Path Of War

Far away, the orb housing Arthur inside was sitting in a dark space on top of a mantle.

The current location did not exist on any map. It was a void in the geography of the shinobi world, a coordinate scrubbed from existence by the highest levels of seals that superseded Blood Prison. Not even the Kages of the Five Great Nations knew where this place was.

Only a select few held the key, of which one of those few was the same person who designed the orb to begin with.

Alex walked down the long, sterile corridor as his footsteps echoed rhythmically against the metal grating of the floor. He soon stopped before a massive blast door, covered in talismans that pulsed with a suppressive light.

There was a camera in the corner. He looked at it as it seemingly scanned his profile. Then after a second, the seals parted like curtains and the metal slid open with the hiss of depressurization. Inside, the room was pitch black, save for a single pedestal in the center with the glass orb.

Alex walked up to the mantle and stared into the glass.

"You did good, Arthur... You really did. You united the nations against you, revived the dead, and nearly broke my world." Alex took a second to let the moment sink in. "You did what I thought was impossible."

A grin slowly spread across his face. It wasn’t the polite smile he often wore for the Hokage or his friends. It was now jagged and manic-looking.

"But how did you do it?!" he suddenly yelled. "How did you beat death?! You died by their hands, didn’t you? In the Land of Tea! It was confirmed! The sky flagged it!"

Alex then gripped the edges of the pedestal as his knuckles turned white.

"You were dead! And yet, here you are. Was it just a glitch or are you simply that much more stubborn than everyone?"

He let the laughter spill out, filling the void, before slowly forcing himself to calm down. Then he took a deep breath, smoothing his black hair back as his composure returned.