…
The sunlight over the training ground felt slightly sharper than before they left.
Murakami stopped at the center and turned to face them.
Hideki's face tightened almost immediately. "…Do we really have to do this?"
Murakami answered without hesitation. "Yes."
Sora adjusted his glasses slightly, eyes never leaving him. "What are the conditions?"
Murakami paused just long enough for the wind to fill the silence.
"Simple," he said at last. "Touch me once."
Hideki blinked. "That's it?"
"With a meaningful attack," Murakami added calmly.
"…There it is," Hideki muttered under his breath.
Murakami ignored him. "You can use whatever you want," he continued. "Taijutsu. Ninjutsu. Tools. Anything."
Sora's gaze sharpened faintly at that, as though the openness itself was the actual condition being tested.
"Use your head," Murakami said.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then Murakami stepped back.
That made Hideki move first out of spite rather than strategy.
He pushed off the ground hard, chakra flooding his legs, closing distance in a straight burst like a thrown line.
'Oh? Seems like he's using his chakra control skill…' Murakami thought as he saw the boy dash towards him. 'But it's still too low-level.'
Sora moved a fraction after him.
Not following but syncing as his hand dipped into his pouch mid-step and pulled out three kunai.
Murakami didn't move immediately but watched the timing instead.
Sora flicked his wrist.
SHNK. SHNK. SHNK.
Murakami narrowed his eyes as he saw their trajectory. The kunai didn't aim to hit.
One cut low, one curved behind and the last one drifted just outside the centerline.
Hideki arrived at the same moment, fist pulled back, already committed to deliver a punch.
Murakami let out a soft breath and took a step forward as the first kunai struck the ground.
The second followed a line to a target that no longer existed skimming over his shoulder.
The third lost meaning mid-flight and buried itself harmlessly into dirt.
Hideki's fist came next but Murakami raised two fingers and stopped the strike mid movement, rendering it unable to continue forward.
Hideki's eyes widened slightly.
Murakami tilted his head.
"…Still too green."
And he let go.
Hideki stumbled half a step forward, his momentum breaking.
Sora's gaze sharpened instantly as he swiftly formed a series of seals.
"EARTH STYLE: MUD SPIKE."
He didn't say it loudly but it was still loud enough that Murakami heard it and couldn't help but shake his head inwardly.
'That is unnecessary.'
Murakami felt the chakra shift the ground beneath his feet as the terrain beneath him fractured upward in thin, aggressive spikes.
Murakami didn't jump but stepped on the spike with just enough weight on the rising earth to borrow its motion, and in that borrowed moment, he was already out of their direct line of attack.
Hideki twisted mid-motion, correcting his angle in real time, swinging into a spinning kick that cut through where Murakami should have been.
Murakami leaned back slightly, causing the kick to pass.
But Sora was already there again with a follow-up kunai that arrived immediately.
SHNK.
It was closer this time.
Murakami turned his torso just enough for it to miss by a breath.
Hideki followed with another punch, this time, at a shorter range, with no excessive movement.
Murakami met it with an open palm.
The impact didn't spread but stopped at contact causing Hideki to grit his teeth.
Murakami's grip tightened briefly, just enough for feedback to travel through the knuckles, a correction rather than punishment.
"You're improving," Murakami said.
Then he released him and jumped back to create distance once more.
Sora didn't wait for the spacing to reset.
EARTH STYLE: STONE STEP.
A hardened rise formed under Murakami's next landing point, not to trap him, but to ruin his rhythm but Murakami adjusted mid-step, landing on its edge instead of its center, turning the trap into terrain.
Sora clicked his tongue softly.
Hideki rushed again immediately, frustration now blending into attack.
"Fire Style—!"
His hand came forward as chakra condensed on it
"EMBER SHOT!"
A compressed flame burst forward, short-range, explosive, fast.
Murakami paused just long enough then moved half a step to the side, causing the flame to pass his shoulder and detonate behind him, the heat rippling through the air as smoke rose instantly.
Hideki grinned through it.
"Got—"
Before he could finish, Murakami was already in front of him.
Tap.
His finger on his forehead.
There was no force behind it, just contact.
Hideki froze.
"…You're too predictable," Murakami said.
Sora's kunai followed through the smoke immediately.
Murakami tilted his head slightly.
Both blades passed where his face had been.
And a second wave followed, shuriken tightening the space, trying to remove escape paths instead of hitting him directly.
Murakami continued moving backward as the shuriken cut through the air, missing him completely.
The moment he came to a stop, he spoke. "You're both improving."
Hideki didn't look happy about the compliment. "That sounds like there's a 'but' coming."
"There is." Murakami sidestepped another kunai. "You still focus too much on me."
Sora frowned as he heard that.
Murakami pointed toward the ground with a casual gesture. "Look at the battlefield."
Before either of them could process that statement, he vanished.
Not with the phantom step, just raw speed.
Hideki's eyes widened as a chill ran down his spine..
"LEFT!" Sora reacted instantly but it was too late.
Murakami appeared beside him and tapped two fingers against the side of his shoulder. "Dead."
Sora's expression twitched and wanted to counter but Murakami was already gone.
Hideki's gaze caught him appearing behind him and spun to throw a punch but Murakami slipped underneath it as a palm struck Hideki lightly in the stomach.
Not enough to hurt but ust enough to fold his posture.
"Dead."
Hideki stumbled backward. "That doesn't count!"
"It does."
"That wasn't even an attack!"
"It was." Murakami straightened and looked at both of them. "You keep chasing the opponent instead of controlling the fight."
He knew they were still too green to understand the concept of controlling a fight but that didn't make it any less important. If they started learning it now, even in the most basic sense, it would save them years of bad habits later.
Immediately, Murakami's lazy and casual disposition disappeared. Not in a dramatic or visible way, but both boys felt it.
Their instincts screamed as Murakami's gaze settled on them. "I've seen enough. Now… defend."
He took a simple step forward and the ground beneath his feet cracked.
EARTH STYLE: EARTH WAVE.
Chakra surged through the terrain as a rolling ridge of earth erupted forward like a charging beast.
Hideki's eyes widened.
"MOVE!"
Both boys scattered.
The wave tore through the field between them before collapsing into chunks of stone and dirt.
Neither had fully regained their footing but Murakami was already moving.
Fast.
Too fast.
His body crossed the distance in a blur, a kunai appeared in his hand as he came upon Sora.
CLANG.
Sora barely managed to block but the impact sent him skidding backward across the dirt.
Murakami's free hand flashed through seals.
WIND STYLE: GALE BURST.
A concentrated blast of wind exploded outward carrying dust, leaves and loose dirt.
Everything erupted into the air as visibility vanished.
Hideki charged through it anyway.
'Of course he did.' Murakami almost sighed as the boy's fist emerged from the dust cloud. 'Predictable.'
Murakami turned slightly and grabbed the wrist and using the boy's momentum, sidestepped, causing Hideki to fly past him and roll several times across the ground.
"Again," Murakami said calmly.
The dust cleared and Murakami caught Sora already moving.
'Good. At least one of them had learned something.'
Three shuriken flew from different angles.
Not aimed at Murakami, but aimed at the spaces around him trying to restrict his movement.
Murakami's eyes flickered with approval. 'Better.'
Much better.
Then he stamped his foot once more.
EARTH STYLE: STONE PILLAR.
A column of earth erupted directly beneath him carrying him above the attack pattern.
All three shuriken landed but Murakami was unaffected as stood atop the pillar and looked down. "That was unnecessary."
Sora didn't know the Jutsus in his arsenal so it was understandable he'd think moving across the ground was his only option.
Hideki growled and formed seals.
"Fire Style: Ember Shot!"
A burst of flame streaked upward aimed at Murakami.
Sora moved simultaneously.
"Earth Style: Mud Spike!"
The ground around the pillar erupted.
Fire from above, Earth from below.
Murakami smiled. 'Now that...That was progress.'
The pillar exploded causing smoke and dust to fill the air.
Hideki's face brightened.
"Did we—"
Just then, a shadow dropped behind them.
Both boys froze.
Murakami landed lightly between them.
Not a scratch on him.
The wind around his body dispersed the lingering smoke, a visible tell that he had just used the Phantom Step.
His hands rested casually on their shoulders. "Good attempt."
Both boys immediately jumped away.
Murakami's voice remained calm. "You're starting to think like shinobi." Then he dropped his hands slowly. "But you're still thinking one step at a time."
The wind began swirling around him again as leaves lifted from the ground. Dust rotated around his feet and an invisible pressure fell on the field.
Hideki swallowed while Sora's expression hardened.
Murakami looked at both of them.
"On a battlefield, your opponent won't wait for you to coordinate. They won't stop attacking because you're tired."
The wind intensified as he took a step forward. "They won't give you time to think."
Both boys instinctively stepped back. "And they certainly won't announce what comes next."
Murakami smiled faintly and raised his right hand towards them calmly.
The air around his hand distorted, not from heat or from chakra visible to the eye.
But from pressure.
The leaves caught within that distortion suddenly trembled, as though struck by an invisible force.
Hideki's pupils contracted while Sora's eyes widened behind his glasses.
Murakami looked at them quietly, then his lips curled up slightly. "Defend."
The space in front of his palm shuddered, and the world exploded.
.....
Author's note: Y'all will have to forgive me if this chapter is a bit lackluster. It kind of has a bunch of unnecessary repetitions but I can't help it.
That's what happens when you try to make a 12 year old self made genius train with his fellow 12 year olds who are slightly behind.
Just enjoy the read.🙏
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