Arthur finished his work by using his bare hands to dig a hole and discard both her and all the tools he used. Afterwards, he left the clearing behind.
Elsewhere, beneath the forest canopy, he would attempt the unthinkable: the transference of Yukimi's Kekkei Genkai.
He laid out his tools and rehearsed the basic principles: introduce Yukimi's genetic material into his own system and hope that his body would accept it. If he failed, he would attempt to heal himself before any repercussions occurred.
This wasn't a sterile operating room, but he didn't have the patience to consider such things.
The first step involved creating a viable vector for the transfer. So he retrieved a syringe and drew the essence from the vial and poured it into the syringe. Then he located a vein in the crook of his arm.
Introducing foreign genetic material directly into the bloodstream could trigger a violent immune response. So much so that the body may reject these alien cells. To bypass this hurdle, he was going to trick his body by using the healing technique and suppress the rejection during the transplant.
It was a long shot, but it was all he had.
He centered his chakra and channeled it through the syringe and into the vial. The cells inside circulated violently before providing a visual confirmation of his success.
Now came the decisive moment.
Without hesitating, he plunged the needle into his vein. The sensation burned, but he pushed the modified genetic cocktail into his system while saying a silent prayer.
"Thus saith the Lord, the Lord's grace is sufficient for me: for the Lord's strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
Suddenly, his vision swam, his muscles spasmed, and the pain spread through his whole body. He then collapsed onto the forest floor before convulsing.
Trying to heal himself and maintain the cellular transfer at the same time was not within his control.
Every ounce of his will forced his chakra to flow and suppress the rising tide of rejection. The pain was excruciating, to say the least.
Minutes felt like they were stretched into agonizing hours as he fought for control.
Finally, as abruptly as it began, the pain slowly subsided.
He lay gasping on the floor. Sweat drenched his clothes, and his body trembled with exhaustion. He could now feel the essence circulating perfectly into his bone marrow and merging with new red blood cells.
He flexed his hand and felt a residual chakra pulsing within him. Without a doubt, this was Yukimi's chakra pool.
Given time, it should integrate until his body could fully utilize her Kekkei Genkai.
There was nothing more for him to do other than rest now. So that's just what he did.
✟
When he arose, he felt fine.
By now, he was sure that his body had fully accumulated all the foreign cells. But trying to test smoke techniques here with no one to help verify if it truly worked wouldn't amount to much.
This particular Kekkei Genkai was shown to deceive a ninja's senses. Such as when Kakashi, a user of the Sharingan, fought Yukimi's clanmates and couldn't differentiate them from real smoke.
Other Kekkei Genkai could form hardened crystals, absorb chakra, explode objects on contact, and even generate their own magnetic force. But out of those Kekkei Genkai, one surpassed them all: the Rinnegan.
Arthur didn't want to think further about that ocular technique; he would work on what he had currently.
As such, he approached the town he'd previously avoided while keeping a safe distance.
Citizens could be heard bustling about. Their normalcy troubled him.
Regardless, he closed his eyes and focused on his chakra. Channeling it, his body became weightless until it dissolved entirely.
Now he was smoke, a formless cloud drifting in the breeze. The last thing he did was let the excitement get to him.
Instead, he drifted through the air and swirled around buildings to test the limits of his control.
It wasn't perfect; tendrils of smoke occasionally strayed from the main body, but with each moment, his control steadily grew.
Passing over rooftops and peering into windows, he monitored the unsuspecting townspeople. They were average citizens at best. He saw families gathered around dinner tables, couples walking along the street, and children making their beds.
What he was looking for was some information on where he was in the Fire Country.
Reforming himself inside a house, he eventually found a map sprawled across a table. Next to it was a worn leather satchel overflowing with weapons. Undoubtedly, this house belonged to either a mercenary, a rogue, or a ninja.
Arthur focused on the map and saw that it depicted the surrounding area with a surprising level of detail.
Then. shifting his attention to the satchel, he accessed its contents and found scrolls, throwing knives, shuriken, and an assortment of other weapons inside hidden compartments.
Quite the find, so he gathered everything he could and made his way to the kitchen.
The smell of leftover meals permeated his nostrils. It had been days since he had any real food.
After finding fruits and vegetables, he ate them with caution since the residents could return home at any moment.
The food tasted good.
Arthur stored some in his satchel and reformed into smoke. A truly advantageous Kekkei Genkai to have considering he could also turn objects on his person into smoke.
Leaving the town behind, he materialized back in the forest.
There, he unfurled the map and traced the lines with a finger. On the front, the map focused on the five major countries: Land of Fire, Land of Wind, Land of Lightning, Land of Earth, and Land of Mist.
Like Arthur remembered, they were named after their dominant chakra nature, each housing a powerful Hidden Village led by a Kage.
Despite past rivalries, these countries were said to have come together to form the Shinobi Union after the Fourth War.
What interested Arthur, however, was the Land of Fire and its Hidden Village, the Leaf Village. It wasn't on the map exactly, but he knew where it would be located thanks to foreknowledge.
Regarding the town he came from, it wasn't anything special. It surrounded other towns with pedestrians and merchants like any other place in this country.
The road ahead was going to be long, so he set off on the nearest trail.
✟
After some time of traveling on foot, he stopped by the nearest body of water to wash all the grime and sweat off.
The water shocked his system, but it was also refreshing. So he submerged himself to let the current wash away any lingering scent of blood.
Exiting, he scrubbed his tunic against a smooth rock and rinsed it thoroughly before draping it across a branch to dry. He only had his undergarments on, but shamefulness was eclipsed by a desire to keep moving forward.
Now, while he had the Smoke Kekkei Genkai, relying on it solely would not get him far. That meant he would have to work on something he wasn't able to train while in prison: his weapon skills.
Rummaging through the satchel, he pulled out a selection of throwing knives and shuriken. They felt surprisingly light in his hands thanks to how much he had already trained.
After finding a flat rock nestled amongst the trees, he designated it as his target.
The first few attempts were disastrous. He was hitting his target, but that wasn't his goal. What he needed to do was learn how to lodge the knife into the rock.
With each throw, a sense of muscle memory kicked in. So he adjusted his grip and shifted his weight accordingly.
Thunk!
The knife had embedded itself with a satisfying sound. While great, it was far from actually landing in the center.
Arthur was aiming for perfection, so he continued practicing.
His throws eventually became more consistent, and the blades found their mark with increasing accuracy. Only after he was sore enough did he use the Healing technique to start all over again.
And because he had integrated Yukimi's cells into him, it had also increased his chakra pool. Not by much, but enough to last longer in his training sessions.
Not long, some of the kunai began to grow dull. That prompted him to move onto using shuriken.
Shuriken were ninja stars, demanding a slightly different throwing technique.
It took him several more tries than training with kunai to get the right throw down. When he finally learned it, the sun began to set. Still, he continued throwing them, driven by a relentless need to improve.
Night finally came, so he moved on to chakra control.
The process was simple, taking no more than a few minutes. And after he finished that, he trained channeling his chakra externally.
Known as "chakra flow," a user could circulate their chakra through an object or their body to enhance its capabilities. And when directed through weapons, chakra could increase their sharpness or durability or add elemental effects.
If strictly flowing chakra through the body, it could improve physical attributes like speed and defense or even create a protective shield.
That's how Arthur was able to withstand that harsh environment in prison.
Now, he closed his eyes, focusing inward, and felt the chakra within him. When he finished, he picked up another kunai and concentrated his chakra on the metal. Then, with a tight grip, he threw it with all his might.
Chunk!
It met a weathered tree trunk and stuck harmlessly.
A good throw, but not at all what he was expecting.
So he closed his eyes again, this time focusing the chakra as a muscle rather than a flowing current.
It took several hours before a breakthrough, but when he finished that exercise, he could tell that his chakra was trying to expand outwardly rather than inwardly now.
So he grabbed another kunai and threw it with much more force.
Clang!
The results left only the handle protruding. He had succeeded.
Exhaustion finally settled upon him. But he couldn't just sleep now. There was still more training to finish.
So he pushed himself through one last routine: a punishing series of pushups and lunges designed to test his endurance.
His muscles burned, and his breath rasped in his throat, but he took little breaks, fueled to get stronger.
Finally, after some time, he collapsed onto the floor. That was his only moment of respite.
The cool night air carried the scent of damp earth and pine needles. It felt oddly comforting compared to his time in prison. Yet not enough to make him feel any sense of happiness.
With a grunt, he rose and made his way back to the river.
Cold water once again washed away the grime and sweat on his body.
After donning his now-dried tunic, he settled himself comfortably beneath a large oak tree.
The canopy of leaves provided a shield against the moon's light. He was far from home, far from the life he once knew, but he was no longer afraid.
That allowed sleep to come easier this time.
✟
When he awoke, he saw the first rays of dawn.
Hunger pounded his stomach, so he reached into his satchel and retrieved some rice cake and dried fruit that he had taken from that unsuspecting house.
They were cold and held little appeal, but they were sustenance nonetheless.
As he ate, he considered what crucial skill he had to perfect next.
His current techniques consisted of the Smoke jutsu, the Healing jutsu, and the Substitution jutsu. There was also his innate chakra control.
Solid for a starting shinobi, but not impressive in the slightest.
Ninjas around his age, some younger, had a much longer list of techniques in their arsenal. Like Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's older brother, he could create authentic clones and manipulate fire as if it were his dance partner.
Or Kakashi Hatake, who could conduct lightning to his palm. That man graduated from the Leaf Village's ninja academy at the age of five. Last Arthur checked, children from earth were still learning how to count at that age.
What Arthur found paramount was to enhance his strength, create impenetrable defenses, and achieve lightning-fast reflexes. The only way to do all that was to train as hard as he could.
So he found a safe spot to do just that.
For this early morning training session, he was going to learn how to enhance his muscle with chakra.
The first few attempts were met with frustration. Nothing seemed to change. He felt no increase in strength.
But with each failed attempt, he learned by adjusting his focus and refining his technique.
Finally, after some hours, there was a change.
A subtle shift, almost imperceptible at first, but there was something buzzing in his muscle cells. He flexed his arm and quickly felt a different sense of control over his own body.
Cocking his hand back, he punched the air and saw a small gust of wind blow by. This was new. As such, he found a rock and decided to squeeze it.
Crack!
The rock burst into smaller pieces.
Before he could feel content, his chakra dissipated, and his strength faded. It was short-lived, but it was a start. And based on what he felt, he knew he could make it last longer if he practiced more.
This technique was known as "Chakra-Enhanced Strength."
It was listed as a taijutsu skill, but it implemented chakra into one's arms or feet, releasing it with precise timing to achieve super strength.
Notable characters like Sakura Haruno, Tsunade, and Hashirama were capable of this feat. Theirs, however, was incomparable to Arthur's. While they could throw boulders three times their size hundreds of meters out, he still needed proper refinement to reach those levels.
How he even learned it in just one day was because it was also classified as a support technique.
With a "humph," he picked up another rock and began training more.