Kanon was gone, vanishing from before their very eyes.
"Kanon's left," Suigetsu remarked, half-asking.
"Let her go," Sasuke replied. Though he felt a dull ache in his chest, his mind was consumed by Itachi. He could not allow Itachi to die cloaked in infamy.
"Do you wish to transplant Itachi's eyes?" the masked man asked.
"No. Because the things I intend to see are different from what Itachi wanted for me."
High above, a lone hawk soared across the sky.
"We are no longer 'Hebi'."
"From this moment on, our team will operate under the name 'Taka'."
"Taka has but one objective. We..."
"Will crush Konoha!"
…
Inside the Flower Realm.
Kanon looked at Konin with a hollow gaze.
"It seems you've finally grown up," Konin said with a soft nod.
Kanon said nothing. Her look of total despair and spiritual death was heart-wrenching. She no longer wore her hair in twin tails; she let the black strands fall loosely around her shoulders. On her exquisite, beautiful face, there was only the suffocating aura of death.
After enduring the loss of her master Jiraiya, learning the truth of Itachi, and facing the betrayal of her only remaining kin, the girl who had withstood so much pain had finally shattered.
"Konin, there's no need for us to sacrifice ourselves for this pointless shinobi world, right?"
"Mhm." Facing Kanon's question, Konin only gave a slight nod.
"Kanon, what do you plan to do next?"
"I don't want to be a ninja anymore..."
"I want to go back to Otogakure. I want to live with everyone from Team Hana, to live in seclusion and finish this life in peace."
Hearing this, Konin let out a soft sigh.
"This is my final choice... Konin."
"Yes. This is your final choice."
"Let's go."
…
One day later.
Kanon arrived at the outskirts of Otogakure.
Looking at the village, which had been reduced to smoke and rubble, Kanon remained expressionless. She was calmer now than she had ever been, but her heart...
The sight before her sent a freezing chill through her soul. The familiar village of her memories was now a wasteland. The cozy cottages, the training grounds, and the streets where children once played had all been decimated. Only broken walls and scorched earth remained.
Thick smoke drifted through the air, the acrid scent nearly suffocating her. Kanon could no longer find her voice; she couldn't even squeeze out a tear. Only hatred and an endless sense of tragedy surged within her.
She stumbled through the desolation, every step feeling as though she were treading upon her own heart. The flower fields of her memory had been swallowed by the cruel fires of war, leaving not a single trace behind.
Echoes of the past rang in her ears, her dreams and hopes, now serving only as an agonizing mockery.
"Why?" she whispered, her voice thick with incomprehensible pain. "What did we ever do wrong?"
But there was only a deathly silence. No one could answer her. The wind seemed to weep for the tragedy, blowing softly to carry away everything Kanon owned, yet unable to brush away the trauma in her heart.
"Konin... I have nothing left to lose. Nothing can hurt me anymore." Kanon actually began to smile.
That smile widened, turning into a chilling laugh.
"Ahaha… Hahahaha! Hahahaha! Ahhhhhh!"
Kanon collapsed to her knees. Finally, she saw it, a severed, stiffened hand. She recognized it instantly; it belonged to Kidomaru. And in that rigid, decaying hand, he gripped a Konoha Headband.
"Konoha again? Hahaha!" Kanon held up Kidomaru's stiff hand and laughed maniacally.
The tears that had run dry were finally forced out once more, but this single drop was stained crimson with blood.
She laughed amidst the ruins, a broken, frantic sound. Amidst the rising smoke, there was only one lonely girl, laughing without restraint, without care. It was as if the entire world had isolated her; Kanon had no one left. She was accompanied only by loneliness and a dead heart.
The most primal hatred finally surfaced. Just as she had once said: if she died by the roadside, people would only walk over her or give her a kick. Now, it had come to pass. The onslaught of despair caused Kanon to collapse in the wreckage. Everything, the "flower" in her heart, had withered and vanished.
Peaceful flower fields, true friends... it was all an illusion. Only hate and pain are ever truly inherited.
When Kanon stands again, everything will be different.
The sky was gloomy, heavy with leaden clouds, as if the heavens themselves were mourning her state. The village's betrayal, her brother's estrangement, her comrades' destruction, every image was a blade carving into her soul. She wished so desperately that this was a dream, that she would wake to find everything as beautiful as before.
But reality is cruel. It shows no mercy as it pushes Kanon into the bottomless abyss of darkness.
…
Outside an Akatsuki eastern stronghold.
Sasuke sat quietly, observing the scenery. Behind him, the masked man stood tall.
"Are we really not going after Kanon?" Zetsu asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Do you have a death wish?" The masked man turned his head toward Zetsu.
"What do you mean?"
"Right now, that girl is on the brink of total collapse. She has been swallowed by 'Destruction'."
The masked man let out a soft sigh. "That crystal-clear flower that yearned for peace... in the end, she couldn't escape the fate of withering."
"Any single one of the things she's endured would drive a normal person insane, yet she held on until now."
Underneath the mask, Obito looked up at the full moon and sighed. "Uchiha Kanon... just how gentle and kind were you?"
He walked toward Sasuke. "What are you doing here? The preparations are complete."
The corner of Sasuke's mouth twitched into a faint smirk. In his heart, Itachi's noble image had taken root. Itachi was his everything; he had placed Itachi on a pedestal where no one could replace him. Because that is how Itachi had treated him, pouring every ounce of his love onto Sasuke alone.
"Looking at the full moon like this... it brings back memories of that night."
"Even the memories I wanted to forget... I can remember the details of Itachi now. Fragments hidden deep in my heart are resurfacing."
"He was crying then. I thought I had just misseen it. I failed to realize..."
"It seems what you said was true."
"But Itachi was too obsessive. Why did he only leave me behind? Kanon has yearned for peace since she was a child. She's a kind person; she shouldn't have to suffer this fate."
Sasuke spoke, but he forced himself to stop thinking about Kanon. His sister had chosen a path diametrically opposed to his own. For now, it was enough to know she was alive; he couldn't afford to care about anything else. Their old promises and bonds had vanished before the truth of Itachi.
Now, he had only one thought.
"The peace that was bought with Itachi's sacrifice... I will destroy it."
"What Itachi wanted to see, and what I will see from now on, will be entirely different."
"I cannot fulfill Itachi's wish. I will use my own methods to restore the Uchiha!"
Sasuke had not experienced the war, nor did he possess a "Hokage-style" philosophy. He only wanted to be Uchiha Itachi's brother, an Uchiha who lived for his love and his hate.
Any other Uchiha could curse Itachi, but not Sasuke. Because Itachi had given his entire life and his silent love to him alone.
The masked man nodded and left, catching up to Kisame.
"Kisame-senpai, I have something to say to you."
"Zetsu finishes, and now it's your turn?" Kisame turned his head, sounding irritated. "I thought you were dead, Tobi."
Suddenly, Tobi's voice changed.
"In the end, I even ended up deceiving you, the one closest to me. My apologies."
The masked man removed his mask. Kisame's pupils contracted sharply.
"So that's how it is. I never imagined that 'Tobi' was actually you."
"Now I can put my mind at ease."
"With you as the mastermind, it will be much easier for me to move."
"Former Mizukage-sama... no..."
"Madara-san."
"I'll be in your care from now on, Kisame."
"Likewise."
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