What is true strength? This is true strength!
Mountains split asunder and landscapes flattened, this was the true, terrifying might of the Uchiha.
Tsunade, alongside the other four Kage, staggered backward, staring in sheer horror at the two Complete Susanoo towering over them, one in front of the other.
Onoki finally snapped out of his daze, casting his eyes over the absolute devastation around them. "If it were just me alone, the map wouldn't have been redrawn on such a massive scale."
"This must be quite distressing for you," Madara spoke down to them, his voice calm yet deafening. "Both Kanon and I are here."
Hearing Madara's words, the Five Kage stood frozen, utterly at a loss.
"What?! The mountains were completely split open!" Mei Terumī gasped, her face pale with horror. "Is this the power of the Uchiha? Madara Uchiha... Kanon Uchiha..."
Onoki gritted his teeth, shifting his gaze to Madara. "Then... why back then... why didn't you kill us?!"
Madara replied with cold indifference, "What adult throws a tantrum when dealing with children?"
"More importantly, take a look at Kanon behind you. She is a child as well."
"If you are finished throwing your little tantrum, prepare to face her wrath."
Behind them, Kanon's Complete Susanoo took a step forward, making the very earth shudder beneath its weight. Madara's colossus did the same. Two avatars of destruction were advancing in unison.
Onoki forced himself to rally his flagging spirit. "Even though we have lost our way time and time again..."
"We have finally found a path forward! How can we allow ourselves to be stopped here?!"
Looking down at Onoki's unyielding willpower, Madara sneered contemptuously. "The Susanoo is the very definition of destruction."
"A single strike possesses the power to smash all creation."
"And with the combined might of Kanon and myself, our power has long since surpassed that of the Tailed Beasts."
Kanon let out a cold laugh. Within the hand of her Susanoo, a massive, brilliant blue Chidori began to coalesce. "Old man, you certainly know how to endure. In that case, take your precious 'path forward' and drag it down to hell with you, Five Kage!"
Lightning flashed violently. From the crimson Susanoo, a titanic Chidori Sharp Spear manifested, piercing straight into the heavens.
The lance of pure lightning stretched nearly ten thousand meters into the sky. As it swept through the air, it unleashed a piercing, deafening screech. Thick storm clouds swirled overhead as lightning crackled and thunder roared, sounding like the furious wrath of the gods.
Amidst this suffocating pressure, Kanon stood suspended within the crystal helm of her Susanoo. A cold, merciless glint shone in her eyes as her avatar's hands channeled an immense surge of chakra.
Dust and debris swirled wildly. Giant boulders trembled violently, and the ground shook in a chaotic frenzy. Just as Madara had said, the Susanoo possessed the power to smash all creation.
Tsunade had witnessed something like this once before in her lifetime, the day Konoha was destroyed.
It was a lingering shadow that had haunted her from that day until now. Standing before such a monolithic entity, she felt like a mere ant, so utterly microscopic that a single breath could wipe her out of existence.
"Tsuchikage-sama... I'm sorry, but this is the end," Mei Terumī said, her head bowing in defeat.
"Shut up, Mizukage! I haven't given up yet!" the Raikage roared. Beside him, Tsunade's hands flew into a blur of hand seals. Indeed, she hadn't given up either.
Yet, at that exact moment, Madara's distant Susanoo began to disintegrate. A brilliant white light started to emanate from his body.
However, the strike capable of smashing all creation had already been unleashed.
"Die," Kanon commanded softly.
With her quiet declaration, the Chidori Sharp Spear held by her Susanoo swung down with an unstoppable, catastrophic force.
The friction between the lightning and the air generated a blinding radiance, appearing as though a literal bolt of divine judgment was cascading from the heavens.
BOOOOOM!!!
A terrifying explosion ripped through the battlefield, instantly drowned out by the agonizing screams of the Five Kage.
The earth beneath them shattered like fragile glass. As the Chidori Sharp Spear cleaved downward, a colossal chasm formed instantly. The soil was torn apart by the overwhelming force, flipping outward to expose the bedrock deep below.
The width and depth of the fissure expanded at an alarming rate, as if the earth itself were undergoing a violent, scarring surgery. The surrounding terrain buckled and cracked under the intense vibrations, throwing massive boulders and clouds of dust into the sky, triggering a localized earthquake.
The destructive momentum of the Chidori Sharp Spear did not stop there. It continued to tear forward, and the chasm extended along with it, looking to cleave the entire world in half.
The scent of ozone and scorched earth filled the air. The piercing shriek of lightning and the grinding roar of tearing earth intertwined, composing a symphony of absolute annihilation.
When the Chidori Sharp Spear finally dissipated, it left behind a massive canyon thousands of meters long, a permanent, unhealing scar carved into the face of the earth. The landscape had been completely rewritten by a single blow; what was once a flat plain was now dominated by a deep, terrifying abyss.
As Kanon's Susanoo faded away, only Tsunade and Gaara remained standing on the battlefield. They had barely managed to evade the strike, but both were severely wounded.
The Raikage, A, and the Mizukage, Mei Terumī, had been turned to literal ash amidst that all-shattering strike. Mei's body had been cleanly sliced in two.
Meanwhile, OŌnoki, who had been standing at the very front, had actually used an earth-burrowing technique to escape. Faced with a blow of such apocalyptic proportions, even the Five Kage had to flee from its edge. It was Onoki who had managed to pull Tsunade and Gaara to safety at the last possible second.
With a single swing of Kanon's blade, the Five Kage were instantaneously reduced to Three.
Yet, Kanon did not even spare a glance at the remaining three. They were already defeated. To her, just as to Madara, those who fell by her hand were nothing more than ants, deserving of nothing but utter disdain.
Kanon and Madara deactivated their Susanoo simultaneously and stood side by side.
"What is happening?" Madara murmured, looking down at his hands and the white light enveloping his body. "Has something happened to the caster?"
"He's practically been sealed by now. That's why my shadow clone forced him to release the Reanimation Jutsu, consider it my final gift to you," Kanon explained softly to Madara. "As Madara Uchiha, surely you aren't incapable of undoing a jutsu like this?"
Hearing Kanon's words, Madara let out a faint, amused chuckle.
"Indeed. The Reanimation Jutsu has a glaring weakness. Besides, our primary military assets have essentially vanished. There is no longer any point in maintaining this technique; it would only be a waste of energy."
Watching the white particles of light drift upward, Gaara asked in bewilderment, "That light... what exactly is it?!"
"Madara's Susanoo vanished, and..."
"The debris of the Reanimation Jutsu is scattering into the wind."
"There is no doubt about it..."
Hearing Onoki's trembling voice analyze the situation for the remaining Kage, Kanon smiled and called out to them.
"The Reanimation Jutsu has been released."
"What?! Kabuto's location hadn't even been discovered yet! This is too fast!" Tsunade gasped in shock.
"Don't get the wrong idea, Kage," Kanon said indifferently. "Even if the Reanimation Jutsu is undone, it won't change your fate of being crushed to dust."
"The Raikage and the Mizukage are living proof of that."
"Putting aside how they found Kabuto... to actually force him to stop the jutsu, just who could have done it?" Tsunade muttered in wonder.
Onoki looked up at Madara and Kanon. "It doesn't matter who it was! Whoever they are, they are a hero who has protected the shinobi world!"
"It seems heaven hasn't abandoned us just yet."
Seeing this, Kanon shook her head in mild amusement. She turned to the man beside her and laughed softly, "Look at that. The old man is actually thanking me."
At Kanon's remark, even Madara could barely keep a straight face.
Enveloped in the glowing white light, Madara took a step forward and looked down at Onoki.
"It seems you have some capable shinobi among your ranks after all."
"Very well then." With those words, Madara leapt directly toward the remaining Kage.
Seeing this, Onoki frantically yelled to warn Tsunade and Gaara.
"It's not over yet! Even if Madara falls, we still have to deal with Kanon Uchiha!"
"He's trying to make one final, desperate struggle before he disappears!"
"Be on your guard!"
Sure enough, as Madara lunged toward the trio, his hands blurred through hand seals, exhaling a massive fire.
Tsunade leapt into the air, using both hands to violently swat away the incoming dragons of fire. However, the markings of her Strength of a Hundred Technique rapidly began to recede from her skin.
"The Strength of a Hundred is spent..."
"But... at least we managed to handle one Uchiha..."
Tsunade smiled wearily as she watched Madara's soul begin to drift out of his reanimated vessel. But in the very next instant, the surrounding dust violently surged back onto Madara's body.
The Reanimation vessel reformed perfectly, striking sheer terror into the hearts of Ōnoki and Gaara. Behind Madara, a skeletal Susanoo materialized, swinging its massive blue chakra blade straight down at Tsunade.
Positioned behind Tsunade, Kanon witnessed the entire sequence perfectly through her Sharingan. Suddenly, a fresh surge of chakra had erupted within Tsunade.
"Is that Dan Katō's Spirit Transformation Technique?"
"Yes, it's him," Konin's voice echoed within Kanon's inner consciousness.
"It seems the intelligence Kabuto-senpai gathered was accurate after all. Dan really was the lover of the Fifth Hokage," Kanon noted with a slight nod.
As if sensing Dan's voice, Tsunade had begun communicating with him within her own consciousness.
For some reason, Tsunade's vital force was rapidly being restored.
"The Spirit Transformation Technique truly is remarkable, to be able to restore vitality to someone on the brink of death." Kanon watched as Tsunade glared back at her with unyielding determination, the corners of Kanon's lips curving into a beautiful, amused smile.