Shikamaru was Arthur.
"What?!" the boy said upon noticing. "How did—?!" Before he could finish, he was met with a backhand, sending him to the ground.
Arthur found Zabuza advancing from his back with a low slice of the Executioner's Blade. But Arthur turned just in time.
Kling!
Their blades collided with a brilliant clash as Zabuza was visibly shaking.
"Try harder," Arthur taunted.
Suddenly, a Mangetsu was already at Arthur's side, aiming a slash at his torso. But this was just a ploy since it was going to explode. Arthur therefore shifted his weight, causing Zabuza and Mangetsu to clash.
Ka-splash!
Everything finally settled. No more water. No more dust. And more importantly, no more slick attacks to try and catch Arthur off guard.
With Hiramekarei gripped firmly in his hands, he turned to face the real Mangetsu and Tatewaki once more. Ino and Shikamaru were seen whispering to each for another plan, while Zabuza and the last Mangetsu clone were slowly moving toward his blind spot.
Koko no longer seemed interested in trying to play more tag. Not because she wasn't having any fun.
Because, out of everyone here, she was the only one who knew that Arthur Bennett had no blind spots!