On the roof of the Uchiha Police Force headquarters, the masked man had changed into a fresh set of clothes, waiting for Itachi to appear. A gust of wind swept by, and a figure materialized behind him.
"It is finished."
"You're covered in wounds?" Itachi noted, a flicker of surprise in his voice as he took in the masked man's state.
"That sister of yours is a true prodigy."
"Kanon? What happened to her?" Itachi asked, his voice tightening.
"Nothing. She's dead."
"You— No, never mind. Let's go," the masked man said softly to Itachi.
"You go first. I need to leave a final warning for Konoha's leadership."
As Itachi spoke, a spatial vortex swirled around the masked man. Within seconds, he had vanished completely. After he was gone, a small slip of paper drifted out from the distorted air where he had stood.
Itachi walked over and picked it up. Suddenly, his legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground, his pupils shrinking into pinpricks.
The note was from Kanon, written for him and Sasuke.
Itachi-niichan, Sasuke-niichan, I've gone out to look at the moon! I've already heated up dinner. There are Three-Color Dango for you, and salmon for Sasuke-nii.
P.S. Don't forget to take us to practice shuriken tomorrow!
Staring at the note, Itachi thought of Kanon, whom he believed was killed by Obito. He was consumed by an infinite struggle and bitterness, but he had already made his choice. There was no turning back now.
After threatening Danzo to ensure he wouldn't lay a finger on Sasuke, Itachi went to a secret meeting with the Third Hokage.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, "With this, the Hidden Leaf avoids a civil war. Peace has been preserved."
"Yes," Itachi replied, kneeling in a posture of absolute obedience.
"And yet, I feel only regret. I find myself wondering... was there truly no other way?"
"I am deeply sorry..."
Listening to Itachi's apology, Hiruzen felt a bitter pang in his heart. "I am the one who should apologize. From this moment on, Konoha will treat you as a rogue ninja who murdered his own kin. We will issue a warrant for your arrest, dead or alive."
"What do you intend to do now?" Hiruzen asked.
"I have secured the assistance of an organization called the Akatsuki. I will remain with them to ensure they do not violate our agreement."
With that, Itachi vanished in a Body Flicker, leaving the Third Hokage alone with his melancholy.
"Where there is light, there will always be shadows. The world cannot turn without either... that is the reality of things."
…
Two hours passed before Kanon was finally able to move. She slowly climbed down the cliff face using chakra to stick to the rock. Her body felt like lead; she stumbled with every step, her vision swimming.
After an hour of agonizing trekking, she finally reached the Uchiha District.
The sight that greeted her filled her with a primal terror. She doubled over, retching until her stomach was empty, but the horror remained. Bodies with hollow, eyeless sockets littered the ground. Many were clansmen she recognized.
The stench of blood was suffocating. Kanon had no time to process the carnage; she ran, her heart hammering against her ribs. Every corpse she passed was missing its eyes. Without even realizing it, her one-tomoe Sharingan snapped into focus.
She refused to believe the masked man's words. Not until she reached her home.
"Papa... Mama... Sasuke-niichan..."
Kanon's voice was a fragile thread, but there was no answer. Her breathing turned into frantic gasps as she searched every room. She even checked the secret chamber beneath the tatami mats, but her parents were nowhere to be found.
Only one room remained—a spare, empty room.
Kanon pushed the doors open. Her head snapped up; she saw the corner of a familiar garment. She rushed forward, but the image reflected in her crimson eyes was the lifeless bodies of Mikoto and Fugaku.
Sasuke was gone.
It had happened. Everything the masked man said was true. Faced with the absolute reality of the massacre, Kanon felt her "world" shatter. The field of flowers in her heart turned to ash. Her beloved parents, her cherished brothers… everything was gone.
She had so much she wanted to tell them. She wanted to tell Sasuke and Itachi that she had defeated a powerful enemy. But now, she couldn't utter a single word. Her body shook with a violent, uncontrollable tremor.
The parents she loved most had died at the hands of the brother who had been kindest to her.
"Why, Itachi-niichan?"
"Why would you do this... you promised me. You promised you and Shisui-niichan would practice shuriken with me..."
"We even made a pinky swear..."
A thousand memories flashed through her mind, each one a jagged shard of glass. Her heart felt as though it were being shredded by ten thousand blades. She couldn't understand why fate was so cruel, or why it had stolen everything she held dear.
Her pupils contracted violently. The tomoe of her Sharingan began to warp with grief. Blood vessels ruptured around her eyes, and two streaks of blood-tears carved paths down her face. She couldn't comprehend this reality. It was as if the world and her "field of flowers" had completely detached from one another.
In the Uchiha clan, when the Sharingan is subjected to the absolute peak of emotional trauma, it evolves.
Within her pupils, the single tomoe began to spin. It shifted to two, then three, but the vertigo didn't stop. The spinning accelerated, three tomoe merged and reshaped, transforming into the pattern of a blooming rose.
The Mangekyo Sharingan.
Blood-tears flowed from the corners of her eyes, the crimson fluid reflecting the bottomless depth of her agony. At this moment... Kanon, just how deep is your pain?
"I… I won't… I won't accept this!!!"
Kanon stuttered before letting out a primal scream toward the heavens, her entire being collapsing under the weight of the trauma. Veins bulged on her forehead as her body buckled under the intensity of her grief.
"What is this place?! I refuse to accept this as my field of flowers!"
Suddenly, from Kanon's right Mangekyo, countless cherry blossom petals erupted. Wherever the petals touched, they left traces of black flames and distorted the very fabric of space-time.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Shaking, Kanon reached out to pull her mother's body into an embrace. Her trembling hand reached for the cold form of her mother, draped over her father's corpse.
But her hand passed straight through Mikoto's body.
The shock froze her heart. Her despair and pain were second to none; the rose-shaped Mangekyo pulsed with unstable energy. Kanon desperately tried to touch their faces, longing for a hint of warmth or a ghost of a breath, but their bodies were already stiff, their blood dried.
Finally, she stood up, her expression bordering on madness. "Ah... I see. I'm not in a field of flowers. I must be... in Hell."
Kanon looked forward, but the scenery in her eyes was no longer her home. It was a world made of layer upon layer of vibrant, multicolored flower fields. Glistening, translucent blossoms grew alongside vivid, radiant flora, a sight of haunting beauty.
"This is it... the true Flower Realm..."
Kanon whispered in a pained, hollow tone, her blood-tears never ceasing.