Arthur, therefore, performed his Chakra Disguise technique, then his Transformation technique, followed by his Transformation technique.
In less than a heartbeat, he was gone and inside the bustling atmosphere of the Leaf Village.
Things hadn't changed much in this village. The quaint sounds rang in his ears as he casually walked through the vendors.
He never liked traversing this place since it was enemy territory. But as far as he was concerned, everyone thought he was dead, and he was great at masking both his chakra signature and his overall identity.
His objective lay at the Anbu Black Ops headquarters.
The Anbu, as he understood them to be, were a covert organization of skilled ninjas tasked with protecting their home village from threats both internal and external. Threats like him, to be exact.
The most notable members of these ninjas were Kakashi and Itachi, both of whom had moved on from their positions.
To maintain secrecy, Anbu members adopted masks and code names to keep their identities hidden from the public.
Arthur, having traversed the depths of the Leaf countless times in the past, was fully aware of the location of Leaf's Anbu headquarters. They were underground, where most of their missions, ranging from assassinations to surveillance and intelligence gathering, were assigned.
The reason he sought to enter this area was because it was a keystone in the web of secrets that comprised the village's security apparatus.
'Crimson gaze…'
As the chakra waves washed over him, the Anbu headquarters lit up in his mind's eye.
The headquarters was precisely where he had anticipated it to be, and he could visualize the layout. So he let his senses wander to the second underground location he had memorized: the notorious Foundation, or Root, led by Danzō Shimura.
That place was hiding a treasure trove of secrets and potential threats for the village, yet it would take much more manipulation to access it.
Transforming his body into smoke, he drifted through the village and slid through the narrowest of crevices. As he approached the heavily guarded Anbu Black Ops headquarters, the buzz of chakra presences emanated from within.
Sensors were undoubtedly among them, but he had no need to worry thanks to his Chakra Disguise technique. If they did register his signature, they'd only sense the energy of a minor insect who managed to crawl its way here.
Once he coiled around enough vents, he found a few members casually strolling through the halls. Ignoring their conversation, he finally arrived at one of the command rooms, a hub with foundational critical data.
A large table dominated the center, scattered with scrolls and projections of team movements and missions. Several Anbu members dressed in indistinct uniforms exchanged reports and updates.
Arthur took a moment to study them.
Neither looked familiar behind their mask. However, he still had to be careful; staying longer than necessary could potentially raise suspicions that would lead to an inquest far too dangerous for his ambitions.
Just then, a notable figure in the room caught his attention—someone whose name nabbed at the back of his mind: Yamato.
The heavily layered complexities of Yamato's loyalties to the village made him an interesting target for manipulation. If Arthur could capture him, he could use that man to funnel information through to the Leaf, sparking movements that may wreak havoc. That or use his cells to acquire the infamous wood style Kekkei Genkai.
But after careful consideration, he chose neither.
That Kekkei Genkai was dangerous, with a low probability of obtaining it. Margaret only acquired it on a fifty-fifty chance since she was an otherworldly person.
And as far as Yamato was concerned, this ninja wasn't supposed to make his debut in three years. None of the other otherworldly people have interacted with him yet. So why bother trying to change an already changed narrative?
Arthur honestly preferred to keep things simple until the time was ripe. Plus, he was on a different mission, which required him to focus.
That is until their conversation piqued his interest.
"New targets," one of the men stated. "The prioritization of intel suggests movement against individuals associated with the Akatsuki. They've been idle while we've been consolidating things here."
"Right, but what of our own?" another responded in bitterness. "The struggle in the village continues. You know who's responsible for this."
Arthur remained intrigued. The more they discussed, the more he was able to ascertain shifting sentiments toward the Leaf Village leadership. Doubt and dissent could give rise to ideal outcomes, turning fear into distrust if the village didn't make better moves.
"Things feel strained since the Hokage's decisions haven't sat well with some of us. And yet…"
"Everyone else seems willing to blindly follow this woman. What happens when lord Third finally recovers? Think he'll take command again?"
Not finding any more interest, Arthur eventually left.
All he gathered from that was how the Akatsuki were doing well to hide their actions. He wondered how long it would take for them to make another appearance.
'Better late than ever…' he hoped.
It wasn't long until he ultimately found himself at the report center. It was a dimly lit room cluttered with scrolls, files, and technological screens.
Better yet, it was empty.
He quickly scoured the surface of locked drawers and cabinets as he moved through the documents strewn about. That's when he encountered a report that summarized the current structure of the Anbu Black Ops.
His smoky brow furrowed slightly as he read through the lines: Tsunade Senju, the legendary Sannin, now in charge.
This news of her ascendance to the position of the Fifth Hokage had already been made to the Five Great Nations. What intrigued him was how the report went on to detail her newly adopted policies for the Anbu: Emphasizing efficiency, discipline, and a tighter grip on operations.
Arthur had no reason to praise those efforts; he knew that Tsunade was not one to tolerate laziness or complacency in times of recovery. She would fortify the foundations of the village by pushing for advancements and improvements the organization had long needed.
His attention soon faltered on a more pressing piece of information within the next report: a series of mentions about infiltration attempts from the Sound Village.
The Anbu, acting on intelligence from anonymous informants, had stepped up border surveillance and heightened security around the Leaf Village due to increased activity from rogue ninjas trying to breach its sanctum.
Arthur immediately deduced who these 'anonymous informants' were. Obviously the others were trying to prevent Sasuke Uchiha from establishing contact with Orochimaru's henchmen, the Sound Ninja Four.
If Arthur recalled correctly from the original tale, Orochimaru sent four specialized ninjas to further manipulate the Uchiha into leaving the village.
How they managed to infiltrate the village in such a manner was impeccable. And once they succeeded, Sasuke departed in the den of night. He was almost stopped by Sakura, who cried and threatened to scream if he left. But he knocked her unconscious.
Only after she rose the next morning did she go and report what happened. This prompted Tsunade to assemble a team consisting of Shikamaru, Kiba, Chōji, Neji, and Naruto to rescue the Uchiha.
Rock Lee and ninjas from the Sand Village would later arrive as backup.
Oh, how much things have divulged from the original tale.
Not only were these events not going to happen, but now Arthur needed a new plan to ensure the Uchiha would be taken by the snake. Because if Sasuke remained in the Leaf under the uncertainty brought by Tsunade's leadership and the Anbu's protective watch, Arthur's grand plans would spiral in an unfavourable direction; he needed Sasuke to fall into Orochimaru's arms.
And if that happened, it would be an effective gambit—one that would create a cascade of reluctance and dissatisfaction among the others who also knew the story well.
"Hmph," he scoffed.
While not the worst news, he still had an advantage that no one else was aware of: the Evil Illusion Flattery technique. So long as that was still intact, Sasuke's personal desire to abandon the Leaf Village was not going to change.
Soon, Arthur shifted through another stack of papers, hoping for something—anything—that would indicate a chink in the armour of the Leaf Village's defenses.
Another report detailed the deployment of Anbu squads assigned specifically to track known faction movements within the village. He almost felt disheartened due to how capable the village's defenses were under Tsunade's hand.
It was as if the new Hokage knew how to fortify against intrusions better than the old Hokage—no thanks to people like Alice and Jada.
Each page he skimmed through made it alarmingly clear: Arthur couldn't do a darn thing.