Naruto - Azure Awakening

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<<<>>>

Ao was fuming as he read Yagura's latest order.

'Retreat and join the main force to attack Takimura.'

His grip on the paper tightened, his frustration boiling over as he slammed it onto the table.

"What the hell is the Mizukage thinking?!" His voice echoed through the room, but no one moved to stop him. No one even disagreed.

He had expected Yagura to see reason. Kumo was preparing to invade the Land of Water, and Ao had sent the intelligence back to the main camp without delay. He thought the Mizukage would adjust his strategy, put aside his obsession with Takimura, and focus on defending the nation from a real enemy. But no. Yagura was still fixated on a single village, ignoring the clear threat of a full-scale invasion.

Ao's fury only grew as he turned to his subordinates. "Our land is one of the easiest to defend, but if we let them move freely, that will change!" His voice cracked from the force of his anger, but no one spoke against him.

The Land of Water was unlike the other nations. It wasn't a vast, continuous landmass but a network of islands, each naturally protected by the water surrounding it. Invading forces had to move entire armies across treacherous seas, where Kiri's superior water affinity made it nearly impossible for enemy ships to reach the shore. Even if they managed to land, securing supplies and maintaining control over scattered islands would be a logistical nightmare. The country was nearly impossible to conquer - unless the village responsible for its defense ignored the incoming threat entirely.

And that was exactly what Yagura was doing.

Ao gritted his teeth, his hands clenching into fists.

"I thought Yagura was going to be the leader we needed. After the previous Mizukage, all we wanted was someone just and rational, not another lunatic. I kept hoping there was a plan behind his decisions, that he had some deeper strategy I just couldn't see. Why else would he be lenient toward Takimura while sending our own shinobi to die pointlessly? It made no sense, but I still tried to believe in him."

He exhaled sharply, trying to control his anger, but it was already too late for restraint.

"He's slaughtering people we could have absorbed into our ranks if someone had just spoken to them. He's ignoring the real enemy while we waste our strength on a fight that we initiated. He's abandoning our borders and leaving us vulnerable. This isn't leadership. This is madness."

His next words carried a weight that shifted the entire atmosphere in the room.

"I was going to step down from the council even before this war started. I had my doubts, but I stayed because I thought Yagura might be leading us toward something greater. I was wrong." His single eye moved across the room, searching for resistance but it found none. Every shinobi present had the same bitter expression.

"I will fight against Kumo until I die. And I hope you all will join me."

Silence filled the tent.

Slowly, the murmurs started. Some were quiet, others louder, but none objected. One by one, his men nodded, their resolve hardening with each shout and nod.

In that moment, Ao and his five hundred shinobi became rebels, but they were prouder than ever.

Unlike Takimura, they weren't just facing Yagura. They were about to stand against the overwhelming force of Kumo. Their situation was far worse, but none of them hesitated.

It didn't matter how desperate their position was.

They would not follow a tyrant.

<<<>>>

The jonin Kaoru faced was proud of his taijutsu and kenjutsu, just like most Kirigakure shinobi. Every village had its strengths and shortcomings, but most tried to maintain balance between different disciplines. Kiri was the exception.

Konoha, for example, was stronger than other villages in genjutsu and was weaker in kenjutsu, but they never neglected it entirely. They aimed for versatility, ensuring that even if a shinobi had a specialty, they weren't completely helpless in other areas.

Kirigakure, on the other hand, outright refused to develop certain skills. Their entire focus was on sheer force - kenjutsu, ninjutsu, taijutsu… they believed that sheer brutality and power were the only paths to victory. But this rigid approach had a weakness, when faced with an opponent who countered their strengths, they struggled.

And that was exactly what was happening now.

The Hozuki jonin Kaoru faced was undoubtedly stronger and more experienced, but he lacked the speed to land a hit. Even if he managed to close the distance, Kaoru's Water Guardian would render his kenjutsu useless, forcing him to expend massive amounts of power just to break through Kaoru's defenses.

But unlike most Kiri shinobi, the Hozuki Clan had an answer for nearly every opponent. Their liquefaction technique made them exceptionally difficult to kill, allowing them to avoid attacks that would have instantly ended other shinobi.

On the other hand, Kaoru was also eager to test his Suijingan against it.

Kaoru charged forward, Nagizume already closing in.

The Hozuki jonin moved to intercept, his blade flashing as he swung to counter. Kaoru was already shifting his stance, using his reach advantage to swing first, forcing the jonin to block rather than strike.

Kaoru flickered to the side, resetting the distance before his opponent could push forward. The Hozuki jonin wasn't slow, his reactions were sharp and he adjusted quickly, but he still wasn't fast enough to catch Kaoru off guard.

Kaoru pressed the attack, but when his first two attempts at close-range strikes were blocked, he shifted tactics.

"Lingering Death."

Without slowing his movements, he kept attacking relentlessly with Nagizume, forcing the jonin to remain focused on defending against his weapon's deadly reach. At the same time, dark blue needles formed in his opponent's blind spot, hovering for only a fraction of a second before Kaoru spotted the perfect opening and launched them forward.

The Hozuki jonin's instincts flared, warning him of the incoming danger. Like any seasoned warrior, he had at least a basic level of sensory ability, allowing him to react just in time. He twisted his body, dodging most of the needles and blocking the rest, but after deflecting the first few, the sheer force behind them numbed his hands.

His movements stuttered, and in that brief hesitation, he missed the final needle.

It tore through his arm with monstrous speed, sending a sharp jolt of pain through his body.

"What the hell is this?" He scoffed as he instinctively grabbed his wounded arm. 'How can something so small hit with that kind of force?!'

The wound was tiny, just a pinpoint hole, yet the impact had been devastating.

Fortunately for him, the needle had passed through cleanly, missing both the tendons and bone, but the shock of the impact had rattled his entire arm.

He needed to reset the pace of the fight, but Kaoru wasn't giving him a chance.

Without warning, Kaoru attacked again, flickering to his opponent's left and swinging Nagizume in a wide arc. The jonin blocked but staggered slightly as his wounded army struggled against the force.

The Hozuki jonin was beginning to understand that the fight wasn't going in his favor.

'This kid uses the range of his weapon too effectively.'

Kaoru wasn't just faster, he was dictating the flow of battle. Every time the jonin tried to close in, Kaoru would either reset the distance or strike first with Nagizume's superior reach. He was always half a step ahead, keeping control of the fight in a way that was frustrating.

Realizing his current approach wasn't working, the jonin changed tactics.

Kaoru, seeing his opponent faltering, immediately pressed forward, spinning into another glaive strike meant to finish disrupting his rhythm.

But this time, the jonin didn't try to parry or counter. Instead, he jumped backward, leaving behind several explosive tags.

Kaoru caught the movement instantly.

'Tch. Not falling for that.'

He flickered backward, avoiding the blast as the tags ignited, sending flames through the battlefield.

The attack wasn't meant to injure him. It was only a distraction, a moment of separation to give the jonin the breather he needed.

The moment the explosion faded, his hands were already forming seals.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

A massive serpent of water rose from the battlefield. Its presence alone carried weight, as if it were a living creature, watching and waiting to strike.

Kaoru stood still, eyes locked on the jutsu, considering his options.

'Should I take control of it?'

His Suijingan allowed him to control anything water-related, including Water Release techniques used by his enemies, but the issue had always been chakra consumption.

In the past, even taking control of a chunin's simple technique had been taxing.

But this was a high-level jutsu from a jonin.

'Not worth it.'

His chakra was too valuable to waste on something that could be avoided instead.

'I'll just dodge and then attack to regain control of the fight.'

The water dragon surged forward, its massive jaws snapping toward him.

Kaoru flickered to the side, avoiding the attack, but the jonin was already moving.

Before Kaoru could reset his stance, the jonin flickered behind him with blade in hand, striking in a single fluid motion.

Kaoru twisted, barely managing to parry, but the force of the attack pushed him off balance for the first time in the fight.

'He timed that well and is stronger than me. He used the dragon as a feint to force a reaction, then closed the distance before I could counter.'

The Hozuki jonin's grip tightened on his sword as he pressed forward, knowing he had finally gained an opening.

His strikes came fast and relentless, pushing Kaoru back step by step.

Kaoru focused on parrying and redirecting, keeping his footwork sharp to prevent the jonin from completely taking control. Nagizume was a deadly weapon, but it wasn't made for prolonged close combat against a sword-user.

'I need to shift the pace again. If I let him control the rhythm, he'll cut me down.'

Kaoru flickered to the left, faking a retreat, but instead of moving further back, he twisted mid-motion, bringing Nagizume's bladed tip around in a sweeping arc.

The jonin barely dodged, but the attack forced him to disengage, giving Kaoru the space he needed.

Without wasting a second, Kaoru created dark blue needles, launching them toward the jonin's legs and arms, aiming to disrupt his movement rather than kill.

But the jonin had already formed a new set of hand seals.

"Water Release: Water Clone Jutsu!"

Kaoru's Suijingan immediately picked up on the change.

One body became two, both moving at the exact same speed, one slightly ahead of the other, attacking from opposite angles.

A standard opponent would have been tricked into attacking the wrong target, but Kaoru's Suijingan saw the difference instantly.

The clone was pure water. It was just an extension of the jōnin's jutsu, and more importantly, it couldn't block a real attack.

The jonin was trying to bait Kaoru into attacking the wrong target, forcing him into a disadvantageous position.

'Clever, but not good enough.'

Instead of focusing on either of them, Kaoru swung Nagizume downward, cutting into the ground beneath him. The force of the impact sent chunks of rock and dirt flying, kicking up a dense dust cloud.

The Hozuki jonin's vision was momentarily blocked, but his attack had already been set into motion.

The clone struck first.

But it was nowhere near the Hozuki jonin's level as it had missed the dark blue needle closing in. The moment the attack hit, the clone burst into the water, drenching Kaoru's cloak but doing nothing else.

The real jonin followed up immediately, trying to take advantage of the misdirection.

But Kaoru was already moving.

He flickered behind his opponent, swinging Nagizume with the intent to cripple.

The jonin twisted just in time, bringing his blade up to block.

Their weapons clashed once again, the force of the impact sending both of them skidding backward.

They were about to charge at each other when they sensed the insane amount of chakra getting unleashed distorting the space itself

"What the hell is that?" Kaoru could not help but murmur.

"Lord Mizukage has come" The jonin smiled smugly.

**

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