High above the Hokage Rock in the Hidden Leaf Village, a terrifying Tailed Beast Bomb manifested. In an instant, it completely obliterated the entire forest located behind the village directly beneath the monument.
The people of Konoha were petrified by the sight.
Countless shattered trees and massive boulders were sent hurtling through the air, raining down upon the village. Many citizens shrieked in absolute terror. This was nothing short of an unmitigated disaster. Had Sasuke, Orochimaru, Suigetsu, and the others not arrived in Konoha, these falling boulders and uprooted trees alone would have been enough to flatten a significant portion of the village's infrastructure.
"That... that's Lord Fourth's jutsu! Flying Raijin: Guiding Thunder!"
"You bastard... Kanon! Where did you warp that Tailed Beast Bomb?!"
Kakashi's eyes widened to their limits as he stared up at Kanon, who stood atop the head of Manda.
"Who knows... Maybe Kumogakure, or maybe right back down on Konoha. I can't really say."
"Dammit!" Both Kakashi and Might Guy ground their teeth, glaring at Kanon.
"Kakashi, this is war. Since you all came here with the resolve to kill us, you best be prepared to be killed by us."
"That's just how it goes, isn't it? What right do you have to call anyone a bastard? A guy who can't even keep a promise shouldn't be standing up there acting all self-righteous."
As Kanon spoke, she placed a single hand flat onto Manda's forehead.
Instantly, Manda jolted in shock. "This is..."
"Manda, take my power and crush them into dust!"
"Majestic Attire: Susanoo!"
In a flash, the armor of the Susanoo materialized around Manda's body. He felt as though he had suddenly grown limbs. At this very moment, Manda felt like a true deity. The Tailed Beast Modes of the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails seemed utterly insignificant before him.
"This incredible power! Kanon-sama! I understand completely!"
Manda roared with laughter as he drew a colossal broadsword from his hip. This particular iteration of Susanoo resembled a Complete Susanoo, possessing the devastating power to shatter all of creation, and that exact power was now resting squarely in his hands.
Madara and Obito looked upon the spectacle from their respective positions, both wearing satisfied smiles. One could only say, she truly never failed to impress.
"Cladding a summoning beast in Susanoo armor? Quite creative, though I've pulled off that trick before myself," Madara remarked softly.
Swish!
With a single sweep of the greatsword, the surrounding battlefield was instantly leveled. Even the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails were blasted hundreds of meters away by the sheer pressure of the sword beam, crashing through and shattering two entire mountain peaks.
Obito dropped to one knee, looking over at Kakashi with a slight upturn of his lips. "It is time for this world to come to an end."
With his giant Gunbai fan slung across his back, Madara sat down and watched the distant Manda vanish in a cloud of white smoke. As Kanon's Susanoo gradually receded, Madara spoke softly: "Now, let us begin."
Suddenly, the six-rippled Rinne-Sharingan of the Ten-Tails manifested, staring directly back at the blood-red moon hanging in the sky. The true Ten-Tails materialized in the flesh, unleashing a earth-shattering roar.
Naruto and Killer Bee watched in utter disbelief. Even Kakashi and Might Guy were left entirely powerless to stop it.
With a sudden flicker, Obito and Madara leapt away simultaneously. Kanon allowed herself to fall backward, swallowed up by a swirling vortex of roses as all three vanished from sight.
Witnessing the resurrection of the Ten-Tails, Kurama could only speak in grim resignation. "So, that is... the Ten-Tails..."
Meanwhile, stepping out from the Flower Realm, Kanon looked at Madara and Obito with an expression of pure, unadulterated disgust.
"It's so incredibly ugly!!!" Kanon yelled out.
"I actually agree a little," Obito nodded.
"Stop whining and get up there," Madara directed, pointing toward the crown of the Ten-Tails' head.
With a rapid sequence of body flickers, the trio leapt onto the summit of the Ten-Tails.
On the opposing side, the massive Tailed Beast forms of the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails stood firmly behind Kakashi and Naruto.
"Kanon managed to warp the Tailed Beast Bomb away! We completely miscalculated!" Kakashi grimaced.
Naruto had just learned from Kurama that the Ten-Tails possessed no emotions or concepts. It was exactly like the earth, the water, or the air, an entity that existed as the very embodiment of the natural energy circulating throughout this world.
Naruto nodded. Ignoring the Nine-Tails' warnings, he attempted to use Sage Mode to sense the creature. Yet the moment he entered Sage Mode, he was completely paralyzed with terror by the sheer magnitude of the Ten-Tails' chakra. It was a manifestation of primal, absolute dread that caused cold sweat to pour down his face.
"I really can't laugh this one off..." Naruto muttered helplessly.
Standing high atop the Ten-Tails, Kanon was flanked on either side by Madara and Obito. The three of them looked down with cold indifference at Naruto and his allies below. Behind the Ten-Tails, two distinct tendrils extended outward, piercing directly into the backs of Madara and Obito's heads. These were the conduits used to control the beast. Kanon had no need to pilot the Ten-Tails herself, so she did not have one.
"I intended to capture them before the Ten-Tails was fully resurrected, but I didn't expect them to have a few tricks up their sleeves," Madara stated flatly.
"I want to begin the Infinite Tsukuyomi ritual immediately," Obito said, turning to Madara.
"I want to start it too," Kanon added, joining Obito in staring down the legendary Uchiha ancestor.
"That grand genjutsu requires a significant amount of time to beckon the moon. You two are being far too impatient. Though, seeing as Kanon wasn't part of the plan from the very beginning, your urgency is forgivable."
Madara gestured toward Kakashi and the others, his voice calm. "Those pests down there will only interfere with the casting of the jutsu."
"It will be far more convenient for our objectives to eliminate them using the Gedo Statue's power first. What do you two think?" Madara looked toward Kanon in the center and Obito on the opposite flank.
"Then let's just wipe them all out," Kanon replied with utter nonchalance. However, she and Madara had an underlying arrangement today. Both she and Madara cast a subtle, sidelong glance toward Obito.
Indeed, her plan with Madara was to corner Obito into utilizing the Gedo Art: Rinne Rebirth Jutsu to fully resurrect Madara. The final Infinite Tsukuyomi would then be initiated by Madara himself.
Kanon had always loathed Obito. He had played a hand in the annihilation of the Uchiha clan, Izumi's demise, and the endless suffering she had endured. Though they had forged a superficial alliance, Kanon and Obito were both harboring their own hidden agendas.
Obito was deeply wary of Madara, but he was even more terrified of Kanon. It was precisely why he was acting with such frantic haste. Ever since Itachi's death, the knot of tension in his chest had never truly dissipated. For no other reason than the fact that Kanon was simply too powerful, she was a variable he could not control.
At this moment, Obito remained completely oblivious to the conspiracy brewing between Kanon and Madara. After all, Madara was the one who best understood that peaceful field of flowers; their ideologies were fundamentally aligned.
"Madara, you simply want to test out the power of the Ten-Tails for yourself. That's why you deliberately..."
"You're acting exactly like a child." Obito cast a disdainful look at Madara, entirely blind to the trap being laid for him.
"You've got it wrong. Children are the ones who are rash and short-tempered."
"Are you taking shots at me?" Kanon snapped, glaring unhappily at both Madara and Obito.
"Hahaha, don't take it so personally, Kanon."
"You two are just relics of a bygone era. Stop standing up here barking orders at me, you pair of old geezers!!!" Kanon blew a loud raspberry at Obito and Madara, sticking her tongue out aggressively.
The childish display caused the corners of both Madara and Obito's mouths to twitch slightly. Yet, just as Madara had implied, what grown adult would genuinely lose their temper with a child? In truth, Kanon was only fifteen years old, by all accounts, still an underage brat.
While the three Uchiha conversed atop its head, the Ten-Tails had already begun hurtling violently toward the Nine-Tails and Eight-Tails.
"Hey, that monstrous thing is coming right at us!"
"Can we really win against that?" the Eight-Tails asked nervously.
"Don't go thinking you can just hide peacefully inside your little octopus jar out of fear."
"Oh, by the way, hand that guy named Guy over to me first. I'll restore him in a bit," Kurama instructed the Eight-Tails. "Naruto and Kakashi, get over here inside my cloak too. I'll patch you guys up."
Directing the battlefield, Kurama looked toward the Eight-Tails and commanded flatly, "Listen up. First, pull back and see how it moves."
"We evade its attack based on its movements, and then we let it taste a point-blank ultimate attack!"
"Look at you, Nine-Tails. You're talking exactly like a squad captain," Kakashi cracked a dry joke.
"You got a problem with that?" the Nine-Tails growled irritably.
"Not at all. It actually makes me kind of happy," Kakashi smiled, his eyes crinkling into narrow crescents.
"If you're going to celebrate... do it after we win this damn thing. Let's go!" the Nine-Tails roared.
The Ten-Tails lunged forward, a single swipe of its massive claw sending both the Nine-Tails and Eight-Tails flying backward.
"How can it be that fast?!" Naruto screamed.
"Old man Madara!" Kanon called out softly, looking toward the elder Uchiha.
"I know, but wait a little longer," Madara replied with a cold smirk.
Kanon had intended for the two of them to take control of one side each, cladding the Ten-Tails in the Majestic Attire: Susanoo. However, Madara wanted to witness the raw, unbridled strength of the Ten-Tails first, which was why he told Kanon to hold her ground.
The Nine-Tails leapt into the air, landing directly in front of the Ten-Tails, only to be instantly slapped away by a careless flick of the monster's hand.
On the other side, the Eight-Tails completed charging a massive Tailed Beast Bomb, unleashing it directly toward the Ten-Tails. Simultaneously, the Nine-Tails gathered its chakra, firing a rapid-fire barrage of Continuous Tailed Beast Bombs toward the target.
Watching the cataclysmic volley of Tailed Beast Bombs hurtling toward them, Madara merely crossed his arms over his chest, speaking with total indifference. "There is no need to evade."
Seated in the middle with her legs casually crossed, Kanon merely smiled coldly, leaning back against her hands to support her weight.
Staring down the incoming attacks, Obito remarked callously, "Personally, I'd prefer to preserve the Ten-Tails' strength as much as possible."
Yet in that exact fraction of a second, the Ten-Tails began gathering a Tailed Beast Bomb of its own.
"What?!" the Eight-Tails cried out in sheer shock.
"This is bad!" The Nine-Tails violently shoved the Eight-Tails aside, scrambling frantically to leap in the opposite direction.
The Tailed Beast Bomb unleashed by the Ten-Tails resembled a colossal laser cannon. It instantly dyed the entire sky a blood-red hue, threatening to completely vaporize the entire region into absolute nothingness.