The four members of Team Guy fanned out. Rock Lee, Tenten, and Neji surrounded Kanon, while Might Guy faced off against Kisame.
"Kanon-chan, do you want to fight within my technique?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Fine," Kisame said, tossing Samehada into the air. He then clasped his hands together.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Kisame leaned back and spewed a literal lake from his mouth, flooding the area beneath his feet. He caught Samehada as it fell and looked down at the four ninjas with a smirk.
"Here I come~." Kisame surged toward Might Guy on a massive wave.
"Then I'm off as well." Kanon drew her Kusanagi Sword and became a blur of motion, skimming across the water toward the rest of Team Guy. The three of them retreated, leading Kanon to a dry patch of the wasteland away from Kisame's deluge.
In the middle of the barren plains, Kanon's blade was a streak of silver as she lunged at their core member, Neji. There was no one here she particularly cared for, so she held nothing back.
She activated the Chidori Blade, charging directly at Neji Hyuga, the sensory specialist with the Byakugan. Neji saw her coming and thrust his Gentle Fist toward her vital points.
Kanon simply smirked. Her Sharingan instantly deciphered Neji's attack path. She ducked effortlessly, evading the strike, and countered with a backhand slash. Neji raised a kunai to block, but he never expected the Chidori Blade to shatter the kunai upon contact. The force of the blow sent Neji flying.
A spray of blood arched through the air.
"Neji!" Tenten screamed. Even Might Guy, preoccupied with Kisame, gritted his teeth and looked over.
"Neji, I'm coming!" Guy started to turn, but Kisame blocked his path.
Tenten immediately unleashed a barrage of kunai and shuriken, trying to disrupt Kanon's rhythm. However, with combat experience that was off the charts, Kanon's Sharingan tracked every single projectile.
Kanon threw a single shuriken in response. That lone blade ricocheted through the air with such precision that it neutralized Tenten's entire volley.
Seeing this, Rock Lee was filled with fury. With a roar, he charged at the sword-wielding Kanon, opening the Fifth Gate, the Gate of Limit. A frantic aura erupted around him.
"Kanon Uchiha! Stop!" Lee flickered, his foot already inches from Kanon's face.
Clang!
The sound of metal on bone rang out. Kanon raised her arm, pivoting her Kusanagi Sword to block Lee's heavy-handed strike. She looked at Lee coldly.
"You really are annoying." She stepped back, causing Lee to stumble in mid-air.
In the next moment, Kanon actually let go of her sword. The Kusanagi spun in the air as Kanon performed a backflip, kicking the hilt of the blade while channeling Chidori through her foot into the metal.
Schlick!
The sound of steel piercing flesh. The Kusanagi Sword drove straight through Rock Lee's shoulder, pinning him to the ground. The blade crackled with Chidori lightning, sinking an inch into the earth. The searing pain and electrical discharge wracked Lee's body.
Lee's scream echoed across the field. Watching Lee bleed and convulse, Guy finally snapped.
"Move! I have to save Lee!"
"Hmph, you'll have to beat me first." Kisame continued to harass Guy.
Lee was the first to be taken out of the fight. Enduring the agony of the lightning cauterizing his wound and the paralysis spreading through his nerves, he yelled to his teammates, "Tenten! Neji! Go, now!"
As Kanon continued to channel the Chidori, Tenten's weapons and Neji's Gentle Fist swarmed toward her.
"It seems the injuries I gave you in Konoha weren't enough," Kanon sneered. Neji and Tenten froze for a fraction of a second.
From beneath their feet, two Shadow Clones erupted, both wielding Rasengans.
"Oh no!" Neji shifted his stance, spinning rapidly.
"Rotation!" The massive explosion of the Rasengan blasted Neji away, though his defense minimized the damage.
Tenten was not so fortunate. She had no way to defend herself. The Rasengan slammed directly into her abdomen, and she spat out a mouthful of blood as she was sent flying, cratering the ground.
Seeing his entire team, save for Neji, defeated, even Guy was shocked. He couldn't believe the cute girl who used to greet him while grocery shopping had become this terrifying. More than that, he couldn't understand how the girl who longed for flower fields had ended up like this.
Finally, Guy broke free from Kisame and rushed toward Kanon.
"Kanon Uchiha, I don't know what happened to you in Konoha, but we are enemies now!"
"I won't hold back!"
Guy launched a powerful kick.
Boom!
Kanon simply raised her slender leg, meeting Guy's strike head-on. The shockwave kicked up a massive cloud of dust.
Might Guy was stunned. She had actually blocked his kick. Even though the ground beside her had cratered from the pressure, her face remained expressionless.
"It must hurt..." Tenten whispered, blood trickling from her mouth, unable to believe her eyes.
…
Back at the Akatsuki base, Kanon's eyes were closed. Pink markings began to appear around the corners of her lids.
"Is that a Sage Mode similar to Jiraiya-sensei's?" Konan remarked.
"Yes, that is the state," Pain nodded.
Back at the battlefield, Kanon held Guy at bay with her leg. The pink Sage Mode pigment fully formed on her face.
"What is this?!" Lee gritted his teeth, noticing Neji's horrified expression.
Neji was stunned. He couldn't see natural energy, but he could see that the chakra within Kanon had suddenly swelled to massive proportions. Her physical strength had undergone a monstrous reinforcement.
Kanon delivered another kick, creating distance from Guy. Her hands moved in a blur, completing seals in less than a second.
"Sage Art: Ultra-Great Fireball Technique!"
Vwoom!
A standard-looking fireball was exhaled, but as it traveled, it expanded exponentially, roaring toward Might Guy.
Guy's speed was immense; with the Fifth Gate open, he cleared the area instantly. The resulting explosion left a literal mushroom cloud rising from the wasteland behind him.
"What... what a terrifying fireball," Tenten stammered, her body trembling despite the pain of the Rasengan.
Even Might Guy's expression turned grave. Before he could speak, a blur appeared before him. Kanon threw a punch, the sheer pressure of the air from her fist forcing Guy to dive downward as a small hill behind him was pulverized.
The two engaged in a high-speed melee, but Kisame soon interrupted.
"Kanon! We agreed this guy was mine!"
"He came to me!" Kanon spun in the air, a massive Rasengan manifesting in her hand, several times larger than herself.
"Sage Art: Massive Rasengan!"
With the Fifth Gate active, Guy was fast. Kanon knew it would be difficult to land a direct hit on him. As she expected, Guy moved to evade the Sage Art.
But a smirk played on Kanon's lips. Guy realized too late that he had been baited. He and the rest of Team Guy were now in a straight line. If he dodged, the three behind him...
"Damn it!" A sense of crisis flooded Guy's mind. If they took this hit directly, they would die!
Seeing the massive sphere of destruction barreling toward them, Tenten tried to move, but her injuries kept her pinned.
"Your battle awareness is truly..." Guy's face was grim. He threw himself in front of his students, taking a defensive stance against the incoming Sage Art.
"Eight Inner Gates: Sixth Gate of View... OPEN!!!"
A terrifying aura of green steam erupted, evaporating the moisture in the air. Might Guy flickered in front of Kanon, his veins bulging as he looked at her Sage markings.
"Morning Peacock!"
The Morning Peacock collided with the Massive Rasengan. The resulting explosion tore through the landscape, annihilating everything in its path and sending another mushroom cloud into the sky.
As the smoke cleared, Guy landed, his face pale as he deactivated the Sixth Gate.
Kanon landed as well. Her Akatsuki cloak was shredded, revealing an Uchiha-crested shirt beneath. She had dropped out of Sage Mode and knelt on the ground, gasping for breath.
"Kisame-senpai... I'll leave the rest to you..." Kanon coughed, then vanished in a puff of white smoke.
The Kanon who had just fought Might Guy to a standstill was merely a Shadow Clone! Even with Sage chakra transferred from the original, she was still just a clone, unable to use the Mangekyo Sharingan.
It was now clear just how much she had been holding back against Kakashi's team. With Kisame eventually being overwhelmed by Might Guy, the battle there concluded.
However, at Kakashi's location, the battle raged on. Another Shadow Clone of Kanon stood firmly in their path.