"This is as far as you go, Kurenai-san."
Just as Itachi prepared to deliver a fatal blow, a familiar voice cut through the air.
"The only one whose journey ends here is you, Itachi Uchiha."
The newcomer was none other than Kakashi Hatake.
"It seems you know Kanon's whereabouts." Kakashi lifted his headband, his crimson Sharingan narrowing as he glared at Itachi.
"Kakashi Hatake." Itachi recognized the man standing in his way.
A grand battle was on the verge of erupting.
…
Within the Flower Realm, Kanon sat before a cluster of spider lilies. Her wounds were almost entirely healed.
She clenched her fists and changed into a fresh set of clothes. Her black hair now reached past her waist, and she wore a crimson Uchiha trench coat cinched with a white sash, complete with a ninja tool pouch.
Kanon's aura had transformed completely. Gone was the cute, lively girl of the past; in her place stood someone cold, lethal, and dangerous.
With an expression devoid of joy or sorrow, Kanon stepped out of the Flower Realm. She found herself in a small town within the Land of Fire. The streets were crowded, and her sudden appearance went unnoticed. She walked through the crowd with an air of total detachment.
Suddenly, two people caught her attention. They wore the exact same attire as Itachi Uchiha—black cloaks adorned with red clouds. One of them was carrying a burlap sack.
Analyzing them with her Sharingan, Kanon concluded that the sack contained a corpse.
"Kakuzu! Do we really have to go into a bathroom?!"
"Shut up! If you don't want to come in, wait outside."
"Fine, fine, I'm coming in," Hidan muttered, scratching his head.
Neither Kakuzu nor Hidan realized they were being watched. Kanon followed silently behind Hidan. To her, basic tailing was second nature.
They soon reached a desolate area where the duo entered a secret passage. Kanon activated her three-tomoe Sharingan and phased through the wall, continuing to shadow them.
The room inside was dim, dominated by a large sign that read Bounty Station.
"We're here," Kakuzu said, handing the sack over to an attendant. "Here's the cargo."
He dumped two stiff corpses out of the bag.
"Here's your payout."
"Hmm, let me see." The middleman inspected the condition of the bodies before handing the money to Kakuzu.
Kakuzu nodded, counted the cash, and left the station with Hidan.
Watching them depart from the shadows, Kanon's brow furrowed. She finally understood the nature of this place.
"Bounty hunters, huh?" she whispered to herself. "Whatever. Time to head out."
However, just as Kanon stepped out of the Bounty Station, a sharp shriek pierced the air.
"Aha! So the person tailing us was just a little girl!"
Hidan's scythe swung toward Kanon's face. The strike was incredibly fast, leaving no room for a normal dodge.
But Kanon didn't need to dodge. Hidan's blade passed clean through her head with zero resistance. In that instant, the Flower Realm expanded. Kanon's three-tomoe Sharingan spun; during her days of recovery, she had been relentlessly training her visual prowess.
Now, her Flower Realm ability, specifically her intangibility, no longer required the Mangekyō to trigger. It had become a passive reflex she could also control at will.
Hidan stared in confusion at his scythe, which had felt like it cut through air. Before he could react, Kanon spun her small body in mid-air. While still in her phased state, she delivered a solid kick that sent Hidan flying backward!
Watching Hidan crash into the ground, Kakuzu narrowed his eyes. He recognized those eyes instantly.
"The Sharingan?"
"This young, a girl... Itachi's sister, Kanon Uchiha?"
"What if I am? What if I'm not?"
The next moment, both Kanon and Hidan froze. Kakuzu had actually pulled out a bounty ledger.
"Strange. I don't see a price on your head..."
Before he could finish, Kanon's hands blurred into signs.
A dozen clones appeared instantly. Distracted by the clones, Kakuzu failed to notice a rose-shaped spatial distortion manifesting directly over the ledger in his hand.
This was an active offensive application of the Flower Realm!
Kakuzu instinctively let go. He felt that if he didn't, his entire hand would be snapped off by the twisting space.
Kanon watched the bounty ledger get sucked into her dimension and flashed a "cute" smile.
"Thanks for the book, onii-chan! I've got what I came for."
"You brat! You followed us just for this?!" Hidan barked.
"Of course. Why else would I follow you?"
"Then why didn't you just go inside and ask for one?!"
Hearing Kakuzu's question, Kanon put a finger to her lips, posing with feigned innocence.
"Oh, onii-chan... do you really think they'd give a bounty ledger to an eleven-year-old girl?"
Hidan was momentarily choked up by her "act." It actually made a twisted kind of sense.
"Since I'm done, I'll be going now!" Kanon waved and gave a light chuckle. "See you if fate allows!"
"You little—! I'll kill you!" Hidan fumed.
As Hidan prepared to lunged, he suddenly stumbled and hit the dirt. His leg had been seized by one of Kakuzu's extended thread-arms.
"It's just a ledger. Let her have it. Getting the money back to the organization is more important."
Kakuzu sounded indifferent, but he was wary of Kanon. That spatial distortion jutsu had given him a rare sense of unknown danger. This girl was not simple.
As he watched, Kanon was suddenly surrounded by swirling flowers—cherry blossoms, plum blossoms, roses. The space distorted, sucking her body inward until she vanished entirely.
It was as if she had never been there. Even Hidan was stunned.
"Space-time ninjutsu at such a young age?!" Kakuzu muttered, genuinely impressed.
…
Inside the Flower Realm, Kanon and Konin flipped through the ledger. They quickly found several familiar names.
"Isn't this Kakashi-sensei?" Kanon pointed to a 55-million-ryō bounty.
"55 million?" Konin nodded. "That's high. Flip forward."
They soon saw Asuma Sarutobi at 35 million.
"How about Asuma?" Konin asked.
"No way. Just looking at Konoha makes me sick right now."
"Then this one." Konin pointed to a 2-million-ryō bounty for an old man named Mura Shimochi.
"Konin, do you know him?"
"Nope."
"Then how are we supposed to find him?!" Kanon sighed.
"Did you forget who I am? Tracking a shinobi is child's play for me."
Konin closed her eyes and telepathically relayed the target's location to Kanon.
"Eh?! Why is he so close?!"
"Because I only picked the targets nearby," Konin deadpanned.
"Then let's go. We need funds for the journey."
In a house just ten kilometers away, an old man in his fifties sat alert. He was a jōnin from a minor nation, currently a rogue ninja. He was meticulously cautious, knowing his head was worth 2 million.
He had accidentally killed several civilians during a mission and was now lying low in this inn. As he scanned the room, a spatial vortex swirled silently behind him.
"Hello, oji-san."
The sweet, girlish voice sounded like a reaper's whisper.
"What—?!"
As Murakami turned, the chirping of a Chidori filled the room. A slender hand had already pierced his chest.
"A... child..."
His heart was punctured, and Kanon pulled his body into the Flower Realm.
Outside the Bounty Station, a vortex opened. Kanon calmly dragged a bleeding corpse inside, holding the ledger. Despite the middleman's shock, business was business. Kanon had earned her first "pot of gold."
Holding a suitcase containing 2 million ryō, Kanon vanished and returned to her dimension.
"Konin, this should be enough for the trip." Kanon placed the money before her counterpart.
"Good. Then let's move immediately." Konin held up three fingers. "There are three places where you can choose to grow stronger."
"Which three?"
"Mount Myōboku, Ryūchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest."
Kanon had heard of Mount Myōboku, but its close ties to Konoha made her sneer.
"We're going to Ryūchi Cave. I hate damp places."
"Then let's go. I'll lead the way. If we travel and train simultaneously, it should take about two months," Konin said.
"Two months is fine."
"Are you sure? The trials there are grueling. You aren't afraid of dying in Ryūchi Cave?"
Hearing the question, Kanon sat on the ground, staring up at the blood-red sky of her realm.
"I don't care what I become," she said coldly. "I don't care what I have to do. Even if I die there, I never want to see that weak version of myself again."
"I'm done looking at others. I only want to see myself and the people I need to kill."
"To avoid being a stray dog like I am now... Konin, I can bear any burden. We have no reason to feel sympathy for this shinobi world, right?"
Kanon gripped Konin's shoulders. Her hollow eyes and numb expression caused even Konin to falter for a second.
"That's right," Konin nodded.
"A failure who can't protect anything, who has to rely on the charity of others just to survive, has no right to talk big."
Kanon held out her pinky to Konin, a ghost of a smile on her face.
"I'll give it my all."