Path Of War-Chapter 338: Perfect Training Partners

What it was really asking was how far should they push Arthur.

"Past my limits..."

All of them stared at him with unreadable faces. By Arthur saying that, they knew he was also telling them to try and kill him if they could.

There was a moment of silence as all of them continued to stare at him. They were measuring him, determining what would be the best approach. Being clones, they all understood just how strong Arthur was compared to the average shinobi, and he was basically about to fight himself.

Before the fight could commence, they each knew what had to be done: 'Tamashii...'

Arthur read their intention instantly: Hoshikaze would be the first to strike. And just as Arthur anticipated, Hoshikaze shot forward from the shadows behind him. Without even needing to turn, Arthur extended an elbow that met Hoshikaze's rush and brought it to a halt.

But Ryugetsu was already in motion. His leg snapped out in a kick aimed at Arthur's ribs. Arthur's own leg rose and deflected the blow. Knowing Kaito would follow, Arthur exerted force and pushed both Ryugetsu and Hoshikaze away, creating space.

Kaito's attack came in the form of whipping chains. Yet Arthur's hands moved and intercepted the metal links. He then channeled his chakra and snapped the chains like brittle twigs.

"Oh..." Kaito remarked.

It had been a while since someone impressed him this much.

Hoshikaze and Ryugetsu, after recovering their balance, joined forces with John in a coordinated assault. Arthur met their combined attack by blocking their three strikes simultaneously.

In slow motion, he let them go and delivered a sharp punch to John's face before turning and kicking Ryugetsu to the ground.

Hoshikaze saw an opening and caught Arthur in an armlock from behind. But Arthur vaulted over Hoshikaze and freed himself. In that instant, Kaito seized his chance and delivered a powerful kick directly to Arthur's gut.

The force of the blow sent Arthur skidding across the ground, leaving a trail of dust.

Arthur came to a stop before pushing himself up. With impassivity on his face, he wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth. That kick was more powerful than expected.

No one should be surprised that Arthur's own creations possessed the capability to inflict such pain.

"You told us to take this seriously," Kaito voiced aloud, "yet you're not trying yet, are you?"

Arthur straightened to his full height. Without a word, he tilted his head, causing a loud crack to echo on the field.

"You just had to say something?" John commented.

At that, Arthur lunged directly at Kaito. Hoshikaze moved to intercept him, but Arthur shifted again and executed a front flip that carried him over Hoshikaze and into the air.

When he landed, Ryugetsu was already closing in with a jab. Arthur sidestepped the strike, and then, in a fluid motion, he flipped Ryugetsu.

Suddenly, chains erupted from the ground, their appearance accompanied by the telltale glint of water droplets—a water-based technique from both Kaito and John.

Arthur's foot connected with the chains and caused a geyser of water to erupt onto the field. Everything was covered in a fine, cool mist that hung in the air from the geyser.

The smell of ozone and damp earth filled Arthur's nostrils as he stood in the middle of it. His senses, sharpened by his present condition, picked up on every minute change in the atmosphere and every motion of his clones.

His hand moved to his side and closed around a katana's hilt. Already, Hoshikaze was on him. Arthur swiped but failed to cut Hoshikaze's arm off. Another swipe and the blade broke cleanly in half.

Arthur made no hesitation; he let go of the useless hilt and materialized more katanas around him. With a pulse of his chakra, it was as if the weapons were suspended in midair.

However, before he could grab one, Kaito's chains shot up from the earth again and snaked in the direction of the katanas. They were each bound tightly by the metallic links that encircled their handles, creating a cage that stopped Arthur's tactic.

But that wasn't enough. 'Summoning jutsu...' A big cloud of smoke appeared, and more katanas appeared that encircled him like a veritable swarm.

This new wave of weapons was already infused with his chakra. One by one, he kicked their hilts at Kaito's chains. Finally, the chains broke with a harsh screech of metal on metal.

With Kaito defenseless, Arthur charged. However, John moved first and met Arthur's katana with a katana of his own. They clashed, and their blades' gleaming surface mirrored the nightly terrain.

When Arthur propelled himself backward, he halted his assault to see that all his clones now carried katanas.

Too quickly for the eye to follow, the first exchange caused sparks to arc in the air like ephemeral fireflies. Arthur blocked Hoshikaze's forceful thrust, avoided Kaito's wide, sweeping cut, and with a startling but controllable impact, he deflected John's well-aimed blow.

Had Arthur not moved the way he had, Ryugetsu would have capitalized and chopped his head off.

All his clones' instincts were sharpened to a razor's edge; they moved as a single unit with smooth and coordinated movements.

Arthur couldn't afford to blink, and that's just the way he preferred it.

The dance of blades went on round after round. The clones' attacks were a constant, well-synchronized assault, and they moved with the same effortless grace and skill as the original.

Arthur was mostly on the defensive. Every block and every parry required all of his focus, a continual evaluation of angles and intents. And in spite of his skill, the clones managed to spot little windows of opportunity.

Both of Arthur's arms were enveloped with small cuts, there was a nick on his leg, and his cheek was grazed with a thin line of blood. The issue with these injuries was that neither of them was healing.

If Arthur were to guess, it was likely due to Ryugetsu's sealing embedded weapons. Arthur could sense that their blades were laced with their chakra.

Just having been cut once had drained him of his energy almost twice as fast.

His own skill was perfectly and unnervingly reflected in the clones' kenjutsu, making them the perfect training partners. Or rather, formidable opponents.

"Fine then," Arthur declared after dropping his weapon. All his clones noticed him finally pull out his rainbow-coloured chakra pills. "If you don't start trying, too, I will..."

Two days had bled into two nights, and the battle continued.

Arthur still found himself locked in this relentless exchange. His chakra reserves had plummeted to near-zero multiple times, a draining experience. But his current state, Simian Sage Mode, allowed him to push past the brink of exhaustion thanks to the natural energy around him.

He was tired. Truly tired.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

To think that out of anyone he'd find himself almost defeated by, it would be himself.

Yet, even with that advantage, his resources were finite. His Angelic Sage Mode had been stopped, his Tamashii was being rendered useless, and he had finally been brought to one knee.

The physical, mental, and chakra toll was all evident. The area around them was utterly destroyed, reduced to ash and rubble. Arthur's clothes hung in tatters, and blood traced down his body.

At any moment, he could have fallen at their hands, a reminder of how seriously his clones were approaching this.

They themselves were also weary. But John's healing abilities had patched them up and restored their fighting power to more than enough.

Fighting had proven their undeniable teamwork and just how deadly of a combination they were when together. Hoshikaze held the physical ground, Kaito controlled all defensive plays, John could heal incredibly, and Ryugetsu was their main sealer—they were the perfect squad.

They could see it in Arthur, the point where his options were dwindling, the exact position they had aimed to force him into. And would they stop? No. Because Arthur had demanded they hold nothing back, and they would continue, even if his heart stopped beating.

That was the depth of their obedience.

When Arthur finally pushed himself back to his feet, his eyes were clouded and seemingly masked their usual light. They could tell he was no longer fully present and was likely unconscious by now.

"He's fighting off instinct," Hoshikaze commented.

"Yes," Ryugetsu replied while keeping his gaze fixed. "His will not to give up is strong."

"Let's see if he can continue," Kaito added.

Arthur began to walk toward his clones with calmness. Each of the clones narrowed their eyes and observed him intently—even his walk felt different compared to those two days of straight fighting.

His bearing had changed, subtly but significantly. He then charged at Ryugetsu, a logical choice given Ryugetsu's role as healer. Hoshikaze moved to intercept with his fist, but Arthur stopped mid-stride and pulled out the Blade of Chaos.

Thinking he was about to unleash the weapon's power, John reacted first. "Water style: water prison jutsu..."

A sphere of water formed under both Arthur and Hoshikaze. Before the prison solidified, Arthur plunged the Blade of Chaos into the ground. The water dispersed and dissolved into mist.

He then bounded left, which evaded Hoshikaze. The distance between him and Ryugetsu vanished. As Ryugetsu tried to initiate the Raigo formation, Arthur seized his clone's wrist. He then lifted his own leg and sent a powerful downward kick that made Ryugetsu crash to the ground with a force that made the earth tremble.

The Blade of Chaos quickly returned to Arthur's hand before the dust could settle. He raised it and was prepared to sever Ryugetsu's head, but Kaito was there.

The clone reached out to grab Arthur's wrist to stop the impending blow. Suddenly, Arthur vanished—the Flying raijin. He reappeared in a slow, horizontal spin, parallel to the ground. Then, with a single swipe, Ryugetsu's head separated from his body.

Kaito recoiled before stumbling back, causing the rest of the clones to follow suit.

When Arthur landed, the haze lifted from his eyes. His awareness returned. He looked at what he had done, a look of profound disappointment clouding his features. His gaze shifted to the weapon in his hand.

'I wonder when I summoned this...?'

There was a sense of detachment from the moments that had just transpired. He had been operating solely on instinct, and his only driving force was the primal urge to eliminate anything that stood in his way.

That was the extent of his memory from that brief, intense period.

He looked at the blade, and he wasn't surprised to see it was devoid of blood. The cut had been so precise, so clean, that it had even scorched the very moisture in the air around it.

"That's enough..." he finally said in a quiet voice.

Simultaneously, the remaining three clones relaxed their stances. They hadn't all seemed nervous nor troubled that they were likely going to die at any moment like Ryugetsu had. Yet at the same time, Arthur could sense the relief.

"Be sure to revive him before returning to your assignments."

"What will you be doing till then?" Hoshikaze asked.

Arthur's Sage Mode gradually receded as the black markings on his face faded. He then took a chakra pill to begin the process of restoring his depleted energy.

"Be ready on standby," he finally answered. "I'll be paying the Sound Village a visit soon."

With that, he vanished from sight.

The remaining clones wanted to close their eyes and collapse to the ground, but not a single one of them wanted to show weakness. Otherwise, they would have ended up like their brother.

What was scary about all of this was that it took Arthur two days to take down just one of his clones.

"How close was he to killing you?" John asked Hoshikaze.

"At such a close distance," the clone replied, "too many times to count."

Then Kaito finally remarked, "Facing him at close distance is a death wish..."