Path Of War-Chapter 347: Walking Army

Sasuke hesitated for a moment, then stepped closer to Naruto. He needed to see for himself if Naruto was really out cold.

Arthur just watched him as he approached. There, he saw the dark lines still spread across Naruto's skin and the shallow rise and fall of his chest.

Sasuke reached out and gently poked Naruto's shoulder. There was no response. He looked into Naruto's face, trying to judge if he was going to die. All he could tell was Naruto was badly hurt.

"H... he's lost..." Sasuke quietly muttered. He then turned to face Arthur and demanded. "Why did you help me?"

Arthur didn't answer right away. Instead, he asked, "Do you have anyone you care about in this world?"

"What?" Sasuke wondered. "Stop dodging my question, and just answer." Yet Arthur remained quiet. So Sasuke asked, "Why do you even care?"

"Because you don't know anything, boy. You've never truly understood what's been happening. Especially considering that I'm the one who got rid of that Sannin."

The Uchiha had almost forgotten that Jiraiya had suddenly vanished without a trace. Upon hearing Arthur's implication that he had dealt with him, he wondered even more who he truly was.

"Just who the heck are you?!" the boy growled in frustration.

Arthur didn't answer directly. Instead, he looked at Sasuke with a sharp gaze and said, "All that anger inside of you for no reason..."

At those words, Arthur drew his Blade of Chaos. Sasuke instinctively stepped back, but it was too late. In a burst of speed, Arthur appeared behind the Uchiha and slashed downward. Sasuke felt a singe on his neck before gripping the spot Arthur had cut.

But when he looked at his palm, no blood was present. He turned to Arthur and found a little white snake cut in two.

Arthur picked it up before sealing it inside a scroll. Then he dematerialized his weapon and said, "Orochimaru's way isn't going to get you anywhere. So why not come rejoin your kind instead?"

Sasuke was speechless at first. The sensation of Orochimaru's presence within him had faded, causing any dark influence in his mind to shatter.

"What do you mean 'my kind'?" he finally asked.

"Your family, boy... your bloodline. If I told you your mother's and father's names were Mikoto and Fugaku, and the two were walking in my village as we speak, what would you say?"

Sasuke's expression darkened. He hesitated. "That's... not possible." Yet Arthur's words held so much truth that a part of the Uchiha was beginning to believe him.

"Not all of the Uchiha are dead, you know. Many of them are in hiding, and you're the only outsider to know about this."

Sasuke's breath hitched. Earlier, Naruto had mentioned another Uchiha, and now Arthur was claiming that there were more.

So the boy asked, "Is that Obito one of them?"

"He's not... I'm referring to your entire clan—a clan you still know nothing about."

The words left Sasuke feeling more confused than ever. His fists clenched tightly as he swiped his arms and snapped, "Enough of your mind games. If you say one more word about the Uchiha, I'll—"

"You'll what?" Arthur interrupted, knowing the boy had no power in this. "Sasuke Uchiha, that's the reason you'll always be weak: you lack knowledge."

Those were similar words Arthur had said to the Uchiha long ago when the two first fought. Frustrated, Sasuke screamed, "Then tell me what's going on!"

Right then and there, Arthur turned to face the sky. Sasuke wasn't sure what Arthur was doing till the Uchiha felt a tremor course through his body—someone was coming.

When he looked up, he finally saw the person flying swiftly through the air and coming right toward them at an incredible speed. It was Margaret Senju.

Sasuke leapt back as she crash-landed right next to Naruto's body. She looked different—more powerful. That was because she was in her Crow Sage Mode.

Wings were spread wide on her back with black, white, and red feathers. Her teeth looked sharper, and black tattoos streaked across her cheeks. Even her flowing red hair, tipped with white, floated longer toward her sides.

"Oh, you two are so dead!" she sadistically grinned.

When her eyes fixed on Naruto's fallen form, she immediately saw the black lines that had spread across him.

"Curse mark?" she softly said, almost to herself. Then she raised her voice in clear anger. "What did you guys do to him?!"

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply, but Arthur stepped in before him. He raised a hand and motioned for Sasuke to stay back.

"Just watch, boy... This is my fight."

A few feet from Margaret, Arthur stopped to examine her new transformation. "Looks like you've gained a new Sage Mode."

"Kaito!" she shot back. "I was hoping John was involved in this, but since you're here, I'll take care of you first." Then she pointed at Sasuke. "And you'll be getting the biggest beating after."

Sasuke snickered at the threat. Yet Arthur just responded, "No matter how many Sage Modes you unlock, you'll never be on my level."

With that, Margaret's wings flapped, and she launched herself at him. Arthur raised his arms to block her, but her assault was relentless. The two quickly clashed four more times, with her flying back and forth.

The speed at which both of them moved was too hard for Sasuke to follow. He gawked as she carried Arthur upward and high above the battlefield.

"Let's see how you look falling from three hundred feet!" she declared, releasing him. But to her surprise, instead of dropping, he used a puff of smoke to lift himself higher. The smoke swirling around his legs kept him suspended in the air. "No way!"

Unwilling to admit defeat, she zoomed toward him again as her wings beat furiously. In her outstretched arm, Arthur could see it: "Chidori!"

A deafening explosion sent shockwaves outwards once she collided with his form. Sasuke, watching from below, witnessed the sky fill with jagged streaks of yellow lightning.

When things settled, Margaret was in disbelief because Arthur was gripping her wrist to stop the attack. What stunned her more was his transformation: his body was more primal, with two black streaks racing down his eyes.

'Simian Sage Mode...'

Then, with one move, he threw her away. Using her wings, she twirled in the air to recover. Yet the shock on her face was too much.

"You..." she started in a trembling voice. "That Sage Mode... No... It can't be you... You can't be here."

Arthur, unbothered, tilted his head slightly and asked, "Why so shocked... Marge?"

Her heart sank and her face twisted because he had just referred to her by her nickname. No one ever called her by that name unless they personally knew her. And only one person in the world had ever been known to use that form.

"Arthur!" she screamed.

"Arthur?" Sasuke exclaimed from below with wide eyes.

Had he heard correctly? Did she really just call Kaito by the same name as that boy who went rogue from the Leaf Village? The same boy who had attacked them, only to be proclaimed dead? But how could this be?

A few moments ago in the Leaf Village.

Margaret was deeply asleep when suddenly, the door burst open, and Alice's voice was heard. "Marge! Wake up! It's an emergency!"

Margaret groggily opened her eyes. She then turned over and called out, "Five more minutes, mom..."

But Alice wasn't having it. "No, Marge. You need to get up now. It's serious."

Marge sat up, rubbing her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Naruto's not in the village."

At those words, Margaret's eyes snapped open. "What do you mean he's not here? Who took him? Where is he? When did this happen?"

"Just get your clothes on and come to the Hokage's office quick!"

Margaret didn't bother to take much time getting dressed as Alice waited patiently outside with Jasper, who was leaning against the rail, eyes half-lidded.

As soon as Margaret appeared, the three all headed toward the Hokage's office.

They arrived quickly, pushing open the door to find Tsunade behind the desk. Also assembled inside were Minato, Kakashi, Kushina, William, Alexander, Hinata, and Jada. Tsunade looked up as they entered.

"Good, everyone's here," she plainly said. "As you all should know by now, Naruto's left the village, and I presume he went after Jiraiya."

"So what's the problem?" Jasper shrugged.

Kakashi opened his mouth to answer, but Alex interrupted before he could speak and said, "The problem is that Jiraiya-sensei was sent on a mission to scout out Orochimaru's past hideouts, but no one here knows where either he or Naruto is."

Jada added with a worried tone, "Minato-sensei and I tried to use our flying raijin to get them here, but nothing happened."

"How's that even possible?" William frowned.

"Naruto," Alex explained, "probably sealed the marks himself after learning the technique so he wouldn't be tracked."

Minato recognized the logic behind Alex's answer. It was a plausible explanation—sealing any trail made sense, especially if Naruto was purposefully trying to hide.

"I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind," Kushina raged, "and maybe a lesson he won't forget."

That's when William looked at Jasper to ask, "Can't you use your time travel jutsu to find where Naruto last was?"

Kakashi, Minato, and Tsunade quickly asked in unison, "You can time travel?"

William's question only irritated Jasper. So Jasper snapped at him, saying, "That was supposed to be a secret, you moron... And even if I could, it wouldn't work."

"Why not?" Hinata pressed.

Alice answered, "Because he can only go back as far as a day. And since time is relevant, we'd have already gotten some kind of clue by now that would give us the impression to use the jutsu."

Tsunade's expression hardened as she said, "Then we can't wait. This is now an emergency situation. The scouting team we announced last meeting will be sent out to find Naruto and Jiraiya. They include Margaret Senju, Anko Mitarashi, Ibiki Morino, Yūgao Uzuki, Gaku, Hana, and Tsume Inuzuka."

Out of everyone who had yet to speak, Margaret stepped up to the table with a relaxed posture.

"Everyone," she said, drawing attention to herself, "calm down. I can find them no problem." The others looked at her expectantly. So she explained, "Did you all forget that my Avian Sage Mode allows me to track chakra to its source? All I need is something linked to that person's chakra that isn't sealed off."

Minato reached into a scroll and pulled out a small bundle of hair.

"We've been experimenting on the Nine-Tails' chakra," he said. "This is from the darker half inside me. It might help."

"That's a smart backup plan," Alex approved.

Minato stayed humble and said, "I didn't honestly think it would be used like this."

"Good," Tsunade began. "Assemble the search team immediately. Marge, you're leading, so I expect you to—"

Suddenly, Margaret snatched the fur from Minato's hand and interrupted, "Who needs a search team when I'm a walking army?" She then spread her wings wide, activating her Crow Sage Mode as her multi-coloured wings unfurled behind her. "I'll bring those two back myself!"

"Marge!" both Hinata and Kushina called out, alarmed.

But Margaret didn't listen. Her wings flapped, creating a vehement wind before she burst through the Hokage's window.

Tsunade rushed forward to call her back, but it was too late; the Senju was already soaring high above the sky and even out of Alice's sensing range.

Both Alice and Jada exchanged worried glances. Margaret hadn't taken anything with her—no map, no items, not even the Flying raijin paper Jada made almost everyone carry for safety.

"What does she think she's doing?!" Kakashi asked in concern.

"It's okay," Alex said as he gathered himself.

"What do you mean?" Minato asked.

At that, Alex activated his Byakugan. He then exclaimed to everyone that when Alice uses her Sage Mode, she leaves behind a distinct trail of natural energy that's faint, but he could still see.

Both Jasper and Hinata activate their Byakugan to see this trail. But to their surprise, they couldn't see it—only Alex could.