Naruto: Azure Awakening Ch 141 - A Cruel Lesson

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It was already well into the afternoon by the ti Kaoru finally appeared. The crowd had begun murmuring, so even joking that maybe the Azure Reaper had chickened out. But there he was, walking at such a relaxed pace that, if it was not for his high rank, soone might’ve shoved him forward just to get things started.

Kaoru strolled leisurely, holding a box of mochi in hand and nibbling at the sweets without a care in the world. His mood was far too good for a public spar. He had just t with Maru in the morning and confird that his chakra reserves were more than enough to et the mysterious creature.

‘I’ll be leaving in a few days,’ he thought, taking another bite and savoring the sweet, chewy flavor. He loved his friends and family dearly, but what he craved now was a proper ntor - soone who could teach him the secrets of the Suijingan. And if not that, at the very least, he hoped to learn Sage Mode. Either way, it would be a major step forward.

“You’re late,” Senzui called out, beaming with excitent as Kaoru got close. There wasn’t a hint of irritation in his voice.

“Sorry, I got distracted,” Kaoru said with a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his head. Though he still intended to teach Senzui a lesson, he had talked to Akura about the boy and learned that Senzui was genuinely kind, soone who worked hard and trained with dedication.

“Are you sure about this?” Akane asked, smiling awkwardly from the sidelines. She and Mizuki had both shown up to watch. Unlike Mizuki, who had seen Kaoru in action during the cave incident, Akane hadn’t seen him fight in a long ti and she was clearly eager.

“He asked for it,” Kaoru shrugged as he stepped up onto the platform, which had been specifically built for public spars.

“Lord Kaoru, should we ssset ssso rulesss?” Senzui called out, heading to the wooden stall where practice weapons were laid out. “Maybe firssst to get knocked out or pushed off the platform losssesss?”

As he spoke, hissing, he grabbed a massive axe and a heavy shield, drawing gasps from the crowd. Everyone was surprised… except the Noda clan and Akura.

“Sure,” Kaoru nodded casually, forming a floating disk of water to pass his mochi box to Mizuki. “And one more thing: use everything you’ve got.”

“Showoff,” Akane and Mizuki said in unison, laughing as they each took a piece of the mochi Kaoru had offered.

“Perfect!” Senzui grinned. “I wasssn’t planning on holding back anyway.” He shot a glance at Shin, who had reluctantly stepped onto the platform to act as proctor. His face said it all, wearing an annoyed expression.

“Are you two ready?” Shin asked, yawning as he scanned both fighters. Now that the war was over, he had fully returned to his usual, constantly tired, half-bored self.

Both Kaoru and Senzui nodded.

Shin nodded, raising a hand lazily. “Begin.”

“Fiiiight!” soone in the audience shouted enthusiastically, earning a few chuckles. The signal was already given, but the energy in the air changed only thanks to an enthusiastic viewer.

Senzui moved first, charging forward with surprising speed for soone carrying such a massive axe and shield. His movents were wild, full of raw energy. He didn’t try to be elegant, he was moving like a true brawler. The wooden axe swung in a heavy arc, aiming straight for Kaoru’s head.

But instead, it cut through the afterimage as Kaoru wasn’t there.

The mont the weapon whooshed past empty air, Senzui spun, catching sight of Kaoru standing casually behind him.

“Too slow,” Kaoru said in a calm voice, like he were critiquing his student’s footwork.

“You’re ssso annoyingly calm!” Senzui laughed, swinging the axe one more ti, but Kaoru side-stepped effortlessly, making it look too easy.

The crowd reacted with admiration, cheering and shouting.

“Is he even trying?”

“No wasted motion. That’s our clan head, alright.”

Kaoru stayed on the defensive, dodging cleanly and never retaliating. He wasn’t humiliating Senzui, just showing the difference between them as Akura asked him. Senzui was too battle hungry and Akura wanted him to experience the feeling of facing soone much stronger, hoping that he would learn to control the fire within him.

But Senzui wasn’t discouraged. In fact, his grin widened with every miss.

He suddenly roared, pivoted on his heel, and threw his shield like a discus.

“Seriously?” Kaoru raised a brow.

The shield whirled through the air, spinning toward Kaoru’s chest. He let it co closer, then vanished in a puff of mist, the first shadow clone gone.

The real Kaoru appeared behind Senzui, forming a small water sphere and hurling it. Senzui turned just in ti to deflect it with the flat of his axe, though it splashed across his arm, soaking his sleeve.

“Water’sss your elent, alright.” Senzui grinned, preparing to charge again. But the mont he turned, Kaoru was already in front of him, jabbing him in the side with a compressed burst of water that sent him tumbling backward.

The audience erupted in cheers.

“Lord Kaoru is so strong!”

“Is this all the Noda clan heir can do?”

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“I expected a more interesting fight…”

Senzui heard every mocking jab, every dismissive comnt, but none of it reached him. He couldn’t have cared less. The grin on his face said everything, he was having the ti of his life.

Not because he was gaining experience.

Not because he was facing the one called the strongest youngster of Takimura.

No. For Senzui, fighting was the joy. The chaos, the clash of wills, the thrill of danger - it was where he felt most alive.

“I won’t ssstop,” he hissed through a wide grin, turning and rushing back toward the weapon rack.

Monts later, he returned holding a single sword. It wasn’t massive. A simple, well-balanced wooden blade.

“So the axe and shield aren’t your weapons of preference,” Kaoru noted, smiling.

“No itsss not, but I love them asss a warmup,” Senzui responded, the air around him changing instantly. His stance was more refined and elegant now. He no longer looked like an enthusiastic brawler. Now, he looked like a true swordsman.

Kaoru’s smile didn’t waver. “Looks like I’ll be having fun after all,” he said, eyes beginning to glow cyan as he activated Sujingan.

He didn’t just want to win. He needed to dominate. As the head of the Taki clan, he couldn’t afford anything less. This wasn’t just about proving his strength - it was about proving the Taki na stood above all.

Letting the heir of the Noda clan push him back even once would be unacceptable.

“He’s getting serious now,” Akane muttered, leaning forward, excitent flickering across her face.

“I don’t think so.” Mizuki didn’t even look up, casually brushing off the remark. “He’s too strong to need that against soone of Senzui’s caliber.”

She reached into Kaoru’s mochi box and held up the last one like it was a sacred treasure.

“Hehe, you can’t be trusted with that evaluation,” Akane teased, nudging her gently.

“Why’s that?” Mizuki asked, playing innocent.

“Because of your…” Akane started, but her voice broke. The playful spark in her eyes faded as the mory of a similar feeling she still held resurfaced. The mory ca uninvited, sharp and hollow.

But she refused to dwell on it. She had barely climbed out of that void once. She wasn’t ready to see if she could survive it again.

Akane drew in a slow breath, pushed it all back, and forced her gaze toward the arena.

“Never mind,” she muttered. “Let’s watch. Senzui’s about to make a move.” She also needed an exciting fight now, she needed it to distract herself.

Senzui charged forward at a surprising speed. His movents had lost their earlier looseness. What once looked like chaotic flailing was now a focused assault. Even Kaoru, who was never good at kenjutsu, could tell. The sloppy openings that were obvious at a glance had vanished, replaced by polished and refined moves.

But moves ant nothing if it couldn’t reach.

Kaoru stepped aside, letting the blade sweep past him. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he shot a small ball of water from his palm. It struck Senzui’s shoulder hard enough to spin him sideways.

He stumbled, boots dragging across the arena platform, barely managing to keep from falling. But when he straightened, he was smiling.

“Alright, you’re fassster than ,” he hissed, battle-lust burning in his eyes. “Pleassse show your true ssstrength.”

Kaoru’s smile faded. He didn’t reply.

In a blur, he closed the distance and drove his foot into Senzui’s gut. The force of the kick knocked the air out of him, but Kaoru was already moving again.

‘Let’s see if I can match him in taijutsu,’ he thought, stepping in with a clean left jab. Senzui blocked it, but the right hook that followed ca faster, sharper. And before Senzui could respond, Kaoru vanished.

Not with flicker, but a seamless shift of movent, reappearing at Senzui’s blind spot. A light strike. Then another.

And another.

Kaoru flowed around him like water, pressuring him constantly from unpredictable angles. Senzui tried to swing, tried to pivot, but every reaction was too slow. Every ti he turned, Kaoru was already gone, landing another blow from the side or behind.

The arena echoed with soft impacts. With blows heavy enough to sting, but never cruel.

Kaoru was following Akura’s request, teaching Senzui a cruel lesson.

Within seconds, Senzui was staggering, breath ragged, his stance unraveling under the relentless rhythm.

Kaoru leapt back, landing softly outside Senzui’s reach.

‘That’s enough.’

Now it was ti to end it.

His Suijingan’s glow intensified, as pressure settled over the arena like a gathering storm. Around him, dozens of dark blue spheres ford in a quiet woosh, hanging in the air like still raindrops monts before a downpour.

Akane leaned forward, almost whispering. “Is he really going to use the needle move?”

But Kaoru didn’t shape them into anything sharp. His goal was not to maim Senzui after all. The glow of his Suijingan intensified as dark blue water balls started moving.

First one.

Then another.

Then…

They shot forward, crashing into Senzui’s body from every direction. He swung his sword, trying to deflect them, but the barrage was relentless. His arm took one, then his ribs, then his thigh. He grunted through clenched teeth, staggering under the impact. Each strike left a welt, a bruise, a red mark forming just beneath the skin.

Still, he didn’t fall.

Kaoru advanced slowly, the orbs hovering behind him in loose formation, tracking his steps like wolves waiting to bounce.

“You’re not easy to knock out, are you?” he said, smiling. He wanted to get closer, intending to deliver the last strike himself.

Senzui didn’t answer, waiting. And when Kaoru was close enough, he let his blade drop to the ground, his hands flashing through seals at a speed that startled the watching crowd.

Kaoru’s eyes narrowed. He could have stopped him. But he didn’t as curiosity got better of him.

‘Let’s see what you’ve got.’

Kaoru was confident in his victory, but more than that he wanted to help Senzui grow, and maybe letting him use all his cards only to see how useless they were against Kaoru would squash his overwhelming drive for fighting.

The blood trailing down Senzui’s bruised arms shimred faintly before vanishing into the air, evaporating unnaturally. It quickly turned into a thin crimson haze that slowly bled across the arena floor. It wasn’t thick, barely more than a veil of red-tinted mist, but Kaoru recognized it imdiately.

‘I’ve seen this before…’ he narrowed his eyes, tracking the slow spread of the mist. ‘That blood-based genjutsu technique. Noda clan used it during the war against Kiri.’

He braced himself, waiting for the change, expecting his limbs to feel heavier, his senses to dull, but nothing changed.

He blinked, checking his whole body. Still, there was no difference.

Kaoru glanced around, but the world remained exactly the sa. The only thing different was the mist and Senzui’s expression.

The Noda heir looked stunned. His eyes were wide, lips slightly parted, like soone who had watched their most reliable weapon fail for the first ti.

Kaoru tilted his head, curious.

“What does this jutsu do?” he asked bluntly, unable to resist the question any longer.

Senzui blinked again, trying to process what had gone wrong.

“How?” he returned the question, agape. “Why are you not affected by genjutsssu?”