Just as Itachi Uchiha prepared to make his move, a burst of white smoke erupted beside him. From the haze, Kanon's fist lunged forward, striking him squarely in the face and sending him tumbling across the dirt.
Itachi had lost all capacity to resist; even his breathing was growing faint and ragged.
Kanon knew she had won. Aside from Sasuke, the only kin she had left in this world was about to die by her hand. She pinned Itachi down, straddling his torso as she raised the Kusanagi Sword, aiming the blade directly between his eyes.
"It's my victory, Itachi. My revenge is finally at hand."
Reflected in Itachi's Sharingan were the ghosts of Kanon's past: the six-year-old girl kneeling in tears before their parents' corpses; the wide-eyed child watching the masked man run a blade through Izumi's heart; the eleven-year-old survivor swallowed by the corrupt darkness of Konoha; and finally, the hateful glares of her former peers and the cold, lethal strikes of Kakashi and Sakura.
Everything, every tragedy, had been orchestrated by the man she once called "Itachi-nii."
Kanon felt no sympathy. But as she drove the blade down, Itachi wrenched his head aside, thrashing with a final, desperate surge of strength. The struggle caught Kanon off-balance, throwing her several meters away.
It was merely a deathbed struggle. Kanon rolled and sprang back to her feet instantly.
Itachi gasped for air, his lungs burning. I chose Sasuke... I cannot waver now! His gaze hardened with a grim resolve. He prepared to weave the signs for a forbidden jutsu: Izanagi. Even if it meant losing his sight, he would take Kanon's eyes and deliver them to Sasuke. Only then could Sasuke awaken the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. This sister of his had to die, it was the only way to atone for his past mistakes, restore the Uchiha, and force his plan back onto its proper tracks. He had to take the risk.
As Itachi began the hand signs, Kanon's expression remained glacial. She was finished with his resistance.
But just as she prepared to use the Flower Realm to snap Itachi's neck, her vision suddenly blurred. This was the heavy toll of overusing her ocular power. Itachi was in the same state. Kanon dropped to one knee, coughing up a spray of blood. She gritted her teeth, glaring at the distant Itachi; the siblings faced each other in a heavy, suffocating silence.
Suddenly, Zetsu's form merged out of the ground between them.
"Kanon, stop this now."
"Zetsu... what are you talking about? You're telling me to stop now?" Kanon was stunned. Did Zetsu have any idea what he was asking?
"I have intelligence," Zetsu said calmly. "Information I believe you desperately need."
"Don't get in the way of my revenge, or I'll cut you down next!" Kanon snarled.
"No. This is something you must know."
"What news could possibly outweigh my revenge? Get lost, Zetsu!"
Kanon stood up, a rose-red skeletal frame of Susanoo manifesting around her as she rose. "Scum," she shouted toward Itachi. "Time to go to hell."
Itachi braced himself. The moment Kanon lunged, he would trigger Izanagi.
Just as Kanon was about to strike, Zetsu's voice cut through the air: "Jiraiya has engaged Pain. His situation is critical."
The words acted like a physical barrier. Kanon froze. Even Itachi looked visibly shaken by the sudden revelation.
"What... what did you say?" Enveloped in her rose-red ribs, Kanon turned her head, her pupils shrinking as she stared at Zetsu. Her vision was so clouded she could barely make out the details of his face. She was at her absolute limit.
"I said, Jiraiya is fighting Pain. He's in grave danger. At this rate, Pain is going to kill him."
Boom!
It felt like a lightning strike to Kanon's heart. Jiraiya... he was her master.
Her revenge was seconds away from completion. Should she leave? Should she go to help him? Her soul was instantly torn by agony and conflict. The news hit her like a sledgehammer; her hands clenched into fists so tight her nails drew blood from her palms.
Jiraiya was her master. Even if he hadn't taught her everything, he was still her teacher. A mentor for a day, a father for a lifetime. To Kanon, Jiraiya was the only person who made her feel like she still had a semblance of a family.
And yet, she couldn't be by his side when he needed her most. She was shackled by the weight of her vendetta.
Slowly, the memory of Jiraiya's kind smile drifted through her mind, every small moment they had shared. Though those moments were few, she cherished each one. He had told her that she and Naruto were like his own grandchildren. The thought of losing him felt like a blade twisting in her chest.
She looked at the broken, exhausted Itachi. Her goal was right there. One more minute, and it would all be over.
But the scales in her heart were tipping. Revenge on one side, her master on the other. She knew that if she abandoned this fight, all her pain and sacrifice might become meaningless. She might never get an opportunity this perfect again.
But if she stayed, Jiraiya would likely die. She would lose her only family. It was Jiraiya who had taught her that being a shinobi wasn't just about jutsu, it was about the guts to never give up.
In the midst of this spiritual battle, tears fell silently down Kanon's cheeks.
She made her choice. She turned her back on Itachi. Even with her ocular power fading, she refused to waste another second.
"Zetsu. Tell me where Jiraiya-sensei and Pain are."
Zetsu nodded and provided the coordinates of the battle.
Kanon gritted her teeth, forcing her Three-Tomoe Sharingan to surface. She was redlining her chakra, and the side effects of the Mangekyo Sharingan were ravaging her body.
But she didn't care. She had to get back to Amegakure to save Jiraiya! She could kill Itachi another day, she had the strength for that, but there was only one Jiraiya.
Without a word to Itachi, Kanon vanished, entering the space of her Flower Realm.
Because she had previously marked Amegakure, she would travel at maximum speed. Even after such a devastating battle, she would reach the village in ten minutes.
After Kanon disappeared, Itachi finally let out a long, shaky breath of relief.
"Don't relax yet, Itachi," Zetsu said flatly. "Your brother is almost here."
Itachi's eyes widened. So it's finally time? But he was at the end of his rope.
"You have only one day to recover," Zetsu informed him before sinking back into the earth to head toward the Rain Village.
The departure of Kanon and Zetsu left Deidara and the others watching from afar in a state of shock. Beside them, Tobi had already vanished as well.