Sasuke was the first to charge toward Obito and Kanon. As he ran, he called out to Naruto, "Naruto! This time, I'll use my Sharingan to perfectly match your chakra ratio!"
"Ha! You really hate losing, don't you?!"
In a flash, Naruto and Sasuke unleashed their combined Scorch Release: Halo Hurricane Jet Black Arrow Style Zero, hurling it directly at Kanon and Obito, though their primary target was Obito.
Kanon reflexively started to manifest her own Scorch Release: Halo Hurricane Jet Black Arrow Style Zero to intercept and cancel out their attack, but Obito held up a hand to stop her.
"Hey, you idiot! Did you forget you've been marked with a Flying Raijin formula?!"
Even as Kanon barked out the warning, she was already swinging her sword in a brutal arc right behind Obito.
Her prediction was flawless. Tobirama gasped in sheer shock as his body materialized right into the path of her swinging blade; he had used the Flying Raijin Technique to teleport behind Obito at that exact millisecond.
Kanon's blade severed Tobirama's arm cleanly, but even in that split second, the Hokage still had a countermeasure prepared.
"Let me take over, Lord Second!" Minato bellowed.
In a heartbeat, Minato and Tobirama executed a seamless positional swap via the Flying Raijin. Tobirama's intended role was instantly picked up by Minato. It had to be said that Hokage were in a class of their own; when it came to tactical execution and raw combat experience, they were leagues ahead of Naruto and Sasuke.
"A positional swap using the Flying Raijin? Boring!" Kanon extended a single hand, driving her Chidori Sharp Spear straight through Tobirama, who had suddenly appeared right in front of Naruto and Sasuke.
However, Tobirama's mission was already accomplished. Naruto and Sasuke's Scorch Release: Halo Hurricane Jet Black Arrow Style Zero slammed squarely into Tobirama's chest.
As the impact sent his Reanimation body hurtling backward, Tobirama said coldly, "Right now, your jutsu is stronger than ours. You two need to be the primary attackers."
With those words, Minato, who was still positioned at a distance, activated the Flying Raijin and swapped places with the incoming Tobirama.
As Minato materialized near Kanon, he glanced at her, only to find her expression completely unbothered. For some reason, despite the impending disaster, Kanon remained utterly composed.
If their swap succeeded, the one who would take the full force of the Scorch Release: Halo Hurricane Jet Black Arrow Style Zero would undoubtedly be Obito. Did Kanon truly not care if Obito failed?
No! Based on everything he knew about Kanon, she wasn't the type to be completely indifferent to her allies.
But the battlefield was shifting at a breakneck pace, leaving Minato no time to overthink.
Sure enough, the two Hokage executed their synchronized gambit perfectly.
"Flying Raijin: Mutually Instantaneous Revolving Technique!" Minato roared.
Instantly, Obito was forcibly swapped into Minato's previous position.
"I name this jutsu the Scorch Release: Halo Hurricane... whatever, just hit him!"
Minato held Obito firmly in place, staring ahead at Naruto and Sasuke. The plan was a total success, the Scorch Release: Halo Hurricane Jet Black Arrow Style Zero scored a direct hit!
Except...
"Fourth!" Tobirama bellowed from afar.
The entire group stiffened in horror. Even Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened in absolute shock as their Scorch Release: Halo Hurricane Jet Black Arrow Style Zero phased cleanly through Obito's abdomen and slammed directly into Minato instead.
"What?!" Minato gasped. It was only then that he realized Kanon had appeared right beside them.
Kanon had kept her hand firmly planted on Obito's shoulder, utilizing her own Flying Raijin Technique. In the precise microsecond the Hokage had initiated their spatial swap, she had seen right through Tobirama and Minato's tactical intent.
Not only had she read it, but she had also executed an instantaneous countermeasure. By timing her own spatial jutsu, she allowed Obito to utilize his intangibility, letting the massive combined attack phase straight through him and detonate right against Minato.
A cataclysmic explosion ripped through the area, engulfing Minato and sending the newly swapped Tobirama flying back through the shockwaves. Columns of violent energy surged outward, unleashing a suffocating wave of destruction across the battlefield.
Naruto and Sasuke stood completely paralyzed. In that single fraction of a second, they couldn't even process what had transpired; the figures in front of them had swapped repeatedly, only for their ultimate attack to phase through Obito and obliterate their own allies.
The massive disturbance on the distant front line caught the attention of the medical corps. Sakura turned to the girl beside her, asking anxiously, "Hinata! What's happening with Naruto and Sasuke?!"
Hinata, her Byakugan active, suddenly gasped and collapsed weakly to the ground, her face pale with horror.
"What is it?!"
Through the vision of the Byakugan, Sasuke was currently pinned down, with Kanon raining a brutal succession of punches straight into his face. Blood sprayed from his mouth and nose as he screamed in agony.
A short distance away, Naruto had been run clean through the heart by the Kusanagi Sword, forced to his knees as his body desperately tried to regenerate.
"Is this all you've got? It looks like Itachi didn't teach you a single damn thing," Kanon said coldly.
She hauled Sasuke up by his collar. In terms of pure taijutsu, Sasuke was completely outmatched; he had been dismantled within a few exchanges and was now subject to a merciless, bone-crushing beatdown.
Despite his agonized screams, Sasuke gritted his teeth and snarled, "Shut up... Itachi was the true Uchiha..."
"Tch." Kanon tossed Sasuke into the air, spun on her heel, and delivered a devastating kick straight to his face.
He was sent crashing across the dirt, plowing a deep trench into the battlefield. The sheer force of the impact nearly dislocated Sasuke's neck and knocked out several of his teeth. If it hadn't been for the residual protection of his Susanoo, his head would have been taken clean off.
"Sasuke!"
"Kanon! How can you be so heartless?! He's your biological older brother!" Naruto roared, struggling against his wound.
"So what? I told you before, didn't I? I lost my home a long time ago."
"I have nothing left to lose. No one can ever hurt me again."
"And that includes you."
Kanon stabilized her stance, instantly driving her open palm hard into Naruto's chest.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"
Boom!
Naruto's eyes rolled back into his head as the concussive force exploded, carving a massive, cavernous palm print into the earth beside him.
"You see the individual tree, but you fail to see the forest. You and I will never understand each other."
With those words, Kanon raised her hand, the translucent cube of Dust Release manifesting over her palm to deliver the final blow. She looked down at Naruto beneath her boot and whispered softly:
"Goodbye, my best friend."
Boom!
The Dust Release expanded and consumed the target, leaving Naruto vanished from the spot.
Kanon merely narrowed her eyes in a cold scowl. The entity she had just disintegrated into molecular dust was actually Minato's Reanimation body; the Fourth Hokage had managed to teleport Naruto away at the very last second.
However, she didn't particularly care. Further across the field, Obito had already ascended into the air, and Tobirama's jutsu was proving entirely ineffective against him.
With a swift flash, a trail of pink light streaked across the battlefield as Kanon materialized right beside Obito, stepping firmly onto a Truth-Seeking Ball he had deployed to serve as her platform.
Tobirama turned to the slowly reconstructing Minato, his voice grave. "Our attacks are practically useless..."
"We cannot make contact with those black spheres that shift shape. Even if our attacks land, they do no damage. His offensive and defensive speeds are incredible."
"And to make matters worse, that troublesome Kanon is guarding his flank..."
Kanon's sheer versatility was making the four of them taste nothing but bitter defeat at every turn.
Sasuke dragged himself up from the deep crater, wiping the trail of crimson from his lips, while Naruto utilized the Nine-Tails' chakra to help mend Sasuke's fractures.
"This is bad..." Sasuke muttered, his breathing ragged.
"He's even stronger than I imagined him to be in my dreams, and with Kanon backing him up... their synergy is completely flawless right now!" Naruto said, his expression tight.
"The biggest obstacle right now is Kanon. She's far too difficult to handle. Is she truly a year younger than you two, Naruto?!" Minato noted grimly.
Sasuke stared up at Kanon with a deeply conflicted expression. It was true, the girl standing before them was a mere fifteen years old, yet she was currently driving the legendary Hokage into an absolute corner.
"It seems she has indeed obtained a dreamlike, terrifying level of power," Minato murmured.
Suddenly, Tobirama's gaze locked onto Minato's missing limb. "Something is wrong, Fourth."
"What is it?"
"You only lost a single arm. By all accounts, the paper and debris of the Reanimation Jutsu should have gathered to restore it by now."
"Yet your Reanimation body hasn't shown a single sign of recovery."
Hearing Tobirama's observation, Obito spoke from above, his voice flat and detached. "I have already attained a power equivalent to the progenitor of all shinobi."
"With your archaic experiences, you cannot fathom the depth of my current strength."
"The power of the Sage of Six Paths? Yin-Yang Release? What is that?" Minato asked, confusion clouding his features.
Tobirama, however, managed to piece the truth together from Kanon and Obito's words.
"Listen to me, Fourth... you cannot afford to sustain any more severe injuries."
"Even though you possess a Reanimation body, I suspect the jutsu he is utilizing is grounded in Yin-Yang Release, which possesses the property to nullify all ninjutsu."
"In other words, even for a Reanimation body, if you take a direct hit from that power, you will be unable to regenerate... and you will die!"
"Furthermore... you should accept that your right arm is never coming back."
Minato nodded slowly, absorbing the gravity of Tobirama's analysis. "If that's the case, I will have to proceed with extreme caution."
"But the real problem isn't just that ninjutsu is useless against him; it's Kanon standing right by his side," Tobirama pointed out.
"Then what about pure physical attacks?"
"We'll have to test it out."
Naruto stared up at Obito and Kanon standing shoulder-to-shoulder, a pang of intense sorrow squeezing his heart. If things hadn't gone down this tragic path, would the one standing by his side right now have been Kanon instead?
Ultimately, Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts. He caught Sasuke's eye and said softly:
"Sasuke."
"What?" Sasuke replied, his gaze locked coldly on their opponents.
"We're going to have to push ourselves way harder than before. We can't let Kanon beat us again."
"Can you keep up?"
"Don't underestimate the Uchiha."
"Alright! Let's crank Kurama Mode up to the max! Tailed Beast State!"
Just as Naruto prepared to unleash his explosive chakra, he froze. The golden shroud of his Kurama Mode vanished from his body in an instant.
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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]