Eventually, she landed hard on a rough pavement. Yet she hadn't felt any pain, not when there was so much of it already in her heart. She had been transported once more—now in a dimension surrounded by white pillars of varying sizes.
In the silence of this new realm, her eyes fell upon another haunting sight.
Kakashi stood before Obito, older yet still clutching the repeats of their past. In a moment's notice, a lightning blade pierced Obito, the intensity ringing through Rin's being.
"Is this… real?" she wondered aloud, helplessly watching.
Obito remained unfazed as the lightning coursed through him, his gaze locking onto Kakashi.
"You know how Rin died," he said. "She chose to die at the hands of someone she loved—to protect the Hidden Leaf. No matter what words you say, the you who could not protect Rin is an imposter."
Kakashi's countenance changed to one of pain, each word hitting like a punch to the gut.
"To me," Obito continued, "Rin is someone not meant to die! The dead Rin is also an imposter! Rin is the only Rin alive!"
His voice was filled with a raw rage that twisted something deep within Rin.
"But I—"
"Enough!" Obito shouted, interrupting Kakashi. "You think there's something left in my heart? This world has shattered the very pieces of me—this counterfeit world!"
All three were caught in a furious embrace of past memories.
Kakashi tried to reason with words of hope. So he said, "Naruto believes there's goodness in everyone. It's not too late! You can still change, Obito!"
His former partner couldn't even relate.
"You think I don't know?" he said. "I've abandoned it all! There's nothing left for me, Kakashi! I saw how you suffered at mine and Rin's graves. Things don't have to be that way."
But Kakashi wasn't yielding as he said, "That world you're dreaming of isn't real. What you hold is just a delusion—one built on illusions."
With each word, Rin felt the tears spilling uncontrollably down her cheeks. She wanted to scream, to reach out to both of them, but her voice faltered, stuck in the emptiness surrounding her.
At that moment, something broke within her—not just their words but the pain of looking at her beloved friends torn apart by despair.
"No!" she exclaimed, the urge to run towards them strong, yet the void restrained her.
Obito then formed illusions of both himself and her past self to show Kakashi that things could be right in his world.
Just as the emotional surge reached its peak, Kakashi swiped at the conjured illusions with his Lightning Blade in anger.
"Rin is gone!" he announced. "You've filled that gaping hole in your heart with delusions! Nothing will change that!"
Rin's heart plummeted at his words. Despair tangled her heart like brambles, entangling her emotions deeper and deeper.
How could this fight unfold before her—her friends tearing one another apart while she remained helpless?
Suddenly, the scene shifted radically.
She was shown a myriad of moments—Obito's path after her death was stained with darkness. She saw him being manipulated by Madara Uchiha, the fateful decisions leading him to join the Akatsuki, followed by scenes of the Fourth Shinobi War unraveling.
Her mind whirled through this flood of memories, feeling suffocated by the knowledge of the violence Obito had unleashed upon the world after her death.
Each image flashed through her vision like lights—bright, cruel, and raw. Her mind was ready to break under pressure; she couldn't handle what she was seeing.
"No," she cried out, feeling her heart splinter with each painful step she witnessed him taking.
This wasn't the Obito she once knew.
Overwhelmed by the flood of emotions, she fell flat on the grass, the nightmares becoming unbearable. She then drooled, looking blankly at whatever was in front of her, panting at the audacity of it all.
Was this what it meant to be alive?
Tears streamed down her face as her thoughts spun out of control.
Was she even real at this point?
She remained there, frozen for hours, feeling mentally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally defeated.
As the shadows moved along with the rising sun, a voice echoed through the space: "That's your story… Rin Nohara."
Her breath caught in her throat upon hearing her name. Who else could have called her other than the same man who had successfully brought her back? Arthur Bennett.
The weight of his words pressed at her chest, and she could feel the lingering pain of the memories he had just conjured, still swirling in the depths of her consciousness.
It took half an hour for her to finally manage the will to bring herself to her knees. Her eyes still showed signs of disorientation from the experience as she asked, "Who are you?"
Arthur's figure slowly walked forward before stopping directly in front of her. He stared down at her with inscrutable eyes. She was broken.
"You died, Rin… And I revived you through unethical means."
"Revived?" Rin softly echoed. "What do you mean?"
"You died several years ago… The scenes you witnessed were the aftermath of your demise. Yet some of them haven't happened yet. Those were the shells of darkness that your past would eventually cause."
Rin could hardly process the implications of his words. She was still a tad stunned from those visions he showed her through a genjutsu. The images of Kakashi, Obito, the blood-soaked memories—all of it felt like a nightmare she couldn't wake from.
How was it possible that this man had revived her? How could he have the power to bring her back from the dead? More importantly, how could Obito have fallen into such despair?
"You have hundreds of questions," Arthur continued, "and I can see your desperation. But let me put it plainly: This world is truly evil. It is not worth saving. Because of you, Obito turned out this way. His descent into darkness: a consequence of your presence, your choices. Sin abounds, and this world will continue to rot, drowning in… despair."
Each word had sliced through her, but that last one did more damage than all the others.
She felt her heart racing in her chest, panic rising.
"N… No!" she finally stammered, able to shake her head. "I… I didn't mean for any of this to happen!"
Arthur coolly regarded her and said, "Even if I were to take you to Obito, he wouldn't understand. He's lost and would deny your current existence…"
Arthur was more than right. Obito's new allies, specifically Zetsu, will never let him change. Even if someone told him that Madara was nothing but a liar using him, there would be those like Zetsu to prevent Obito from changing.
The horror crashed over Rin, and her mind screamed to deny it all. But one thing she had to know.
"Who are you?" she rasped in desperation, needing validation that this wasn't real.
He slowly stretched his arm, the moonlight gleaming on his features, adding to his seemingly towering presence as he said, "I go by many names… But hear me now, and never forget the name of the man who brought you back: Arthur Bennett."
Rin shut her eyes, squeezing them tight as if she could block out the truth before her. The world began to spin as they started denying things.
Arthur could sense her blood pressure rising. Before she could have a stroke, he placed his hands on her shoulders, and in an instant, the world blurred around them, and they vanished from the forest.
When she next opened her eyes, saturated colours finally greeted her. Yellow light spilling over the landscape.
She recognized this place. She was in the Leaf Village. Or more specifically, she was at its graveyard.
Panic struck her as memories of her time here flashed through her mind again—the village, her friends, the bonds she had formed.
Then, without a moment's notice, she felt cold water splash on her head. She looked up, only to see Arthur with an empty bucket still dripping liquid down on her.
If that's what it took to calm her down, he would have done that ages ago.
While it might have worked, her heart was still conflicted with the sense of elation and dread.
Her attention was inexorably drawn to the graves dotting the ground. When her gaze fell upon the one she was standing on, she remained still. There it was, her name etched into the surface: "Rin Nohara."
The truth finally settled in the pit of her stomach. All her senses seemed to sharpen; she could feel the grass beneath her feet, smell the fresh earth, and hear the gentle breeze.
There was no denying it now—she had been reborn. This grave was hers, and everything she had witnessed, all the pain, loss, and heartache, was what she had to accept as fact rather than an illusion or mere fiction.
Arthur regarded her for a moment. She seemed lonely, yet he couldn't sympathize.
"Why me…?" she said to no one in particular.
The scene became quiet.
All at once, she forced memories to return to her—the idea of friendship, the laughter shared, Kakashi and Obito's comforting presences. Yet amid the beauty of those memories lay the events that unfolded: the anguish of her death and the destruction wrought in Obito's wake.
Kakashi was well-off, having recovered from their traumatic past. Yet Obito. Obito was still lost in despair.
Tears brimmed in her eyes as she stared at the tombstone. Who knew what someone in her position truly thought after experiencing all that?
"Rin…" Arthur said.
His voice was the only one she could hear, the only thing that brought a sense of hope in this godforsaken world.
She had felt the slight tug of the area shift again after he performed the flying raijin. They were now in the woods, and the sun had slightly shifted positions.
Rin knelt in the clearing, her heart still heavy with grief and confusion.
"It's not fair," she uttered. "Even though I died, it feels like my death was meaningless. I didn't know Obito was even… I didn't know how much trouble I put my friends through!"
It was clear that she was shameful. Most fans would have expected her to act this way had she known the truth.
Arthur stood nearby, observing her with patience and scrutiny. He allowed her to pour out her feelings, knowing that the truth wasn't easy for her to learn.
But Rin wasn't finished.
"And my sensei, Minato, and his wife… they died! Because of me!" Arthur spared no time showing her those events as well. "All of this—everything—it's all my fault!"
Unable to hold herself, she dropped to her knees and dug her fingers into the earth. The world around her felt dark and desolate, and her spirit had surely crumbled under the weight of her revelations.
"Just what the heck am I supposed to do now?" she whispered. "I'm grateful to you, Arthur, for bringing me back, but…" She trailed off, uncertain of how to proceed in this new timeline.
"You were reborn, Rin. So I ask you—how would you like to change the world?"
"Huh…?" Rin looked up, bewildered. She couldn't meet his gaze, the shame and regret making it impossible to face him. "How can I change anything? Everything I worked toward feels like it was for nothing. My friends went through so much trauma because of my death, and look at the state of the world!"
She shook her head, despair threatening to swallow her whole again. Then, at that moment, the world blurred around her again. But this time, she saw a faint glimmer—a light breaking through the black. As she opened her eyes wide, sunlight cascaded down upon her, bathing her in warmth.
When she looked up, all she could see was Arthur's silhouette, obscured by the sun behind him. His hand reached out to her.
For the first time in what felt like forever, she felt hopeful. The possibility of making a difference finally felt attainable.
It took her a moment, but she finally reached out, her fingers entwining with his. The darkness starting to slip away as she stood on her feet and declared, "I want to change things; I'll make things right."
"How amusing…"