The air moved and the grass parted as Arthur returned to the Fire Country.
Before he could get to Sasuke, he had another mission to fulfill, one revolving around the elusive and dangerous Orochimaru.
Of course, Arthur wasn't stupid. He had already performed the Transformation technique to disguise himself as an unknown passerby.
Navigating through trees and meadows, he headed toward the last known location of the Sound Ninja Four. He knew they would be somewhere here because that's what the Anbu's reports stated.
And if he could find them, he could pinpoint where Orochimaru's Sound Village was.
Anyone who understood how things were progressing would have also known that personally venturing to the Sound Village would be risky. Orochimaru was not a fool; he had built a sanctuary nestled with traps and layers of defense.
Sensing the general vicinity of a hideout was one thing, but navigating the traps that lived within its walls required a much more cautious approach.
Arthur eventually reached a grove. There were small signs of a skirmish, but no one was here.
'Crimson gaze…'
The surrounding trees stood still, and he sensed the pulse of nature all around him. Still, there were no other clues—or anyone for that matter.
When his Kekkei Genkai failed to hunt someone down, Arthur always had more than one trick up his sleeve.
Sitting down in a lotus position, he began to gather natural energy. The world around him soon began to shift as colours sharpened and the cacophony of the forest transformed. Then his sensing range expanded exponentially as the Sage Chakra poured in, allowing him to sweep the area for innocuous chakra signatures.
Time seemed to pass by as he scanned the forest by filtering through its many layers.
There were countless signatures: squirrels, birds, and other creatures flitting through the trees. The entire ecosystem was quite calm, yet he still couldn't find who he was looking for.
What if he was too late? What if these Sound Ninjas returned to their village and Orochimaru changed his plans?
After a moment, Arthur finally pinpointed something peculiar: four large chakra signatures lay several dozen meters away.
But if they were so close, why couldn't he spot them earlier?
When Arthur focused more, he saw that there were barrier tags all around that area. It was no wonder he couldn't immediately spot them. Quite an impressive barrier to have even hindered his Crimson Gaze.
But there they were: the Sound Ninja Four—Tayuya, Jirōbō, Sakon, and Kidōmaru.
These ninjas, also known as the Sound Four, constituted a group of antagonists. They also served as Orochimaru's elite bodyguards.
Comprising of four main members—Jirōbō, Kidōmaru, Tayuya, and the duo of Sakon and Ukon—they were mainly defined not only by their combat abilities but also their loyalty to the snake, having all been given their own special curse marks.
Their origins were rather grim, for they were originally prisoners forced to fight one another in battle royals orchestrated by Orochimaru. That's what made them candidates for the snake's bodyguard unit.
To Arthur, they were nothing more than expendable warriors, byproducts since they were being manipulated under Orochimaru's watchful gaze.
'So that's where I am in the story…' Arthur knew.
This was the time the Sound Four's faction crumbled after encountering resistance from Shikamaru's "Sasuke Recovery Team." Most of the Sound ninjas were ultimately outmatched by the resolve and teamwork of their adversaries since Gaara and his siblings intervened.
One by one, they are defeated—Jirōbō by Chōji, Kidōmaru by Neji, Tayuya by Temari, and Sakon and Ukon by Kankuro.
Years later, during the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kabuto would resurrect them. However, their reincarnation came with an ironic ending: they were foiled by the very individuals from their previous struggles.
Arthur crafted a plan in his mind as he monitored their movements. Those four weren't traveling; they were lying in wait, undoubtedly planning to infiltrate the Leaf Village. And from the looks of their wounds, they had been thwarted not long ago.
Arthur himself had no intention of stopping them from trying to breach the Leaf Village. Instead, he could use this opportunity to gather crucial intelligence with his newly acquired technique.
The moment they decided to rest, he made his way toward their location.
All of them were now sleeping. Better yet, they were still unaware of his presence since he hadn't triggered their barrier.
Walking toward one of those papers, he turned over a rock and cut it with a kunai. Part of their barrier then opened, allowing him to enter inside.
Arthur's instincts kicked in as he observed his targets. He knew it was them because of their signature purple rope that almost all Sound Ninjas wore.
Jirōbō, the heavyset ninja who lacked the cunning nature of his peers, was slow-witted and more prone to foolish blunders. The others—Sakon, with his twin, Ukon; the shrewd Kidōmaru; and the sharp Tayuya—were not to be trifled with thanks to their bogus techniques.
'Smoked jutsu…'
Arthur quickly transformed into wisp-like smoke that flowed and silently seeped into Jirōbō's nostrils.
'Eye mind reading jutsu…'
The coarse rasping of the ninja's breath then engulfed Arthur as he entered the mind of the unsuspecting brute. And inside, Jirōbō's consciousness was like a storm of violent thoughts and gruesome memories of his time with Orochimaru.
To Arthur's shock, the mess of images and memories was quite disturbing.
He ventured deeper by sifting through the muck like a fisherman casting his net into deeper waters. Sights of cruel deeds filled the recesses of Jirōbō's mind, such as images of him gorging himself on stolen food.
Arthur could literally feel the weight of Jirōbō's filth.
As he sought specific information, he stumbled upon a gem of vital intelligence: the location of Orochimaru's main hideout!
It honestly wasn't that far from here. And since Arthur now knew where it was, collecting some information on new techniques wouldn't hurt.
But just as he began to probe deeper, he felt a sudden push against his presence. The darkness of Jirōbō's mind recoiled as Arthur understood what was happening: Jirōbō was trying to wake up.
Arthur wasted no time deactivating the jutsu and slipping out of the shinobi's head. But before fully vanishing, Arthur implanted a hidden Flying raijin mark on Jirōbō's gluteus maximus.
Not only could he monitor these ninjas, since they often moved as a collected unit, he had gained full understanding of Orochimaru's hideout.
But why was Arthur so bent on locating the Sound Village? Not for Sasuke's sake, but for his real target that loomed inside it: Kimimaro!
Kimimaro Kaguya was a shinobi written to have been the sole survivor of the Kaguya clan. His unique Kekkei Genkai was known as "Shikotsumyaku," or "Macabre Bone Pulse." It allowed him to manipulate his skeletal structure by transforming his bones into weapons at will.
That ability, coupled with his immense strength and skill, made him a very underrated shinobi.
Despite being the last member of his clan and having a morbid past, Kimimaro was quite gentle. His loyalty to Orochimaru was very unhealthy. Even in the face of his own deteriorating health, he was still very loyal to that snake.
In terms of appearance, he was a striking figure. His pale skin, green eyes, and shoulder-length white hair set him apart from other Sound ninjas.
If Arthur could acquire that Kekkei Genkai for himself, it would tip the scales once more in his favour.
As such, he propelled himself from tree branch to branch at a very fast pace. He didn't care that the Sound Four would discover their barrier was disrupted. The Sound Village was only a five-days walk, a journey he was more than willing to complete before they could beat him to it.
It wasn't long until the landscape eventually changed.
He arrived at dusk atop a rocky outcropping that overlooked his destination.
The Sound Village was an extensive complex, camouflaged throughout the rugged terrain. Albeit, this wasn't a village per se; it was more of a clandestine territory founded by Orochimaru.
Unlike traditional villages, it was actually a network of hidden bases scattered across various lands. Orochimaru established it to gather skilled ninja for his experiments and pursue his always-failing goals.
While outwardly presenting itself as a haven for ninjas seeking a purpose, its true nature was far more sinister: it served as a breeding ground for illegal experimentation, with Orochimaru and his subordinates conducting unethical research on his own subjects.
Almost all of the Sound ninjas were products of such experimentation. Most notably Anko Mitarashi, who was given the same curse mark as Sasuke.
Despite its eventual downfall and Orochimaru's defeat by Sasuke Uchiha three years from now, its legacy of experimentation and manipulation left a lasting mark on the ninja world.
Arthur had never seen the third installment of the series. So he wouldn't know that in later years, the area would undergo a massive transformation by evolving into a more legitimate ninja village.
This shift was partly due to the influence of Mitsuki, Orochimaru's son, who attended the Leaf Village's academy and fostered a connection between the two villages.
Nevertheless, with the mental blueprint Arthur had gleaned from Jirōbō, he had gained something most Leaf shinobi would interrogate him for.
Wasting no time, he turned into smoke and floated down from his perch. Then he silently made his way to the back—avoiding the front traps—where he soon slipped through a crack in the stone wall.
Navigating through dark corridors that twisted like serpents within the earth, he traced the outline of the hideout Jirōbō's mind had revealed. It was very easy, almost as if Arthur had personally stepped foot in here before.
Every hidden entrance and concealed passageway flashed through his mind like a well-rehearsed play.
One wrong move, and Orochimaru would chase him to the ends of this world.