Naruto - Azure Awakening

Kaoru was on scout duty, a role Shin had assigned to him as part of their ongoing training. With his Suijingan active, gathering information was easy. Unlike typical sensors it was impossible to hide from Kaoru's eyes, it allowed him to not only count the exact number of people in the camp but also gauge their chakra reserves with remarkable precision. No amount of suppression or concealment could hide chakra from his sight.

Chakra, as Kaoru had learned, carried traces of every elemental affinity, even if only in minuscule amounts. This unique property gave him the ability to see not just the flow but the overall capacity of any shinobi he observed.

Crouching on a tree branch cloaked in shadow, the faint glow of Kaoru's cyan eyes was the only indication of his presence. However, from the distance he maintained, it was impossible for anyone in the camp to detect him. He scanned the area carefully, counting twenty-six bandits. Of those, only eight possessed chakra, and only one had reserves sufficient to be classified at a chunin's level.

"There goes my hope for an actual fight," he muttered disappointed, before flickering away to return to his team.

Back at the rendezvous point, Kaoru finished his report. After a brief pause, Shin addressed the group.

"Keep in mind, just winning isn't enough. I need you to kill every single one of them. Not a single bandit can survive."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow, "But sensei, If we kill them all, how are we supposed to gather information about the remaining three bases?"

Shin smiled faintly. He appreciated Kaoru's habit of using his own head rather than following orders blindly. "Don't worry. I've already gathered the information we need. My summons have been scouting since we entered the forest."

Shin was proving to be far more capable than any of them had initially realized. He remained an enigma. Despite claiming to be a swordsman, he carried no visible blade, and not once had he used a single technique in their presence. The genin often speculated about his true strength, with all of them suspecting that he might actually be above the level of a typical jonin.

"So," Shin continued, "who wants to take on the first group?"

Kaoru, to Shin's surprise, stayed silent, making no move to volunteer. He was hoping that one of those three groups would be a bigger challenge than this one.

"I'll go first, if that's okay," Akane said. Her voice seemed calm but the reality was different. Her sparkling, excited eyes were practically blinding with enthusiasm.

Shin nodded, about to confirm her request, when Mizuki interrupted.

"I want to handle the first group too, sensei you decide," she said, Mizuki had become weirdly competitive with Akane.

Shin shook his head slightly, "No. You three will decide amongst yourselves."

The tension between the girls grew immediately, with both of them ready to argue their case. Before things could escalate, Kaoru stepped forward, pulling a coin from his satchel.

"Since I'm not interested in dealing with this group, let me settle this for you," he said. He held up the coin, "Heads or tails?"

"Heads!" Akane shouted immediately, her excitement only growing.

"Fine. Tails," Mizuki agreed with a resigned sigh.

Kaoru flicked the coin into the air, catching it deftly. A few moments later, Akane was gearing up to head into the bandit camp, a triumphant grin plastered across her face. Meanwhile, Mizuki stood nearby, arms crossed and glaring as her pout deepened.

"Just don't get yourself killed, Ane," Kaoru teased, his voice was calm but in reality he was quite nervous. He didn't doubt Akane's abilities, but he remembered his own first kill, the overwhelming emotions, and the weight of it. He was worried about how she'd handle it.

Akane vanished into the darkness, her katana gleaming faintly as she entered the bandit camp. Most of the camp's inhabitants were drunk and passed out in their tents, with only a handful of groggy guards patrolling lazily. It was an easy mission. The camp didn't even have any traps. Still, Akane moved cautiously, she maintained the focus.

The first guard didn't even have time to register her presence. Her blade flashed in the moonlight, and his head separated cleanly from his body. The dull thud of it hitting the ground was accompanied by a fountain of blood spraying from his neck. Akane's grip tightened on her weapon, but she didn't falter. She had prepared herself for this moment.

She swiftly moved through the camp, dispatching the remaining guards with calculated precision. Her katana moved like an extension of her arm, slicing through the air and ending lives before any alarm could be raised. Once the perimeter was secure, she knelt and made a series of hand signs.

"Fire Clone Technique," 

Suddenly a single clone ignited into existence beside her. She repeated the process twice more, creating two additional clones. Though she hadn't yet mastered the technique enough to summon multiple clones simultaneously, her strategy was to use clones together with another destructive technique that Mei taught her recently.

The clones crept toward the tents housing the shinobi. In unison, they slipped inside, and moments later, the camp erupted in chaos. Tents ignited in fiery explosions, the roar of flames consuming the structures. The ordinary bandits inside were obliterated instantly. The genin-level shinobi lasted only seconds longer, their screams cut short as the fire devoured them.

The lone chunin-level bandit stumbled out of a collapsing tent, his body scorched and his chakra reserves depleted. His breathing was ragged as he locked eyes with Akane, who stood calmly amidst the carnage.

"I'll take you with me, you b*tch," he hissed, forming a shaky hand sign as he lunged toward her.

Akane didn't flinch. She flickered, appearing beside him in an instant. Her katana sliced cleanly through his neck before he could finish his jutsu. His headless body collapsed to the ground with a dull thud.

The battle was over.

As the adrenaline faded, the reality of the scene hit Akane. The sickening stench of charred flesh filled her nostrils, mingling with the metallic tang of blood. Her eyes darted to the headless bodies drenched in the mix of sweat, urine, and feces. Her stomach turned violently, and she barely managed to stumble away before vomiting everything she had eaten. Gasping for air, she bent over, her body trembling.

Kaoru appeared beside her. He crouched down, placing a steady hand on her back.

"Everything's fine," he whispered gently. "You did great."

Akane couldn't respond, her body still shaking. Kaoru's own stomach churned at the sight and smell of the aftermath, but he fought the urge, clenching his jaw as he rubbed her back soothingly. Even with his own experience, scenes like this were still not easy.

Soon, Shin and Mizuki arrived at the scene. Shin made no attempt to shield Mizuki from the aftermath, instead, he insisted she walk through the camp and face the grisly sight. It was essential for every shinobi to grow numb to such horrors. Those who couldn't often abandoned the shinobi life altogether.

Mizuki, like Akane, emptied her stomach at the smell and sight. Her body trembled, but it wasn't only from the nausea or shock—it was anger. The hatred burning in her eyes for the bandits lying lifeless on the ground was almost palpable.

"Time to go," Shin said in his usual calm and neutral voice. "We still have two more camps and their main base to clear before sunrise."

He didn't wait for his disciples' opinions. Shin believed they had lingered long enough for the younger shinobi to gather their breath. The mission was far from over. 

"Kaoru, go west from here and clear the next camp. Akane, follow him and assist if needed," Shin ordered, "The mission is the same—not one bandit survives."

Kaoru blinked in surprise. He did not expect this much autonomy. Still, he nodded, trying to suppress the excitement bubbling inside him. The chance to take control of a mission his way was exhilarating, he secretly hoped the camp wouldn't be full of pushovers like the last one.

Shin and Mizuki flickered away in a different direction, leaving Akane and Kaoru behind. They exchanged a glance before Kaoru motioned for Akane to follow him. The pair flickered through the forest, Kaoru taking the lead while Akane followed a short distance behind.

After about fifteen minutes, Kaoru raised his hand, signaling a stop.

"I'll scout ahead," he whispered. "If the camp is stronger than I can handle alone, we'll attack together. If not, I'll charge right in. Follow me but stay back."

Akane nodded without a word. Kaoru moved ahead, silent as a shadow, until he was close enough to observe the camp. He activated his Suijingan, the faint cyan glow of his eyes illuminating his focused expression.

This camp was stronger than the last. Seventeen bandits in total—eight genins, three chunins, and the rest ordinary thugs. But something else caught Kaoru's attention. Among the faint chakra signatures in the camp, he noticed several weaker presences huddled together.

[Kidnapped children,] he deduced, his heart sinking. He knew he could clear the camp on his own, but risking the lives of those children wasn't worth his pride. He flickered back to Akane's position and whispered his plan.

"Akane, there are kids in the camp. You'll use the opening I create to get them out safely," he said firmly. "I'll handle the bandits."

Akane gave a small nod, "Be careful, Ru." She could see the determination in Kaoru's eyes and didn't argue.

Kaoru nodded back and disappeared in a flicker, reappearing on a tree branch overlooking the camp. He began counting the guards below. "One, two…five." His cyan eyes glowed brighter, as small droplets of water began forming in the blind spots of the shinobi on guard duty.

This was Kaoru's newest creation—a technique he named Lingering Death. It worked by forming water droplets in hidden places, transforming them into high-density needles. The idea was simple: if the target didn't notice, their death was guaranteed.

Kaoru snapped his fingers, and in an instant, the needles struck, piercing through the heads of all five guards at the same time. The camp remained silent, the bodies dropping lifelessly without a sound.

"This technique is even more effective than I thought," Kaoru muttered, a small, smug grin forming. "Once I master Suijingan, I'll be unstoppable." He caught himself basking in the moment and quickly refocused.

Kaoru leapt down from the branch, landing softly on the ground near where the children were being held. His chakra flared, the faint glow of his Suijingan lighting up the darkness around him. He wasn't interested in stealth anymore. This time, he wanted to draw the fight to him.

[Let's make this quick,] Kaoru thought as he began forming hand signs in rapid succession.

"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"

A powerful surge of water erupted from thin air, crashing into the camp with a roar. The wave swept through tents and supplies, tearing everything apart in its path. The force was so overwhelming that no other sound could be heard.

Meanwhile, Akane moved quickly. She slipped into the chaos behind Kaoru, heading straight for the cage where the children were held. Kaoru was standing between the kids and the bandits' tents, making her mission much easier than she expected.

[He killed five shinobi without even moving… Kaoru's Kekkei Genkai is terrifying.] Despite thinking of Kaoru as family, Akane felt a shiver of fear at his sheer power.

The Wild Water Wave continued its rampage, crashing into the largest tent where the remaining genins and a chunin were sleeping. Kaoru manipulated the water mid-attack, transforming it into a large sphere that trapped the bodies of the bandits inside. The wave became a prison, holding them underwater. Kaoru didn't stop there—he formed water bullets within the sphere, piercing through the trapped bandits and turning the water red with blood.

Satisfied with his work, Kaoru let the sphere collapse into a heavy splash.

[That one move cost me more than a third of my chakra. It's powerful, but the cost is massive.]

Kaoru's cyan eyes locked onto the two remaining chunins. They were battered but still standing, glaring at him with fury and desperation. A smirk tugged at Kaoru's lips as he readied himself.

[Now the real fight begins.]

One of the chunins moved first, quickly forming hand signs before spewing a massive fireball from his mouth. Kaoru didn't flinch—since the beginning of his sparrings with Akane neutralizing fire with water was second nature to him. But then the second chunin exhaled a gust of wind, feeding the flames and transforming the fireball into a roaring inferno.

Kaoru's eyes widened slightly. [Thats dangerous!]

He reacted instantly, forming hand signs. "Water Release: Water Wall!"

A torrent of water rose around him, but suddenly Kaoru had an idea. 

[If I create a thin outer layer of high-density water, would it not make evaporating the water wall much more difficult?]

He decided to trust his guts and increased the density of the wall's outer layer, making it dark blue and almost solid. The fiery storm crashed into the barrier, but instead of evaporating, the dense outer layer held firm, repelling and extinguishing the flames with a violent hiss.

The two chunins froze, their jaws tightening in disbelief. They hadn't expected their combined attack to be so easily countered by a child.

[If only our chakra reserves were full...] they thought, gritting their teeth in frustration.

Kaoru, on the other hand, was thrilled. His experimental tweak to the water wall had worked, and his confidence surged. [All those late-night training sessions are finally paying off.]

"It's my turn now," he said with a smirk, vanishing in a flicker.

Kaoru reappeared behind one of the chunins, his kunai aimed squarely at his back. He would have gone for the neck, but his height worked against him. The chunin turned too slowly, but his companion reacted just in time, blocking Kaoru's attack with a kunai of his own.

Kaoru leapt back, retreating to a safe distance. As he landed, a triumphant smile spread across his face, confusing the chunins. The grin lingered as a shadow loomed between them—a towering water tentacle. But what left them truly stunned was that the tentacle was covered in explosive tags.

Their eyes widened in horror.

"Too late," Kaoru said, his voice calm but brimming with confidence.

The explosion was deafening, sending a shockwave through the forest. Flames and debris consumed the area where the chunins stood, leaving nothing but burnt corpses in its wake.

Kaoru stood still, his expression calm but satisfied. [If I didn't have one more fight tonight, I'd experiment with them longer. But I need to save my chakra.]

This time, the sight of destruction didn't faze him. The water he had used to fight had washed away most of the filth and smell, sparing him the worst of the aftermath.

"I'd better check their bodies for anything useful," Kaoru muttered to himself as he began combing through the ruins of the camp. He rifled through what was left, searching for supplies that had survived the chaos.

The fight was over, but the bandits' main base was still waiting.

**

A/N - 

I wanted to showcase Team Shin's progress in this fight, which is why I chose relatively easy opponents. The upcoming battles won't be as one-sided, but it's nice to give Kaoru and the team a chance to shine every now and then. Sometimes, it's important to let the MC bask in their triumph—it makes the journey all the more rewarding!

Character Notes:

Mizuki - Disappointed - "So, no fight for me this chapter? I see how it is…"

Kaoru - Excited - "Finally! All that training paid off. If I had more chakra, I'd be absolutely unstoppable. Watch out, world!"

Akane - Disgusted - "Nobody told me people shit themselves after dying. Gross. Just gross."

**