In her unconscious state, Kanon's dreams were filled with fragments of the past, moments shared with Itachi and Sasuke.
She saw them as children, hunting wild boars together and practicing their shurikenjutsu. She remembered bringing lunch to the Anbu headquarters and the Academy for Itachi and Sasuke. There were memories of Sasuke's pranks that moved her to tears, only for him to be playfully scolded by Itachi.
In her slumber, Kanon actually smiled.
But the vision shifted abruptly. She was back at the night of the massacre, covered in wounds and blood, staring at the corpses of Fugaku and Mikoto with a soul-crushing sense of despair. Then, the scene changed to Danzo's first assassination attempt on her. It was then she learned that the village's high-ranking officials wanted her dead.
At that moment, her world had turned pitch black. She had lost even the will to live, which was why she hadn't used her Mangekyo; she simply didn't want to exist anymore. Lacking even the strength to take her own life, she had practically begged Jiraiya to kill her, seeking liberation through death.
Another memory flashed by: the aftermath of the Chunin Exams, being hunted by a hundred Anbu. She had nearly died then; if not for Konin's intervention and her own Mangekyo Sharingan, she truly would have perished.
Then came her time in the Akatsuki, capturing Tailed Beasts alongside the rest of the organization.
Suddenly, Kanon felt a sharp pang in her heart. The dream shifted once more to the sight of a dying Jiraiya. Having lost almost everything, Kanon had been forced to watch her most precious sensei die before her eyes, rendered utterly powerless. That heart-wrenching agony was something she could never forget.
The final scene of the dream was Itachi raising his hands, poking her and Sasuke's foreheads. He wore a faint smile, as if he had never truly left them.
Itachi's final words began to echo in her mind.
"Forgive me, Kanon... Sasuke..."
"This is the last time."
Kanon jolted awake. Her hollow gaze fell upon her surroundings; both she and Sasuke were bound with ropes. Sasuke had also just regained consciousness and was staring fixedly at the masked man standing nearby.
"Kanon is awake too, I see."
"I've already had Konan bandage your wounds."
Hearing that familiar voice, Kanon's pupils constricted. It was a voice she would never forget as long as she lived, the voice of the mysterious man in the red mask from the night of the massacre.
"It really is you! You bastard!"
"Don't be in such a hurry, Uchiha Kanon."
"I'm going to avenge Izumi-nee!" Kanon hissed through gritted teeth.
"I suggest you calm down. Your visual prowess hasn't recovered yet. If you try to fight me now, you won't necessarily win."
"You—!" Kanon growled.
"You two won," the man continued. "But both you and your brother, Sasuke, sustained significant injuries. It would be best if you didn't force your bodies to stand just yet."
Tobi stepped forward, looking down at the bound Kanon. He tilted his head and said softly, "Even if I hadn't killed her back then, Itachi would have killed her with his own hands. I merely played the villain so that girl wouldn't have to face death at Itachi's hand."
"What did you say?!" Kanon's eyes widened in shock.
"I brought you and your brother here for one reason: to convey something to you."
Seeing that Sasuke and Kanon were ignoring him, the masked man said with a hint of helplessness, "Not even interested? Perhaps if I put it this way, you'll be inclined to listen."
"It's about Uchiha Itachi."
As expected, both siblings turned their gaze toward him.
"That's right. You think you knew your brother, but in reality, you knew nothing of Itachi."
"Allow me to tell you the truth regarding Itachi. But first, I must introduce myself. Like you, I am a survivor of the Uchiha clan. I am the one who knows the truth about Itachi!"
With that, the masked man reached up and removed his mask, revealing the right side of his face. The moment the mask came off and his Sharingan was exposed, Sasuke's eyes reacted violently. His three-tomoe Sharingan transformed into Itachi's Mangekyo, and blood began to stream down his face.
"Could it be?!"
Tobi gasped. Seeing Sasuke's eyes, he recoiled, but it was too late.
Suddenly, Tobi's body was engulfed in the black flames of Amaterasu. He stumbled backward into the shadows, screaming in agony.
Both Kanon and Sasuke were stunned. Sasuke clutched his eye, writhing in pain.
"Niichan! Are you okay?!" Kanon asked frantically.
"I... I'm fine. Wh-what happened? Wasn't that Amaterasu?!" Sasuke asked, confused.
However, within the shadows, Obito activated Izanagi. Having escaped the Amaterasu attack, he stepped back out from the darkness and replaced his mask.
"Sasuke... that was an Amaterasu that Itachi transplanted into you."
"I should expect no less from Itachi. Even in death, he continues to surprise me. To think he would plan this far ahead..."
"What on earth are you talking about?!" Kanon demanded. If she hadn't exhausted her chakra, she would have used her Flower Realm to snap the masked man's neck right then and there.
"Itachi placed a visual jutsu within your brother, Sasuke, in order to kill me. Or rather, to keep me away from him. After all, you have always been the one cast aside, haven't you, Uchiha Kanon? Itachi likely set it so that the moment Sasuke saw my Sharingan, Amaterasu would trigger automatically."
"You truly are a pitiful girl, Uchiha Kanon. Even at the end of his life, your eldest brother still didn't choose you."
"You bastard, what the hell are you saying?!" Kanon shouted, her confusion deepening with every word.
"It seems even Itachi didn't know everything about me. Otherwise, I'd be dead," the masked man said flatly. "That was likely Itachi's final failsafe, but it's useless against me."
"What are you muttering to yourself?!" Sasuke roared.
"Itachi must have done something to you before he died, Sasuke. Can you remember?"
Indeed, Sasuke remembered. The moment Itachi poked his forehead... could it have been then?
"In the end, for the sake of his younger brother, he poured his remaining visual prowess into you."
Sasuke was bewildered. "What are you trying to say?! Why would Itachi do such a thing?!"
Kanon, however, felt her heart sink as the masked man's meaning began to dawn on her.
"It seems Kanon understands a bit more."
"What is it?" Sasuke looked at Kanon's stunned expression, feeling increasingly lost.
"Don't you see, Sasuke? Everything Itachi did was to protect you, his beloved younger brother."
Sasuke and Kanon sat paralyzed on the bed, staring at the masked man sitting nearby, unable to find their composure.
"Everything, absolutely everything, begins with the night of the massacre. It is a fact that he killed the Uchiha clan that night. And then he fled Konoha as a rogue ninja."
Sasuke grit his teeth. "So..."
Then, the masked man said something that left both Kanon and Sasuke completely speechless.
"He did it because he was following a mission assigned to him by Konoha."
"That is the doorway to the truth about Itachi."
"A mission?!" Kanon gasped, cold sweat breaking out on her forehead.
"Correct. To understand the depths of Itachi's story, I must tell you of the era when Konoha was founded. Itachi was merely a sacrifice. An ancient destiny... that culminated in his martyrdom."
"Are you joking? Itachi, a sacrifice?" Kanon frowned, her confusion only growing.
"Yes. From the very day of its birth, the Hidden Leaf Village harbored a massive problem. This problem determined Itachi's fate. Though the story is long, everything I am about to tell you is the absolute truth."
Sasuke looked at the masked man coldly. "Why should Kanon and I believe you? We have no reason to trust you."
The masked man nodded slightly. "I indeed have no physical evidence to offer. Whether you choose to believe me or not is up to you two. But Kanon... once you hear this story, you will understand why you were subjected to such a horrific assassination attempt when you were eleven years old."
"That was the result of the internal corruption and power struggles within Konoha."
Assassination? Struggles? Hearing this, Sasuke's expression went blank. He turned to Kanon in shock; this was something his younger sister had never whispered a word about.
"Kanon... what assassination? What internal struggle?"
Suddenly, Sasuke recalled Kanon's change in demeanor after they returned from the Land of Waves, the strange deaths of so many ninja after the Chunin Exams, and Kanon's sudden disappearance. It all began to click, and Sasuke's eyes widened. He had to hear more.
Kanon, however, lowered her head and remained silent. She didn't want Sasuke to know what she had gone through; she didn't want to add to his burden of pain.
"Now then, Sasuke, Kanon... I ask that you listen until the end."
"Fine. Speak," Sasuke said quietly, while Kanon remained silent.
"This is a story from over eighty years ago..."