Within the space of the Flower Realm, Danzo stumbled and fell hard against the ground. He stared at the Sharingan embedded in his arm, and just as he prepared to activate Izanagi, a flash of sword light streaked across the air.
Slash!
Danzo's arm hit the ground with a dull thud. He gritted his teeth, his expression contorted in agony.
Since entering the Flower Realm, his Izanagi had completely failed to trigger!
"Who are you?!" Danzo cried out, his face pale with shock.
Standing amidst the field of flowers before him was a young girl who looked exactly like Kanon. However, her eyes were worlds apart from Kanon's.
Twenty-four tomoe spun within those Rinnegan, as if they could see through all falsehoods and possessed infinite power. Although her silhouette was framed by swirling flower petals, just her gaze alone made Danzo feel as though his body was about to shatter.
Behind him, Kanon materialized from the void and picked up the arm that had been severed by the sword aura.
"I brought him," Kanon said.
She tossed the arm toward Konin. With a mere flick of Konin's hand, a massive force erupted, instantaneously vibrating Danzo's thigh into a mist of blood.
"Aaaaaagh!" Danzo let out a blood-curdling scream. How is this possible? Could a Rinnegan like that truly nullify Izanagi?
"Who... who are you exactly..."
Kanon grabbed him by the hair, forcing his head up.
"Shouldn't you be worrying about what happens to you next, you old dog, Danzo?"
Nearby, flower petals plucked every Sharingan from the severed arm and placed them into a specialized container. Konin then walked over to stand before Kanon.
"There are six Sharingan left."
"Is that all that's left?"
"Mm. I'll keep them safe for now." After speaking, Konin vanished without so much as a glance at Danzo.
Only Kanon remained, standing over the trembling, cold-sweat-drenched Danzo.
"In my space, you can't use a single jutsu. Every medium for chakra is controlled by Konin and me. Stop struggling, Danzo." Kanon grabbed Danzo by his clothes, and in a flurry of petals, they teleported.
This was her world. Kanon was the absolute ruler of the Flower Realm. Within this domain, she could do whatever she pleased.
In an instant, they reappeared in a vibrant, crystalline field of flowers.
Danzo gritted his teeth, but then he froze. Before him stood three coffins. Fugaku Uchiha, Mikoto Uchiha, and Jiraiya lay within these crystal caskets. Time had been halted here; they remained exactly as they had looked in life.
"Why did you bring me here?!" Danzo started to shout, only to realize that his leg had completely regenerated.
Countless cherry blossom petals wound around him like ropes, binding him tight. Danzo stumbled to his knees, and Kanon reached out, pulling his hand toward her.
Seeing the squint-eyed, smiling gaze Kanon directed at him, Danzo felt a wave of primal terror surge from the depths of his soul.
In the next moment, Kanon produced a kunai and drove it straight through Danzo's left hand.
"Aaaaaagh!" Danzo shrieked.
"Scream louder, Danzo, you old dog."
Snap! The kunai was used to ruthlessly rip out Danzo's tendons. Endless blood flowed onto the crystalline flower field beneath him, yet the ground remained unstained, refusing to absorb the filth.
"Aargh!" Another finger was severed. Danzo felt himself being systematically dismantled, the pain becoming unbearable.
Watching his fingers being snapped one by one and then sliced off by the kunai, Danzo began to foam at the mouth. He was nothing more than a fish on a carving board, left to Kanon's mercy.
Kanon looked at the mangled hand and the dying Danzo.
"We're not done yet. Where to next?"
"I'll keep injecting chakra into you to make sure you stay conscious."
Kanon felt Danzo's chest, pressing the tip of the kunai against his skin.
"How about we start by opening a hole right here? I'm going to pull out everything inside you, then shred it all to pieces."
An hour later, Danzo's face was ashen, devoid of any sign of life. Every internal organ had been destroyed. Furthermore, before he died, Kanon had subjected him to Tsukuyomi—in his mind, he had been bound for a century, enduring the pain of a thousand cuts.
Now, only a hollow shell of human skin remained. Kanon decapitated him with a single stroke of her sword and placed the head before Fugaku's grave.
"Mama, Sensei... I'll bring the heads of those other two elders next time."
Danzo's corpse was stiff, posed in a kneeling, kowtowing position before the two graves. Even though his head had been severed, it was placed right there. Since time was frozen in this field, Danzo's corpse would remain kneeling here for eternity.
Kanon washed the blood from her hands in a small stream. The Flower Realm was her private world; it had fields, it had water, it had everything she desired. Yet, she still felt a void in her heart.
She looked at Danzo's headless body kneeling before her parents, and a sense of catharsis washed over her.
Konin appeared beside Kanon, nodding slightly at the sight.
"Is it settled?"
"It's done." Kanon smiled and leaned her face against Konin's.
"That's gross."
"I'm leaning against myself! How is that gross?" Kanon pouted.
"Hmph." Konin turned her head away dismissively. "You should head back out."
"True." The Flower Realm opened before Kanon.
"We move according to the plan now, Kanon. Before the Great Ninja War begins, there is one very important thing we must do."
"I know. I haven't forgotten," Kanon nodded.
"Good. When the time is right, I'll let you know."
"Understood." Only in front of Konin would Kanon show a smile like this.
"Well, I'm off." With that, Kanon stepped out of the Flower Realm.
Watching the direction Kanon disappeared in, Konin whispered softly, "Only by completing this will I truly resolve everything... and finally be able to fight by your side in peace, Kanon..."
…
When Kanon emerged from the swirl of petals, Sasuke and Madara were no longer at the bridge. Only Karin remained, heartlessly abandoned by Sasuke and the masked man. She was useless to them now.
Seeing Karin unconscious on the ground, Kanon walked over to her.
"What happened to you?" Just as Kanon was about to shake Karin awake, the surrounding paper bombs were triggered. It was a trap set by the masked man.
"What?!" Kanon realized instantly. Karin had been discarded and knocked out as bait. If anyone tried to save her, the explosive tags would detonate, taking the rescuer down with her.
"How sinister," Kanon remarked calmly.
Ten seconds after the explosion, the figures of Kanon and Karin emerged from the smoke. Kanon had activated the Flower Realm just in time, turning both herself and Karin intangible to survive the blast.
The violent explosion jolted Karin awake. Staring at the horrific destruction before her, Karin screamed, but when she realized she hadn't felt the impact, she looked up in confusion.
When she saw Kanon, tears immediately began to stream down her face.
"Kanon... Sasuke was egged on by the masked man... he abandoned me..."
Kanon helped Karin up and patted the dust off her clothes.
"I apologize on his behalf for what he did to you."
"I'm sorry..." Kanon bowed her head deeply to Karin.
Startled by such a solemn apology, Karin was stunned. The terrifyingly powerful Kanon was actually apologizing for Sasuke's betrayal?
Noticing something, Kanon picked up Karin's broken glasses from the ground and personally placed them back on her face.
"I am truly sorry..." Kanon repeated.
There was no other reason than the fact that Karin genuinely cared for her and had been kind to her.
"It... it's okay." Karin looked at Kanon's apologetic expression. She looked so beautiful, so refined.
"What do you plan to do now?" Kanon asked.
"I want to go with you..."
"I can't allow that, Karin. What I have to do is too dangerous. I don't want to involve you." Kanon shook her head.
"I'm not afraid of danger... I only followed Sasuke because of you. But now that he's abandoned me, I want to stay with you forever."
Kanon remained firm in her refusal. Karin was a good girl; if she dragged her into the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kanon wouldn't be able to live with herself.
When Kanon snapped back to the present, she realized Karin's expression had changed.
Karin was looking at her with a flushed face, as if she wanted to devour her whole.
"Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Karin, don't do anything reckless!"
"Kanon-chan, worrying about me like this... you're exactly my type!" Karin lunged, tackling Kanon to the ground and rubbing her face frantically against her.
"Hey! Don't touch me there!"
No matter how much Kanon protested, Karin continued to nuzzle against her without a care in the world.
"Noooooo!!!"