Watching Hidan's head hit the ground, Shikamaru and Asuma panted heavily. The Shadow Stitching Jutsu finally unraveled, and Hidan's headless torso staggered before collapsing into the dirt.
"We did it..." Shikamaru muttered, dropping to one knee, his strength nearly spent.
"Shikamaru, are you alright?" Izumo Kamizuki asked with concern.
"Now... only those two are left," Shikamaru wheezed, managing a faint, triumphant smirk. "Kanon Uchiha and that other guy."
Nearby, Kakuzu spoke in a low, steady voice. "If you needed help, you should have said so sooner."
"That's because you were busy holding back Kanon-chan! Kakuzu!" Hidan's severed head barked from the ground. "You bastard, you did that on purpose, didn't you?!"
"Hidan-nii, your head is literally off your shoulders and you're still yelling at Kakuzu-nii? That's actually hilarious," Kanon said, stifling a giggle behind her hand.
"Hey! Kanon-chan, stop laughing!"
Asuma and the others froze, staring in disbelief at the sight of Hidan still acting so lively.
"At first, you told me and Kanon not to interfere," Kakuzu said calmly. "We were simply respecting your battle, and we did warn you. Besides, you aren't exactly in a position to be shouting right now."
"Exactly, Hidan-nii! I was just trying to help!" Kanon huffed, placing her hands on her hips and pouting with an air of exaggerated innocence.
"Fine, fine... Kakuzu, even though I ordered you to stay back, I didn't mean I looked down on you or anything," Hidan grumbled. "And Kanon, of course I appreciate that you were going to step in. Now, hurry up and bring me my body!"
Hidan shot a wink at Kanon. "Come on, Kanon-chan, won't you bring my body over? Kanon-chan, Kakuzu-chan... please? I'm begging you, okay?"
Kanon and Kakuzu exchanged a single, knowing look. Their coordination was seamless.
In an instant, both vanished in a blur of speed. Kakuzu reappeared beside Hidan's head and snatched it up by the hair.
"Hey! Kakuzu, I said the body!"
"I told you to bring the body over here!"
"This part is lighter," Kakuzu replied flatly.
"That's not the point! Don't just ignore me!"
Kanon moved even faster. Flipping her Kusanagi Sword to the blunt side of the blade, she swung with blinding speed. Asuma, already severely weakened, was sent flying by the force of the strike.
"Sorry, Asuma-sensei," Kanon said casually. "I suppose I owe you for taking care of me when I was a kid... wait, actually, I don't think you ever did. Regardless, our paths have diverged."
She didn't stop. Kanon unleashed a relentless flurry of strikes, her movements a blur of flickering steel and shimmering afterimages.
Asuma was in dire straits. Even at full strength, he would have struggled against Kanon; in his current battered state, he was being utterly dismantled. If she hadn't been using the back of her blade, he would have been carved to pieces long ago.
Shikamaru could tell Kanon was holding back, but he knew the reason wasn't mercy—she likely wanted to save Asuma for Hidan to finish off.
"Ow, ow, ow! Easy!" Hidan yelped as Kakuzu carried him by his hair.
"Speaking of pain, doesn't your neck hurt more?"
"Dammit, of course my neck hurts! This is way beyond just a 'wound'! Help me get back together so we can go help Kanon!" Hidan glared at Asuma with murderous intent. "Getting your head chopped off really stings, you prick!"
Watching Hidan's severed head shouting while Asuma was being brutalized by Kanon, Izumo and Kotetsu Hagane stood frozen in shock.
"How is this even possible?!"
"This defies all logic..."
"But in that state," Shikamaru gasped, struggling for air, "even if he's alive, it doesn't matter. If the head isn't reattached to a body that can move, he can't act, and he can't perform jutsu. Even with an immortal body, he's useless."
Kotetsu allowed a sliver of hope to cross his face. "Then it's just Kanon Uchiha and that other guy left."
But Shikamaru's expression remained grim. Kakuzu's brief display of speed suggested his abilities far exceeded Hidan's. Moreover, Kakuzu was composed; he hadn't wavered even when his partner was decapitated. He was cold, calculating, and lethal.
Shikamaru couldn't yet gauge Kakuzu's true power, and they still had to deal with a genius like Kanon Uchiha. The situation was catastrophic. Even if reinforcements arrived, it might not be enough.
The only move now is to seize the most advantageous position and make it look like we have the upper hand! Shikamaru thought.
He identified the perfect tactical spot and glanced toward it, only for his pupils to shrink in horror. Standing exactly where he intended to go was a Shadow Clone of Kanon, watching him with a mocking tilt of her lips. She had anticipated his move perfectly.
Damn it... is she really that far ahead of me?!
Shikamaru hadn't expected that while Kanon was engaging Asuma in a front-line duel, she was also monitoring the entire battlefield and occupying the most vital terrain. The mental and physical strain finally took its toll; he stumbled, nearly collapsing.
Kotetsu and the others realized it. Shikamaru had reached his limit.
Asuma was wounded. Even though Hidan was temporarily immobilized, Kanon had joined the fray. This girl, a peer of Shikamaru's, was effortlessly suppressing an elite Jonin like Asuma. Even in his current state, Asuma was someone who could easily defeat Kotetsu or Izumo, yet he was being driven back step by step.
For the first time, Asuma felt utterly overwhelmed in the very art he mastered: blades. His opponent was a girl barely fifteen, yet she was terrifying. If she isn't eliminated now, she will become a catastrophic threat to the village later, he thought.
His momentary lapse into analysis didn't escape Kanon.
"Asuma-sensei... you shouldn't get distracted when facing an Uchiha."
Her voice reached him, but her boot was faster. Kanon delivered a brutal kick that connected squarely with Asuma's jaw, sending him spiraling through the air.
She wasn't finished. As Asuma went airborne, Kanon used her free hand to weave signs against Asuma's own scorched hand in a forced one-handed seal.
"Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!"
Kanon executed a backflip in mid-air and exhaled a massive sphere of flame. The sequence was so fluid and rapid that Asuma hadn't even hit the ground yet.
"Look out!" Izumo lunged forward, desperate, and unleashed a Water Wave to intercept the flames, barely managing to divert the fireball's trajectory.
"In that case..." Kanon's lips curled into a smirk.
"Izumo! Get out of there!" Asuma screamed.
But Kanon's Chidori blade was already in motion. A flash of lightning-enhanced steel tore through Izumo's chest. A spray of crimson erupted as the force of the blow sent him reeling.
"Die."
With those cold words, the Chidori in her hand punched straight through Izumo's heart.
"IZUMO!!!" Asuma roared, but he was too late.
Blood pooled around Kanon's hand as she retracted the lightning-sheathed blade. In a single heartbeat, she had executed a Special Jonin.
Tears stung the eyes of Kotetsu and Shikamaru. They stared at Kanon with pure, unadulterated rage.
"This," Kanon said, tilting her head as her twin tails brushed her shoulders, "is the price of stalling for time."
Her Three-Tomoe Sharingan flickered with a predatory light as she kicked Izumo's lifeless body aside. She had already decided on her next target.
"Asuma-sensei..."
"Don't you dare call me that! I don't know any monster like you!" Asuma bellowed, his mind consumed by fury. He forced his scorched hand to move, ready to stake everything on a final confrontation.
Seeing his hatred, Kanon let out a sharp laugh.
"Different paths create different shinobi. Asuma, I called you 'sensei' out of respect for your rank." Her eyes darkened, the last traces of mirth replaced by a chilling killing intent. "But as I thought, Konoha shinobi are all the same. If that's how it is... then prepare to die!"
Kanon's expression turned frigid. Her Sharingan spun, and in her palm, a sphere of chakra began to rotate with the intensity of a miniature sun.
This was her self-created S-rank technique: Rasengan Fire Dance.
The swirling flames kicked up debris from the shattered ground, the air hissing with lethal heat. The sheer power radiating from the jutsu made Asuma's pupils contract; for a moment, his fighting spirit wavered. If that attack hit them, all four of them would be erased in an instant.
But just as Kanon was about to launch the strike, Kakuzu moved to block her path.
"Kanon-chan, stand down. You don't need to use that."
"Why not?!"
"If you throw that jutsu, will there be a body left to collect? Even if there is, he'll be so charred and mangled I won't be able to identify him!" Kakuzu said, his voice as cold as ever. "That man is worth thirty-five million Ryo!"
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