"Is the dream coming true?" Naruto asked, his voice trembling.
"Yes... it is," Kanon nodded.
"Can you tell me what the dream is?"
"The Infinite Flower Realm," she said softly.
"The Infinite Flower Realm?"
"Yes. It wraps the entire world in a garden of flowers, turning dreams into reality, an invincible law that rewrites causality."
Kanon's explanation was simple, and Naruto understood immediately. "Such a powerful law..."
Naruto's voice wavered. Kanon sensed his hesitation and smiled. "The ability to compensate for those countless regrets, it's worth trading everything for, isn't it?"
"No! Absolutely not!" Naruto gripped her hand, his expression agonizing.
Kanon only smiled. "Naruto, didn't you say you would support my dream?"
But Naruto lunged forward, wrapping his arms around her. His shoulders shook. The flowers around Kanon began to grow rapidly.
"Naruto, don't cry..." Kanon's voice choked.
"No! Kanon! If the price of this technique is you, then don't do it!" Naruto cried. "We're best friends!"
"Naruto..." Kanon's voice trembled, too.
"Kanon, you promised me... you promised you'd watch me become Hokage!" Naruto held her hand tight. "Did you forget?! You said you'd watch me become Hokage and save the world! So..."
Kanon embraced him back, her tears falling onto his shoulder. Beside them, Sasuke stepped forward. Seeing his own sister and Naruto in tears filled him with agony, knowing his sister was about to leave him forever. But he knew he no longer had the right to stand beside her, not when Madara, Kakashi, and Sakura had shown more dedication to her than he had.
Suddenly, Kanon touched his forehead. Sasuke's head snapped up. Kanon was smiling at him, a smile identical to the one Itachi had given him when he died. She tapped his forehead gently. "Forgive me, nii-chan. This is the last time."
Sasuke gritted his teeth. He, who had always been so silent and cold, let out a howl of grief. He hugged Kanon, burying his face in her chest. "Kanon! Let's go back together!"
"I can't... nii-chan..."
"I don't care!" Sasuke roared in front of everyone. "Forget about it! It was never your responsibility! Even if there are no more ninjas, even if the ninja world ceases to exist, it doesn't matter! Forget about these messy, grand theories! More than the world, I just want you to live! Live for yourself, Kanon! My love belongs to you alone!"
Stunned by Sasuke's heartfelt cry, the others stood frozen. This was a brother's true commitment. Sasuke had finally put Kanon above all else, embracing his sister and returning the family bond to her.
Kanon wept, but she was smiling. "Thank you... nii-chan. But my love... cannot belong only to myself."
She pushed Sasuke away and stepped back to the center of the cliff. Naruto looked at her, his tears falling.
"Naruto, remember the kunai I gave you when we first met?"
Naruto pulled the kunai from his pouch. It was etched with a flower pattern, polished and well-kept, not a speck of rust upon it. Kanon's Rinnegan trembled as she looked at the gift she had once given him to help him become Hokage.
"The final step to the dream is here, Naruto." She spoke softly. "Take it and pierce my heart."
The words shattered the silence. Kakashi gasped. Sakura stared in disbelief. Sasuke and Madara shook with tremors.
"What did you say?!" Kakashi's pupils vanished in shock.
Naruto's hands trembled, his heart feeling as though it were being hammered by an invisible force. "Kanon, what is a future worth without you? I can't lose you!" he begged, his voice choking.
Kanon shook her head. Her eyes were filled with tears, but her gaze was resolute. "Naruto, you are a hero. Your shoulders carry the expectations and dreams of too many people. I am nothing but a criminal who ignited the Fourth Great Ninja War. It's okay. Treat this as the last thing you do for me, okay?"
She took Naruto's hand and placed the kunai in his palm. "You are the most important person in my life, Naruto. I want you to be the one to complete this final, heavy stroke."
"Let me welcome the true dream here, in this flower field. Let my shadow linger among these petals, and let it remain in your heart."
Naruto gripped the kunai, his body wracked with tremors. Kanon stood on her tiptoes and kissed his forehead. Then, she stepped back and closed her eyes, waiting. The sunlight filtered through the petals, casting a holy radiance upon her.
Naruto inhaled deeply, tears streaming down. He raised the kunai, his heart filled with unbearable pain. Madara stepped forward and pulled Sasuke back, understanding what Kanon's true dream had become.
The cliffside garden became a testament to their friendship and a place of eternal parting. Countless spatial vortices appeared, showering the area in cherry blossoms. The scene was hauntingly beautiful and deeply moving, leaving the onlookers in tears.
Naruto whispered through the falling petals: "Kanon, I don't know what love is, but I love you..."
"Yes, I know. Now, do it." Kanon remained calm, a faint smile on her lips.
The kunai flashed through the air, a final, sorrowful stroke.
Snap. The sound of a heart being pierced, the sound of flesh tearing.
Blood trickled from Kanon's lips. She didn't look pained; she was smiling, weeping, and blissful. She dabbed the blood from her lips with her finger and kissed Naruto's forehead one last time.
The entire mountain erupted in a final, brilliant bloom of flowers, as if they were seeing her off. As their lips parted, Naruto stared at her in a daze. Kanon grew paler, her body turning ice-cold.
"This... is my answer."
"I didn't want to carry any regrets before completing my dream. Naruto... this is my first kiss! Keep it safe for me!"
Kanon's white dress began to dye crimson. Her breathing grew faint, but her lips moved one last time:
"First Invincible Law..."
"Infinite Flower Realm..."
"Activate!"
A brilliant white light erupted from Kanon's Rinnegan. Everyone was forced to close their eyes. Even more shocking, Kanon's body vanished.
In its place, vibrant flowers sprouted from the earth, spreading rapidly. They grew everywhere, across the ground, onto the moon, and throughout the cosmos.
The Infinite Flower Realm had been successfully activated. The speed at which it expanded eclipsed the expansion of the universe itself by countless orders of magnitude. In the blink of an eye, the infinite starscape was bathed in blooms.
Kanon was gone. She could no longer be found within the ninja world. Her true self had become the Infinite Flower Realm itself.
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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]