ARTHUR HAD FORGOTTEN A LOT about this creature's antics. It was a prideful Tailed Beast that detested the name "Four-Tails," and often liked to boast. It also harboured a deep hatred for man and believed that apes were more intelligent. Trying to call it by name now would do little to nothing.
And the problem it had with Arthur was that it could sense whether someone had high regards for its kind. Arthur did not; he called it a devil, thus hurting its pride.
Suddenly, from within the mist created by the collision, a large palm struck and sent him flying into the side of the mountain. The force of the hit was strong enough to bruise bones and shake his body.
'Regenerative healing…'
As his wounds began to heal, Arthur's blood also began to boil. Not from pain but from the thrill of the fight. It had been a long time since anyone could actually land that hard of a blow to injure him. The damages showed that the battle was going to push him, and he welcomed it.
Boom!
Breaking through the crater left by the impact, he rose into the air and summoned the Blade of Chaos. The weapon's appearance alone was enough to make the Four-Tails wary.
"Floral mountain jutsu!"
A smaller volcano formed instantly behind the Four-Tails, exploding violently and sending molten rocks flying forward like the petals of a giant flower. Arthur swung his blade in response, slashing through the rocks. And as he did, corrosive bubbles formed that met the molten rocks with a hiss.
Once again, a massive cloud of steam enveloped the battlefield in thick mist. From the haze, the Four-Tails emerged with its mouth wide open, ready to swallow Arthur whole.
'Smoke jutsu…'
At the last possible moment, Arthur transformed his body into smoke just as the beast's jaws closed around him. The Four-Tails began to chew, expecting to break flesh. Instead, it found nothing solid.
"Hmm?" it paused in confusion.
Then Arthur's voice came from within the beast: "Smoke style: corrosion…"
As his technique began to eat away at the beast's insides, the Four-Tails thrashed and banged its head in frustration and pain. The corrosive smoke was relentless because it was biting into the creature's flesh and chakra from the inside out.
Then the beast let out a sudden roar. Arthur felt the heat rising through its body, growing hotter by the second. He glanced down just in time to see green flames bursting from the Four-Tails' belly.
"Monkey flame release!"
The beast spewed a blast of green fire from its mouth, forcefully expelling Arthur into the air. He twisted mid-flight to steady himself as he hovered there. His body was marked with deep burn wounds, some so severe that his bones showed through. Still, he made no grimace.
'Regenerative healing…'
Slowly, the wounds began to close. The process was painstakingly slow due to how severe the damages were. It allowed the Four-Tails to finally shake off the corrosive effects that tried to eat at its insides.
"I must say," the beast said in a hoarse voice, "I've never met a man who could go toe-to-toe with me before."
Arthur didn't respond. He had used the Regenerative Healing technique twice already. Each time drained his chakra heavily, especially because of his body's enhancement.
This Tailed Beast was starting to irritate him—not because of its hostility, but because it had used a technique he didn't recognize. Something from a video game, no less.
It was time to get serious.
The air around began to shift, causing the Four-Tails to give Arthur a strange look. His hair thickened, and two black streaks flowed from his eyes down to his chin.
'Simian Sage Mode…'
✟
Two days of fighting had passed.
The hardened lava from the volcano bore witness to their brutal battle, and the air was thick with black smoke so that neither of the combatants could tell how much time had truly passed.
The Four-Tails breathed heavily as it towered over Arthur. Its body was scarred with wounds, and one of its fangs lay cleanly severed.
Arthur himself stood on solid ground with the Blade of Chaos plunged into the earth. He had to hold on to its hilt to steady himself. Without it feeding him chakra, without his Sage Mode, and without his enhanced body, he wouldn't have been able to last so long.
He took a moment to catch his own breath since he was no longer in Sage Mode at the moment. The burns still stung, sharp reminders of the beast's last fiery attack. But the wounds were closing thanks to the Regenerative Healing technique doing its work. This fight was taxing his body beyond normal limits.
As the silence weighed heavy, Arthur looked up at the Four-Tails. It was quiet now but not defeated in spirit. It had resisted almost every move he made and every attempt to subdue it. He had tried the Evil Illusion Flattery technique after entering Sage Mode, but the beast's resentment was too strong; it despised him from the start, and that hatred had fueled its strength.
"You fought hard," he quietly said. "But not hard enough."
"Save it," the Four-Tails replied in a hoarse tone.
Its breathing was uneven, and it was slowly starting to close its eyes. Arthur therefore pulled his sword from the ground, ready to continue the battle. As he slowly walked forward, the beast smiled before its body slowly rumbled from all the stress.
Then, its hind legs gave in, and it fell to its side, which caused the floor to quake.
Arthur relaxed his posture before letting the grip of his handle go, which caused the weapon to dematerialize in sparks of light. He then approached the fallen beast and struck its belly to remove large clumps of its essence.
Looking at it brought him no joy.
He knew that he had more than enough power to kill the Four-Tails right then, especially if he had activated his Sage Mode in the beginning. But he had chosen not to. Killing it would have consequences, and he wasn't ready for that yet.
This was a fight that pushed him, and the Four-Tails had proven to be a worthy opponent. But for now, the battle was over. The beast was subdued, and Arthur had what he came for.
Now it was time to finally rest before moving on to the Five-Tails.
Arthur turned away from the cooled-down volcano. He didn't glance back at the Four-Tails, knowing that lingering might be a mistake.
His mind was clear on this point: healing the beast was impossible at the moment. The Four-Tails had been injured to a great extent, and attempting to heal it would require an enormous amount of chakra. That was not something he possessed right now.
Besides, the area was isolated and remote from anyone else's presence. If the beast woke up, it would likely heal itself naturally. Arthur was also confident that the creature wouldn't seek him out unless it wanted to lose more fangs.
He'd left behind no traces for anyone to be given that chance.
As he moved away from the volcano's edge, his gaze caught the distant horizon. The sun was high in the sky now, and it struck him that quite some time had passed since his encounter with the Four-Tails. As he walked down the slope, he felt just how sore and achy his legs were.
It had truly been some time since anyone's pushed him this far. The last to make him try this hard were his clones, essentially being himself.
After venturing to a more grassy landscape, he eventually spotted a cave. So Arthur made his way toward it to seek shelter and restore his chakra. Inside, he pressed his back against the cold wall and let the fatigue of the encounter drain from his body.
He looked down at the essence he had drawn from the Four-Tails. Despite its bloody appearance, it was more than enough for his purpose.
Carefully, he found a flat slab of rock nearby and used chakra from his fingertips to inscribe a symbol into the stone. He then placed the bloodied essence onto the carved surface and used the tiger hand seal. The essence shook a little before vanishing into the rock. It was now sealed inside.
This process came easy to him since he had used this same method when sealing the essence of the Two-Tails.
After finishing this, he carefully placed the slab inside his garments for safekeeping. He didn't have a scroll at hand, which would have been the ideal container, but he was still resourceful. Even in this time of hardship.
Lying further back against the cool stone, he finally let himself relax and allow his chakra to recover.
During this downtime, he decided to read, so he pulled out Kaguya's Legacy and read without interruptions.
'Upon my arrival on earth, I was captivated by the people. Their resilience, dreams, and fragile beauty were something I sought to understand. So I was brought before Emperor Tenji of the Land of Ancestors, where I revealed myself as a guardian. Using my powers, I wiped Tenji's memories of our meeting, but I chose to remain among his people and become his concubine. Living among mankind awakened something within me: a deep attachment and a longing for peace that I had not known before. I grew close to Tenji, and our bond blossomed into love. From this union, I became pregnant with the first children to be born with chakra. One of the servants gifted me a feather mantle and a blade with a clean edge. She asked what I would name my children. Such things as a name never registered to me at the time. But as I took her gifts, it came to me in that instance: Hagoromo and Hamura.' – Kaguya Legacy pg. 5
'Hagoromo, meaning feather mantle,' Arthur knew. 'And Hamura, meaning edge of a blade.'
After a bit more reading, he finally closed the book and let his eyes drift shut.
Some hours passed, during which he remained in the same position. When he finally arose, he stretched his limbs and checked his stamina. He was pleased to find that his recovery was at least fifty percent. A slow recovery process, but enough to allow him to continue moving.
The Blade of Chaos was considered to be used and fully replenish himself, but he decided against it in case unexpected danger appeared. Maintaining his readiness was more important than immediate full recovery.
The weapon, after all, was one of his best trump cards, and he preferred to keep it at its best for when he truly needed it.
Upon exiting the cave, he ascended into the sky via smoke and headed northeast. He wasn't sure if the Five-Tails was in that direction, but it was the best place to start. His plan was to scout the area first, then adjust his course westward to cover more ground across the country in the event the Five-Tails was not in the east.
The journey through the air was smooth. He stayed high above while scanning the terrain below.
Hours passed as he traveled. Since he hadn't spotted any reputable chakra signatures, he deemed now was the best time to train. So he descended from the sky and landed in a clearing that offered some privacy.
And what was he planning to train? Black Lightning.
The sky was filled with clouds when he began. Holding out his palm, a few sparks jumped from his fingertips. He tightened his focus to push more energy through, but the arcs fizzled before they could gain any strength.
It was his first time trying to expel so much Black Lightning at once, so failure was expected.