Arthur continued his training by focusing on perfecting his Simian Sage Mode. He also taught Koko certain phrases that the playful chimp could understand.
In turn, Koko absorbed all of Arthur's lessons with her uncanny intelligence.
One day, she even tried to mimic his movements when he was training. She failed a lot of the time, but it was at least a start.
After a week, a bond grew between them. They were now communicating through a combination of gestures and expressions that had developed naturally.
One evening, as they sat around a campfire, Arthur was practicing his control over natural energy.
"What are you doing, daddy?"
Arthur remained quiet for a moment with his eyes closed.
When he slowly opened them, he looked at her to say, "One day, Koko… You and I will start a war."
She tilted her head. "What mean war?"
"An act of trying to destroy this world…" Arthur then looked up into the starry sky. "This world is plagued with evil, an evil that is but a mere hurdle."
Koko made a soft clicking sound, seemingly sensing the turmoil within him. Standing up, went to pluck a red fruit from a nearby vine. And when she returned, she gently placed it on his lap.
"Thank you, Koko," he said, picking it up. Not once had he smiled in front of the chimp. He could not. Or rather, he didn't need to because the silent understanding between them was more than enough. "You've been doing well…"
Koko let out a low whine, still sensing he was troubled. So she hopped on his head to try and comfort him.
Arthur, however, didn't need to be comforted.
Her actions were met with a gentle scratch behind her ear.
The next few hours were spent recounting recent events.
He spoke of the lying girl, the wicked Leaf shinobi, his false imprisonment, and the others from earth. He also confessed the brutal actions he had taken in an attempt to justify the means.
"Why you no leave the village, daddy?"
Arthur found her question amusing, despite her incorrect grammar.
"Because," he said, "there are still a few things worth learning there."
✟
Some time later.
Arthur pushed himself to his limits again. His training sessions were grueling workouts designed to multiply his speed, strength, and agility without losing any of his skills.
When he wasn't doing things like that, he shared his knowledge of ninjutsu with Koko by teaching her the basic hand signs and the principles of chakra flow. She was still very young, but there was no harm in absorbing information early.
Only after she had gotten the amateur stuff down, did he deem it necessary to return to the Leaf Village.
The Cayman Jungles, while partly rebuilt, had a variety of salvaged supplies. Arthur had already reinforced its defenses by creating traps and alarms to deter any potential threats. He also left behind a stockpile of supplies, enough to last someone for months.
After leading Koko toward the Royal Registry, Arthur found a large scroll—the summoning contract. Unfurling it, Hiruzen's full name was already written in own blood. It was the only one, to Arthur's surprise.
There was only one thing left to do.
Arthur cut himself to draw out some blood. Then he wrote his name next to Hiruzen's, completing the ritual to summon Koko from this realm.
"Time to move," he said after closing the scroll.
Together, they walked out with Koko hanging from his neck.
The two soon reached the chalice. Around it were paper bombs. They were set to detonate after someone touched them. Why Arthur had this in place was because he couldn't afford anyone coming in and out of this realm without his direct knowledge.
Looking at Koko, he instructed that she live here without him for the time being and stay far away from danger.
Such a command made her wine. She didn't want to be left behind, not after the bond they had forged.
"Where I'm going is not somewhere you can stay long at," he explained, stroking her head. "Besides, I'll come visit you when I can."
Koko whined again, this time wrapping her small arms around his neck in a plea to stay.
"You'll be safe here," he continued, unmoved. "This whole jungle is your home. And when the time is right, you'll see me again."
After searching his face, Koko finally released her hold and began shedding tears. So he reached out to wipe them away.
"You be sad too, daddy!"
Arthur could only smirk.
Koko soon scampered a few yards away to watch turn to the cold lava. The moment he vanished, the chalice exploded, leaving her behind.
"Goodbye, daddy…"
✟
A wave of heat and light covered Arthur's vision. When it subsided, he found himself standing in the familiar forest. It was time to finally return to the Leaf Village.
The journey there hadn't taken long at all.
After entering through the gates, its streets felt a tad unfamiliar after living in the jungle.
The snatched conversations and usual chatter indicated that nothing had changed since his departure. This was surprising since Orochimaru's plan had been already been revealed weeks ago.
Arthur soon reached his old hotel building. A worn piece of paper was tucked under his door. It was a note, scrawled in familiar handwriting.
Alice: 'Looking forward to hearing about your training! Come visit immediately when you're back.'
Why would she, out of everyone, be interested in what he was doing? No, this was a way for him to learn what events transpired while he was gone.
So he plastered a fake smile on his face and made his way toward her apartment.
Their building hadn't been altered in the slightest as he made his way up the elevator before pausing by her door. Then, with a knock, he announced his presence.
After the door swung open, standing before him was Alice with her hair pulled back in a messy bun. Her eyes widened in surprise as she gasped, "Arthur, you're finally back!"
"Alice!" he said with theatrical excitement. "Good to see you... Saw your note, so you're actually the first person I'm checking on."
Alice gave a knowing look before stepping aside to let him enter.
Things here remained unchanged. The fabrics and expensive appliances; it was a snapshot of what only wealthy citizens in this village could afford.
Arthur settled onto the couch as she busied herself with making tea.
"So, tell me everything!" she chirped from the kitchen. "Starting with where've ya been this whole time?"
Arthur revealed only a little truth by embellishing the details of a regular shinobi who was doing menial labour within the village's range.
When she returned to the living room with a steaming mug of tea cradled in her hands, she didn't seem that impressed.
"Here you go," she said, handing him the mug. "Chamomile. Helps with nerves, they say."
"Much appreciated."
She then settled onto the couch next to him with a considerable distance remaining. Her gaze seemed to drift out the window, clearly bored after hearing how his journey had gone.
Arthur didn't mind. So long as he wasn't suspicious of anything.
"Arthur," she began. "Don't get upset at me, but it doesn't sound like you grew strong enough for the finals."
"It's alright. A ninja always finds a way persevere."
Alice offered a tight smile to change the subject. "You almost sounded like Will for a second. Haha. Anyway! I'll let you in on what you've missed."
Arthur feigned more interest than needed.
"Well," she began, thoughtfully tapping her chin, "Marge's been spending a lot of time with Jada. Apparently, they're both pretty confident for their upcoming match in the finals."
If Arthur recalled correctly, Margaret was to face Hinata, and Jada was to face Alice. He knew Margaret possessed immense chakra reserves. But Jada, while skilled, would probably lose against Alice.
Pretending to be surprised, he asked, "Any word from Will?"
"He just returned from a mission behind all our backs a few days ago. And guess what he did?"
"What?"
"He rehabilitated Gaara with Naruto without telling anyone!"
"He did?"
"Yeah, and everyone was like, 'Oooh!' Haha!"
William successfully rehabilitating Gaara without a fight? There was only one explanation: Naruto's talk-no-jutsu. It was a naïve strategy, but it seemed to have yielded the results like they wanted.
"That's… great," he managed to say, trying to keep his voice neutral.
"Got that right. Now, where were we? Oh! Catching you up. Jasper and I have just been focusing on our training. We haven't been on any missions lately because of it."
Her words rang hollow.
Arthur knew Jasper's insatiable ambition well. The man wouldn't be caught dead 'just focusing on training' for weeks on end.
Nonetheless, Arthur decided to play along. "Training is pretty important." Then he took a sip of his tea before the next question. "What about Alex?"
"Umm…"
"Umm, what?"
"He got the curse mark from Oro…"
The news was surprising, to say the least. A Hyūga with the curse mark? Arthur hadn't seen that coming.
"Shocking, right?" she continued. "We were all speechless when he showed us those nasty black lines on his neck."
"Speechless, huh?"
"Well, not entirely speechless. Marge threw herself at Alex the moment she saw it. Took all of us to get her off of him. Haha. Like, she's much stronger than we gave her credit for."
Ignoring Margaret's situation, Arthur asked, "How did Oro sneak into the village to give him the curse mark?"
"He didn't, but Alex actually wanted it, if ya can believe that."
"Why would anyone want the curse mark?"
"I think Alex said something about how he can reverse engineer it or something."
'That's not possible,' Arthur thought, lips twitching at the audacious claim. 'Or was it...?'
Even if such a thing were possible, it would require three things: immense control, understanding of sealing techniques, and one or more forbidden techniques. So if Alex did—or was planning to do—what Alice was telling Arthur, then that meant Alex had all three.