Tatewaki quickly launched himself into a display of twirling slashes. Arthur calmly watched with an unsettling stillness as he dipped beneath the attack. Another samurai launched a second assault, but Arthur sidestepped with the barest movement, allowing the blade to carve through the empty air.
Then the third samurai lunged, seizing Arthur's wrist in a desperate attempt to gain control. "We've got you now!"
Rather than feel stunned, Arthur was merely surprised.
He pivoted on the spot by pulling the samurai closer.
Bang!
An elbow met the man's chest with a crunch, followed by another that connected with his jaw. The samurai, stunned and disoriented, stumbled back and clutched his face.
"A true warrior should learn to use his sword more than his hands," Arthur taunted. "Wouldn't you agree?" The two closest to him quickly pulled back. "Hmph…"
Arthur twirled his katana's hilt with only a few fingers. Then the blade flashed as he spun forward.
Shing!
The samurai knocked back had his throat sliced!
The man quickly crumpled to the ground as he gurgled on his blood. When he couldn't contain it, a tide of blood spewed from his neck. He tried to cover his throat as much as he could, but the blood kept spilling, pouring over his gloved hands.
Arthur's attack had cut so deep that there was no mending the wound. He knew it, and so did Tatewaki.
There was a moment of silence as the samurai's body finally went limp.
The remaining two stared at their fallen comrade. Something about Arthur's last attack: it had mirrored Tatewaki's first assault with the twirling slashes.
But how? A technique like that took months to fully hone. Yet Arthur had executed it almost perfectly.
"Tatewaki?" Arthur wondered, lacking any emotion in his tone. "You seem perturbed…"
"You will pay for that!"
Tatewaki then charged at Arthur with a single-minded rage. His katana flashed as he sent three chakra shockwaves rippling through the air.
But Arthur, with his Crimson Gaze, could see the chakra within the attack. So he flowed with the rhythm of the attack by effortlessly flanking them as they tore through the empty space.
'That was the chakra shockwave slash,' he knew after landing.
The second samurai, who had remained silent until now, finally moved towards Arthur with surprising speed. Yet Arthur by no means kept his guard down.
'First activation…'
When the samurai slashed at Arthur's face, a log cleaved in two stood in his place.
"What?!"
Arthur appeared right behind Tatewaki. But the man quickly turned around and began violently swinging his weapon against Arthur's.
Cling-cling-cling!
"You're skilled," Tatewaki grunted between blows. "But who are you? What village are you from?"
"The Leaf Village," Arthur replied, sidestepping a wild slash. "You should consider a visit one day..."
At those words, Arthur caught Tatewaki's wrist and used the Chakra Enhanced Strength technique before following up with a brutal knee to the man's gut.
Bang!
The blow broke the samurai's armour, causing him to slowly fall to the ground.
Seeing this, the other samurai lunged again at Arthur. But Arthur picked up Tatewaki's crumpled form with one hand and threw him at the approaching samurai.
Bang!
The two slammed into each other, hitting the dirt in a tangled mess.
"Unless you have any more to show me," Arthur said, "then my time here's done."
Throughout this fight, not once had he wanted to outright kill them. No, he had the desire to use his Crimson Gaze to dissect as many principles from their movements as possible. That was how he managed to use Tatewaki's earlier attack to defeat the first samurai.
Tatewaki groaned as he pushed himself up. With a desperate snarl, he channeled chakra into his katana. The blade pulsed with a visible blue light.
"Oh…" Arthur mused.
If he recalled correctly, the technique Tatewaki was preparing was the "Fracture Strike" sword strike, and it looked far more impressive than the rudimentary "Beam of Light" technique he had seen in the original tale.
Tatewaki ferociously swung the katana as waves of chakra erupted from the blade.
Ka-crash!
A plume of dust clouds formed, obscuring the scene for a moment. But when it cleared, Tatewaki's gaze widened upon seeing Arthur standing strong.
In his hands was an icy katana in a crystallized form. Ice chakra blazed from it as Arthur held it in front of him.
"This ice," Arthur addressed, "is strong enough to withstand explosions. Yet your attack…" Pieces of shards gradually broke off. "Managed to graze it slightly. Not bad…"
The two samurai watched in stunned disbelief. They had never encountered an opponent who wielded a blade of ice, let alone one who could counter their strongest techniques. Even without his Crimson Gaze, Arthur could see how much his opponents were suffocating from his might.
He, however, wasn't interested in prolonged torture.
He had learned what he needed from them, so he raised his ice-encased katana over his shoulders and said, "I commend your efforts for teaching me…"
"Teaching?!" Tatewaki repeated in confusion.
"Yes… Iaidō, fracture strike—that was my first time seeing them in person. Tsk… And judging by how easy you made them look, it won't take long to perfect."
The two men couldn't say a word. They were too awestruck at the idea that Arthur was simply using them to learn the ways of the samurai!
But now was the time to end things.
'Third activation…'
✟
The chill of the night had begun to wane as dawn approached.
Arthur surveyed the scene. The samurais' shallow grave was already filled, and the loose earth smoothed over to make it harder for his actions to be discovered.
He wasn't one for trophies, but knowledge was a different kind of treasure. The techniques he'd visually seen firsthand—Iaidō, the Dancing Blade Hazard, the Chakra Shockwave Slash, and the Fracture Strike—were his rewards.
Perhaps unpolished and untamed, the right moment could be waited on to integrate these techniques into his growing arsenal.
His kenjutsu itself hadn't improved in a fundamental sense, but it had gained a vital layer of understanding, which would allow him to wield his weapons with the awareness of a skilled swordsman.
'Flying raijin…'
A moment later, Wizened Town materialized before him. He was now hundreds of miles away from his previous location and also fresh out of chakra.
The only thing he could do now was rest in the hotel he stayed at.
While in his bed, he considered that recent fight.
Tatewaki's blood samples were taken to ensure that his soon-to-be army of the undead was versatile in nature. Had the samurai known that Arthur was from another world or, rather, had been watching them practice, he might have taken more of a precaution during the fight.
Yet Arthur gave them no room to think of a good plan; he had ambushed them, thus giving him the element of surprise.
What the enemy didn't know, he capitalized on. And what the enemy thought they knew, he changed before they could have an upper hand.
Such a tactic was the basis for fighting. Both on earth and in the ninja world.
So long as Arthur could stay several steps ahead of everyone, there was hardly a soul that could match his might here. And that's just the way he preferred things.
✟
The very next morning, he arose and donned a simple transformation of a weary traveler seeking shelter.
The sheriff's office awaited him. It was a good moment to test the Evil Illusion Flattery technique.
Upon arrival, he pushed open the doors and saw the same burly man behind his desk.
"What's the problem?" the man asked.
Arthur gave him a smile and replied, "Nothing serious, sir. You just seem... a bit stressed. This job can be pretty demanding, don't you agree?"
The man grunted as his frown deepened for a moment before softening a little.
"You ain't wrong," he conceded, rubbing a hand over his face. "Gotta deal with a whole mess of folks, from petty thieves to drunken idiots. Enough to give anyone a headache."
Arthur pressed on by activating the Enhancing Flattery technique. "You're not wrong… In fact, have you ever considered another job?"
"Huh?"
"I hear the town's building a new plaza. Perhaps it could be a chance for a fresh start?"
The man's eyes, previously focused on Arthur, went up. He agreed, longing for a less stressful life. At that moment, he felt something behind him, so he turned around.
The illusion had taken hold.
"I'm sure if you applied, the owner would gladly hire you," Arthur mused.
"Y… Yeah, that's actually a great idea," the man replied as if he were unsure. "Do you know when the building's gonna be finished? I'd really like a job there as soon as possible."
Arthur could sense the man's willingness to abandon his post. More so, he could feel the eagerness of the man's utmost desire to serve and obey.
"They're still constructing it, so you'll have to wait, sir."
The man gave a disappointed frown. While his desires might have changed, he was still the same character at heart.
Arthur didn't need to verify it anymore. He had planted the seed, and the man's subconscious, his very will, had been changed to desire a different career.
Arthur used his Crimson Gaze to verify any disturbances within the man's chakra system. There was none.
'Now to remove it…'
Upon deactivating, the man came into a sudden sense of doubt. "On second thought, maybe I should do my duties here."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah… Haha. Don't know what I was thinking. If I leave my post, this whole town's gonna go to heck one day."
With a fake smile, Arthur excused himself and strolled out of the office.
The technique, from what he garnered, was fairly simple to execute and deactivate on command. All he had to do was continue lacing his tongue with chakra—exactly like Gengo had—as he spoke. So long as the target(s) heard him clearly and turned around, whatever Arthur suggested, their entire will would be bent.