Arthur was quite curious about these updates.
"Here's how it happened," Alice explained. "Hiruzen personally requested Alex, Jasper, and I to join him and a few Anbu on a mission to locate Oro's whereabouts in the country."
"Why did he ask you three?"
"We asked the same question. He said it was because he trusted us after telling him about Oro's invasion plot."
"How was the mission then?"
"It was kind of lame. We spent like two weeks as a group looking for Oro, only to separate and for Alex to find him instead."
"That's how he gained the curse mark?"
Alice nodded. "Yep! You got it. Jasper and I didn't see what happened. By the time we got there, Oro had fled. We tried to help Alex remove the mark, but he said it would be alright."
This was even more disturbing than Arthur had considered. Or rather, it all sounded suspicious.
"When we got back to the Leaf," continued Alice, "Alex told us he'd modify the curse mark and make Oro's power his own."
Now Arthur understood: Alex was scheming by attempting to cheat the system yet again.
Whether he would succeed or succumb to the curse mark's corrupting influence remained to be seen. But one thing was clear: Alex was playing a dangerous game, one that could have dire consequences for them all.
The conversation continued for a while longer, with Alice filling him in on village gossip, the upcoming tournament, and the minor squabbles that seemed to erupt daily within the ninja ranks.
Arthur had listened here and there, but he didn't find anything worth remembering.
As she excused herself to clean the mug, Arthur hunched forward on the couch to formulate his next strategy.
Alex harboured the curse mark, meaning the chances of Orochimaru launching a direct assault on the village were slim. And Gaara being rehabilitated meant that the Sand Village was less likely to be used in this arc. Not like anyone from Team Baki managed to advance anyway.
Once Arthur finished his thoughts, he rose to bid farewell to Alice.
When suddenly, a boisterous voice pierced through the walls: "Anybody home?!"
Arthur would recognize that voice from anywhere.
He opened the door to find Naruto Uzumaki, wearing his signature orange jumpsuit with a green one-piece underneath. A grin stretched across the boy's face, wider than Arthur could ever remember seeing on the young ninja.
"Naruto… It's been a while... Come to think of it, this is our first time speaking to each other, isn't it?"
"Haha! Yeah, I guess it is."
"What have you been up to?"
"Just got back from my training with the Pervy Sage!" he exclaimed, puffing out his chest. "And guess what?"
Arthur feigned interest. "What, Naruto?"
"I learned the Rasengan!"
The Rasengan? So soon? In the original timeline, Naruto struggled to learn that technique. Only William's tutelage could have accelerated the boy's learning by that much.
"That's great, Naruto. Especially for someone who's trying to become the Hokage."
Naruto beamed. "Thanks, Arthur! Believe it!"
Naruto then turned to Alice, who had emerged from the doorway. "Hey Alice, have you seen my cousin lately?"
"No, Naruto," replied Alice. "Aren't you usually always with him?"
Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, I am. Right now we're playing a game for my training. If I can't find him before nightfall, then I lose." Arthur wondered what sort of hide-and-seek game could be considered training. "Anyway, better go find him! See you guys later!"
With a final wave, Naruto jumped off the railing, leaving Arthur and Alice standing in silence.
Alice's gaze flickered between Arthur and the direction Naruto had vanished.
"So," she whispered, "do you think he already knows about it?"
"Knows about what?"
"Not what," she corrected. "Who…"
Arthur immediately knew who she was referring to.
Sooner or later, William, or one of the others from earth, would spill the truth about the Nine-Tails to Naruto. And when that happened, Naruto would transform from an energetic underdog into one of the strongest ninjas in this world.
Arthur wouldn't allow that; he couldn't allow that.
"I'm sure one day Will might tell him," he answered. "I best be going too, I guess."
"Okay!" she waved, ushering him out the door. "Don't be a stranger!"
By the time he was already walking along the village street, Arthur heard Naruto's voice again: "Wait!"
The boy stood a few feet away with a hopeful smile plastered on his face. What could he possibly want now?
"Hey Arthur, I forgot to ask this." He fidgeted awkwardly. "Will and I actually saw you sparring with Jasper the other night, and…"
"And…?"
The boy gave a radiant smile while closing his eyes. "I think you're pretty strong!" When he opened them again, he continued, "How you took down Chōji at the exams was also really cool. My cousin and I are strong and all, but we've never knocked someone out like that before!"
All of this praise seemed hollow to Arthur.
"So before the finals," Naruto finished, "maybe we could all… ya know…"
Train together? Was that really what he was going to ask?
The very idea of training with the boy that the world revolved around was tempting. But Arthur wasn't privy to Satan's devices.
"Naruto, if you're trying to ask me to train with you, now's not the best time. I just got back and have a lot of catching up to do." Disappointment was the first thing expressed by Naruto. "Hey, don't make that face. Don't you know I'll be rooting for you at the finals?"
Those words caused the boy to feel glee. So he nodded enthusiastically. "Fine, but ya owe me one!"
"Sure, Naruto. Haha. I owe you one then."
Arthur soon watched Naruto disappear down the street as his gaze lingered on the retreating figure.
There was still about a week before the finals—a week for Arthur to gain an edge over his opponents. But to do that, he needed a boost. No, he needed knowledge.
Because Alex had a curse mark, that also implied that he was going to be using forbidden techniques. Arthur, by no means, was going to fall behind; he already had one forbidden technique (the Flying raijin), so having another wouldn't hurt.
He recalled a certain area in the Leaf Village that was never really expanded on: the Science Building. It wasn't his place of expertise, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
✟
Later, he found a secluded area before activating his Crimson Gaze to confirm he wasn't being followed. Next, he disguised his chakra and cloaked himself in a shroud of smoke as his body soon dissolved into wispy tendrils that drifted through the village rooftops.
When he arrived at the Leaf's Science Building, he gauged how many were inside.
It was sparsely populated with mostly eccentric inventors and their assistants.
This suited his purpose perfectly.
After slipping through a ventilation shaft, he reached a dimly lit room with shelves filled with scrolls. He could possibly find what he was looking for here. So he reformed himself to scan things until his eyes quickly found a section dedicated to seals.
Arthur skimmed the titles to locate something of use.
There, tucked between a dusty treatise on chakra conductors and a worn manual on ripped tags, were the answers he craved: Charm Creation for Beginners and Talismans: A Practical Guide by Akito B. Takahashi.
After concealing himself within a vortex of smoke, he pored over the manuals.
The rest of the evening was spent immersed in this hard-to-find knowledge. Although well organized, the information was primarily geared toward basic protection.
Charms for fortification and talismans for sealing augmentations. But he needed something more, something that could tip the scales for the next technique he sought to learn.
✟
As night approached, Arthur eventually left.
The others likely knew of his return by now, and they were probably interested in knowing what he did.
To keep himself from looking suspicious, he went toward the Hokage's office and activated his Crimson Gaze to verify if anyone was at Alice's apartment.
To his surprise, no one was there. Neither were any of the men in their respective homes.
Whatever they were doing—training, going for a stroll—it left him with a window of opportunity to once again read from the Scroll of Seals.
And what technique was he after this time? None other than the Reanimation technique.
The Reanimation technique was a jutsu that allowed a user to bind the soul of the deceased to a living vessel before restoring them to their state at the moment of their death. To perform it, the user must have acquired DNA from the person they wished to reanimate.
The technique could be used to bring back multiple people at once, and the user could control the actions of the reanimated souls by using a special talisman.
There were two levels of control: one that allowed the reanimated soul to retain its free will, and one that suppressed its personality to allow for complete control over its actions.
The level of control determined how much freedom the reanimated soul.
One of the benefits of the Reanimation technique was that those reanimated had seemingly immortal bodies. Any damage they received would regenerate over time, allowing them to continue fighting without being limited by their physical body. They also had access to limitless chakra reserves.
While this technique did seem convoluted (which it was), there were some drawbacks.
For example, it required a significant amount of chakra to perform, and it could be difficult to control the actions of the reanimated souls. There was also a risk that the souls may be limited in power if they were hard to control.
Then there came deactivation: to release the Reanimation technique, the user must perform a specific sequence of hand signs before uttering the release phrase. If the user did not release the technique, then the reanimated souls would remain.
And if a reanimated soul was capable, they could break free from their bindings through genjutsu or by reversing the technique. The former was done by Itachi when Kabuto revived him. The latter was done by Madara since he knew the hand signs.
Once a reanimated soul was defeated, the body would disintegrate back into dust, leaving behind only the sacrificed corpse.
As of now, there was only one ninja who knew how to perform it. That ninja was Orochimaru.
Kabuto wouldn't learn it for another three years. So if Arthur could beat him to it, then he'd continue on this route of being virtually unbeatable.