Just as Kanon was about to make her move, a dark shadow grew larger and larger in the sky above. A roar thundered down from the heavens.
"That's enough!"
It was Tsunade. She descended from the sky, her monstrously powerful kick instantly obliterating the terrain.
Kanon retreated. Although she could have used the Flower Realm to turn intangible and bypass the impact, Hidan, trapped in the pit below, would have surely been buried alive. Moving with blinding speed, she blurred into Hidan's pit in an instant, sucking his severed body parts into the Flower Realm space.
"Sorry about that, Hidan-nii."
"It's fine. Do whatever you have to do," Hidan replied, understanding that the situation outside had turned precarious.
Carrying Hidan's head, Kanon activated her intangibility just as the ground erupted. The pit was swallowed by the shockwave, but since she was intangible, the debris passed through her and Hidan harmlessly.
Kanon's Mangekyo Sharingan spun as she phased through the earth, reverting back to three tomoe as she reached the surface.
"Hey, Kanon-chan, this ability is pretty handy," Hidan's disembodied head chuckled.
"Stay quiet for a moment, Hidan-nii." Kanon turned her gaze toward the settling dust.
In front of Shikamaru and Sai, Tsunade stood alongside Shizune and a dozen members of the Hokage's personal Anbu guard.
"We meet again, Fifth Hokage... Tsunade."
Hearing Kanon's nonchalant voice, Tsunade ground her teeth, her expression darkening.
"Kanon Uchiha... You were born in Konoha. Do you feel no guilt for killing so many shinobi from your own home?!"
Kanon's expression remained unchanged despite Tsunade's fury.
"My home?"
Looking into Tsunade's cold, enraged eyes, Kanon recalled the sights and sounds of the night of the massacre.
"Can a place without family still be called a home?"
"You—!" Tsunade began, but Kanon cut her off.
"Guilt? Why should I feel guilt in the face of this chaotic, corrupt Konoha? I told you, I will destroy this village. This is only the beginning."
"After everything that's happened, surely you don't think I still harbor some idiotic Will of Fire in my heart?"
"The curtain has risen on my revenge. Everything happening now is merely a fraction of the pain I intend to bring you."
Tsunade stared coldly at Kanon. "I see negotiations are off the table."
At Tsunade's word, everyone raised their weapons. Even Shikamaru looked on grimly as Kanon began to hover. His plan to kill Hidan had failed; there was no other conclusion. Akatsuki reinforcements had arrived, and it was a teammate whose tactical intelligence was on par with his own.
Kanon's lips curved into a slight smirk. While she could win a protracted fight, Kakuzu was still struggling elsewhere. Retreat was the priority. She gripped Hidan's head in her left hand and slowly rose into the air—Earth Release: Ultralight-Weight Rock Technique, a jutsu she had mastered from Konin in her inner world.
The Anbu watched in confusion as the twin-tailed girl wearing a fox mask ascended. High above, Kanon raised her right hand. A Rasengan Fire Dance, nearly two meters wide and wreathed in a ring of flaming stars, radiated a wave of searing heat.
The crowd froze at the sight of such highly concentrated chakra.
"Now that I think about it, Fifth Hokage... when you were inaugurated, my brother and I, as members of the prestigious Uchiha clan, didn't exactly get a chance to send you a gift."
"I'm leaving now. I'll leave you this jutsu I created as a parting gift."
"Stop! Kanon Uchiha!" Tsunade's pupils shrank. The Rasengan Fire Dance was a threat she couldn't ignore. She formed hand signs, the Strength of a Hundred Seal on her forehead flaring to life, and bit her finger to prepare a summoning.
Tsunade calculated that Kanon wouldn't actually drop it; Kakashi had said she wasn't the type to kill her former comrades, and Sakura was still lying unconscious nearby.
But Kanon only smirked. She looked at Sakura's limp form in the distance, her gaze turning frigid.
"Do you really think I won't drop it?"
The next moment, Kanon's right hand whipped forward. The massive Rasengan Fire Dance hurtled toward the ground like a terrifying miniature sun. The high-speed friction of the chakra left Tsunade in a state of shock.
"Please make it in time!" Tsunade finished her signs and slammed her palm onto the ground.
A colossal explosion rocked the forest, turning the horizon a brilliant, flashing red.
Even the distant battlefield where Naruto fought was affected. A blinding white light flared in the distance, followed by a massive sonic boom and a shockwave that turned the sky white.
"What's happening?!" Yamato shielded his eyes.
"I don't know... but it looks like it came from Sakura's location!" Kakashi said grimly.
"No way..." Naruto's pupils contracted.
But they couldn't dwell on it. Kakuzu was still the primary threat in front of them.
…
The forest was decimated. Amidst the scorched earth, Tsunade crawled out of Katsuyu's protective form, gasping for breath. Shikamaru and Sai emerged similarly, and Sakura was found safely encased within the slug's body.
Tsunade looked back. Nearly two-thirds of the Anbu reinforcements behind her had been reduced to ash inside the protective slugs.
The casualties were catastrophic. As her Seal deactivated, Tsunade's expression went blank. Kanon and Hidan were long gone.
A sense of powerlessness washed over her. Kanon was too strong. If Danzo hadn't pushed her to the opposite side of Konoha, her strength would have undoubtedly made her a candidate for Hokage.
Why did Tsunade have to bear the burden of Danzo's mistakes? Why did these innocent shinobi have to die for it?
Kanon had joined Akatsuki with her sights set on Konoha, yet Danzo remained idle with his forces. The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Danzo had truly left her a disastrous "mess" to clean up.
"Tsunade-sama..." Shizune was seriously injured, her arm severely burned, but she was alive.
Tsunade immediately began treating her. Since Shizune was also a medical ninja, stabilizing her was the fastest way to save the others. With so many wounded requiring emergency care, Tsunade could no longer focus on anything else.
…
Elsewhere, Kakuzu watched Naruto step forward again.
"Is it still this brat?"
"Just in case, I should switch to long-range combat form."
The Earth Grudge Fear threads within Kakuzu's body elongated, countless tendrils spilling out as his severed limbs reattached.
"He's not just changing his size; he's condensing a massive amount of chakra," Yamato noted, cold sweat dripping down his face.
Naruto, fearless, used the Shadow Clone Jutsu once more and began forming the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
As the gale-force winds howled, Kakuzu gave a slight nod. "Here it comes."
Seeing Naruto lunge, Kakuzu leaped, bypassing the shadow clones. He had identified the pattern; he was going for the original. There was no need to deal with clones used as decoys, the caster was the true target.
If he destroyed the Rasenshuriken, there would be nothing left to fear.
Naruto's trick appeared to be seen through. Kakashi and the others panicked.
"Not good, he saw through the feint!" Ino cried.
Kakashi's eyes widened. "Is he going for a long-range counter?!"
As Kakuzu's threads pierced the Naruto holding the Rasenshuriken, everyone gasped.
"Got you," Kakuzu sneered. But a moment later, his smile vanished.
"What! A shadow clone?!"
In that instant, Kakuzu realized he had been played. The boy was incredibly bold, the real Naruto had hidden among the three decoys, using the most obvious "target" to bait Kakuzu into a predictable move. He had been outmaneuvered!
By the time Kakuzu turned to attack the Naruto with the Rasenshuriken, two clones and the original were already forming a second one behind him.
"Take this!!!"
Kakuzu was struck from behind. The strongest Wind Release jutsu exploded, unleashing a massive torrent of chakra.
Trapped in mid-air, Kakuzu was bombarded by the storm. The high-density chakra, vibrating and rotating at extreme speeds, began to systematically destroy all 130 trillion cells in his body on a microscopic level.
Watching the devastation, Kakashi was stunned. "The frequency of the attacks is astronomical... even the Sharingan can't keep up."
"What a terrifying jutsu..." Kakashi whispered.