Naruto: Azure Awakening Ch 63 - Itachi vs Kaoru

The day of the final battle in the Chunin Exams had arrived. The arena was packed, and as expected, the majority of the spectators were cheering for Itachi. However, far more than anticipated were holding banners in support of Kaoru.

His supporters were mostly outsiders, travelers from beyond Konoha, young girls captivated by his striking cyan eyes and sharp features, and those who simply disliked the Uchiha.

But regardless of who they wanted to win, everyone shared the sa overwhelming feeling - excitent.

This wasn’t just another match. It was the most anticipated fight of the tournant, and possibly one of the greatest Chunin Exam battles they had ever witnessed.

At this point, no one even thought of Kaoru or Itachi as re genin. They had already surpassed that level.

Both stood at opposite ends of the battlefield, eyes locked.

Itachi, despite his young age, had already carved his na into this tournant, defeating every opponent without breaking a sweat, well… almost every one of them. His Sharingan glead, a vibrant red against his otherwise calm expression.

Kaoru stood with his hands relaxed at his sides, but his cyan Suijingan glowed faintly, the moisture in the air subtly shifting around him.

Neither moved.

Neither blinked.

The tension in the air was suffocating.

Then the judge’s hand fell.

"Begin!"

The mont the words left the proctor’s mouth, Itachi vanished.

A blur of motion. A flicker of speed.

Kaoru reacted instantly, kicking back as a volley of shuriken tore through the space he had just occupied. The tallic clinks of steel rang out as they embedded themselves in the ground.

But Itachi wasn’t done.

Before Kaoru even landed, kunai zipped toward him from the side, each one attached to thin, nearly invisible wires. It wasn’t just an attack, it was a setup.

Kaoru twisted midair, barely dodging as the wires strained. With a sharp flick of Itachi’s wrist, the kunai curved mid-flight, trying to entangle him.

‘He planned this in advance. He’s predicting my movents.’

Kaoru’s fingers blurred through a quick seal.

"Water Release: Water Guardian!"

A layer of dense water swirled around him, forming a protective shield. The mont the kunai touched it, their montum dulled, and they lost their force. Kaoru landed, imdiately dismissing the jutsu to conserve chakra.

The audience erupted in murmurs.

"He’s keeping up with Itachi’s speed…"

"He’s not even breaking a sweat!"

From the stands, Maki leaned forward, she was enjoying the sight but was still tense. "He’s handling himself well so far… but he is too tense, he needs to relax a little and regain his usual confidence."

Fugaku Uchiha, standing among the spectators, observed the match with keen interest. He had already known Itachi would reach the finals, his son’s talent was undeniable. But Kaoru? This boy was sothing different.

Itachi had no wasted movents, yet Kaoru read his rhythm like an open book.

‘His Suijingan… is it compensating for the Sharingan’s predictive ability?’

Fugaku narrowed his eyes. "This match will be interesting."

Back on the battlefield, Kaoru barely had a mont to breathe before Itachi attacked again.

Another burst of movent, faster this ti.

Itachi flickered directly behind him. His Sharingan glowed ominously as he swung a kunai straight for Kaoru’s back.

But Kaoru was already moving.

The Suijingan wasn’t just sight - it was presence. The mont Itachi entered his field, Kaoru’s instincts flared. He sidestepped at the last second, twisting away as the kunai sliced through the air, missing by re inches.

Itachi didn’t hesitate. He flicked his wrist - one shuriken beca ten.

A rain of steel shot toward Kaoru.

But Kaoru did not panic.

"Lingering Death!"

Water needles materialized instantly, intercepting the shurikens mid-flight. The projectiles clashed, knocking each other out of the air with sharp tallic rings.

Itachi’s Sharingan glowed. His fingers twitched.

The shurikens weren’t done.

The wires attached to them suddenly tightened, snapping them back toward Kaoru from multiple angles.

Kaoru clicked his tongue. ‘Tch. He’s relentless.’

Without hesitation, he twisted his body, evading the first few shuriken. But the last two were unavoidable. He crossed his arms to block…

Only for them to phase right through him.

The audience gasped.

A water clone.

The real Kaoru had already repositioned.

Perched on the far edge of the battlefield, he landed smoothly, his eyes glowing like frozen sapphires.

"Your traps are impressive," Kaoru admitted. "But you’re not catching that easily."

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Itachi remained silent. Then, slowly, he smiled.

Kaoru’s muscles tensed.

That wasn’t a good smile.

Itachi ford a single hand seal.

Kaoru’s muscles tensed the mont he saw Itachi’s fingers flick through a single hand seal.

‘He’s up to sothing.’

Before he could react, Itachi exhaled sharply.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Small, controlled fireballs erupted from his mouth, shooting toward Kaoru in rapid succession. Unlike a standard Great Fireball, these flas didn’t just fly in a straight line, they were unpredictable, weaving midair, their paths shifting as if guided by an invisible force.

‘Wires again. He can control the flas as well?!’

Kaoru wasted no ti. His hands blurred through a single seal.

"Water Release: Water Guardian!"

A dense, protective sphere of water surged around him, its high-density outer shell absorbing the first few fireballs on impact. Steam erupted from the contact, filling the battlefield with a hazy mist. The heat pressed against him, but his barrier held firm.

For a mont, the battlefield stood still, obscured by thick white vapor.

Kaoru exhaled, his cyan eyes narrowing. ‘I did not want to use this… fighting Itachi head-on to experience his tactics firsthand is a rare opportunity… but if I want to win, I need to take control of the fight.’

Up until now, he had avoided using Water Guardian. It wasn’t just about conserving chakra, it was about learning. Fighting Itachi had been a rare opportunity to sharpen his instincts, to see what a future genius was truly capable of.

But now, it was ti to shift gears.

The mont the steam began to clear, Kaoru’s Suijingan shimred.

He clenched his fingers slightly, and the battlefield responded.

Water pooled at his feet, moving like living veins across the arena floor. It wasn’t just leftover moisture from his previous techniques - it was a trap.

Itachi’s Sharingan glowed as he analyzed the shifting battlefield.

Kaoru smiled. ‘You see it, don’t you? The mont you step wrong, this fight ends.’

However Itachi was not worried and he made the first move.

He flickered into motion, closing the distance in an instant. A kunai glead in his hand as he slashed forward. but he wasn’t aiming for Kaoru directly.

Instead, the attack was aid at the Water Guardian.

Kaoru’s defensive shell rippled slightly under the impact, but Itachi didn’t stop there. His other hand was already in motion, hurling two more kunai at different angles. They struck simultaneously, sending faint ripples through the outer layer.

It wasn’t enough to break it, but Kaoru’s eyes sharpened.

"He’s testing the shell’s strength."

Itachi flickered back a few steps, eyes scanning the barrier as if calculating the best way to crack it.

Kaoru observed Itachi. ‘He must have realized by now that kunai will never be able to break it.’

Water Guardian wasn’t just a simple sphere of water - it had a high-density outer shell, reinforced and sustained with Kaoru’s chakra. Unlike weaker defensive techniques, it wasn’t sothing that could be disrupted easily.

But that didn’t an he was going to sit inside it and let Itachi keep testing.

Kaoru flicked his fingers slightly, and the water on the ground reacted.

Thin, sharp tendrils of liquid surged up, aiming for Itachi’s legs.

The Uchiha’s eyes snapped downward, his Sharingan tracking the movent instantly. He jumped back, but Kaoru had already expected that.

The mont Itachi’s feet left the ground, Kaoru twisted his fingers.

The tendrils changed direction mid-air.

Itachi’s eyes widened slightly. Instead of striking where he had been, Kaoru’s attack anticipated where he would land.

There was no footing.

No solid ground to regain balance.

Only water.

Itachi had no choice - he threw a kunai imdiately and propelled himself using a wire attached to it.

But in that instant, Kaoru had already shifted his strategy.

"Lingering Death!"

Sharp, dark-blue high-density water needles materialized above the battlefield, hovering like shards of fluid tal. Kaoru’s Suijingan glead as he flicked his wrist - they shot forward in an instant.

Itachi didn’t dodge.

Instead, he retaliated.

His hands flashed through a quick seal,

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Two identical Itachis appeared beside him, each moving in separate directions.

Kaoru didn’t flinch. His Suijingan instantly picked up on the water flow within the “Itachis”.

One of them was real.

The other was a decoy.

Kaoru’s fingers twitched.

One set of needles split midair.

One volley targeted Itachi’s original body. The other volley aid for the fake.

The clone dispersed into mist the mont it was struck.

Kaoru smirked. ‘Got you.’

Itachi, now down to just his real self, had no ti to escape the second wave of needles.

He moved, but not fast enough.

One needle nicked his shoulder.

It wasn’t deep, but the mont it touched his skin, Itachi’s movent slowed.

His Sharingan flickered in realization.

‘That water… it’s heavier than normal…’

Kaoru grinned. "Figured it out?"

It wasn’t just sharp and hard water - high density ant that it was also heavy.

Itachi was already adjusting, but Kaoru had no intention of giving him ti.

He ford another seal,

"Water Release: Water Prison!"

A swirling sphere of liquid ford around Itachi in an instant.

The audience gasped.

"Itachi’s trapped!"

"This might be over!"

Maki exhaled sharply, her fists clenched. "Don’t let your guard down, Ru. This kid is dangerous."

From the Uchiha section, Fugaku’s expression remained unreadable.

He had no doubt that Itachi could escape.

Just before the Water Prison could fully form, Itachi’s hands completed a rapid sequence of seals.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

A massive sphere of flas erupted from his mouth. Normally, water would counter fire with ease, but Water Prison was never ant to be a defensive jutsu - it was a containnt technique. Against an attack of this magnitude, it crumbled instantly, the water collapsing with a sharp hiss before it could even form.

But Itachi hadn’t fired blindly.

The flas surged straight toward Kaoru, engulfing his Water Guardian.

The dense, high-pressure shell of water held firm, steam rising as the fire was extinguished on impact. But Itachi’s sharp eyes caught sothing crucial - Kaoru’s face twitched ever so slightly.

‘There it is. He felt that.’

Itachi’s Sharingan spun, analyzing every flicker of movent.

‘He has less chakra than . Maintaining that defensive technique must already be taxing. He’s struggling.’

Itachi took a asured step forward. Then -

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Another massive sphere of fire roared toward Kaoru, faster this ti.

Inside his protective barrier, Kaoru clenched his fists.

‘Shit. He figured it out.’

He had hesitated for only a fraction of a second, but that was all Itachi needed. If Kaoru had been just a step closer, he could have fully ford the Water Prison before Itachi countered. But now, that tactic was off the table.

‘I still have enough chakra to keep defending like this, but he has more. If I keep playing attrition, I’ll lose.’

There was no ti to hesitate.

Kaoru’s hands moved in an instant, shifting the Water Guardian from a sphere to a weapon.

The dense outer layer morphed into spikes, launching straight at Itachi - just as he exhaled another burst of flas.

The fire collided with the water-forged projectiles, but the high-density outer shell of the spikes protected them from being incinerated. They punched through the blaze, still flying toward Itachi.

Itachi’s Sharingan caught the trajectory instantly.

‘They’re not just aiming at . They’re targeting my possible escape routes too.’

His lips curled into a slight smile. ‘Clever...’

Itachi liked Kaoru, he was fun to be around but now felt sothing beyond fondness - he felt respect.

‘Alright, let’s go all out.’

He flickered.

His body twisted through the air, slipping between the spikes with fluid precision.

Before Kaoru could react, Itachi launched two shuriken mid-flicker.

Kaoru’s hand flicked and eyes glowed even brighter, summoning Lingering Death - his water needles intercepted the shuriken in midair, knocking them off course.

But…

The shuriken curved.

‘Wires again…’

Kaoru leaped to avoid the incoming trap, but Itachi was already beside him in the air.

Kaoru barely had ti to raise his arms before a powerful kick slamd into his side.

The force sent him crashing into the ground.

The crowd erupted.

"Itachi’s got this!"

"Konoha is going to win the tournant!"

Kaoru exhaled sharply, pushing himself up imdiately.

His entire body tensed, this was the first hit he had taken since his battle with Hora.

And he didn’t like it.

From the stands, Maki held her breath, fingers digging into her sleeves. Beside her, Guy was nearly vibrating in his seat, eyes locked onto the battlefield.

“He must not falter now!” Guy muttered, his whole heart behind Kaoru. After all, Kaoru was his very first disciple, even if only for a short ti.

"Hehe, the real fight starts now," Fugaku murmured, leaning forward in anticipation.

Then…

A single drop of water hit the ground.

Then another.

Then another.

…

The entire arena was drenched in seconds as the skies opened up.

Heavy, pounding rain.

Kaoru’s smile widened imdiately.

‘Lady luck is on my side, huh?’