Naruto: Azure Awakening Ch 130 - I’m Not Going Anywhere

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“Kaoru! Be careful!” Akane shouted as she saw the kunoichi’s arm reach forward, dagger in hand and aid straight at Kaoru’s back.

She flared her chakra without hesitation and launched herself between them, unsheathing her blade in the process. But speed was never her strength. She excelled in raw power, not reaction ti, and in this mont, that difference mattered.

Scorpio’s dagger, forged from a strange green tal, was already closing in.

Kaoru turned just as it reached him, the movent saving his life but not sparing him from harm. The blade slashed across his chest, not deep, but enough to tear through his robe and draw blood.

“Shit,” he cursed through gritted teeth, staggering back as his dark blue robe was slowly painted crimson. He reached up instinctively, applying pressure to the wound while activating his Suijingan. The glow in his eyes sharpened, scanning his own body for internal damage.

‘Damn it. I still can’t track the flow inside my own body… but this…’

He couldn’t perceive inside, but the blood spilling from the wound told a different story. It moved erratically, pulsing with an unnatural rhythm. He’d seen people bleeding dozens of tis. This wasn’t normal.

‘The flow’s disrupted. That’s not just a cut… Was I poisoned?’

His gaze snapped back to Scorpio, who was already trying to flee. But Akane was relentless. Every swing of her sword was heavy, precise, and close to lethal. The rcenary had no ti to breathe, no space to maneuver. She was focused entirely on survival, her body twisting and ducking to avoid the blade with growing desperation.

“Don’t kill her! I might need the antidote!” Kaoru shouted, loud enough to cut through the clash of steel and chakra.

Akane’s body froze in place, her blade just inches from Scorpio’s neck.

It was all the rcenary needed.

With a quick step, she shoved Akane aside and tried to break into a sprint. But the mont her foot hit the ground, streams of water rose and twisted around her limbs, shaped into binding coils that clamped down with brutal force. Her arms and legs were pinned instantly, and her waist was yanked backward before she could take another step.

She hit the ground hard, completely immobilized.

Ao and Orihi rushed into the tent just seconds later. The sight of bloodied Kaoru made Ao's expression darken as his gaze locked onto Scorpio.

Without hesitating, he turned and barked sharp commands to the shinobi outside.

“Capture every rcenary who entered the camp today. No one leaves. If they don’t resist, bind them. If they do, show no rcy.”

His orders echoed across the clearing as Takimura shinobi moved in swiftly, surrounding the remaining rcenaries.

Confusion and panic rippled through the rogue-nin as they saw themselves surrounded.

“We didn’t do anything!” one of them shouted, his voice cracking. “That guy with the shark teeth… we’re not with him!”

“Are you going to kill us because that bastard insulted the kid?!”

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Katsuro muttered, “but let’s not make it worse.”

He slowly unstrapped the massive scythe from his back before setting it on the ground with both hands. “They’re not here to kill us,” he said under his breath. “So don’t give them a reason to.”

The others followed suit. Weapons were dropped. Arms raised. None of them dared provoke the shinobi now flooding into the camp.

And one by one, chakra-suppressing seals were applied as Takimura’s nin moved in to detain every last rcenary who had entered the camp.

“Kaoru, are you alright?” Orihi rushed to his side, eyes locked on the wound as she knelt beside him.

Scorpio tried to rise again, but Ao knocked her out with a brutal kick to the head. The blow was so fierce that Kaoru flinched, a spike of panic shooting through him.

“I need her alive!” he shouted. “I think I’ve been poisoned.”

The glow of his Suijingan intensified as he scanned Scorpio’s body. Her internal flow hadn’t weakened, she was still stable. But even before he could breathe a sigh of relief, Orihi had already forced him back against the chair and tore open the front of his robe to inspect the wound.

The look on her face made his stomach twist.

There was dread in her eyes. Panic. Her hands trembled for a mont before she coated them in a green glow, pushing chakra into his chest to begin her scan.

“I’ll be fine, Elder Orihi. Don’t worry about ,” Kaoru said with a forced grin, trying to calm her down. But his words didn’t reach her. The expression on her face only darkened.

Her hands worked faster.

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“Akane!” Orihi suddenly shouted, her voice sharp with desperation. “Go to the dical tent now! Tell my assistant to give you the satchel where I keep Lady Tsunade’s gifts. Hurry!”

She didn’t even wait for a response before turning toward Ao.

“Check her, now. If she has an antidote on her, take it. If not, wake her up. I don’t care how. Break every bone in her body if that’s what it takes.”

Ao gave a sharp nod and crouched beside Scorpio, his Byakugan already active. His jaw was tight, and Kaoru could see the tension behind his normally composed expression.

‘Is the chakra flow in my body disrupted?’ Kaoru wondered, trying to assess himself. But no matter how hard he focused, he couldn’t find anything out of place.

‘If I could just see inside myself… I could push the poison out, but this damn restriction makes it impossible.’

He clenched his teeth, trying to suppress the rising anxiety.

“I’ll save you,” Orihi muttered, her voice low and shaking. It wasn’t ant for him, it sounded more like she was trying to reassure herself.

Kaoru looked down at his hands. The color was off, paler than usual. The blood loss had taken a toll, and his chest still throbbed, though the wound itself had already been sealed by Orihi’s chakra. She’d left it open for treatnt, but it wasn’t bleeding anymore.

‘I feel fine. Not even dizzy.’

The thought had barely ford when the tent around him tilted.

Everything began to spin.

Thankfully, he was already sitting. If he’d been standing, he would’ve hit the ground.

“Elder Orihi…” he murmured, trying to sound calm, “everything’s spinning.”

Orihi’s eyes narrowed instantly. She turned toward Ao and gave the order without hesitation.

“Drag that bitch outside and make her spit out the antidote. Leave alone with Kaoru.”

Her tone held no trace of hierarchy. In this mont, rank didn’t matter. And though most of the camp fell under Ao’s authority, he didn’t question her. He gave a tight nod and carried the unconscious rcenary out.

Kaoru blinked slowly. His lips were growing heavy, sticking together as his body dulled.

“Elder Orihi… I don’t think she has the antidote,” he whispered. “Even if she did, I doubt she’d give it to us.”

He looked up, his voice softer now, his body slowly betraying him.

“She knew t-the chances… of dying were insane… but she still tried to kill .” Kaoru spoke slowly, resting between words.

Orihi nodded solemnly. “I know, child. That’s not why I sent Ao out.”

She took a deep breath and steadied her hands over his chest.

“Kaoru, I know that you can control water no matter where it is, even if it's blood.” She whispered, still keeping it a secret. “But it seems you can’t sense the poison inside you. I’m going to help.”

She leaned in slightly, her voice calm, focused, and steady now.

“I’m going to insert my chakra and flood the poisoned areas. I’ll move it through your body. All you need to do is sense where my chakra goes and pull it outward. Drag it out. The poison should follow.”

She didn’t say what they both knew: that the chance of full extraction was slim, almost zero.

But ti was all she needed.

The poison was fast-acting, but fast ant fragile. If she could buy just a few more minutes, if Akane returned with the satchel from Tsunade, they’d have a real chance.

Kaoru closed his eyes and focused, locking his awareness on the chakra Orihi was channeling into his body.

‘If I had trained myself to sense water particles instead of seeing them, I could’ve handled this on my own.’ He couldn’t help but curse his own negligence, but then quickly pushed the thought aside. Regret wouldn’t do him any good, and distraction could cost him his life.

He emptied his mind and concentrated.

Soon, he began to feel her chakra moving through him, pulsing gently until it clustered in several areas. Without hesitation, Kaoru seized control over those zones and pulled. Every ounce of moisture he could command surged toward the surface. His chest wound split open again, and thick, dark crimson liquid, far denser than blood, spilled out.

He repeated the process.

Each ti, he grew weaker. But his mind grew clearer.

The poison was leaving. Slowly. Painfully. But with it, so was his blood, far too much of it. His strength was fading fast, and the Suijingan flickered as the drain on his energy grew heavier.

‘Let’s prioritize the heart… and the brain. Leave the rest for now. Should’ve done that first, damn it… No! No ti for that!’ He snapped his thoughts into focus, shifting his efforts toward the vital organs.

The relief was instant and so was the collapse. He felt sharper, but also dangerously close to passing out. The poison clung to his blood, and without ti or precision, each pull took more from him than it should.

“Mmm…” He tried to speak, to tell Orihi he couldn’t hold on much longer. But his lips refused to move, his voice catching in his throat. All that escaped was a strained groan.

“Quick! give it to !” Orihi’s voice rang with urgency and hope. A mont later, Kaoru felt sothing cold press against his chest. The cold spread quickly through his whole body. It was icy at first, then burning hot, the kind of heat that felt like fire curling through his veins.

“Aaagh!” he scread, the pain ripping through him like a shockwave.

But with the agony ca clarity.

His vision returned in a flash, and the haze vanished. He opened his eyes to see Orihi kneeling before him, her face buried in his lap, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed uncontrollably.

Then, he spotted Akane. Her face was as pale as snow. The contrast between her ivory skin and crimson hair and eyes was almost absurd, and despite everything, the sight made Kaoru chuckle faintly.

The mont he smiled, sothing inside her broke. She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, holding on like she’d never let go. But the force of her jump was so strong that it knocked them both over, and Orihi fell with them. However, in that mont, none of them cared.

“What’s going on?!”

Ao froze in the doorway.

All the color drained from his face as he took in the scene - Akane sobbing on Kaoru’s chest, Orihi clinging to his legs, her face buried in tears.

For a split second, Ao’s mind shut down.

‘I had one job… Protect the most gifted shinobi I’ve ever t… the future of the Land of Water. And I let him die… right in front of .’

He stood motionless, consud by guilt, until Kaoru moved, trying to sit up.

“I’m fine, Lord Ao. It’s just a misunderst…”

His words were cut short by a raw, broken scream from outside, full of agony.

It wasn’t just pain. It was despair.

All three of them imdiately bolted for the exit, leaving Orihi alone, who could not care less about the outside. Kaoru was trailing behind the others, his body still shaky and struggling to balance. When he finally stepped out, what he saw made his breath catch in his throat.

Scorpio lay on the ground, her body charred in places as if all the moisture had been sucked out. One of her eyes was gone, replaced by a blackened crater of scorched tissue. All four of her limbs were broken, mangled from sheer blunt force.

Mizuki stood nearby.

Three massive scorch balls hovered above her, pulsing like miniature suns. Tears stread down her face, but there was no sorrow in her expression - only unrestrained fury, trembling behind clenched fists.

But the mont she saw Kaoru, she stumbled.

Her body eased. The fireballs shivered and then vanished. Her fists relaxed as the rage gave way to relief and fear, tangled together.

“I thought I lost you too…” she whispered, her voice cracking as she stepped forward and rested her head gently on his shoulder.

Kaoru wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close.

“You didn’t,” he murmured softly. “I’m not going anywhere.”