"Heh, what did I tell you all? Murakami is the strongest genin from our set." Aiko immediately threw her head back and said smugly.
Kenji shot her a look but just as he was about to say something, he recalled the strange feeling he got from Murakami earlier and paused in his tracks.
His gaze turned to Murakami only to see him spotting his usual and insufferable expression felt his heart boil.
Yet, despite the rage, he couldn't do anything.
Kenji didn't hate Murakami for any deep or personal reasons, it was just that Murakami was the opposite of everything he was.
He was extremely competitive, Murakami wasn't and despite his lack of interest in being on the top, he carried himself as though he was there.
Kenji found that extremely insufferable, but the recent events, no matter how stupid he was, have been weird.
'That casual indifference…' Kenji thought, gritting his teeth. "I'll get you to acknowledge me one day." He muttered to himself then turned back to his food.
Just as he was about to pick up his chopsticks, a voice sounded in his ear. "Eat little or you may not be able to make me do that."
"Huh?" He turned his head sharply to Murakami only to find him looking at his food while the sound of conversation rang in the background.
He could hear Hideki, Aiko and and the others going on about how fast it would take Murakami to beat them in a one on one.
And as though like a premonition, Sora clapped loudly and said. "How about we test that out. Murakami-kun, Aiko said this is your training ground, right?"
Murakami nodded and Sora stood up and continued. "How about we do it this way? Standing on the assumption that your respective sensei asked you to be up and out early tomorrow morning and it's already dark, how about we make it a timed duel?"
"A timed duel?" Kenta, Daichi's teammate. The one who liked speed drills.
"Yes." Sora said with a nod. "Within a certain time frame, every direct hit counts as one point. At the end of the specified time, the person with the most amount of hits wins."
"Oohh." Kenta was immediately drawn in. He seemed to be in thought for a moment before turning to Murakami then smirking. "Even if you're the strongest, this isn't a contest of power but speed. That's where I'm most confident."
"Tsk, frog at the bottom of the well." Aiko clicked her teeth, looking at Kenta in disdain.
Kenta growled at her but snorted and looked away, setting his eyes on Murakami. "How about it? Wanna go?"
"Oi oi. What's with this speedy development? I haven't even decided if I wanted to get up from here." Katsuro interrupted as quickly as he could. "Can't you guys see the sky? It's already late, and we have to get up early in the morning."
"Yeah, you're right." Aiko immediately agreed, startling Katsuro for a moment that she was agreeable.
"See? Even Aiko understands." Katsuro felt as though he had already won the case.
"Aiko?" Sora looked at Aiko with confusion. He thought he had observed her long enough to know that she would jump at any opportunity to put Murakami on a pedestal.
What was this sudden change of character?
"Yeah, I completely understand what Katsuro said. It is late and we do need to get up early for our first day as genin. But you all know that I'm the top kunoichi of our class, right?"
Without waiting for them to agree, she continued. "Which is why I know that having light exercises after dinner will help facilitate faster digestion."
"Eh?" Katsuro paused at the sudden turn of events while Sora inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
Aiko didn't bother with him as her eyes were on Kenta. "I would love to see how your speed will let you win."
"Keep watching then." Kenta muttered to himself but didn't bother looking at her as his eyes were on Murakami who slowly stood up.
"Please." He said and gestured for him to follow him.
"Hmm." Kenta nodded and stood up and walked around the table and came to stop a few feet away from Murakami.
The light of the lanterns on the table reflected their shadows into the darkness.
Murakam pulled out a small hour glass from his sleeves and threw it to Sora.
"That hour glass should be for a minute…" he hesitated for a moment then sighed, "Forget it, I'll use this opportunity to enlighten you all."
Kenta frowned a bit. "On what?"
Murakami smiled widely. "The inevitability of strength." Ignoring him, he turned to the group. "The war is going to show us a whole new reality different from what we've all been told all these years."
He looked a bit melancholic. "While I would love for each of us to reunite in this manner after the war, I dare not deny the possibility of death. Which is why a question necessarily arises; how do we ensure that we do not die?"
He swept his gaze over the group. "By acquiring strength. But then, what is strength?"
He looked at Kenta. "Speed?"
At Kenji. "Fighting technique?"
At Hideki and Riku. "Physical strength?"
At the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. "Bloodline?"
Then raising his hand, a spiraling ball of chakra formed. "Chakra?"
The ball slowed its spiral and reduced in size till it was small enough for Murakami to clench his fish and crush.
"No. It is none of this." He then looked at Kenta then at Sora. "Whenever you're ready."
"Oi, don't just leave us hanging!" Aiko cried in indignation but Murakami and Sora tacitly ignored her.
Sora placed the hour glass on the table. "Begin."
As soon as his words fell, Kenta rushed at Murakami who didn't move an inch and kept his expression casual.
Seeing Murakami being all open, Kenta approached low, throwing a punch at Murakami's ribs. A smirk was slowly forming only for it to disappear as he felt a sense of weightlessness wash over him.
While he was confused, his view flipped.
'Huh?' he thought in confusion which was immediately overridden as a sharp pain tore to his back.
'? How did this happen?' Kenta thought as he grimaced through the pain.
'Thankfully, I didn't land too heavily or I'd be throwing up my dinner.'
"Oi, how did you do that?" He didn't hesitate to ask as he shuffled to his feet.
Murakami ignored him and looked at Sora. "This counts as a hit for me, right?"
"Huh? Oh…" Sora, who was initially stunned at Murakami's counter, stuttered and then coughed. "Ahem, yes. This counts as one point."
"Good." Murakami nodded and then turned to Kenta. "You say you're confident in a contest of speed yet you ask how I did this. Looks like you were all talk and no substance."
"Grr! You…!" Kenta growled at Murakami but couldn't come up with a rebuttal. He did claim to be confident in a contest of speed yet he couldn't react to being flipped mid attack.
"How about you attack once more? Maybe you'll finally notice something." Murakami said with a smile and spread his hand invitingly.
"Humph, I'll make you regret that." Kenta snorted then kicked off the ground in a burst of speed and dashed towards Murakami he threw a punch at Murakami's face which turned into a feint as his other fist went to Murakami's stomach.
Unfortunately for him, he still found himself experiencing that weightlessness. "Huh?"
Before he could analyze his situation, he felt that same rotational feeling.
'Oh no! My back.' he thought in alarm and tried to move his body only to find he still couldn't control it.
Just then,
Thud!
"Gah!"
His body slammed into the ground with a loud thud. Kenta lay sprawled on his back, the wind knocked clean out of him.
The impact had rattled his teeth and sent a dull throb through his spine.
He pushed himself up on one elbow, coughing once, glaring up at Murakami who hadn't moved from his original spot.
The taller boy's expression was still calm, almost polite, the same look he'd worn the entire time.
"Again?" Murakami asked softly, as though he were offering a second helping of rice.
Kenta's face turned crimson. "You..!"
He scrambled to his feet, clenching his fists.
Hideki, who had been watching with wide eyes, let out a low whistle.
Sora, standing off to the side with arms folded, nodded. "Two points for Murakami."
Kenta growled. "Once more."
He rolled his shoulders, cracked his neck, and dropped into a lower stance. This time there was no bravado in his grin, just focus.
He exhaled once, then exploded forward. But…
"Time up." Sora immediately announced, bringing Kenta to a halt.
"What!? So soon?" He roared indignantly but Sora merely shrugged and pointed to the hour glass.
"Did you forget how much time you wasted lying on your back?" Sora gave him a sidelong glance before looking away. "The winner of the round is Murakami. Who's up next?"
Murakami turned to Kenji and gave him a meaningful smile.
"Hey, aren't any of you curious as to how Murakami was able to flip Kenta, not one, but twice." Hideki suddenly said and turned to Sora. "It was so fast that we couldn't even see it, or could you?"
Sora shrugged. "I couldn't, but what's there to be curious about? Whether tonight or tomorrow, we'll get to find out, he's our teammate, no?"
"Now that you say it…that's right." Hideki scratched his head with a dry laugh.
Sora simply rolled his eyes but before he could say anything, Murakami began. "It's alright to be curious about something like this. And we are all friends here, this isn't some super secret technique I have to hide."
"What I used was a complicated yet simple application of force control in Taijutsu." Murakami said and spread his leg and made a taichi movement. "Everything flows at its own pace, even Force. Strong Force and weak force."
Murakami lowered his hands slowly, his stance relaxed but grounded. "Strong Force is what most people understand," he continued. "It's direct. Fast. Obvious. When someone pushes, you push back harder. When someone strikes, you block or strike harder. It's simple… but it costs energy. And against someone stronger, it can fail."
He shifted his weight slightly, "Weak force isn't weak," he said calmly. "It's just… patient."
Murakami extended his arm. "Imagine someone grabs your wrist. If you pull straight back, you fight their strength. That's strong force. But if you rotate…" He slowly turned his wrist and stepped to the side. "…you let their strength continue forward. You don't stop the flow. You guide it."
Kenji leaned forward. "So you're saying you didn't beat him with strength?"
Murakami smiled faintly. "I let him beat himself." He stepped back into a neutral stance. "In Taijutsu, you don't just punch directly, you control timing, balance and intention. Strong force breaks things. Weak force changes direction."
Sora crossed his arms. "In essence you're unbeatable in a Taijutsu battle."
Murakami smiled wistfully. "If I could battle a well trained Hyüga or Uchiha and win, then I could be termed as unbeatable. But even then, there is no ceiling to strength."
"Well then," Murakami's smile turned into one of joy as he faced Kenji. "how about that spar?"