In a flash of light as blinding as the sun, Itachi Uchiha's Akatsuki cloak was shredded to pieces. Gritting his teeth, he remained half-kneeling on the ground, his gaze fixed dead on the Kanon standing before him.
From beginning to end, he had never wavered in his conviction. He had to kill his younger sister to ensure his plan remained on track. If Kanon did not fall here, every atrocity he had committed, every sacrifice he had made, would be utterly meaningless.
But the force of her last strike had been too horrific. Though the Yata Mirror remained unbroken, the sheer physical feedback had pushed Itachi to his limit. He staggered, his knees hitting the dirt.
"This is retribution, Itachi."
"I told you... the only future I see is one where I kill you." Kanon's vision was blurring, but her eyes remained locked onto him with searing intensity.
The battle had reached its fever pitch. At this stage, Itachi had been forced to reveal every trump card in his arsenal.
…
Meanwhile, at the same moment Jiraiya was infiltrating Amegakure...
Otogakure.
War had descended upon the village, dyeing the entire horizon a scorched, bloody red.
Tayuya had unleashed her Cursed Seal in a fit of rage. Beside her, the bodies of Sakon and Ukon had already bled dry. Jirobo's head had been severed long ago, and Kidomaru lay dead, riddled with countless kunai.
The entirety of Otogakure was vanishing amidst the flames of war. Outside a burning wooden shack, the "Sea of Flowers" where Kanon once trained had been transformed into a sea of fire. Tongues of flame licked the sky, a roaring beast devouring everything in its path.
Blood-soaked and staggering, Tayuya stood trapped within the inferno. Konoha shinobi formed an airtight perimeter around her. Their eyes were cold and resolute, devoid of any trace of hesitation or mercy.
Before her stood Danzo Shimura, flanked by Fu Yamanaka and Torune Aburame. Behind them, hundreds of members of the Root and the Anbu had taken their positions.
"Still refusing to divulge the whereabouts of the Akatsuki and that Uchiha brat?" Danzo asked coldly.
"Keep dreaming! I'm just like Jirobo and the others, we will never betray Kanon-chan!"
"Intriguing. In that case, I shall use genjutsu to pull the truth from your mind." Danzo began to prepare his technique, his hand moving toward his eye.
Sensing what was coming, Tayuya forced a final surge of strength into her battered, bloodied frame. She looked at the Konoha shinobi and burst into a jagged laugh. "Kanon was right... Konoha is nothing but a pack of bastards."
With a raging inferno at her back, Tayuya felt the weight of despair. She knew there was no escape, but in her hand, she clutched Kanon's intel, the one thing she had to protect until her final breath.
A flash of absolute resolve crossed her eyes. Even in this hopeless extremity, she would not abandon her faith. Thinking of Kanon, who at this very moment was surely engaged in her final struggle against Itachi, Tayuya allowed herself a small smile.
Kanon-chan, I know you can defeat him.
Don't cry for us. Team Hana and the Sound Village were just passing travelers in your life.
Keep going... don't lose to that brother of yours...
With those thoughts, Tayuya lifted her head, casting a final, reassuring look toward the direction of the Uchiha Hideout. Her gaze seemed to say: Go. Don't look back. Team Hana will love you forever.
Then, Tayuya turned and stepped into the wall of fire surrounding her. Her body was instantly claimed by the merciless heat. She didn't make a sound. Even on the brink of death, she maintained her silent strength.
Her clothes ignited, and the fire consumed her skin, yet her eyes remained steadfast until the very end. Finally, Tayuya's body turned to ash, scattering into the wind. Her sacrifice left even those present shaken to their core. She had chosen the most agonizing death possible, yet there had been no struggle, no scream, only a fierce loyalty to her mission and her deep affection for Kanon.
With her passing, the Village Hidden in the Sound fell. Everything vanished into nothingness under the watchful eyes of the Root and the Hokage's Anbu.
…
One hour before the duel between Kanon and Itachi.
Amegakure.
Konan dissolved into countless sheets of paper, returning to Pain's side.
"Well?"
"It's Jiraiya-sensei," Konan said softly.
The Animal Path nodded slightly, a small smile appearing on his face. "Is it? So it's Jiraiya-sensei, after all."
"How nostalgic."
"What is your decision, Pain?"
"In any case, it is unlikely he would ever be our ally," Pain replied tonelessly.
"I suppose..."
Hearing Konan's words, Pain made his final choice.
"Then kill him."
"At this stage, there is no room for sentiment. It is precisely because an intruder must be eliminated that I have deployed this body. Lead the way, Konan."
Konan hesitated for a fraction of a second, but ultimately nodded in acceptance. "I understand." As she spoke, the paper surrounding her transformed into a flock of paper planes. "Pain, I will engage him before you arrive."
"If you can kill him, then do so."
"And if you cannot... I will," Pain added flatly.
…
Back at the Uchiha Hideout, Itachi remained on one knee. The energy of his Susanoo was surging with even greater intensity. He realized now that he would have to stake his very life if he hoped to strike down his own sister.
Itachi gritted his teeth, prepared to throw everything into the fray.
However, the Kanon standing opposite him was no longer acting like a normal shinobi. Her body began to levitate into the air. Beneath her pink eyeshadow, her delicate face bore an expression of such cold indifference that Itachi felt a pang of uncertainty.
What is she planning? The question burned in his mind. The state Kanon had entered was far beyond anything he had anticipated.
"As an Uchiha, your Susanoo is formidable," Kanon spoke, her voice echoing. "But your opponent is me. Did you truly believe the Susanoo was invincible?"
"Today, I, Kanon Uchiha, will shatter your Susanoo head-on!"
Abruptly, Kanon raised her hand. High above, the dark clouds began to swirl violently, driven by a terrifying atmospheric current. Within her palm, a massive Rasengan tens of meters wide manifested, but this was different. The sphere was actively siphoning Nature Energy from the heavens, drawing the very storm clouds into its rotation.
Slowly, the sky formed a massive, rotating vortex. The sight of the weather itself being manipulated with such raw power caused Zetsu, watching from beneath the earth, to turn pale with shock.
Even thousands of meters away, the observers on the mountainside, Obito Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, Deidara, Kakuzu, and Hidan, were struck with awe. This level of power was something none of them, save perhaps Obito, had ever witnessed.
"Is this Kanon-chan's true strength?" Kakuzu muttered from his wheelchair. Beside him, Hidan, who was currently just a head with bits of flesh beginning to regrow, was equally stunned.
"This... this... Lord Jashin... is this your divine intervention?"
Deidara, who was pushing Kakuzu's wheelchair, stared blankly at the woman floating in the sky miles away. To him, she looked like a god.
"Such power... is this the strength of a deity?" Kisame's eyes widened in disbelief.
The clash of the Susanoo had already been enough to keep them from blinking, but now, faced with this monstrous Rasengan, everyone felt a chill run down their spines. (Though Hidan, notably, currently lacked a spine to feel it in.)
The focus returned to the Uchiha Hideout.
Standing within the protective ribs of his Susanoo, Itachi stared up at the Rasengan, which was now encased in a shimmering white astral ring. His eyes went wide. Above him, Kanon looked down at the Susanoo with freezing contempt.
"Sage Art: Dust Release - Rasen-Shuriken Dance!"
A terrifying light flashed across the sky. In the next instant, the massive Rasengan, infused with Nature Energy and the molecular-stripping power of Dust Release, slammed directly into Itachi's position.
"Too fast!"
Itachi didn't dare attempt to tank the hit, but the velocity was so extreme that there wasn't even time to deactivate the Susanoo properly. He threw himself out of the Susanoo's core, rolling desperately across the dirt.
When he looked back, the spot where his Susanoo had stood was consumed by a cataclysmic explosion. A wave of pure destructive energy surged forth; his Susanoo was caught in the Dust Release field and disintegrated instantly, reduced to its constituent atoms.
As Itachi struggled to stand, the edge of a Kusanagi Sword was already resting against his throat.
"You no longer have the chakra or the ocular power to maintain the Susanoo," Kanon said, her voice devoid of emotion.
In that moment, the battle seemed decided.
But it wasn't over. Itachi rolled once more, biting his thumb in a fluid motion as he hit the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Suddenly, dozens of crows materialized around Kanon.
Before Itachi could capitalize on the distraction, a terrifying burst of black smoke incinerated every single crow in a heartbeat.
Finally, Itachi's expression shifted from grim determination to sheer dread. Though he had created distance, the fact that his summons had been slaughtered instantly made the maneuver meaningless.
He had lost. He had played every card in his hand, and none of them had worked.
In that moment of clarity, a harrowing thought struck Itachi: Perhaps he had chosen the wrong person for his plan.