A/N - Thank you, Taqee Moore for supporting Azure Awakening!

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Mangetsu’s expression darkened as a sense of unease overwhelmed him.

‘She’s too relaxed… and this damned blade isn’t listening to me anymore.’

He knew Samehada wouldn’t accept just anyone. It had a will of its own, choosing its wielder based on something beyond strength alone.

So why?

Why did the blade seem to favor Maki?

Kirigakure was founded by seven clans, each wielding influence over the village’s early years. As a symbol of their authority and power, the Durinu clan forged seven legendary blades, each one tailored to its wielder, perfectly aligning with their unique fighting style.

But as time passed, the balance of power changed. Some clans vanished entirely, unable to survive Kiri’s ruthless internal struggles. Others were reduced to minor families, while some were exiled altogether. The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist lost their original purpose. They were no longer representatives of the founding clans, but instead, the Mizukage’s most ruthless tools.

The blade Mangetsu now wielded had not been forged for him or the Hozuki clan - it had been created for the Takime clan. A clan whose Dojutsu granted them an unparalleled affinity for water.

The chakra of the Takime clan was the most exquisite Samehada had ever tasted. In exchange for the “treat”, the blade granted its wielder the chakra it absorbed from opponents. It was a perfect weapon for the Takime, who suffered from a genetic weakness - low chakra reserves from birth. However, with Samehada at their side, that weakness became irrelevant. The sword was truly loyal to them. It had never once drained its rightful wielder’s chakra in battle.

But that loyalty was betrayed as Samehada was taken - ripped away from the clan it had been forged to serve.

The last true wielder of Samehada had been Masaru Takime, Maki and Kaoru’s father. So the moment the blade tasted Maki’s chakra, it remembered. It had found its rightful owner.

From that moment on, Samehada was no longer Mangetsu’s weapon. No matter how much he tried to wield it, the blade would never be his again.

As if to prove its loyalty Mangetsu’s hand was suddenly pierced by Samehada’s thorny scales as the blade forcefully rejected him and forced him to drop it. At that moment, Maki, who had sensed an opportunity, charged forward, leaving no chance for Mangetsu to store the blade as he was forced to retreat. But instead of pursuing, she stopped and reached for the weapon.

Samehada met her hand mid-air, twisting toward her like a living creature eager to return to its rightful wielder.

“I remember Dad wielding you,” Maki chuckled, running her fingers along the familiar hilt. To her, the blade was more than just a weapon, it was an heirloom, a piece of her father she had finally reclaimed.

Mei’s eyes widened.

‘Wait… Maki’s father wielded Samehada? Is that why the blade acknowledged her?’

Kaoru was equally stunned.

‘Our father was one of the Seven Swordsmen? Then why did Kiri chase us out? I need to ask Grandma when we get back!’

He had been only a few months old when their father died. And since the memory of that day brought too much pain to Suiren and Maki, he had never pressed for details. He had been content with the vague story he was told. But the more he learned, the more certain he became that his father had been a true powerhouse. And that fact only made him more eager to learn the truth.

Mangetsu sneered, “So that’s why you were so relaxed… you knew that damned sword wouldn’t harm you.”

He quickly pulled a scroll from his pouch. The scroll had seven seals inscribed across its surface, however, four of them were faint, almost transparent. Mangetsu pressed his fingers against one of the remaining active seals as he channeled his chakra. A massive, bandage-wrapped blade materialized in his hands. It was nearly as large as Samehada itself.

“I’ll be fighting with my sword now.”

The moment his fingers tightened around the hilt, his chakra exploded.

The restraint he had placed on his chakra was gone as his full strength flooded the battlefield.

Maki’s eyes narrowed as she felt the difference.

‘He was suppressing his chakra too? This guy is something else.’

She vanished without hesitation and reappeared in front of him as Samehada swung downward, aiming straight for Mangetsu’s head.

But Mangetsu was faster than she expected.

He split Hiramekarei into two instantly, transforming the great twin-headed blade into a pair of one-handed swords. Then, he crossed them above his head and caught Maki’s strike.

The impact sent shockwaves through his arms, the sheer force threatening to crush him, but by gradually redirecting the pressure, he managed to absorb the brunt of it and negate the difference in their raw strength.

Then, without a moment’s pause, he struck back.

He fired a water projectile directly at her at point-blank range.

Maki had no room to dodge.

At the last second, she still managed to twist her body, shifting the angle of impact. The attack still hit, slamming into her shoulder and piercing through to some extent, however, Predator’s Pact provided maki with defenses too as it had softened the damage. Still, it wasn’t as effective as the Raikage’s Lightning Armor.

Maki felt a sharp through her shoulder, but she didn’t hesitate.

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Ignoring the wound, she drove her free hand forward as her fist slammed into Mangetsu’s stomach.

The force sent him flying again.

The Hozuki prodigy grit his teeth as anger was boiling in his veins. Twice. He had been sent flying twice in a single fight. The crackling of his teeth grinding together was almost audible. His fury finally reached its peak.

Mangetsu quickly performed a sequence of seals,

“Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu.”

The thick mist formed around them, swallowing the battlefield in a dense, suffocating fog. Vision became pointless as those spectators who did not have sensory abilities struggled to see a single thing through the dense mist.

For most shinobi, fighting in this environment would be impossible. But for Mangetsu Hozuki, this was his domain.

‘She’s fast… but she’s still human. Let’s see how well she handles a fight when she can’t see her target.’

Even with her heightened senses, the Hidden Mist Jutsu subtly disrupted sensory perception, forcing sensors to concentrate if they wanted to detect him. It wasn’t absolute stealth, but in the fight against Mangetsu, even a slight distraction could be lethal.

From somewhere deep within the fog a chakra flickered.

Maki’s instincts flared immediately.

She twisted to the side just as a blade of water shot past her, slicing through the air where her head had been a heartbeat ago. A second projectile followed immediately, forcing her to duck.

‘He’s switching to ranged attacks to keep me at a distance. Smart. But that won’t save him.’

She barely heard the third attack, the sharp whistle of a high-speed water jet cutting through the mist. This one was aimed lower, targeting her legs.

With a burst of speed, she vanished from her spot, reappearing several meters away. Samehada pulsed in her grip.

Maki had felt Mangetsu’s presence in that spot but now he had disappeared.

‘He can't be far, I need to…’ Suddenly, Maki’s senses screamed at her.

She reacted on instinct, pivoting just in time to feel the rush of steel sweeping toward her neck. Mangetsu had abandoned his distance tactics, lunging at her from the side with both halves of Hiramekarei raised in a scissoring slash.

But Maki was faster.

Samehada moved like an extension of her own body, tilting to intercept the strike. The impact cracked through the air, but the moment her blade clashed against his, she felt it - her chakra draining.

Maki smirked.

Then, just as quickly as it began, Samehada stopped.

It had taken a single bite of her chakra, just enough to remind her that it could. And then it refused to take any more.

Mangetsu’s expression twisted at the sight of Samehada’s playfulness.

‘Again?! This damn sword!’ His pride was hurt that the strongest blade had chosen someone else over him.

Maki pressed her advantage. With a powerful shove, she broke their stalemate, twisting her hips into a devastating counter-kick.

Mangetsu barely managed to block with the flat of his blade, but the force sent him skidding backward across the ground.

‘Tch. Her raw strength is ridiculous. I can’t win in close combat like this.’

He changed tactics immediately, flipping both swords into reverse grips and forming hand seals mid-motion.

“Water Release: Grand Geyser Spears.”

The ground beneath them exploded.

Dozens of water lances shot upward, twisting into spears before launching toward Maki from multiple angles.

She didn’t run.

Instead, she moved.

All it took was a single step and then she was gone.

To the spectators, it was as if she had blinked out of existence. Even with their trained eyes, they struggled to track her movements.

Kaoru’s fingers clenched into fists.

‘She’s that fast?’ He always considered himself faster.

Jiraiya, who stood nearby, narrowed his eyes.

‘She’s pushing his attacks to the limit, keeping him adjusting and adapting constantly. If she keeps this up…’

But before he could finish the thought, the battlefield changed again.

Mangetsu had already adapted.

Instead of waiting for her to reappear, he forced her into the open.

“Water Release: Water Coffin!”

A surge of chakra flooded the mist. The moisture in the air condensed instantly, forming a massive dome of pressurized water around Maki’s position.

Maki's feet barely touched the ground before the water walls collapsed inward, aiming to trap and crush her.

Her body blurred.

At the last moment, she vaulted upward, launching herself above the rising tide of Mangetsu’s technique.

And then she came down.

Samehada roared in her grip, its scales flexing as it carved downward.

‘Shit!’

Mangetsu had no choice but to meet her head-on.

He split Hiramekarei once again, catching the incoming strike in a crossed defense. The moment their blades met, another shockwave burst outward.

And that was all Maki needed.

With a twist of her wrist, Samehada’s scales shifted.

Instead of absorbing chakra, the blade amplified her swing, its jagged surface scraping against Hiramekarei with brutal force.

Mangetsu’s arms shook.

‘Damn it!’

He abandoned defense entirely, liquefying his body for an instant to slip away.

Maki’s blade cleaved through empty air, but she was already moving again as she chased Mangetsu before he could reform properly.

This time, she didn’t go for a strike.

Instead, she slammed Samehada into the ground, channeling her chakra into it.

The earth cracked as the lightning danced on the ground, however, it could not reach Mangetsu. Still, the shockwave sent Mangetsu stumbling mid-reformation.

Tsunade’s eyes narrowed from her place on the sidelines.

‘She’s using Samehada’s energy and her lightning chakra to create lightning shockwaves? That’s… creative.’

A, who watching with his arms crossed but sparkling eyes, gave a slight nod.

‘She fights like a beast. Fast, strong, ruthless. If only she had been born in Kumo…’

Meanwhile, Mangetsu growled.

This wasn’t working. He needed a different approach.

His hands snapped into another set of seals.

“Water Release: Hundred Tidal Blades!”

Thin, razor-sharp blades of water materialized from every direction. Maki stilled, but not because he was scared, Samehada had taken another bite. It was like the blade was telling Maki something.

‘What do you want? I don't get it…’ Maki knew Samehada to some extent but did not know its abilities or how to use it.

Mangetsu’s water blades converged, slicing through the mist as they shot toward Maki.

With near-impossible agility, she wove through the storm of razor-sharp projectiles, dodging narrowly. A few still managed to graze her, drawing thin lines of blood, but she didn’t slow down.

However, another wave was coming and Maki could not dodge this time. She was already calculating her next move when Samehada bit into her chakra again.

Maki’s eyes twitched in irritation.

‘Seriously? Now?!’

As if punishing the blade for its audacity, she decided to use it as a shield, swinging the massive weapon to deflect the incoming attacks.

But instead of deflecting them, Samehada devoured them. Every single water projectile was absorbed on impact, disappearing into the blade’s sharp scales

A deep, guttural hum vibrated through the giant weapon. It was like Samehada’s song, as its hunger was finally sated.

Maki blinked, but then she realized what had happened and she chuckled.

‘Oh, so that’s what you were trying to tell me? You wanted me to use you to counter his attacks?’

The blade was more impressive than she had given it credit for.

But before she could inspect the blade further, a change in the mist sent a chill down her spine.

It had drastically thickened.

Her instincts screamed at her as she expanded her sensory field.

At the same time, Kaoru, who had been watching through his Suijingan, tensed. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He was angry.

“Lady Tsunade, there are two people in the mist. Mangetsu isn’t alone anymore.”

It might have seemed like he was informing Tsunade, but in reality it was a request of permission - Kaoru wanted to help Maki, he wanted to fight.

Tsunade chuckled softly. She had already noticed.

‘That bond…’

It reminded her of her own brother.

“Don’t worry,” she said in a soft and calm voice. “Kiri has violated the rules of the duel. Takimura’s side can intervene as well.” Then, she shot Kaoru a knowing look. “But you must not. Don’t forget that you represent Konoha right now.”

Kaoru hesitated, then turned his gaze back toward the battlefield.

‘I’ll obey for now, but if anything happens there is no way I’ll stand and watch’

He focused on the mist, trying to identify the newcomer.

And then his jaw dropped.

The chakra he saw through his Suijingan was… wrong.

It wasn’t human.