Michiyoshi Ohara's Crazy Dogs faction, and in March 2003, MMA fighter Enson Inoue was bought into New Japan to feud with Murakami. On May 2 at NJPW Ultimate Crush 2003, Murakami lost to Inoue in an extremely bloody match that ended in just 6 minutes. In the fall of 2003, Murakami began competing in a series of three "bounty" matches, where the winner would receive a cash prize from Makai Club leader Kantaro Hoshino. He defeated Shinya Makabe at Road to Ultimate Crush on September 21 in a 1,000,000 Yen Bounty match, then fellow Makai Club member Katsuyori Shibata at Ultimate Crush II on October 13 in a 2,000,000 Yen Bounty match, and finally Koji Kanemoto at Yokohama Dead Out on November 3 in a 4,000,000 Bounty match. In early 2004, Murakami began feuding with Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship, which eventually led to an empty arena steel cage match on March 28 at King of Sports, won by Tanahashi. On May 3, 2004 at Nexxess in the Tokyo Dome, Murakami teamed with Masahiro Chono to unsuccessfully challenge Yoshihiro Takayama and Minoru Suzuki for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Makai Club broke up in the summer of 2004 and Murakami would briefly join Masahiro Chono's Black New Japan stable before leaving New Japan shortly after. His last match under contract to the promotion took place on July 7, where he, Katsuyori Shibata, Super Strong Machine, Mitsuya Nagai and Masahiro Chono defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Osamu Nishimura, Shinya Makabe, Yuji Nagata and Yutaka Yoshie. Murakami would return to New Japan for a one off match at the 2006 Tokyo Dome show, losing to Yuji Nagata. Big Mouth Loud (2005–2006) Having both left New Japan, Murakami and Katsuyori Shibata announced the formation of a new promotion, Big Mouth Loud in January 2005. Backed by Fumihiko Uwai, the promotion was set to focus largely on shoot-style, and would use talent from other promotions as well as their own contracted wrestlers. At Big Mouth Loud's first show in September 2005, Murakami defeated Shibata in the main event. Murakami reignited his feud with Enson Inoue at the next show in December 2005, defeating him in a singles match. Murakami continued to compete for BML until the promotion's closure in mid-2006. Freelance (2006–2007) After Big Mouth Loud folded, Murakami went freelance and began working for Pro Wrestling Zero1 in the summer of 2006. Murakami