Naruto: Azure Awakening Ch 67 - Kaoru's First Initiative

Might Guy’s training routine was hell. It never got easier, no matter how many hours were spent on it, because the mont an exercise beca bearable, the difficulty had to be increased.

He had designed it to break past human limitations - to prepare his body for the Eight Inner Gates. The Green Beast of Konoha, and later, the Red Beast, hadn’t been created in a day. It took countless hours of training, even more blood and sweat, and an unshakable will.

At first, Guy had planned to create sothing similar for Kaoru, but then he changed his mind.

Kaoru was never going to dedicate himself to taijutsu at the sa level. He didn’t need to. His Suijingan was his greatest strength, and his training needed to be tailored to that. So while Kaoru’s routine was brutal, it was nowhere near the level of Guy’s own.

Kaoru stood in the training grounds, drenched in sweat. Every fiber of his body scread with pain and exhaustion, even the ones enhanced by the Chakra Rotation Technique.

Guy’s training followed a simple but brutal principle - to grow stronger, one must push past their limits, tearing muscle fibers apart so they could rebuild even stronger.

And now, Kaoru was experiencing that firsthand. He could feel the deep ache in his muscles and the strain in his limbs, but he could also feel the subtle sensation of recovery. The Chakra Rotation wasn’t so miracle healing technique, it was nowhere near the level of dical ninjutsu, but it was still working.

In the areas where the technique was active, he could feel his body rebuilding itself. And this was just the beginning… Who knew how powerful it would beco once he fully connected the pathways?

With a sharp breath, Kaoru straightened up and dusted off his training clothes. The morning training session was over, but there was no ti to rest. He had a clan eting to attend.

Without hesitation, he headed straight for the bath. Technically, he could have just used his Suijingan to remove the sweat instantly. But that wasn’t the sa. He enjoyed the bath, it was warm, comfortable and peaceful.

After cleaning up, Kaoru went ho to change.

He had brought fresh clothes to wear after the bath, but the Taki Clan was old-fashioned and steeped in tradition. Wearing Taki robes during a eting was mandatory.

His gaze flickered over the garnts laid out for him - a black robe traced with cyan lines, symbolizing flowing water.

Simple, yet dignified.

‘I feel like a kid playing a grown-up,’ Kaoru chuckled to himself as he put on the clothes and looked at his own reflection in the mirror. ‘I’m handso though…’

Then, he ford a hand seal.

“Shadow Clone Jutsu.”

With a puff of smoke, Kaoru’s identical clone appeared beside him. Kaoru planned to leave the clone behind to read books while he attended the eting. Still, he intended to be careful.

Even if the eting ran longer than expected, the clone would dispel himself after two hours to not cause brain overload. He hadn’t tested how long his clones could last yet, not after spending all of last night exhausting his chakra on creating new pathways for Chakra Rotation.

The more he thought about it, the more convinced he beca of his theory.

If Chakra Rotation could boost his brain’s activity and efficiency, then in theory, it could expand his mory capacity and improve recall. That, in turn, might reduce the side effects of Shadow Clone Jutsu. Just as it could potentially lessen the backlash of his Suijingan.

But it was still just a theory. And before he could test anything, he had to complete the pathways throughout his entire body.

The Shifting Flow Sword Style scroll had explicitly stated that one must fully develop the Chakra Rotation pathways in the body first. Only then could they attempt to integrate it into their brain.

‘It’s ti to leave. I don’t want to make a bad first impression by being late.’

Kaoru exhaled, straightened his robes, and left the house.

The eting was waiting.

Kaoru sat in the room alongside Suiren, Akura, and the three other elders of the Taki Clan. Since this was his first clan eting and given his young age, no one expected him to contribute. His only role was to sit quietly, observe, and learn the art of politics.

At least, that was what they believed. If they could hear his thoughts, they would be speechless.

‘The way these guys look at with condescending eyes is really annoying…’ Thought Kaoru but still maintained a neutral face and listened to them intently.

“We need to ensure that the next batch of orphans is placed under our care,” said Tereno, the oldest among them. Though he had never surpassed the level of a special jonin even in his pri, his worth wasn’t in combat ability but in his talent for scheming. He was careful, distrustful of outsiders, and believed in securing the clan’s future by any ans necessary.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not ant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“That’s right,” Beno agreed, his tone edged with frustration. “The Terumi Clan already outnumbers us nearly two to one. It’s us who need the reinforcents.”

Beno, who managed both the clan’s and the village’s finances, was practical, but his concerns were different. “But is recruiting orphans the right move? We need more chunin taking commissions to strengthen our economy. These children will require years of investnt before they can contribute anything. The Taki Clan is already supporting too many orphans as it is.”

Kaoru remained silent, observing how both Suiren and Akura let the elders talk without interruption. It was a strategy, letting them vent and tire themselves out before stepping in with real solutions.

For a mont, he debated whether to speak up now or wait until later. What he wanted to propose was directly tied to the discussion, and letting them continue bickering over the sa point wouldn’t change anything. His gaze moved toward Suiren, who sat at the head of the table. She was also wearing the sa traditional black robes lined with cyan patterns and a symbol of their clan on the back. Her expression was tired, but her presence still carried authority.

He made his decision.

Clearing his throat, he drew their attention before speaking. “Elders, may I?”

Respect toward elders was mandatory in the Taki Clan, at least outwardly.

Tereno was the first to respond, his voice carrying an unusual level of politeness. “Of course, Kaoru-kun. Speak, please.”

Kaoru wasn’t surprised. After the Chunin Exams, his status had changed. He wasn’t just Suiren’s grandson anymore. He was the heir, the one who had replaced Maki, and the person now considered the future of the clan. Everyone in the room understood that, even if they hadn’t yet adjusted to the idea.

Scanning the room, he made brief eye contact with each of them before speaking. “Elders, Clan Head, I believe our approach is entirely wrong.”

Tereno stiffened slightly. The old man was expecting Kaoru to embarrass himself and had been preparing to step in, correct him, and save him from making a mistake. But before he could interrupt, Kaoru raised his hand slightly, a subtle but clear gesture that he wasn’t finished.

The atmosphere in the room shifted. Though the elders held influence, Kaoru’s position as heir technically ranked just below Suiren’s, aning he had the authority to speak without interruption. Taki traditions were rigid and an elder, especially Tereno who was as conservative as one could be, would never ignore protocol.

So, despite whatever objections he had, he stayed silent.

And just like that, Kaoru had the floor.

"I rember when I first beca interested in ninja training. It was about three years ago," Kaoru began. "I asked Maki to train , and even during my very first exercise, I realized just how weak and untrained my body was."

He paused, letting the words sink in, giving the others a mont to guess where he was going with this.

"After training for so ti, a question started bothering - why wasn’t my clan forcing to train? I know that Taki clan mbers are born with pitiful chakra reserves, and we have to work hard to grow stronger. That’s why our children start the academy later than other clans, but that… is a mistake."

Kaoru could see the shift in the room. While his argunt might not have been accepted yet, it was clear that the clan leaders were beginning to see him differently. Suiren, especially, looked at him with a newfound intensity, her eyes practically sparkling.

"Just because children can’t learn techniques yet doesn’t an we can’t train them. We should be strengthening their bodies, teaching them theoretical knowledge, dicine, fūinjutsu, kenjutsu, taijutsu... and, most importantly, forcing them to exhaust their pitiful chakra reserves so they can slowly but steadily grow."

Before he could continue, the third elder, Orihi, spoke up.

She was the best dical ninja in the clan and, out of all the elders, the one who knew Kaoru best. Back when he had first started training under Maki, he had practically lived in her office, recovering from Maki’s beatings.

"That’s too harsh, Kaoru-kun," she said, shaking her head. "Forcing children to suffer through such imnse pain is not right. We can’t do that. Otherwise, we’d be no better than Kiri, forcing children to fight to the death and justifying it by saying it makes them stronger."

She stopped mid-sentence, confident that her point had been made.

Kaoru, however, didn’t hesitate.

"Elder Orihi," he said evenly, "I’ve been inflicting all of that on myself, and you’ve seen the results. I fought against Uchiha Itachi and barely won."

He didn’t mind using his success to his advantage here.

"And let’s not forget," he continued, "the Suijingan, the very thing that’s practically essential to beco the head of the clan, requires extrely painful training. My sister was forced to give up her claim to the clan just because she found a different path to strength, but I followed the traditional one.

"Each ti I train my Kekkei Genkai, my head feels like it’s about to burst. I’ve fainted more tis than I can count. There were monts I wished I would die just so the pain would stop."

He held Orihi’s gaze.

"But the pain did pass. And I am still training. Are you telling I should stop because it’s painful? That I should accept a weak life just because it’s more comfortable?"

Orihi didn’t imdiately respond. The room was silent.

"Besides," he continued, his voice slightly softer, "all I’m suggesting is that we train them, not make them fight to the death. How is that remotely similar to what Kiri does? No one will die. They won’t even suffer injuries.

"And gritting through pain for the sake of strength is far better than growing up, watching your loved ones die, and being powerless to stop it."

His final words were harsh and they cut far deeper than Kaoru had anticipated.

Every single Taki elder had once experienced the sting of helplessness while watching their loved ones die, unable to do anything but endure. Kaoru’s words ripped open those buried mories, forcing them to confront a truth they had long ignored.

They couldn’t argue anymore.

It was far better for children to endure hardship early in life than to suffer the devastation of weakness when they were older.

‘When did we beco so soft?’ Suiren wondered.

The others were thinking the sa. Their attempts to give their children a normal childhood had been noble, but at what cost? What good was a carefree youth if it only led to a short, tragic life?

Akura’s sharp eyes scanned the room.

‘Finally, they’ve listened to reason.’

Years ago, he had made the sa proposal, urging the clan to train their children earlier, but his suggestion had been shut down. Now, Kaoru had achieved in one eting what he could not.

And just like that, Kaoru’s very first proposal was unanimously accepted by the council.

With that matter settled, Kaoru had no reason to linger. The rest of the week was his to spend training, and he had no intention of wasting it.

He had already decided, it was ti to start developing his own signature technique.

Just as Butterfly Inferno was Mizuki’s defining ability, Kaoru was going to create sothing that belonged only to him.