Arthur soon found himself standing on a ridge overlooking the capital of the Land of Wind.
The city sat like a bleached bone in the center of the desert, surrounded by thick sandstone walls. Heat could even be seen radiating from the streets.
Arthur planned to pay the leadership a special visit.
He knew the political landscape well, having served as the acting head of the Water Country by navigating the structure of the continent's elites. He also knew all the feudal lords.
However, the man currently ruling the Wind Country was not the same leader Arthur had met during a summit meeting years ago. The old regime had passed and this feudal lord was new.
Arthur already knew his name since Arthur had monitored the correspondence crossing the desk of his own feudal lord, Toki, back in the Bird Country.
The new ruler was lord Taira Kikumoto. Intelligence reports suggested Taira was one of the few politicians who genuinely feared Arthur's legacy. But that was just talk until it was tested.
Arthur's whole purpose for coming here was because the Sand Village had imprisoned someone inside their dungeons. That prisoner could be of great use to his empire. But for him to acquire that prisoner, he had to first go through Taira.
'I wonder how he'll feel seeing me in person,' he thought, stepping off the ridge before walking into the capital.
He kept a low profile and held a Transformation technique by taking the shape of a common merchant. Blending into such a crowds of traders was a simple act, as he soon found himself in the perimeter of the central castle.
'Crimson gaze…'
At the top most floor, Taira was indeed inside. The security was also heavy. Guards stood at every entrance, and sensory ninjas monitored the roof.
Such safekeeping meant nothing to Arthur. Not when he was wearing his special coat to mask his chakra. Even someone like Alice would find it very difficult to detect his presence.
And already, he had analyzed more than five methods of entry. So he took the easiest one.
'Smoke jutsu…'
He drifted upward in a grey haze along the castle wall where he found a hairline crack in the mortar. He then seeped through the masonry and easily entered into Taira's inner chambers.
Below Arthur, a meeting was taking place. Taira sat on a pillow above a dais, arguing over ledgers with two delegates.
Arthur did not mind waiting.
Thirty minutes passed as their argument ran in circles.
"Leave me to my work," Taira finally ordered, rubbing his eyes.
The delegates bowed, gathered their scrolls, and exited the room. Arthur waited another five minutes to ensure no one was going to re-enter. Even if they did, he had a genjutsu prepared. Just in case.
"Taira…"
When the feudal lord heard his name whispered in the empty room, he panicked. "Who's there?!"
"Over here…"
Taira looked up, only to freeze in place upon seeing Arthur standing in the center of the room. The man who had broken the world was right in his office. Who wouldn't be terrified?
"H… How did you come into my—wait!" Taira stammered, standing up. "I know you. Y… You're—"
"I'm sure many know me…" Arthur began, cutting him off. "But you shouldn't fret, Taira. As you know, I was once a feudal lord myself. Allow to me ask: aren't you tired of working long hours?"
Taira looked anxiously toward the exit. "What are you saying?"
"You tend to your country's needs without getting much of any recognition. Does that not bother you?"
"Yes… I mean no!" He then reached frantically for a bell close by. "You'll be sorry for coming straight into my castle. Guar—!"
Before he could summon his guards, Arthur quickly closed the distance and clamped his hand hard over Taira's mouth, pinning his head against the plaster. Taira thrashed, but Arthur's grip was harder than steel.
'Evil illusion flattery…'
"Now, Taira. Remember how the Water Country grew their economies fortune in multiples. Such a thing was only possible because of me… Serve me, Taira, and the same can be done with this desolate land."
When Arthur released his grip, Taira quickly turned his head to flee. But then he suddenly came to a halt and just stared at the back wall.
Footsteps were heard approaching the door, so Arthur melted back into the shadows.
The door opened with a woman and two guards. "My lord, I heard you mumbling aloud. Are you okay?"
"Yes," Taira said in a calm tone as he turned around. There was no sense of panic in his eyes whatsoever. He then adjusted his collar and sat back down to look at a ledger. "Thank you for your utmost concerns. Now, please, let me be. And don't come in unless called for. Understood?"
"Yes, my lord." She bowed, exiting.
Just as the door closed behind her, Arthur casually walked out of the dark and stopped next to the sitting Taira. He then looked down at the ruler of the Wind Country and casually asked, "How do you feel?"
"I feel great, lord Arthur." Arthur had done it. That fright shown before was now replaced by a hollow devotion. Taira's will had successfully changed, aligning entirely with Arthur's goals. "Knowing that this country's going to become great one day would make anyone happy."
"Good…"
The next few minutes were spent with Arthur giving Taira bureaucratic instructions.
Arthur would have the feudal lord of his country draft and send a formal prisoner transfer request to the Wind Country. Taira's sole task was to accept the request immediately and use his authority to hasten the proceedings with the Sand Village.
After Taira agreed to the terms, Arthur secretly moved elsewhere in the castle to place Flying raijin marks in secret locations for later access. He then teleported back to his throne in Sun Stream Plaza.
There, he drafted the prisoner transfer request himself.
Now, he could have easily broken the shinobi he was after out of the Sand prison. But kicking down doors yielded massive consequences. It could leave an unwanted trail and give the nations clues to his identity or his operations.
The best thing to do was play the clandestine game. Bureaucracy was a weapon, and it worked best while others were asleep to his machinations.
Spending only minutes to forge the legal jargon, Arthur took the document to Toki. It wasn't long until she signed off on the request, allowing the couriers to deliver it straight to the Wind Country for approval.
Thankfully for him, the borders of the Bird Country and the Wind Country were not that far apart.
The messengers crossed the desert fast, and Taira received the request in just a few hours before stamping it without a single debate.
These things were nothing new to Arthur, for he had done a similar thing to approve Tayuya's expungement.
Such was the partizan authority of a feudal lord. So long as citizens granted power to an easily controllable man, Arthur could always get what he wanted. At least, in the political sense.
This world was still his playground, and so long as he held chakra, the amount of things he could get away with seemed endless.
The very next day, Arthur sat in his throne as he looked through his scattered marks.
He saw Kankuro marching into Taira's castle. The Sand shinobi was clearly protesting the sudden transfer order. But a shinobi could not outright defy their feudal lord.
Kankuro would eventually leave the castle, only to return a few hours later, riding a horse carriage. In the back sat a cell box the size of a man with seals across the iron walls.
Someone was inside the box, and Arthur knew exactly who it was.
Another day later, Kankuro managed to travel from the Sand capital all the way across the badlands to the Bird Country. The carriage rolled into the courtyard of the primary manor, where Toki waited with her guards.
"I dunno what sort of thing he did for you guys to want him," Kankuro said as he looked at the iron box and then at Toki. "But just be careful; he's a sealing expert."
"We'll take that to heart," Toki obliged with a polite nod.
Kankuro remounted the carriage and soon left, heading back toward the desert border. The Bird Country guards wasted no time wheeling the box into the subterranean levels of the compound. By the time they were finished, they placed the prisoner in a single jail cell.
Now, who was this prisoner that Arthur had set his sights on? It was the exact same shinobi who had failed to capture the One-Tail during the previous exams: Hōichi.
Hōichi was a young monk from the Sand Monastery who possessed a remarkable set of techniques. From a young age, he dedicated himself to studying Bunpuku's control sealing jutsu.
This training equipped him with a understanding of the craft. One of his most potent skills was the Dharma Power Sealing Technique: Sen no Rikyū, which enabled him to forcibly extract multiple Tailed Beasts simultaneously.
Beyond his sealing prowess, Hōichi was also adept at using sand, hardening it for defense or to blend into his surroundings.
What truly set him apart was his unique method of performing such techniques. He used the melodies of a biwa in place of traditional hand seals used by other shinobi. Through that instrument, he could conjure barriers and even manipulate shadows.
The man was currently lying flat on his back on a bed, still bound by his own Dharma seal.
It didn't take a genius to understand that Margaret and her friends took Hōichi down by making his technique backfire.
While the monk was sleeping, Arthur stepped out of the spatial void and materialized directly inside the cell.
"Hōichi…"
When he heard his name, Hōichi opened his eyes. He strained against the invisible weight crushing his chest, only to see Arthur standing right inside the cell.
"It's good to finally meet you…"