It was at that exact moment that a kunai, carved with a specific flower crest, sliced through the air toward the Nine-Tails.
"What is that?!" Gaara gasped, barely catching sight of the incoming weapon.
The kunai instantly pierced through the Nine-Tails' chakra cloak, materializing directly in front of Naruto.
Suddenly, a flash of pink light erupted, and Kanon's figure materialized. That elegant, breathtaking silhouette Naruto had yearned for in his dreams, accompanied by the cold, beautiful face that held all their shared memories, came into view.
In this fleeting second, Naruto and Kanon were within arm's reach. With just a simple reach of his hand, he could have pulled her into his arms.
Naruto wanted to reach out, but he could no longer hold the girl before him.
"The one you should be holding... is no longer me, Naruto," Kanon said softly, her voice carrying the detached tone of an old friend bidding farewell years ago.
At that moment, a single, crystal-clear tear finally escaped the corner of her exquisitely beautiful, heterochromic Mangekyō Sharingan. Yet, even as it fell, her hand was already pressed against Naruto's abdomen, manifesting a Rasengan.
Boom!
It was the most ordinary Rasengan, yet it struck like a divine blade, completely shattering Naruto and Kanon's relationship and severing their bond once and for all.
Naruto was violently blasted out of the Nine-Tails' core. Having his Tailed Beast forcibly extracted, his body plummeted through the air.
While Kanon had been confronting Naruto, the Nine-Tails had already entrusted the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, with a final request: to take Naruto and find Minato Namikaze.
However, things were far more critical here. Deprived of the Nine-Tails, Naruto's life was rapidly slipping away; without it, his death was certain.
"Well done, Kanon," Madara nodded slightly, approving of her execution.
On the other side, Naruto's heart instantly stopped beating, though a faint, flickering thread of consciousness remained.
As his body drifted backward, Kanon caught him. Just like when they were children, Naruto lay dying, his head resting gently against her lap.
"Kanon... I lost, didn't I..."
"Yes, you lost," Kanon replied, nodding softly.
"In the end... dying by your hand... I don't regret it."
"To be like this right before I die... haha..." Naruto murmured, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
"Idiot... If you had just come with me from the start, none of this would have happened..." Kanon's tears rolled down her cheeks, dripping onto Naruto's face.
Naruto raised a trembling hand, weakly wiping the tear from the corner of her eye.
"I promised you... I will definitely become Hokage..."
"Before that vow is fulfilled... how could I ever give up..."
With those final words, Naruto lost consciousness, his life hanging by the thinnest thread.
"Idiot..." Kanon whispered, lowering her head to gently close his eyes. She caressed his forehead one last time before standing back up.
No one around them dared to approach. Although the allied shinobi noticed the scene, not a single soul stepped forward.
This was Kanon Uchiha. If they interfered, there was no telling what catastrophic turn the battlefield might take.
Kanon cast one final glance at Naruto, the resolve in her chosen path hardening even further.
Her figure dissolved into a flash of pink light and reappeared at Madara's side. In the exact moment everyone's attention had been averted by Kanon, Shukaku had already been dragged into the jaws of the Gedo Mazo.
This time, even the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails were sucked inside together. Instantly, all the eyes of the Gedo Mazo snapped wide open, glowing with terrifying power.
Madara slammed a single hand onto the ground and muttered, "With our current strength, I suppose this is the limit of what we can do."
"It took more than a few seconds, didn't it? Well, still faster than Obito, I suppose," White Zetsu chimed in.
"Hmph, must you always be so mouthy?"
"You're just a flawed creation of mine, yet all you know how to do is undermine your master," Madara muttered inherently annoyed. Truly, only Kanon's dry wit was something he could tolerate.
"Is the battle over there going smoothly?" Madara questioned White Zetsu.
"No problem at all. After all, the guy inside is quite capable."
But right at that precise instant, a brilliant white light flashed directly behind Kanon. It was Tobirama Senju, executing a blind-side ambush.
Holding a specially marked Flying Raijin kunai, he thrust it instantly toward the back of Kanon's head. Yet, Kanon didn't even bother to dodge; her form shifted seamlessly from tangible to intangible, causing Tobirama's surprise attack to pass completely through her.
Immediately after, Kanon extended a single hand, shifting back to reality, and slammed it directly into Tobirama's abdomen as she uttered coldly: "Lightning Release: Lariat."
Boom!
A terrifying burst of lightning erupted. Tobirama's body took the full brunt of the monstrous force, violently crashing into the dirt and forming a massive crater.
Seizing the opening Kanon provided, Madara executed a swift mid-air flip. Black receivers materialized in his hands, and he plunged them directly into Tobirama's back.
It was a total defeat for Tobirama Senju's sudden assault; he was pinned ruthlessly to the ground by the black receivers, unable to move a muscle.
"Aren't you that self-righteous old Senju bastard? Is this really the extent of your abilities?" Kanon scoffed. She raised her foot, her slender leg tracing a beautiful curve before stamping down hard.
Tobirama's face was pinned beneath Kanon's foot, leaving him completely immobilized.
"Kanon, I leave my back to you," Madara said softly.
"Old man Madara, you think too highly of me. There are plenty of people eyeing your back right now," Kanon bantered playfully.
"Which is exactly why I entrust something so vital to you."
With that, Madara glanced down at Tobirama, who was pinned to the ground, and remarked indifferently, "When an opponent is entirely certain of their victory, that is precisely when they expose a fatal opening. You've overused that trick of yours."
"Sending the brats out to charge ahead while you strike from the shadows... as underhanded as ever, Tobirama."
"Likewise," Tobirama sneered back.
"However, your brats don't hold a candle to ours from the Uchiha."
"The next generation is to be feared, after all," Madara looked down at Tobirama with a sense of pride, as if asking: Do any of your descendants match up to ours?
"It's just a pity heaven sides with me, granting me Kanon. To think the world's fastest shinobi would end up being washed away by the new wave like this."
"There is a reason you two brothers cannot exert your former strength."
"Whether by coincidence or destiny, the current situation favors me."
"Besides, with Kanon assisting me, how could you possibly win?"
Sure enough, a faint smirk tugged at the corner of Madara's mouth as he looked up toward the sky. Kanon's expression, however, remained dark and somber.
High in the air, Sasuke rode atop a giant hawk, slowly drawing his Kusanagi Sword. Having received Hashirama Senju's guidance, Sasuke felt a surge of power coursing through his veins.
Hashirama had told Sasuke that he bore a striking resemblance to Madara's younger brother, Izuna, meaning Madara might show leniency. Furthermore, Hashirama had bestowed upon Sasuke a jutsu capable of binding Madara by resonating with the Sage chakra inside him.
Seeing Tobirama pinned to the ground, Madara snapped a black receiver in half and tossed one piece toward Kanon.
"Kanon, catch."
"This is...?" Kanon asked, her gaze fixed darkly on the approaching Sasuke in the distance, somewhat perplexed as to why Madara was handing her a black receiver.
The next moment, Madara let out a cold laugh. "I've been wanting to do this for a very long time."
With that, Madara drove his black receiver straight into Tobirama's head. Tobirama, already looking like a porcupine, now had several more black receivers driven into his skull.
"I see."
With a deadpan nod, Kanon hurled her black receiver forward, her hands instantly blurring into hand seals.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
Poof!
The single black receiver multiplied into dozens in an instant. Tobirama, already riddled with rods, was struck by dozens more, his entire body pinned down completely like a pincushion.
"Applying the concept to something else entirely, excellent, truly excellent," Madara applauded Kanon's quick thinking.
"I've wanted to do this to you for ages. You were the one who killed Izuna."
"Though venting my frustration on a reanimated corpse accomplishes nothing in the end."
Tobirama grit his teeth, completely unable to even lift his head.
"Madara... what did you go through such lengths to resurrect yourself for? Our era ended a long time ago."
Madara glanced at Kanon, a trace of helpless resignation crossing his face. His ideals and vision had been inherited by Kanon; how could he not understand that their time had passed?
But since he had returned to life, he would guide this junior, the one he favored and admired above all others, down the path they had chosen.
"I merely wish to fulfill the nation-building that Hashirama failed to accomplish. But this world belongs to Hashirama, a predecessor who stopped short of success."
"For a dying patient, drastic measures are required."
Sensing the underlying meaning in Madara's words, Tobirama spoke in shock.
"The idea of using the Infinite Tsukuyomi... was that your conception?"
"Exactly. The nation Hashirama sought to create contains an inherent contradiction. People yearn for peace, yet they simultaneously crave war; humanity is born with both of these dual natures."
"Excising war while retaining only the desire for peace would mean humans are no longer human. The two coexist."
As he spoke, Madara recalled the words Hashirama had uttered when he dealt the final blow at the Valley of the End:
"Even if it's my friend, my brother, or my own child... if they threaten the village, I won't forgive them..."
At this moment, Madara shared that exact sentiment. He stated calmly, "To protect certain things, others must be sacrificed."
"And that remains true for everything... except within the world of a true dream."
Tobirama let out a cold, defiant laugh. "What you say does hold a fraction of truth... but that dream is hardly yours to..."
"Dictate!"
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NOTE: This fic has been completely translated. If you want to read the whole story head over to my p-atre-on: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]