Year 52 of Konoha.
The last glow of sunset spilled over a remote corner of Konoha.
This was the former site of the Senju Clan. Now, only a dilapidated old house remained.
"Crunch."
The crisp sound of chewing echoed through the empty house.
Senju Kenya lay sprawled on a faded tatami mat, clutching a soy-sauce-flavored rice cracker.
He bit off half the cracker, his gaze somewhat vacant.
Just a few minutes earlier, a sudden, splitting headache had struck him.
A vast torrent of fragmented memories had flooded his mind.
He had finally figured out his situation.
He had awakened the memories of his previous life and discovered that he had transmigrated into the legendary world of Naruto.
His identity was the Senju Clan's last publicly known orphan.
His parents had died early, and his clan had fallen into decline.
Under the machinations of the Konoha High Command, the entire Senju Clan had long since ceased to exist in anything but name.
As its sole remaining bloodline, Kenya had spent the past fifteen years like a bird in a cage.
The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke endlessly of virtue and morality, but in reality, he had left him to fend for himself.
And Shimura Danzō, the leader of Root lurking in the shadows, coveted the Senju bloodline within him even more.
Kenya swallowed the rice cracker in his mouth and sneered.
This starting situation was an absolute disaster.
If he stayed in Konoha, only one fate awaited him: becoming a sliced specimen in Root's laboratory.
Just as he was considering how to escape this predicament, a clear voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Ding!" "Awakening of the host's previous-life memories detected. Super-Dimensional Template System activated." "Distributing beginner gift package." "Congratulations, host. You have obtained the template of the pirate world's strongest taijutsu master-'Iron Fist' Monkey D. Garp!" "Congratulations, host. You have obtained the Senju Clan's latent kekkei genkai-Wood Release Cells (taijutsu mutation variant)!" "The system's mission assignment module is damaged. Please explore on your own from here onward." "Enjoy your life in this world. This system is entering deep hibernation. Goodbye."
The voice in his mind had come quickly and vanished even faster.
Before Kenya could react, the system fell completely silent, like a worker who had finished his assignment.
"So you're just playing dead and logging off?"
Kenya froze for a moment, but he soon had no time to complain about this barely present system.
His body was undergoing earth-shattering changes.
An extraordinarily violent surge of heat exploded from his heart, instantly sweeping through every limb and bone.
This power was overwhelmingly forceful, completely different from the chakra refined by ninja.
His previously well-proportioned body began to swell before his eyes.
Under the Garp template's transformation, his muscle fibers frantically tore apart and reassembled.
His bones gave off low rumbles of thunder as their density increased wildly.
His once-fair skin now took on a metallic sheen like obsidian.
This was the embryonic form of Armament Haki!
At the same time, the Senju Wood Release Cells within him were forcibly assimilated by this domineering power.
Traditional Wood Release was used to create forests.
But Kenya could clearly feel that all his Wood Release Cells were now being used to strengthen his body.
Indestructible.
Boundlessly strong.
Kenya stood up. His height had increased by a full ten centimeters, and his muscles looked as though they had been chiseled with blades and axes.
He casually picked up a blue stone brick propping up a nearby table leg.
His five fingers exerted only a little pressure.
There was a dull bang.
The hard blue stone brick was like a fragile block of tofu in his hand, instantly crushed into fine stone powder.
Stone powder sifted down between his fingers.
Looking at his broad, thick palms, Kenya broke into a satisfied grin.
"Garp's taijutsu, plus mutated Wood Release Cells. Now this is interesting."
Hand seals, ninjutsu-in the face of absolute physical strength, they were all meaningless.
With this power, what did he have to fear from Danzo?
Just as Kenya was about to grab another rice cracker to celebrate, a sudden disturbance came from outside.
Crash!
Someone brutally kicked open the old house's already tottering paper door.
Wood splinters flew, and scraps of paper scattered across the floor.
Three black figures flashed into the house like ghosts.
They wore gray vests and cold animal masks, with standard-issue short swords strapped to their backs.
Without a doubt, these were Root ninja under Danzo's command.
The three Root ninja stood in a triangular formation, completely sealing off Kenya's escape routes.
The Root jonin leading them stepped forward, his eyes filled with lofty arrogance.
He looked at Kenya, who was brushing stone powder from his hands, and spoke coldly.
"Senju Kenya, come with us."
Kenya ignored him, turning instead to fish another rice cracker out of the bag on the table.
"Crunch."
The crisp sound of chewing rang out again.
This dismissive attitude made the leading Root jonin's gaze grow even colder.
"The Senju Clan was once a founder of Konoha and made tremendous contributions to the village."
"Now, the village faces unprecedented crises and challenges."
"As the last bloodline of the Senju Clan, you ought to inherit your ancestors' will and contribute your strength to Konoha's prosperity."
The Root jonin's voice held not a trace of emotion. He was simply reciting mechanically.
Kenya rolled his eyes as he chewed his rice cracker.
He had heard this disgusting moral blackmail so often that his ears were practically callused.
"So?" Kenya asked indistinctly.
The Root jonin snorted coldly, his tone becoming even more snide.
"Therefore, Lord Danzo has decided to personally guide your training."
"Now, pack your things immediately and come willingly with us to Root's underground research base."
"This is your honor as the Senju orphan, and the destiny you must accept for Konoha's future."
He made it sound so grand, but in reality, they wanted him to be a lab rat.
The laboratory's scalpels had long been prepared, waiting only for his perfect Senju vessel.
Kenya swallowed the rice cracker and picked his nose.
"What if I say no?"
At those words, the leading Root jonin's eyes instantly filled with murderous intent.
He slowly reached for the hilt of the short sword on his back.
"Senju Kenya, don't refuse the easy way and force us to do this the hard way."
"No one may defy Lord Danzo's orders."
"If you refuse to cooperate, our orders are to bring you back with nothing more than a breath left in you."
Before he had finished speaking, the Root jonin moved.
As expected of one of Root's elites, his speed was astonishing.
In the blink of an eye, he crossed several meters and appeared before Kenya.
With a sharp whistle through the air, he slammed the back of his cold short sword straight toward Kenya's neck.
He intended to knock this brat who didn't know his place unconscious in one blow and drag him away.
The other two Root ninja did not even move. In their eyes, having their captain deal with trash who was not even a genin was already using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
The gust raised by the short sword stirred the black hair over Kenya's forehead.
Yet faced with an attack mere inches away, Kenya showed no intention of dodging.
He merely gave a bored yawn.
Then he casually curled his right hand, which had been picking his nose, into a fist.
There was no fluctuation of chakra.
Nor was there any flashy movement.
It was simply the most basic, purest normal-attack Bone Fist.
Kenya thrust his right fist sharply forward through the air.
Whoom-
A visible ripple of air exploded in front of his fist.
It was the sonic boom produced by pure physical strength breaking the sound barrier.
The back of the short sword had not even reached Kenya's neck.
That fist, carrying terrifying monstrous strength, had already slammed hard into the Root jonin's chest.
Boom!
A deafening explosion erupted inside the old house.
The Root jonin did not let out even the slightest scream.
The short sword in his hand shattered piece by piece the instant it met the wind from the punch.
Immediately afterward, his entire body became like a cannonball fired from a barrel.
He flew backward at ten times the speed of his approach.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of collisions rang out.
The Root jonin's body smashed straight through the old house's wooden wall.
Then it shattered the stone wall around the backyard.
Finally, he slammed hard into a solid rock face several hundred meters away.
Chunks of stone tumbled down, and dust billowed everywhere.
The Root jonin was embedded deep in the rock face, his limbs twisted at bizarre angles.
His mask had long since shattered. Countless bones in his body were broken, blood gushed from him, and he had completely lost consciousness.
He could not even be pried out.
The entire world seemed to fall silent at that moment.
The two Root ninja remaining in the room stood frozen in place, as though struck by an immobilization technique.
Their pupils contracted violently beneath their masks, their eyes filled with unconcealable fear.
Their legs began to weaken uncontrollably, and even their hands holding their kunai trembled slightly.
How was this possible?
That was their powerful Root jonin captain!
And this Senju orphan, this so-called trash, had actually one-shotted him with a single punch?
Without even using ninjutsu!
That terrifying strength was like a tailed beast wearing human skin!
Kenya withdrew his fist without so much as glancing at the two terrified Root ninja.
He casually dusted off his hands, as though he had merely swatted an annoying mosquito.
He stepped forward and slowly walked to the edge of the huge hole smashed through the wall.
The early-summer breeze brushed his face.
Kenya raised his head, his gaze passing over Konoha's overlapping rooftops.
At last, his eyes settled on the village's highest point.
It was Hokage Rock, the symbol of Konoha's supreme authority, carved with the faces of successive Hokage.
As he looked at those lofty stone faces.
The corners of Kenya's mouth slowly rose into a malicious smile.