Year 56 of Konoha.
Land of Fire, Konohagakure.
Early morning, in the forest outside the village.
Lush trees swayed gently as waves of soft wind passed through the woods.
An eight-year-old boy with a heroic, sharp appearance sat there alone, eyes closed, cross-legged in quiet meditation.
His temperament was incredibly calm.
There was none of the mischievousness that children his age usually possessed.
It was as if he were merging with nature itself.
From time to time, one or two birds chirped as they flew over.
Completely unafraid of him, they landed directly on his body.
Dry leaves rustled as they fell.
Quietly settling on his shoulders.
"One leaf, two leaves, three leaves…"
Brilliant sunlight filtered down through the gaps between the branches above.
It shone upon him.
Yet he kept his eyes closed, listening to the song of nature.
"Thirty-three in total?"
The boy slowly opened his eyes.
He lightly brushed a few fallen leaves from his body.
However, scattered across the ground around him were still many dry leaves.
But if someone had been watching from the very beginning, they would have been shocked to discover something—
From the moment he sat beneath the tree until now, exactly thirty-three leaves had fallen onto him. Not one more, not one less.
Looking at the sparrow that had hopped down from above and onto his hand—pecking lightly without the slightest fear of strangers—
Akira Ren smiled faintly.
"The early bird catches the worm. You should go find something to eat."
The sparrow seemed to understand.
It chirped twice at him.
Then flapped its wings and flew off into the distance.
Ren rose unhurriedly.
His mind was clear and tranquil.
Since that day he had awakened in this world, eight years had already passed.
His father, Akira Daichi, had been a medical jōnin at Konoha Hospital. His mother had been a medical chūnin.
Eight years ago, during the Night of the Nine-Tails, both of them had died protecting him.
Only his elderly grandmother remained, and the two of them had depended on each other ever since.
Fortunately, as medical ninja working at Konoha Hospital, his parents had left behind a considerable inheritance.
The village had also granted a generous compensation payment.
In addition, several of his father's old friends had occasionally helped them.
As a result, the grandmother and grandson had lived without worrying about food or clothing all these years.
But what truly delighted Akira Ren was something else.
He had been born with a chakra reserve far beyond that of ordinary people, along with extremely powerful sensory abilities.
And when he was five years old—
While wandering through the forest, he had accidentally picked up a completely green fruit covered with strange swirling patterns.
The moment he saw it, he recognized it immediately.
It looked identical to the legendary fruit from another seafaring world—
A Devil Fruit.
After hesitating for a long time, he finally made the gamble of his life and ate it.
As for the taste… there was no need to describe it.
But more importantly—
He had obtained the power of the Logia-type Mori Mori Fruit.
With the advantage of foreknowledge, and considering the darkness hidden beneath Konoha's surface, Ren was not foolish enough to casually expose his Mori Mori Fruit ability.
Although he was still attending the Ninja Academy, Akira Ren had perfectly inherited his father's incredibly refined chakra control, which was required of a medical jōnin.
At school, his written exam scores and ninjutsu performance consistently ranked at the top of the class.
Even Hyūga Neji, the prodigy of the Hyūga clan's branch family—
Could only fall slightly behind him.
As for taijutsu—
The number one spot in the grade belonged to Hyūga Neji, who came from a prestigious clan and possessed the Byakugan, granting him nearly three hundred and sixty degrees of vision and astonishing perception, making him highly proficient in the Gentle Fist style.
(Hyūga clan branch members, due to the Caged Bird Seal, only possessed a three-hundred-and-fifty-nine-degree field of vision, leaving a blind spot.)
The second place, however, was not Akira Ren.
Instead, it belonged to Rock Lee.
Born with mediocre talent and unable to properly use chakra, Lee could neither perform ninjutsu nor genjutsu.
Yet through sheer perseverance, he trained his taijutsu day and night without rest.
But in truth—
No one knew.
Ren's chakra control had already far surpassed his father's.
He had completely mastered nearly every medical ninjutsu recorded within the scrolls left behind by Akira Daichi—
Including the extremely difficult A-rank medical technique: Mystical Palm Technique.
What thrilled him even more was this:
After combining the Mori Mori Fruit's Logia ability with his chakra—
A shocking mutation had occurred.
Not only could he transform directly into his elemental form, he also possessed the power to generate any plant he wished and control it freely.
Moreover—
His "Wood Release" required no hand seals at all.
He didn't even need to clap his hands together.
With just a single thought, he could easily create massive amounts of vegetation and command them at will.
Those plants could devour enemies like man-eating flowers, directly draining their chakra.
They could even swallow a person's flesh and nutrients, converting them into nourishment to replenish his own strength.
In truth, he already possessed the strength to graduate from the Academy early.
But he had no intention of applying for early graduation.
"Still… these years of effort weren't wasted."
Akira Ren murmured softly.
"After several years of continuous attempts to merge with nature, I can now clearly sense the natural energy that exists everywhere in the world…"
Every day he spent a considerable amount of time calming his mind, relaxing his spirit, and meditating quietly.
Aside from wanting to strengthen his spiritual energy and sharpen his sensory abilities—
His true goal was something else.
Sage Mode.
"Simply sensing natural energy isn't difficult," he muttered.
"But if someone recklessly tries to force it into their body… they'd be throwing their life away."
"But I'm different."
"I'm the user of the Mori Mori Fruit. I am the source of the forest itself, essentially a part of nature."
"With my current chakra control, extracting Sage Chakra by balancing one-third spiritual energy, one-third physical energy, and one-third natural energy… isn't impossible."
"And if something goes wrong, I can stop immediately."
Akira Ren muttered to himself.
Lowering his head, a faint crimson glint flashed within the depths of his eyes—so subtle that ordinary people would never notice.
"Perhaps… it's time to begin."
…