The Cayman Jungles.
Within Sun Stream Plaza, the sounds of exertion could be heard.
"Can you take it a little easy?" Rin gasped, panting.
Her body ached from the intensive training. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a small yet fierce form barreled toward her. Koko had launched into a spectacular dropkick that sent Rin crashing through the building!
"What did I tell you about damaging things?!" Brie scolded.
"But daddy said I can't take it easy on her!" Koko shot back.
Arthur was currently transford as Kaito, observing from with his arms crossed by a stone fence. Only two of the characters present here had ever seen his true form; everyone else remained unaware of his identity.
Regarding his true na, they all knew it was Arthur.
Ryūzetsu stood nearby, scribbling notes in her notepad as she scrutinized Rin's every movent.
The revived girl erged from the now-caved-in wall, upset that she let Koko land a hit like that. What was interesting was how she was still able to get up despite the impact.
"Do I really have to go through all this?" she panted.
"Yes, Rin, you do have to go through this," Brie replied.
Rin grunted as she pushed herself off the ground, glancing at the unyielding form of Koko.
"But this is exhausting!" she admitted. "How can I possibly catch up with her?"
"We need to ensure your body adapts properly to your modifications," Ryūzetsu added, having already been brought up to speed. "So just keep trying."
Ryūzetsu wasn't the only one up to speed on things.
Without notice, Rin heard the sound of a flute. She imdiately darted left, dodging an invisible force that would have surely trapped her in none other than Tayuya's genjutsu.
"Stay focused!" the forr Sound ninja demanded.
Arthur had brought her here with the idea of having her train alongside Rin and Koko. Tayuya had more than accepted the offer; she saw it as an opportunity to be useful to him in a new environnt and push others to their limits.
"I'm trying!" Rin announced. "But you guys aren't at all taking it easy on ."
"Whatever," Tayuya dismissively said, rolling her eyes. "Just try not to die, will you?"
It was clear that she was showing a lack of concern for the girl's well-being. Truth be told, Tayuya had given the others the sa cold treatnt.
That was to be expected.
"Ugh..." Rin pouted. "I know! But I only just ca back last week, and it feels like I'm starting from scratch!"
"Seriously," Tayuya said, furrowing her brows.
"Wow!" Koko added with a smile. "You're really weak, huh? Haha!"
"I'm not we—"
"Since you're complaining," Tayuya said, cutting her off, "we'll have to amp up the pressure. It'll be fun to watch you fail."
Their conversation was by all ans aningful, even while they were berating each other. That was because Arthur was observing how Rin responded.
She was, after all, the very first character in the Naruto franchise to return from the dead and remain for more than several days at a ti.
A character like that deserved a lot of attention on her. Thankfully, Arthur had his servants to help him monitor and track Rin as much as possible.
Brie shifted her glasses and made a sly remark about how everyone in Sun Stream Plaza was essentially a part of his "harem."
A harem was a group of female animals sharing a single mate. The context, however, was more on the debauched side.
"Hey!" Rin snapped with indignation. "How could you say that about lord Arthur?!"
Tayuya's expression darkened, and without hesitation, she lunged at Rin, saying, "Keep your guard up!"
Rin barely had ti to brace herself as Tayuya struck, and she quickly found herself on the defensive. anwhile, Koko piped up, asking, "What's a harem?"
The little primate, who was quite intelligent with various terminologies, was oblivious to the joke.
Ryūzetsu quickly stopped writing and blushed, turning her gaze toward Koko to say, "Don't listen to Brie; you're too young to know what that is!"
Arthur was the only one maintaining his calm deanor. It was, in a sense, quite interesting to see them interact.
They all had an undeniable urge to serve Arthur no matter what his motives and goals were. So were under the Evil Illusion Flattery technique, while others genuinely wanted to be by his side.
In total, he had five characters at Sun Stream Plaza.
First was Koko, who was not just born in this land but also had a tendency to consistently refer to Arthur as her "daddy." Her childish tenacity knew no bounds, for she loved to play and mainly liked to only listen to Arthur. Apart from that, she usually beca jealous if she wasn't getting enough attention.
No one really knew what her species was. Which brings us to the next character at the plaza, who had a desire to experint on Koko, Brie Larvan.
Brie was born in the Water Country and had resided there for the majority of her youth. Having found a fascination for all things scientific, she took the morbid route of collecting deceased corpses—often being criminals with bounties on their heads.
Her clients were traditional rcenaries and rich n who were willing to pay heavily to have others assassinated. Once soone stepped through her facility's back entrance, it could only an they were there to bring in a body for money.
Arthur only chose her because of her background. She had a lot of experience with cadavers and didn't seem to mind the more obscene sights revolving around death.
For now, her role would be to ensure his laboratory was always functioning at optimum efficiency. She could experint on whatever she wanted, so long as it didn't jeopardize the integrity of the building.
After all, this was a lot with a price tag of over a billion dollars.
Next was Tayuya. She was recruited directly from prison.
While he didn't need to place an illusion on her, she still needed to be monitored closely. This was considering that her original story changed drastically after surviving the Sasuke Retrieval Arc.
On top of that, she was gifted a new flute, one that could increase her attack range and its overall potency. She had actually displayed a little of its powers a minute long ago when Rin had managed to dodge it.
Tayuya's general goal was to first help Rin. In days to co, she would eventually be sent out on clandestine missions that Arthur wouldn't have ti for.
Next was Ryūzetsu.
Her role was more special than all of theirs. That was because of her technique, Chakra Resurrection.
Because she had successfully learned it and hadn't died in the process, she could not help Arthur do the impossible: raise as many characters from the dead as he saw fit.
His capability to resurrect characters from the dead would have a profound impact on the Naruto world. He could now bring back key characters like Shikamaru, who could prove to be a valuable asset.
Then there were the more dangerous figures like Minato, other past Kages, the Sound Four, and the previous Seven Swordsn, who could all significantly bolster any force they joined.
Granted, Arthur was far from foolish.
Bringing back extrely tough characters like those posed severe risks. For now, he wasn't ready to revive them and then recruit them; he first needed to ensure he had enough strength to control them.
Rin, who died at a very young age, was child's play to recruit. But soone like, say, the third Raikage, they would easily break free from Arthur's hands and wreak havoc.
It would be better to focus on those he could otherwise control. And if he were to guess, his limits leaned more toward figures like Sakumo Hatake and Fugaku Uchiha. Who knows? He could probably go as far as resurrecting Might Dai.
All this power, however, carried significant risks.
Resurrecting the dead raises profound ethical questions. How would those individuals cope with their return? What are the long-term consequences of disrupting the natural order? Moreover, controlling resurrected individuals, especially powerful ones like Minato, would be extrely challenging.
Then there was the ti fra. To even resurrect one figurehead would require him to spend more resources on acquiring their cells, modifying then restoring their bodies, and then re-performing the Chakra Resurrection technique—which still had an undetermined success rate.
Any lapse in control could have catastrophic consequences.
Ultimately, Arthur's found it better to wait until he sees how Rin progresses and how others respond to her.
That's where Ryūzetsu ca along. Her role wasn't just to help him revive others; she had the sole task of monitoring those brought back. That was the reason why she was taking notes on Rin—to asure her ntal state as well as her restored chakra levels.
Did Arthur trust any of them? Not even close.
Kunoichi like Ryūzetsu and Rin had their wills changed. If at any ti he wasn't careful, they could perhaps break free and turn on him. Hence, why everyone who joined him had a flying raijin mark.
Arthur was not going to take the chance of letting them roam loose without knowing their whereabouts.
On Koko, Brie, and Tayuya, their marks were situated on her back. Ryūzetsu and Rin, however, had their marks placed elsewhere.
Until those two were properly conditioned, only then would he remove their illusion and test their resolve. But who knew how long that would take?
Leaning against the gate, Arthur watched the scene unfold, analyzing Rin's training with quiet contemplation.
'I wonder how far her developnt will bring her?' he thought to himself.
In one command, he called both Brie and Ryūzetsu's nas. This prompted the two to stop their comical antics.
Ryūzetsu nodded and said, "She is pretty resilient. Despite her fears and doubts, she pushes herself. I believe with ti, she'll gain more confidence."
This was plausible to believe. From what they had gathered, Rin's body was that of a young adult, yet she had the ntal age of a teenager.
Having already died once and being in a war had helped her advance her psyche, but she was still easily breakable.
Brie seed even less optimistic and said, "She's quite weak compared to what she should be at this stage. There's a lot of hard work left to be done; her physical strength hasn't caught up to her new abilities yet."
Arthur wasn't surprised. Watching Rin struggle, he could see the disparity clearly.
"I see," he said without breaking his gaze on the kunoichi.
Back on their training session, Rin ducked and dodged Tayuya's strikes. Each clash of their bodies reminded her just how far she had to go. Koko, anwhile, offered encouragent while also delivering her quick blows.
Her small voice rang out: "Can't you do anything other than dodge?!"
Rin clenched her jaw, determined to prove herself as she pushed against Tayuya's next strike, surprisingly countering with a quick jab.
To Brie's astonishnt, she managed to connect with Tayuya, even if only fleetingly.
"Did you see that?" Ryūzetsu exclaid. "She actually landed a hit..."
"Consider impressed!" Tayuya sarcastically said to Rin, rolling her eyes. "But don't get cocky. I could take you down with one hand tied behind my back."
Suddenly, Rin's panting beca steady. She stopped feeling the fatigue and charged at Koko.
"I thought you said you were tired!" the little girl squealed as she narrowly evaded a strike.
"I was," Rin replied, going for another attack. Tayuya flanked her, but she managed to evade it just in ti. "After landing that hit, I feel a lot more energized, I guess!"
Arthur's head shifted slightly. The truth was far more different than what anyone could expect.
In a cool tone, he said, "Your body wasn't rely altered to look older; it's enhanced with both the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth Hokage's cells."
"Wait, what?!" everyone gasped.
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