Test

Rin stood in a secluded clearing, surrounded by trees.

She had a focused expression. With a swift flick of her wrist, she hurled a kunai at the base of a tree. To her surprise, the weapon lodged itself deep within the roots, sinking further than she expected.

"Whoa!" she gasped, eyes widening in disbelief.

She approached the tree, gripping the handle of the kunai, and pulled with all her might. It wouldn't budge. Frowning in concentration, she exerted even more strength, grit in her teeth.

Just as the kunai finally released, she stumbled backward, nearly losing her balance.

Suddenly, strong hands caught her by the waist, steadying her before she could fall. She turned her head, smiling brightly at the familiar figure behind her.

"Thank you, lord Arthur!"

He was transformed as Kaito. Gently releasing her, he asked, "How's your progress?"

She straightened, brushing off her clothes, and said, "It's going good! Tayuya-sensei has taught me more than I ever learned back at the Leaf Village. I feel like I'm growing every day."

"I'm pleased to hear that," he said with a blank face. "Tayuya is out on a mission to gather materials for me today. You'll be spending the day with me instead."

Rin couldn't be more excited as he led her into the plaza. The two saw and interacted with each other sometimes, and she liked spending time with him more than she did training with the sadistic Tayuya.

After all, her world was like that from a novel, encapsulated by a fate that she needed to embrace.

Arthur guided her into an area resembling a classroom, with neatly arranged desks and shelves filled with books and scrolls. This was the room he often used when needing to teach one of the residents.

"Your physical abilities are impressive," he explained, "but I need to ensure your mental age matches your appearance."

Rin nodded, her earlier exhilaration slightly tempered by the gravity of his statement.

Without her knowing, he activated his Evil Illusion Flattery technique. Her mind became saturated with positive reinforcement.

It felt warm and comforting, like she was being wrapped around with a soft blanket made of light.

"Sit down," he instructed.

She complied, pulling the chair close to the desk. She smiled as she settled in, excited to learn something new from him today.

The reason for him activating a genjutsu on her was to ensure that she told the truth. Not from her mind, but from her heart.

"How do you feel about being in the plaza?" he inquired, watching her intently.

"It's a new experience, and I value every moment," she earnestly replied. "Everyone… They're a little quirky, but they're helping me adjust better than I imagined."

"Is there anything that makes you sad?" he pressed, noticing a hesitation in her expression.

Before she could answer, he deactivated his technique.

Rin turned her gaze away to contemplate his question. Her smile only slightly faded. After a quick moment, she faced him again and said, "My heart does hurt a little... there are some things that can't be healed with time."

Arthur recognized the deep-seated pain lingering in her. He understood that her thoughts drifted to Kakashi and Obito, the two figures from her past intertwined with her memories of loss and loyalty.

Though the wound wasn't that fresh, he knew healing it could still be done. Only, it might require him to make her face one of the two one day—on his terms, of course.

He activated his technique once more, reinforcing her sense of purpose and guiding the conversation deeper.

"What do you think you'll do once you're ready?"

Her eyes brightened as she answered, "I'd like to help you achieve whatever goals I think are right. I want to be useful to you."

He deactivated the technique, needing to challenge her resolve further.

"What if I ordered you to kill Obito?"

She hesitated before mulling over his question.

"I don't want to kill him," she slowly stated. Then she became a little angry. "What he's doing is wrong, and I know I need to stop him. But I don't want to resort to killing him; I want to save him from himself."

Reactivating the technique, Arthur shifted the conversation once more, asking, "And Kakashi?"

Rin's expression softened, revealing the depth of her feelings for him.

"Kakashi's moved on, convinced that both Obito and I are dead. I can't fault him for that... I still love him." Then something wistful came into her tone. "I just hope he doesn't get in my way."

Arthur's eyes sharpened as he processed her words. That was the affirmation he sought.

By repeatedly cycling the technique on and off, he was crafting her loyalty, ensuring she would serve him while retaining her inherent spirit. He needed her mind to armor herself against any emotional manipulation she might encounter from others—like the dreaded talk-no-jutsu that Naruto often employed.

So long as her will was to serve him, no one could change her through words alone.

"Very well," he said. "You're shaping up nicely, Rin." He then pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen, placing it in her hands. "You can begin whenever you're ready."

Rin glanced down, recognizing the nature of the task before her. It was a test.

For the next ten minutes, the room was filled with only the sound of her pen. He had purposefully given her a pen to ensure that any mistakes made would be seen if she tried to scribble them out.

Once she finished, she placed the pen down. Arthur took the paper from her and began reviewing her answers, remaining still as he scanned through her work.

"Your training is complete for the day," he announced, causing Rin's eyes to widen in surprise.

She was shocked to hear that because when she turned to the window, she saw that darkness had already enveloped outside.

"How is it already night?" she wondered.

Arthur gestured toward her and said, "You were in a trance, allowing me to navigate your mind to ensure your conditional stability."

"Wait, you can do that?" she asked with an intrigued smirk.

"Indeed," he replied.

Rin beamed at him, her trust evident in her smile. With sincerity, she said, "Thank you for helping me today, lord Arthur."

As she turned to leave, he began to consider the knowledge he had gleaned.

Beneath the surface of her conscious thoughts, he had employed the Eye Mind Reading technique, delving into the depths of her past. Memories revealed hidden truths: experience shared with her former team, moments of amity, and the piercing pain of loss.

Though she had suffered, those experiences shaped her into the kunoichi she was.

Most fans believed that she would have turned out like Sakura Haruno, only less strong. Arthur, however, saw that she could become a better prodigy if under the right tutelage.

Despite the scars of her past, she was blossoming—her potential enhanced by the cells of other Hokage. Arthur's plans for Rin intensified, knowing that she could become a formidable kunoichi—one who could change the course of events to unfold in the coming days.

As long as he continued molding her into a weapon, she would be capable of unimaginable potential—one that could ultimately shift this whole world.

Before he could lose himself in thought, a figure burst through one of the windows—Koko bounced into the room with her usual infectious energy.

"Surprise, daddy! What are we learning tonight, huh, huh, huh?"

Her tail swished behind her like a never-ending pendulum, reflecting her exuberance.

He pulled out another sheet of paper and laid it down on her desk, saying, "Here's your test for today."

Koko's eyes sparkled as she grinned widely and said, "I'm so ready to ace this!" She then clasped her hands together, but as she turned over the paper, her expression faltered. "Wait—it's all in Spamish!"

"Spanish," Arthur corrected. "Your fluency has improved since when we first began, so we're increasing the difficulty."

Koko stared at the more advanced, unfamiliar words. Before doubt could come, she bounced her knees up and down, murmuring to herself.

"I can do this. I've got to believe!"

What many didn't know was that Koko and Arthur had indeed spent considerable time together learning the language. Arthur had stumbled upon the peculiar understanding that his articulacy in Spanish had improved significantly since entering this virtual world.

He couldn't explain why, but it was as if some unseen force had enhanced his understanding and ability to communicate.

Rather than letting this newfound skill go to waste, he had decided to teach Koko, envisioning a communication method that others shouldn't be able to decipher.

After all, he had been in this world long enough to recognize the value of having an edge over anyone who might oppose him.

The thought occurred to him that if he could teach her Spanish, they would share a secret language, a hidden mode of communication unknown to their foes should the need arise.

Imagine a situation where he was in a bind, and he summoned her to help. He could give her orders in Spanish, and their enemies wouldn't understand, which would give them a tactical advantage.

Simple code words could always work, but the harder the code was to understand, the more trouble the enemy would have.

For this to truly work, Koko would have to understand the language like he did.

Her test was a mixture of vocabulary, sentence structure, and practical applications of the words she had learned during their study sessions. As she engaged with the paper, armed with the knowledge of both words and their meanings, the initial daunting aura of the test began to dissipate.

She worked through the questions, and Arthur observed her keen focus.

Her tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth as she wrote, leaving her in a state of deep concentration. It was enough to make any teacher marvel at how quickly she adapted to her tasks.

Her innate curiosity, which allowed her to embrace challenges, would have intimidated many others.

"Okay, let's see…" she murmured to herself, hesitating a moment over a vocabulary word. "Um, 'amar' means 'love,' right? So then…"

With a smile, she scribbled the answer into the blank.

Spanish can pose some challenges for some English speakers, particularly in its grammar. Verb conjugations are numerous and complex, while the concept of gendered nouns and the distinction between "ser" and "estar" can be confusing.

But that's what made Koko special; her ability to learn and absorb knowledge was far beyond what a primate should be capable of. She was like that since birth, to be fair.

Despite Spanish being a challenge, it offered significant advantages for English speakers. Both languages share Latin roots, resulting in numerous cognates that simplify vocabulary acquisition.

It was also generally more consistent than English, making it easier to predict how words are pronounced.

Arthur silently watched as she looked up at the ceiling to remember something. Then she dove headfirst back into the test with increasing confidence. She finished her first page and flipped to the next.

"I keep getting so mixed up with 'ser' and 'estar'!" she said to herself. "They both mean 'to be,' but when do I know which one to use?!"

As she neared the last few questions, his thoughts shifted to the fact that she hadn't once made a mistake or scribbled an answer she might have second guessed on.

Finally, she put down her pen and announced, "Finished!"

"Well done," he said, taking the paper to review.

"Gracias, daddy. Oops, I mean papá!"

After checking over her answers, he deemed it passable. Some words were misspelled, but this was evident considering she was usually off by one or more letters even when speaking English.

"Let's make sure you know how to say it," he instructed.

He began to speak to her in Spanish, elaborating on concepts, nouns, and verbs. Koko listened and replicated his words and sentence structures.

"¿Cuál es la debilidad de un shinobi Hoja?" he asked.

"Ellas dependen demaziado del trabajo en equipo!"

That was a good answer since she understood the feminine and masculine differences between the phrases. Yet she said "demaziaido" with a "z," which is actually pronounced with an "s."

The two still had much learning to do.