Watching Naruto get sent flying by Kabuto time and time again, Tsunade could no longer bear to look.
"Naruto, run! You're no match for him!"
But Naruto ignored her pleas. He stared straight at Kabuto before glancing at Kanon, who sat in the distance watching him.
"That bet... we're settling it according to the deal."
"I'm taking that unlucky necklace!"
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
POOF!
A shadow clone materialized beside him.
"Enough! Stop trying to protect me, Naruto!" Tsunade cried. "Stop fighting!"
Kabuto looked down at Naruto with cold detachment. "I told you, didn't I? Acting tough like this will get you killed."
He raised a kunai and charged. "If you die, your dreams, everything, it all ends!"
"Enough! Get out of the way! Run!" Tsunade wailed, tears streaming down her face.
"It's okay."
Naruto smiled, allowing the kunai to pierce clean through his palm. He used every ounce of strength to grip Kabuto's hand, trapping it. Blood poured from the wound, but his expression remained one of absolute confidence.
"Because until I become Hokage... I'm definitely not gonna die!"
"Now you can't run away!"
At Naruto's side, his shadow clone began to churn chakra in his palm.
"Using a shadow clone to rotate the chakra irregularly? Interesting," Kanon murmured, a faint smirk touching her lips. She seemed to approve of this simplified method.
"Two more rotations!" Kanon unexpectedly shouted a tip to Naruto from across the battlefield.
"I've got it, Kanon!!!"
Naruto let out a roar. Following Kanon's guidance, a compressed sphere of chakra burst into a brilliant blue light.
"Rasengan!!!"
In that instant, the Rasengan in Naruto's hand unleashed a terrifying destructive force. Simultaneously, Kabuto struck a blow toward Naruto's heart, determined to take the boy down with him.
The Rasengan slammed into Kabuto, blasting him over ten meters away. Jiraiya and Orochimaru both stopped their struggle, eyes drawn to the spectacle.
"Naruto... that kid finally mastered it..."
"That Nine-Tails brat... he actually learned that jutsu..."
Kabuto lay slumped on the ground, heavily injured but not dead. He had exhausted his chakra and couldn't even manage to heal his internal wounds. Naruto, coughing up a mouthful of blood, collapsed into unconsciousness.
Tsunade rushed to Naruto's side and began frantic medical treatment, her tears falling onto his face as she fought to save his fading life.
In the distance, Kanon watched the scene with total indifference. Her expression didn't change once; she had seen from the start that Naruto wasn't going to die.
Sure enough, aided by the Nine-Tails' chakra, Naruto miraculously regained consciousness. He reached out and gripped the necklace around Tsunade's neck.
"Tsunade-baachan... this time... I win the bet..."
He turned his head toward Kanon. Trembling, he raised his hand to give her a peace sign, a small smile playing on his lips.
Kanon didn't say a word. She simply stood up, her observation concluded.
"Kanon... we're still friends, right...?" Naruto asked weakly before losing consciousness again.
Kanon gave no reply. She watched as Orochimaru, vomiting a sword from his mouth, charged toward the group. Tsunade intercepted him with a powerful kick that sent him flying.
"Impossible! How did you stop trembling?!" Orochimaru roared as he recoiled.
"Because I am..."
"The Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure!"
The seal on Tsunade's forehead released, and black markings flooded across her body.
"Even if you've overcome your phobia, you can't fight properly with those injuries," Orochimaru hissed.
Tsunade smirked. "Ninja Art: Mitotic Regeneration!!!"
As she roared, every wound on her body healed instantly. She then used her own blood to smear a summoning mark on her arm. Jiraiya followed suit, biting his finger, while Orochimaru flashed over to Kabuto to use his blood for a seal.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The three legendary summons appeared simultaneously: Manda, Gamabunta, and Katsuyu, each the size of a small mountain.
"Oh? This is starting to get interesting," Kanon remarked, looking at the massive creatures.
The Sannin stood atop their respective summons.
"Manda and Orochimaru, Katsuyu and Tsunade... all the old familiar faces," Gamabunta grumbled. "Are you three having a class reunion, Jiraiya?"
"Idiot, I haven't called you out in ages. Stop with the jokes. I'm putting an end to this long-standing grudge today!" Jiraiya declared. "I'm taking Orochimaru down!"
Manda hissed irritably. "Hey, Orochimaru, don't summon the Great Me for such a nuisance." When Orochimaru didn't answer, Manda grew even more enraged. "Bastard! Be careful or I'll eat you! Make sure you have a hundred human sacrifices ready for me after this!"
Tsunade ordered Katsuyu to take Naruto to Shizune for treatment. The battle was about to erupt.
But just as the three were about to move, a young girl stepped calmly in front of the three giant summons. Her pace was steady, her expression flat.
"It's that Uchiha brat! Hey! Jiraiya!!" Tsunade yelled in alarm.
"Kanon! Get back! It's dangerous here!!" Jiraiya shouted, frantic.
"Ho? Sasuke's sister... let me see what you're capable of!" Orochimaru hissed, eyes bloodshot.
Standing in the center of the legendary Sannin, Kanon scanned the three behemoths around her. Her lips curled into a slight, mocking smile.
"Even the 'Legendary Sannin' are useless. The Uchiha stand above the Sannin!"
Her three-tomoe Sharingan began to spin rapidly. A rose pattern emerged. The Mangekyō Sharingan.
"What?!" The three Sannin gasped in unison. Orochimaru was the most shaken, having experienced that power before.
But in the next heartbeat, they realized something was wrong. Kanon cast a single glance at the three summons.
Through the terrifying visual prowess of her Mangekyō genjutsu, all three mountain-sized creatures were instantly subjugated. Their eyes shifted, reflecting Kanon's rose-shaped pattern.
"Kanon, what on earth are you doing?!" Jiraiya gritted his teeth as he saw Gamabunta fall under her control.
The three Sannin were speechless. Just how much darkness had this girl endured to awaken such eyes?
"Me? I only have one objective."
Kanon leaped into the air. In front of Orochimaru, she drew the Kusanagi Sword from her waist and drove it straight into his chest.
SHING!
"AAAAARGH!" Orochimaru let out a gut-wrenching scream.
"You Uchiha brat!" He thrust his hand forward, nails lengthening into claws, aiming to pierce Kanon's skull.
The strike passed straight through her forehead. Intangibility. The feeling of striking thin air left Orochimaru helpless. Just as he thought to flee, Kanon's Mangekyō spun.
"Oh no—!"
Too late. Orochimaru's eyes were overwritten by the tomoe of the Sharingan. He, too, fell under her genjutsu.
"For laying a hand on my brother... die!"
Kanon raised the Kusanagi, swinging it toward Orochimaru's neck. At the last possible second, Kabuto appeared, parrying the strike before grabbing Orochimaru and retreating at high speed.
"Tsk. Their escape skills are first-rate," Kanon muttered, frowning.
Jiraiya and Tsunade stared at Kanon's back, a chill running down their spines at the sheer, icy killing intent she radiated.
"Jiraiya... your student is a literal monster."
"Hahaha..." Jiraiya scratched his head, powerless.
"Kid," Tsunade called out. "I don't know what you're after, but could you release our summons from that genjutsu?"
Kanon gave them a cold, sideways glance. The two summons were instantly freed, and her eyes reverted to the three-tomoe state. Without a word, she began to walk away.
"Kanon!" Jiraiya landed on the ground and called out to her.
She stopped, waiting for him to speak.
"What happened to make you like this? Everyone is worried about you."
Kanon turned her head slightly. Her expression was hollow, her eyes void of light as she spoke to Jiraiya and Tsunade.
"Everyone? Who is 'everyone'? That piece of trash village makes me sick."
"Tell Danzō this."
"From this point on, Kanon Uchiha has only one goal!"
"After I kill him and that animal Itachi Uchiha for shaming our clan..."
"I will destroy Konoha!"
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