Kimimaro stood at the edge of the clear, rocky terrain. Wind brushed past his white hair as he considered his situation.
The instant he heard a crack from behind, he instinctively jumped forward, swiftly turning around. He landed several feet away, keeping his mind on alert. From the undergrowth, Arthur Bennett slowly stepped into the clearing, disguised as Kaito.
Already, Kimimaro could sense something peculiar about Arthur's presence. No, something was indeed off about him.
Arthur paused momentarily and began, "Kimimaro… Why did you come here?"
Kimimaro studied Arthur, unsure of who he was or if this was the same person involved in this whole investigation. The silver hair and the purple robe would make anyone think that he was from their village. But not Kimimaro.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"That's not important to know right now," Arthur replied with a cool authority. "Think about it: Jūgo being able to recall that chakra-laced smoke, those vials going 'missing' the same day you departed for your mission… You came here because I led you here."
Now the Sound shinobi was certain that Arthur was the man who he needed to capture. Dead or alive.
The moment Kimimaro prepared to raise his guard, Arthur walked a little forward and said, "There's no point in fighting someone who knows almost everything about you…"
"What could someone like you possibly know about me?"
Arthur stopped and squared his shoulders.
"You were once the strongest of the Kaguya clan," he said, lifting his chin up, "a clan that sought violence and bloodshed until their ambition led them to their extinction… You were caged like a beast, only to be unleashed by Orochimaru."
Kimimaro's demeanour remained unshaken, but there was no denying that Arthur was unlike anyone he'd faced before.
"You've done your homework," he said, "but I'm not here for a history lesson."
"Actually, you are... Because you fail to see just how formidable your Kekkei Genkai truly is…"
Now the tension rose because Arthur didn't address Orochimaru properly. There also weren't that many enemies who knew of Kimimaro's Kekkei Genkai and lived to tell the tale.
Kimimaro narrowed his eyes as he said, "You seem to know a little more than you should… Why are you here, and what else do you know of my clan's Kekkei Genkai?"
"Were you not sick some days ago...?"
Kimimaro smirked, believing he had pieced things together. "Hmph… Go on, tell me what else you know so I can relay all this to lord Orochimaru."
"It's loyalty that binds you to him. Because of me, you were almost discarded like the broken tool you still are…"
"Because of you...?"
"Yes… You see, Kimimaro, the one who treated your illness was me."
The Sound shinobi had a hard time believing that. Somewhere deep inside him, he refused to let anyone play mind games with him, especially when he knew what was at stake.
"My only purpose now is to serve lord Orochimaru," he replied with a piercing gaze. "I made my choice long ago—accepting my role as his vessel, that even in death, I could make whatever he desires turn into reality."
With that, he raised his clavicle slightly and pulled out a sharp, white bone in the shape of a sword. The flesh it appeared from closed the instant the weapon manifested.
"Camelia dance?" Arthur said, unmoved. "Such a shame that a tool that's fixed still has rust on it."
"You'll regret leading me to you," Kimimaro warned in a menacing tone.
Even as the gravity of their confrontation tightened around them, Arthur maintained full composure. This was to be expected. Kimimaro, who's loyalty was perhaps one of the best in this world, could never be psyched out after given direct orders.
"Let me tell you something, Kimimaro… No one, not even Orochimaru, understands the value you possess. You can choose to be his broken weapon, or you can choose to be handled better by me."
"A meaningless sense of ideology," Kimimaro spat back, now fully ready to attack.
He quickly lunged forward, aiming his weapon straight at Arthur's heart. Yet Arthur sidestepped the attack with grace.
"Impressive," Arthur calmly remarked while still in the midst of his dodge, "but you're still just a broken tool…"
Kimimaro twisted in midair, propelling himself into a flurry of new attacks. Arthur's body, however, was moving too fluidly. He was evasive and reading Kimimaro's every intent. Just as the sharp edges of the bone were going to slice his face off, he spun and struck back, landing a direct blow that put distance between them.
Bang!
Kimimaro absorbed it and slid back by several yards. He then gripped his chest, feeling just how impactful that was. "You're skilled, so it seems."
"Come now, Kimimaro... Why choose that white serpent who had his arms sealed?"
"Shut your mouth…! You know nothing of what I've sacrificed for lord Orochimaru."
He was truly irritated, to the point of annoyance. Perhaps someone like him didn't care to be mocked or ridiculed, but when it came to insulting Orochimaru, that's where he drew the line.
The ground cracked beneath Kimimaro's feet as he launched himself toward Arthur. "Digital shrapnel." Five bone bullets shot out.
Without being the least discouraged, Arthur dodged by launching himself into the air and executed a series of flips to close the distance. The two then danced with Arthur swaying like a willow against his opponent's movements.
"Just a husk of what you could be," Arthur mocked again while dodging several swings.
"You don't know when to stop talking," Kimimaro shot back, trying to cut Arthur's torso.
Yet all of his attempts continued to miss.
Eventually, Arthur lowered his arms to toy with the Sound ninja. They were relaxed at his sides, and his posture was quite calm against the danger.
Kimimaro couldn't understand how someone could dodge like he was doing. The Sound ninja was a figure known for his lethal finesse in battle, able to single-handedly take down the entire Sound Four, and fight against a former Kazekage.
Yet Arthur wasn't even using his own Kekkei Genkai.
Kimimaro suddenly backed off. To his own surprise, he smirked, and his eyes showed that he was both amused and disdainful. "You think you know everything? You'll soon learn why I was entrusted with such an important mission…"
Swish!
Kimimaro lunged forward again as his bone sword extended outward. Yet Arthur pivoted to catch his opponent's entire arm. Kimimaro hissed in irritation before quickly reversing direction mid-lunge, and then swing his sword backward.
Swish!
The blade cut nothing but air.
"Impressive reflexes," Kimimaro admitted, "but you can't dodge forever."
"Try me..."
"Fine then!" the Sound ninja said, pointing five fingers at Arthur. "Digital shrapnel!"
A flurry of bone bullets shot forth as Arthur's eyes narrowed at each of them. He quickly dropped to a crouch and flipped to the side, landing near Kimimaro.
Bang!
A strong kick was delivered to Kimimaro's chest. But the Sound ninja remained unmoved as he attempted to bring his sword down. Arthur caught the blade with one hand while using the other to jab Kimimaro in the ribs twice in succession.
Bang-bang!
It was enough to make the Sound ninja grunt and step back. Yet he didn't yield; he charged again with a feint, only to to spin to try and slice Arthur's head off.
Arthur, however, ducked even before the sword was raised.
Their exchange was quite a spectacle, to say the least. Although Kimimaro was attacking with the intent to kill, Arthur's skillful dodges made his opponent lose face.
"Can that body really last?" Arthur taunted while moving his head from a stab.
"This body belongs only to one man…!"
"What a shame..."
Arthur took the initiative and drove a knee toward the other's gut. It connected, sending a shock through Kimimaro's body. When he tried to retaliate with a bone swipe, Arthur stopped it by blocking Kimimaro's wrist. He then went for a sweep kick, but Kimimaro leaped over the attack. Arthur was faster, so he rose his feet and delivered two upward palm strikes that sent Kimimaro tumbling. Kimimaro backflipped himself off the ground and stopped attacking.
"You were attacking just fine a minute ago." Arthur said after watching Kimimaro backflip himself off the ground.
It became apparent to the Sound ninja what was happening: Arthur could both see and read his movements because he was simply the better fighter.
"Prepare yourself," Kimimaro hissed as he raised both arms. His fingertips parted, revealing the hardened bone protrusions beneath the skin. "Multi-Digital shrapnel!"
In an instant, hundreds of bone bullets erupted from the tiny holes along his fingers. Each volley—five bullets per hand—was propelled with ghastly speed, spiraling through the air while whistling towards Arthur.
Arthur stood still, and in that fraction of time, he had already analyzed their trajectory.
He left an afterimage as the first wave of bones missed him by inches. Then the next wave came, and he dodged in the opposite direction.
Kimimaro's eyes widened in surprise. He shook it off, firing another volley of bullet storms.
Arthur weaved through like a dancer with unhurried steps. He ducked gracefully under one cluster, spun to the left against another, and then flowed through the rest. It was as if the projectiles were moving in slow motion to him, for in his eyes, they truly had been.
As shots were still being fired, Arthur noticed a dark, sinister aura rising from Kimimaro's chest.
'So he's finally activating his curse mark...'
Molten spirals only slightly spread to cover his torso as the next waves of bullets launched with intensified in speed. Now they were like a stream of bullets, storming the clearing with no end in sight.
But Arthur, undeterred, continued to evade. His body moved—curling and twisting as he navigated through this tornado.
With a final decisive volley, Kimimaro unleashed hundreds of bone bullets all at once like a ridiculously fast hailstorm. The sheer volume of the bullets seemed insurmountable, but still, Arthur remained completely in command of the situation as he gallantly hopped from side to side until, finally, the attack ceased.
There was silence. Every single bullet had been evaded!
Arthur slowed his movements to remain poise.
Whereas Kimimaro was left wide-eyed and breathless. He had poured a lot that he had into the assault, yet before him stood a man who had faced it all without so much as breaking a sweat.
He was in disbelief; he was confused; he had fought many shinobi before, but never had he encountered someone who remained so utterly unfazed while outshining the prowess of even the most formidable opponents he had faced.
"Who...?! Just who the heck do you think you are?!"
"I'm the one who fixed a broken tool..."