…
As the thought settled, Murakami felt a wave of fatigue wash over him. It wasn't gradual or subtle, but immediate and overwhelming.
Whatever strength he had seemed to drain from his body all at once as an unbearable emptiness spread through his chakra network.
Every pathway felt scraped clean after the Mountain Embracing Technique had consumed everything he had to give.
His vision blurred, his knees weakened, and before he could fully process what was happening, the world tilted beneath him.
The last thing he registered was the colossal monument of earth standing before him before darkness swallowed his vision whole and his exhausted body collapsed on the ground.
"Murakami!" A loud voice called out to him but he was already unconscious to respond, and seconds later, Sora ran up to him and knelt down beside him.
Despite his best effort to appear calm, one could see the panic in his eyes and he turned Murakami around and brought his finger to his nose.
A few seconds later, he let out a sigh of relief. "He's only unconscious." he muttered to himself just as another figure approached.
"How is he?"
Sora looked up to see Sakumo looking worriedly at Murakami.
"He's fine, just unconscious." He said then looked at the little mountain in front. "This technique seemed to have used up his entire chakra reserve."
Sakumo let out a breath then also turned his gaze to the little mountain. "And I thought he was a weapon specialist like me."
"Oh, he is…" Hideki, looking pale from blood loss, walked up to them in shaky steps then looked at the unconscious Murakami with a triumphant grin. "Heh. To think the great Murakami-kun got knocked out by a single technique."
"At least he doesn't have a gash going through his chest." Sora immediately shot back, more out of instincts than necessity.
"You…" Hideki froze at the retort and couldn't come up with a counter.
"Not to mention the fact that he just killed a team leader." Sakumo added, then glanced at Hideki in disdain.
"Wha- You…you guys…" Hideki's pale face seemed to regain a bit of red as he stuttered.
But before he could make a complete sentence two whooshing sounds rang out and the scarred Jonin and Takeda arrived behind them.
"How is he doing?" Takeda asked as soon as he arrived.
"He's fine, just exhausted his chakra performing this Jutsu." Sora answered.
"Hm." The Jonin hummed, then turned his attention to the little mountain. "How did this kid get his hand on such a high level Ninjutsu?"
"Probably taught my Kaito-san." The scarred Jonin answered but Takeda shook his head.
"Kaito isn't that generous."
The scarred Jonin snorted. "That's true."
Takeda didn't elaborate and continued staring at the massive formation, his eyes narrowing slightly as he studied the structure.
The more he looked at it, the less it resembled a conventional Earth Release technique.
"This doesn't look like a technique I know." Takeda said, rubbing his chin and the Jonin beside him nodded.
They were both veterans and could boast of having seen their fair share of high level Ninjutsu, and the structure in front of them didn't look familiar at all.
This looked almost... improvised.
As though someone had simply decided the earth should move and the earth had obeyed.
"That wasn't a learned technique," Takeda said quietly and with more certainty in his voice.
The others turned toward him.
"What do you mean?" Sora asked.
Takeda folded his arms. "I mean I've seen enough shinobi to recognize the difference between a practiced jutsu and something created on the spot."
Sora paused at that while Hideki frowned, each with their own thoughts.
Even Sakumo's attention shifted toward the Jonin.
Takeda gestured toward the mountain. "This technique lacks refinement."
The statement earned him several confused looks.
"Lacks refinement?" Hideki repeated incredulously. "That thing swallowed the enemy squad captain."
"I know," Takeda replied. His gaze never left the stone monument. "But a completed technique doesn't consume all of its user's chakra in a single use."
The group fell silent.
"A completed technique is efficient and stable." His eyes narrowed. "This thing isn't."
The scarred Jonin's expression gradually became thoughtful.
"You think he made it during the battle?"
Takeda didn't answer immediately, instead, he recalled how he saw Murakami observing the coordinator's movements.
Then the sudden appearance of those chakra threads, and the next thing he saw was this little mountain.
Finally, he sighed. "I think he saw something."
The scarred Jonin nodded slowly. "And then copied it?"
"No." Takeda shook his head. "That's the disturbing part."
His eyes drifted toward the unconscious boy lying beside Sora.
"I think he understood it."
"He's not an Uchiha, is he?" The scarred Jonin asked and glanced at Sora who immediately shook his head.
"Murakami isn't an Uchiha." He said.
"He's just weird." Hideki added with a snort.
Both Jonin looked at them and then at Murakami.
"I guess we'll have to wait till he wakes up to confirm." Takeda said then turned around. "How's the clean up coming along?"
One of the surviving genin stepped forward and saluted.
"The remaining enemy forces broke shortly after your order, sir. Most attempted to retreat through the tunnels, but many of those routes collapsed during the fighting."
Another shinobi continued the report.
"Confirmed enemy casualties are still being counted, but we've secured the battlefield. Several wounded were taken alive. Interrogation can begin once they're stabilized."
Takeda nodded. "Our losses?"
The chunin's expression tightened.
"Three dead. Seven seriously wounded. Another eleven with moderate injuries."
A brief silence followed this announcement, the numbers could have been far worse, everyone standing there knew it.
Had the squad leader not been taken down by Murakami, the casualty count would have doubled if not tripled.
The scarred Jonin folded his arms. "And the cargo?"
"Mostly intact. Two wagons sustained structural damage, but the supplies themselves survived."
That finally earned a satisfied grunt from Takeda. "Good."
His gaze shifted toward the massive stone structure dominating the battlefield. "Search around the mountain."
The Shinobi hesitated. "You think their captain survived?"
Takeda was silent for a moment as looked at the enormous monument Murakami had created. There could be no way anyone would've survived this.
"No," he said. "but search anyway."
The genin saluted. "Yes, sir."
…
Drip!
The sound of water dripping rang out as Murakami's consciousness surfaced slowly. The crushing emptiness of chakra exhaustion still lingered, yet something felt different.
He lay on the water within his mindscape beneath the familiar silver blue moon, its light stretching across the endless void. For a brief moment, everything seemed unchanged.
Then his eyes narrowed as he caught sight of a light flickering at the edge of the moon.
Beside the moon, where there had once been only darkness, a tiny point of light now shimmered quietly, a lone star hanging in the void.
"What's that?" He wondered aloud as he slowly stood up.
At the time he did that, he felt a faint pulse beneath his skin, as though an invisible strand of warm energy had begun flowing through his body.
"And what's this?" He said and focused his gaze on the part of his body where he felt the unfamiliar energy.
As he did that, a strange scene occurred.
His skin seemed to become transparent.
No.
That wasn't right.
Murakami couldn't see through his skin, rather, the skin itself no longer seemed capable of obstructing his vision.
Beneath it, a faint green thread drifted quietly through his arm.
The strand was incredibly thin, no thicker than a hair, yet it stood out clearly against everything around it. It flowed from his wrist toward his forearm before branching away and disappearing deeper into his body.
Murakami froze.
For several moments, he simply observed the thread as it pulsed gently.
With each pulse, warmth spread through the surrounding flesh before settling again.
"..."
His eyes narrowed.
Visualization?
No.
The thought was rejected almost immediately.
When he had first visualized the moon, he had attempted countless visualizations. Chakra pathways. Internal organs. Even the structure of his own body.
None of them had ever looked like this because they had all originated from his imagination.
This was different.
The distinction was undeniable because the image he was looking at wasn't being created by him but already existed.
Murakami slowly raised his hand and the green thread moved with it.
This was not an image or a construct.
It was… observation.
Internal body observation.
The conclusion surfaced naturally.
The moment it did, Murakami's gaze immediately lifted toward the lone star hanging beside the moon.
The tiny light flickered quietly in the endless darkness.
A coincidence?
His instincts told him otherwise.
The star had never existed before.
Neither had this ability.
Yet both had appeared after his collapse from chakra exhaustion.
Murakami stared at the star for several seconds.
Waiting in expectation for something to happen.
Nothing happened.
No voice answered.
No revelation descended from the heavens.
The star simply continued shining silently beside the moon.
"..."
His gaze returned to the green thread beneath his skin.
Whatever answers existed would not reveal themselves so easily.
The thread pulsed once more.
This time Murakami followed it, his attention moved alongside the flow as the strand travelled deeper into his body.
He didn't have an idea what this thread of energy was but it wasn't clashing with his chakra.
Not to mention the fact that it gave him a sense of warmth.
It definitely wasn't a bad thing.
Murakami observed the thread for several moments before slowly looking back up at the lone star hanging beside the moon.
The two phenomena had appeared simultaneously.
Coincidence?
He doubted it.
Unfortunately, there was no one present to answer his questions.
After a moment, he shook his head.
There would be time for investigation later.
For now, he simply committed everything to memory.
The star, thread and the strange ability to observe his own body.
He would look into them later, for now, it was about time he woke up.
As the thought settled, the next instant, the void around him rippled and Murakami felt his consciousness being pulled away.
…
Back in the pass, Murakami's eyes snapped open.
The familiar feeling of fatigue washed over him once again.
For a brief moment, he lay there silently.
Then a small smile appeared on his face.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
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Regardless of what had happened, one thing was certain.
He had benefited a lot from this outing.