Kapitel 2: Renko Shinsui

Year 14 (Since the founding of Konoha)

The Hidden Leaf Village was a vibrant, growing community. Although founded just years earlier by Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, Konoha had quickly evolved into a structured society.

Senju Tobirama, the second Hokage, brought a shift toward stability and strict organization, creating a place where shinobi, civilians, and clans alike could feel both protected and responsible for Konoha's future. At least that was how it felt.

Konoha became a tapestry of different clans, each with its own customs, skills, and quirks. Among these clans was an inconspicuous and declining clan, the Renko clan.

Within the outskirts of the clan compound was a kid who looked no older than three lying beside a large tree, appearing to be deep in thought. He had snow-white, silky hair and a chubby, cute, childish, innocent face, but his expression did not match his age.

_________

[POV RENKO SHINSUI]

It has been a while since my rebirth, three years to be specific. From the day I was born, I always had vague memories that should not belong to a newborn, but as time went on, within these three years, everything started to make sense.

I remembered how I came to this world and how I lived a life before this one in another world. Although I remembered almost everything, not with perfect clarity though, I could not remember anything personal about my previous self.

During all these years, I had hoped that, just like my other memories, my personal memories would eventually be recalled. But after some time, I eventually understood that I will never recall them, ever again, no matter how hard I try.

It was the decision I seemed to have made. While I do not fully remember, I do recall some scenes of my soul meeting some powerful being who, in exchange for offering me another chance at life, proposed for me to pay a certain price.

"Take my personal memories; they only carry pain and suffering; there is nothing happy about them anyways," I remember myself saying without hesitation.

The rest of our dialogue remains blurry and is hard to recall, but I easily concluded from the clues that it was a classic rebirth scene where the protagonist makes wishes from a shitty fanfiction.

...….

In my previous life, I watched anime and read manga, light novels, web novels, and fanfiction. I remember those memories, so it was easy for me to know which world I was in.

I was in the shinobi world, depicted in an anime and manga that go by the name Naruto.

It was such a frightening thing when I became aware of that fact as this dangerous world became my new reality. I questioned myself multiple times if I somehow made a wish to be sent here or what.

Although I do not remember my personal memories, I bet my balls that I would never willingly want to be sent here. Although reading fanfictions about guys who meet Rob and get wishes to be reborn here was cool and entertaining, it was a different story if it was myself in that situation.

Who would want to live in a shitty, chaotic world after dying and be given another chance? No one. Actually... Some nutcases would do so, but I was just a normal person, or I would like to think so.

From the initial panic, I ended up making peace with the fact that this was my new reality and nothing I think, do, or say would change that. My mother in this life died while giving birth to me; it makes me feel guilty, as if I am the one who killed her.

It was arguable that she may have still died even if she gave birth to a different child who was not me. But the fact still remained that she died while giving birth to me; the guilt will always be there.

I thought my father would resent me and blame me for the death of his wife like in the novels I read, but surprisingly, he didn't; I guess I've read too many fanfictions.

Instead of being resented or blamed, I was treasured and showered with love by my father. I was not accustomed to such treatment. I may not have personal memories from my previous life, but even so, I could tell it was not a happy one from analyzing every available memory within me.

One thing I was sure of was that I had been an orphan or was not loved by my parents in my past life.

...…

I was born into a shinobi clan I have not seen or heard of in my past life at all. Although I know that there were some minor clans that were mentioned in passing and never got any screen time at all, the clan I was born into does not ring a bell at all.

I came from the Renko clan, known for their unique mastery over raw physical power, were a proud group originating from a mountainous region near the Land of Fire.

"Renkō" translates to "Forged Steel," symbolizing the clan's resilience and brute strength, which they refined through rigorous physical conditioning. Although it sounds impressive, it was nothing special.

The clansmen did indeed have brute strength, but it was just a minor buff, nothing exaggerated.

Sure, there were stories that some of our ancestors were said to have enough brute strength to destroy mountains, but I was skeptical of such words.

There may have been those who were born with superhuman strength in the past, but their feats were probably exaggerated.

Right now, the Renko clan was in decline, and I had a huge responsibility on my shoulders.

To be honest, over the years, I've grown attached to the clan and its people. As the only son of the clan leader, it was my responsibility to change the situation the clan was facing.

It was a responsibility I was more than willing to take; the problem was that I was not sure if joining the hidden leaf village during its founding was the right decision by my late grandfather.

I had thought about planning a defection several times in the future but shot the idea down as that would put my people in danger.

To be honest, if I were to be reborn as a clan leader years prior, before the hidden villages were established, I would have led my clan to join the hidden cloud or hidden stone villages instead of Konoha.

But it was understandable that my grandfather chose to join Konoha. The hidden leaf was in the land of fire, where the clan lived for generations, and it was the strongest.

Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara in their prime were like natural disasters, and both of them being in the same village was so unfair to the other villages. The appeal of being in the same village as these two was so high as it guaranteed protection and safety.

So, yeah, I do not want to blame anyone for deciding to join Konoha; they do not have future knowledge of the dark future ahead after all.

Right now, there are more civilians than shinobi in the clan, and the number of jonins was so small.

I had a few short-term goals for now; one of them was to establish myself as a genius. I was already somewhat seen as a genius, but that was only for my intelligence.

Hashirama died the previous year, and Tobirama has been the Hokage for a while now. Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo were not yet in power, and the tradition of killing off geniuses or trying to recruit them to root was not yet born.

I could freely grow stronger and show off my talents without worries.

The reason for establishing a reputation as a genius was to increase the prestige of my clan and give my clan members confidence in their future leader and hope for a better future.

Why was I so sure that I was a genius?

It was not that I was so sure that I was a genius, but I had a huge advantage over the other kids my age. Since chakra was a fusion of spiritual and physical energy, with my mental strength of two lives and the above-average physical strength inherited from my clan, my chakra levels were very high.

This was not the only thing that gave me confidence, as high chakra levels were not the only deciding factor.

...…

Following my reincarnation, I was born with special talents, three talents.

Haki, alchemy, and arrays/formations.

Haki is a mysterious power that dwells within all living beings in the One Piece world. It is a manifestation of one's willpower and ambition, allowing individuals to tap into their spiritual energy for superhuman abilities.

All I know is that my body was given the talent to be able to master haki; it was more than enough.

It was not long ago that I found out about my special talents; the information popped into my mind out of nowhere. This may be my cheat, but my reincarnation itself is already a cheat, not that I was complaining about getting extra benefits.

As for alchemy, it is a profound and intricate art that involves the manipulation of spiritual energy and natural elements to create extraordinary substances. Alchemists, often revered as sages or masters, possess the knowledge and skill to transform base materials into potent elixirs, powerful artifacts, and even life-extending medicines.

As a binge reader of cultivation novels and manhwas, I had high hopes for the alchemy I possess; unfortunately, I was not given any recipe or anything like that. I only know the basics. The frustrating part was that the knowledge I know is the application of alchemy using Qi or spiritual energy from cultivation novels. It was not localized to this world and power system; I would have to figure out everything by myself.

Arrays or formations are intricate arrangements of energy, objects, or people, designed to amplify power, manipulate the environment, or achieve specific goals. They are often depicted as complex geometric patterns, imbued with spiritual energy and ancient knowledge.

I already knew this from reading eastern webnovels, but with this talent, I now understand it more clearly and know the basics. Just like alchemy talent does not give me any recipe or anything, my formation talent does not give me any free formations.

But it is better than alchemy, which has very high requirements; there is already a reference for formations with seals. Seals used in this world are a variation of formations, but I cannot be too sure. I am at least 80% sure of that fact.

"Shinsui-sama." My father's guard suddenly appeared before me while I was lost in thought.

"Zuko-san, what's the matter?"

"Kuro-sama requests your presence." He said respectfully and immediately left with a body flicker.

Renko Kuro was my father, the current clan head of the Renko clan. He was one of the few jonins in the clan.

To be continued…

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Renko Shinsui: 3 years old

Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru: 5 years old

Sarutobi Hiruzen: 23 years old

...….

_I will sort out a timeline and calendar starting with the founding of the village as year 0._

There are a lot of contradictory statements about how old people are, when the village would've existed, etc.

A lot of the dates and ages of characters are going to be decided on pure conjecture and selective reasoning and how they fit the narrative in respect to other established dates. Do not get too hung up on the character ages and the dates; I will try not to make things outrageous, though.

The updates will be slow; sorry, but I hardly have time to write. I am not sure whether you guys will like this fanfic or what, but if it performs very poorly, I will probably drop it.