The Chūnin Exams were still weeks away from starting. Rin's team had, therefore, already packed their gear and set off toward the Fire Country.
Their journey was sure to be a long one. Because they had to maintain their cover as obscure Genin from the Rain Village, they could not use direct transport or speed across the canopy. They also had to walk the main roads, stop at designated checkpoints, and establish a paper trail.
That left Arthur alone in his domain with time to fill.
He currently stood in the center of the stadium facility. The massive arena was quiet in the early mornings.
Shisui governed this training ground now. It used to belong to Hoshikaze, but Hoshikaze was gone.
Arthur still had the gravity chamber built inside a hidden passage within Sun Stream Plaza. He wanted to use it. He needed the crushing weight to force his body to adapt.
But he could not.
This modified clone body was simply too flawed. If he stepped inside the chamber, the artificial muscles would tear within a day. His original body could manage a week under maximum pressure without breaking a sweat.
So here he was: training in the open dirt when the stadium was empty.
There was no real weighted equipment out here. Standard shinobi did not lift iron plates; they employed chakra to lift heavy objects and condition their bodies. Arthur did the same, but he utilized his ninshū.
By the time he finished training, a thin line of dawn broke over the stadium walls. It was morning.
Arthur wiped his face. He could continue his routine, but he chose to stop because Sasuke Uchiha was scheduled to enter the facility soon. Arthur did not want to see the boy today.
Sasuke's progress was not something to scoff at. In the original story, under Orochimaru, the boy had undergone countless experiments, chemical enhancements, and many tests to force his strength to grow.
Here, under Arthur and surrounded by his revived clan, Sasuke was developing at a much scarier rate.
The last time Arthur saw him was during a meeting when Sasuke asked about Madara Uchiha and refused to address Arthur as his "lord." The shame and embarrassment that followed from the group's reaction settled deep into the boy's bones.
Since that day, Sasuke had placed his entire focus on trying to grow stronger while learning more of what Arthur was planning.
Arthur knew exactly what drove him. Fugaku was alive again. And Fugaku still treated Sasuke like an expendable asset, a shadow cast by Itachi. Sasuke wanted to prove his father wrong.
One would think a boy would be grateful that Arthur revived his entire slaughtered family or that having his parents back would bring peace. But that simply wasn't Sasuke's character. His pride was too thick. As long as Itachi roamed free, Sasuke and the rest of the Uchiha clan sought revenge like a starving dog sought food.
Arthur soon left the stadium by teleporting to the quiet expanse of his throne chair. A moment later, he sensed a familiar chakra signature moving fast through the corridors.
The doors opened to reveal Shisui walking in before stopping at the base of the dais. He dropped to one knee and bowed his head. Arthur already knew what brought him here.
"I've come to report his progress," Shisui said.
"Go on…"
Shisui raised his head slightly and explained, "He absorbs everything, he doesn't sleep much, and his physical conditioning has doubled in the last month. He's..." Shisui paused as his face tightened for a fraction of a second. "He's a prodigy. Just like Itachi."
While Shisui clearly didn't want to admit that last part, he could not deny the facts. The raw talent was there. Shisui knew, and Arthur knew, that Sasuke would likely surpass even Shisui after a few more years of this pace.
Now, Arthur already knew what Shisui was going to report because it was Arthur who had initiated these things in the first place.
For instance, Sasuke had grown physically taller and broader in the shoulders. He could no longer fit in his traditional Uchiha high-collar blue shirt. So Arthur had personally ordered the tailors to outfit him with the original white attire Sasuke wore during his time with Orochimaru: the loose, open shirt and dark pants minus the Sound's purple robe.
"He learned the Summoning jutsu yesterday," Shisui continued.
To no surprise, the boy had received hawks. Since Sasuke hadn't spent any real time in Orochimaru's hideouts, he hadn't been exposed to the snake contracts. Hawks were his true summoning animal anyway.
"And his shape manipulation?" Arthur asked, knowing the answer. He honestly just needed to hear another's opinion.
"Good… No, it's greater than I expected it to be."
Arthur had given Shisui very specific instructions regarding Sasuke's training over the past few weeks. He told Shisui to help the boy manipulate his Chidori, and through Shisui's guidance, Sasuke had perfected the derived techniques.
He learned the Chidori Spear by extending the lightning into a blade to pierce targets from a distance. He learned the Chidori Stream by releasing the electricity from his entire body as a defensive dome. He even learned the Chidori Senbon by shaping the lightning into tiny needles for precision strikes.
What interested Arthur the most was that Sasuke learned the 'Chidori True Spear.'
That technique was the advanced version of the Chidori Spear, which impaled a target before hurtling them into the air and causing a concentrated electric explosion at the tip.
Arthur only found it worth his time to know about it since the technique derived entirely from a video game.
Now, Arthur had considered helping the boy achieve Sage Mode. But after hearing about the Chidori True Spear technique, he shelved the idea.
Making the boy too strong right now could be a double-edged sword. If Sasuke started inventing more techniques outside of Arthur's scope, giving him natural energy might turn him into an uncontrollable threat.
Plus, Arthur had no method of reaching whatever secret land housed 'Hawk Sage Mode,' assuming one even existed. Even now, he was uncertain of how people like Margaret managed to find the secret territories housing Crow Sage Mode.
And besides, he needed to focus on other things like finding his real body first.
Shisui then noted, "It would be advantageous for us to work on his kenjutsu skills."
Like everyone knew from the original timeline, Sasuke was supposed to be given a straight katana called the Sword of Kusanagi—the same name as Orochimaru's real sword. But Orochimaru was not in the picture here.
Arthur already had a back-up plan to help compensate the boy for the loss of his canon weapon. So he reached into the fold of his sleeve and pulled out a scroll.
"Gift this to him…"
Shisui caught it out of the air. After slightly lifting up his blindfold to peek at the scroll—without triggering his Sharingan—he was shocked to recognize the title of it.
"The Thunder Sword," he breathed.
"Something wrong…?"
"N… No, my lord. I just wasn't expecting this weapon to be in your possession, much less for Sasuke to be given it."
Shisui not only clearly knew what it was; he also respected the decision. It made perfect sense because Sasuke's main affinity was for lightning. The sword would act as a massive amplifier for his strength.
It was alright for Arthur to part ways with the sword for now since he still had plenty of weapons that were far better than it anyway. If Sasuke became a problem, Arthur could break the sword with his bare hands.
Shisui tucked the scroll into his vest as he stayed on one knee. "If I may speak freely, my lord."
"By all means…"
"It concerns the deaths of Sakon and Ukon. They were great enough assets for village security. And you, my lord, having power greater than any shinobi I've come across, can revive them."
Arthur looked down at the Uchiha. While the praise was interesting, Shisui did not understand the mechanics of life and death. Many actually assumed his reviving a lot of fallen ninjas to be a simple transaction.
In truth, it was quite complicated for the average Joe.
Arthur had the cells of Sakon and Ukon stored safely in his laboratory like everyone else's. But he mainly kept them in cases of betrayal.
Sakon and Ukon also did not die a normal death. They were killed by their own sealing jutsu. For Arthur to revive those two twins, he would have to learn the Rashomon summoning technique, then open a gateway to the abyss, and manually unseal their souls from that dimension.
All of that effort. All of that time and energy. All for just two measly shinobi whose only real talent was hiding inside other people. The math did not favour them.
"I won't be reviving them again," Arthur simply stated.
The blunt refusal somewhat shocked Shisui. But he didn't go against the decision.
"I see," he said. "While they had helped during the war, I can understand that their weakness might have troubled you, my lord."
It was a plausible reason, yet Shisui simply couldn't see the bigger picture; he couldn't see the scales Arthur was balancing.
"Have any more to ask?" Arthur wondered.
"Yes, my lord. May I continue watching over Sasuke?"
"You may," Arthur allowed.
He knew why Shisui asked. Over the past few months of training, those two had developed a bond. Shisui guided him, and Sasuke listened. It was much like brothers, of which Shisui was filling the void Itachi left behind—something everyone should have expected.
Arthur watched as Shisui rose to his feet. There was still one thing Arthur needed to see: a test of the Uchiha's resolve.
"The old Itachi would have been proud," Arthur probed.
His voice carried no inflection, yet Shisui's back went rigid as there was a brief flash of hesitation when his hands twitched at his sides.
Arthur watched his shoulders closely. And to Arthur's surprise, Shisui remained completely silent. The Uchiha didn't even offer a defense; he simply absorbed the comment and stood frozen in place.
The silence dragged on for ten long seconds until Arthur finally said, "You're dismissed…"
Shisui bowed his head, turned, and walked out, leaving Arthur to plan his next move.