Hidden Leaf Village. The Hokage's Office.
Tsunade was gnawing on her thumb in a fit of nerves. Beside her, Shizune's expression was equally grim. They had just received word that Asuma's team was currently engaged in combat with two members of the Akatsuki.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Tsunade muttered through gritted teeth.
"Tsunade-sama... what did you say?!"
"I said, I'm worried about the state of the battle! Isn't Naruto ready yet?!"
"It should be any moment now. As soon as Naruto masters the new jutsu, he'll head out to reinforce them immediately."
Right then, an intelligence ninja burst through the door of the Hokage's office. Seeing the sheer urgency in his stride, Tsunade didn't bother reprimanding him for the intrusion.
"Report!"
"At coordinates XXX, an Akatsuki member has appeared. Our squad has already engaged her!"
"What!" Tsunade snapped to her feet as Shizune asked in shock:
"Who is it?! Have you identified them?"
"The target made no attempt to hide her identity. It's Kanon Uchiha!"
"That Uchiha brat!" Tsunade's teeth practically ground together.
"Reroute all squads near the Bounty Station to intercept her! Squads further out are to continue toward Asuma's team," Tsunade commanded loudly.
"Understood!"
As the messenger hurried out, Tsunade's expression darkened. The memory of her direct confrontation with Kanon flashed through her mind; the girl's abilities remained an enigma to this day. Though her style leaned toward head-on combat, her tactical finesse and mastery of ninjutsu were in no way inferior to those of her brother, Sasuke Uchiha.
"Dammit..." Tsunade cursed. If it hadn't been for Danzo, Konoha would never have lost such a genius. But Danzo had stepped down as the Homura's assistant and had remained out of the public eye for a long time; she couldn't easily press the matter now. It wasn't worth burning everything down just to dismantle Danzo and his Root, after all, for the Hidden Leaf, his contributions still arguably outweighed his crimes.
"The Uchiha..." Tsunade whispered, her impression of the clan souring even further.
…
The Bounty Station.
Two of the four shinobi lay motionless on the ground, their lives extinguished. A thin line of blood marked each of their throats.
Kanon wiped the blood from her Kusanagi Sword using the hem of her Akatsuki cloak. She sat perched on the shoulder of a kneeling ninja whose hands had already been severed. Looking at the last remaining man, whose body was racked with tremors, her lips curled into a slight smirk.
"You should have some intel for me, right?"
"I..." He gritted his teeth. As a ninja, leaking intelligence was an unforgivable sin.
While he hesitated, the Kusanagi Sword thrust through his mouth, skewering his skull.
"Then don't bother saying anything ever again."
Kanon sheathed her blade and delivered a backward kick. The neck of the kneeling man snapped instantly. This four-man squad, comprised of Jonin and Chunin, had been completely wiped out.
"Since you came here to kill me, it's only natural that I kill you instead, isn't it?" Kanon's expression shifted into something bordering on pathological as she activated her sensory abilities.
"Honestly, where did Kakuzu and Hidan go?"
Suddenly, a massive explosion erupted in the distance. The commotion was loud enough to catch Kanon's attention just as she localized her chakra search.
"Looks like they're over there." Just as Kanon turned to leave, a black blade swung toward her.
With a swift sidestep, Kanon evaded the ambush. In that same heartbeat, she drove her knee upward into the attacker's abdomen.
The timing was impeccable. The strike sent the man doubling over like a shrimp, but she wasn't finished. Faced with a lethal ambush, Kanon had no intention of showing mercy.
As he was still flying backward, Kanon's right hand spun her sword in a flourish and thrust it behind her.
A blood-curdling scream echoed through the vicinity of the Bounty Station. The man collapsed miserably, coughing up blood and twitching on the ground.
"Kuda!" Aoba Yamashiro roared from a rooftop, where he was weaving signs to summon crows. But it was too late; the Chunin named Kuda had already breathed his last.
The remaining hidden ninjas leaped out, a squad of nearly ten Chunin and Jonin surrounding Kanon.
"Kanon Uchiha of the Akatsuki! You dare murder someone right in front of me!"
"I killed him, so what? What are you going to do about it? Bite me!"
Kanon, standing half a head shorter than the rest, stuck her tongue out at them. She looked like a beautiful, energetic young girl, acting as though being defiant after doing something wrong was a game.
This blatant mockery instantly pushed the group over the edge.
"Get her! Everyone, together!"
Aoba Yamashiro, standing on the eaves, directed his crows; he was the eleventh man, providing long-range support.
Seeing the ten shinobi moving to weave signs, Kanon let out a soft laugh.
"It's not very nice of you all to gang up on me like this, is it?"
As the words left her lips, her hands formed a cross.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
In a burst of white smoke, hundreds of Kanons materialized on the battlefield, surrounding the ten ninjas.
"Come on then. Now it's fair."
With that, the hundreds of Kanons began weaving signs. Aoba Yamashiro recognized the seals instantly.
"It's the Great Fireball Jutsu! Everyone, move!"
Unfortunately, even though he saw it coming, it was too late. Surrounded by Kanons, breaking through the perimeter was a task more difficult than fighting Tsunade one-on-one.
A brilliant flash of fire erupted, followed by a massive explosion that leveled the area.
When the smoke cleared, the eleven ninjas were charred husks. All eleven had been killed instantly.
As Kanon's shadow clones dissipated, the original adjusted her mask and looked toward Aoba Yamashiro. Seeing his terrified expression, Kanon took a step forward.
Her speed was blistering. She engaged Aoba in a blur of Taijutsu. Under Kanon's torrential assault, Aoba Yamashiro found himself in a desperate retreat.
"You... how are you this strong..." Blood leaked from Aoba's mouth. He stared at her; if the files were correct, this girl was only fifteen!
To have the power to crush him at fifteen, and to have joined the Akatsuki.
But that moment of hesitation gave Kanon the opening she needed.
The glow of Chidori flared in her palm. In a flash, she pierced through the right side of Aoba's chest.
The strike sent a jolt of cold sweat down his spine as his body went numb. But she wasn't done. Kanon's Chidori Sharp Spear extended nearly a hundred meters.
In an instant, the Spear ground Aoba Yamashiro against the earth, pushing him hundreds of meters back and snapping several large trees in the process.
When Kanon retracted the lightning blade, her lips curled into a smirk.
"Impressive for a Jonin. Very clever."
In the midst of the paralysis, Aoba had forced out a seal, allowing him to use a Crow Substitution Jutsu to escape the brunt of that terrifying blow.
As the dust settled, Aoba's body was gone, leaving only a massive pool of blood on the ground.
He had escaped, heavily wounded. He was at his limit and wouldn't get far. In the past, Kanon would have hunted him down to silence him, but today she had more important business: reinforcing Hidan and Kakuzu.
Besides, letting him return served as a silent mockery of the Hidden Leaf and Tsunade's incompetence. If she killed him here, it might take days for Tsunade to even receive the news.
With that, Kanon sped off toward the distant battlefield.
…
One hour later. The Hidden Leaf Village.
"Tsunade-sama, Naruto has headed for the front lines!" Shizune said excitedly.
"Good!" Finally hearing some good news, Tsunade stood up, energized.
But at that moment, another member of the Intelligence Division rushed in.
"Now what?!"
"Aoba Yamashiro has been found near the Bounty Station, critically injured! He's been sent for emergency treatment!"
Upon hearing this, both Shizune and Tsunade froze. Wasn't Aoba Yamashiro a Jonin sent as reinforcement? How could he be critically wounded when only Kanon Uchiha was there?
The next report hit like a thunderclap, causing the pupils of both women to shrink in horror.
"Of the three squads sent as reinforcements to that area... Aoba Yamashiro is the only survivor."
The news was a blade that cut through Tsunade's last line of defense. She staggered, nearly collapsing into her seat.
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune rushed to support her, her own body trembling.
"How is that possible... There was only one person... and she's just a fifteen-year-old girl..." Tsunade whispered to herself, but the reality was immutable.
Kanon Uchiha had single-handedly annihilated four of the Hidden Leaf's elite special squads.
As the Hokage, Tsunade's eyes filled with a dawning terror. Even Shizune stood there in a daze, unable to fathom that Kanon Uchiha had grown to such a monstrous level of power.
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