Chapter 2

Glancing around the hall, he spotted many unfamiliar faces, but the one that caught his eye the most was that of the boy who had been yelled at him a few seconds ago.

"Hotarubi..."

Sifting through his memories of the world of Naruto, he found that Hotarubi was a minor character with almost no importance in the plot. This entire village had little or no importance to the overall setting of this world.

But Ren thought this was also good since he wouldn't have to worry about his life in the short term. After all, he was the strongest person in this village.

"Lord Ren, I hope you don't mind this genin's actions. He is still very young and doesn't understand the world."

Melancholy covered Hoshikage's face as he spoke. At the same time, he signaled to the Anbu in the shadows to deal with Hotarubi.

All the people in the hall also had strange expressions on their faces. It was the first time they had seen a genin act so arrogantly in the presence of the Hoshikage.

"Allow me to deal with this brat."

The Hoshikage's Confidant stepped forward as he said those words. He felt this was the perfect opportunity to eliminate a future nuisance.

"Well, let's fight, then!"

Hotarubi, on the other hand, gave a big smile as he saw that someone had stepped forward. He knew that what he was doing would attract the hatred of many people, but he also knew that he couldn't let the girl he liked be handed over to a stranger.

"Hotarubi is a fool. Even if he is talented, it is impossible to win against the Hoshikage's Confidant."

"Arrogance will be the downfall of this talent."

The people in the hall said with regret in their voices.

Even if they were angry at Hotarubi's actions, they still didn't want to see talent from their village killed or even arrested. Many even considered stepping forward to try to calm their tempers, but seeing the expression on the face of the Hoshikage's Confidant, they soon gave up.

"It looks like he intends to use this commotion to kill the boy..."

Ren thought calmly as he looked at the Confidant the whole time he stood next to the Hoshikage. He had already sensed the abnormality of this Confidant, and seeing his actions now, he was sure something was up.

Looking at Hotarubi and then at the Confidant, Ren already knew exactly who would win this battle, and it definitely would not be the Confidant. His certainty of Hotarubi's victory was simple.

Hotarubi was a protagonist!

The boy's actions, the way he spoke, everything made him a generic protagonist.

"You seem to have hopes for Hotarubi."

Ren commented quietly as he looked at the girl Natsuhi the beautiful purple-haired girl that Hotarubi had looked at earlier.

Natsuhi turned her head quickly upon hearing the words spoken by Ren. She had not said a word, but the fear in her eyes gave away her feelings. Her figure, which had always been calm, could not help but tremble.

Ren looked at her and gave a smile that could not be seen due to his face being covered, "Are you afraid that I will deal with him? Is that why you pretend not to know him?"

"I must say that you are cunning, but you still lack a lot of experience."

With just a few words, he easily revealed Natsuhi's intentions.

Natsuhi felt that the man sitting next to the Hoshikage was the most difficult person she had ever met. She was sure no one in the village could be more dangerous than this man.

...

Hotarubi had a confident smile when he saw that the Confidant did not wield any weapons to deal with him. His confidence was because he had recently had a considerable increase in strength due to his success in Meteorite Training.

With a disdainful look, the Confidant moved quickly towards Hotarubi to grab him by the neck. Still, when he was only a few inches away from Hotarubi's neck, he felt an excruciating pain in his stomach.

Moving his vision downward, he saw that Hotarubi had pierced him with a kunai.

"How is that possible?! I didn't even see its movement."

Disbelief covered the Confidant's face. He didn't perceive any movement coming from Hotarubi, so how had he managed to pierce him with a kunai? That was simply shocking.

"Interesting..."

Seeing this scene, Ren's smile widened even more.

Hotarubi, seeing that he had managed to shock all the people in the hall, did not hesitate and started throwing a series of punches at the Confidant. He knew that if he were the one hit by the kunai, the Confident would show no mercy.

In just a few seconds, the fight had become a one-sided beating.

The strength that Hotarubi showed was many times greater than the Confident.

The beating didn't last long. That's because the Hoshikage signaled to the Anbu in the shadows to stop this clowning. Today, he had lost many faces in front of his guest.

...

Ren still hadn't said a word to Hotarubi. He continued to watch him calmly, like a snake watching its prey.

Everything that was happening in this hall had nothing to do with him.

The fact that he was here was pure because the moment he entered Hoshigakure, he found himself surrounded by dozens of Anbu ninjas from this village.

Knowing that the ninja of this village was weak, he easily dealt with them all, so he was invited by the Hoshikage to stay in the village as long as he wanted.

As for the Hoshikage offering him the most beautiful woman in the village? This was not because Ren desired women but because the Hoshikage wanted to tie Ren up in his village so that he could protect them.

This was normal for small villages without protection from powerful ninjas. Besides, Hoshigakure was short of ninjas due to the Meteorite Training that took many people's lives annually.

Beside him, Natsuhi was relieved as she saw that the Confidant had not killed Hotarubi. But soon, her expression turned back to neutrality, fearing being seen by Ren.

Of course, her change in expression did not escape Ren's watchful eyes.

From the events leading up to now, Ren could easily see that Natsuhi was one of those so-called heroines destined to fall to the protagonists.

And from the point of view of the current plot, Hotarubi, someone who grew up in such a small village, was the Protagonist.

Of course, Ren knew that the real Protagonist of this world was Naruto, but that didn't stop other little protagonists from emerging. After all, this was the real world.

Since he had already vowed revenge on those who killed his predecessor, Ren did not intend to let Natsuhi escape his clutches. This was because she would be his first step in his revenge.

"You bastard, you dare to hit me? Confident the Hoshikage? Your life is over!"

The Confident, who had been saved from his previous beating, screamed hysterically as he pointed a shaky finger at Hotarubi. He had never been beaten in his entire life, but now, a mere chunin beat him so that it would probably take months for him to heal completely.

As he finished his speech, the Confidant felt a cold wind sweep through his body, and when he looked away, he spotted the Hoshikage's mysterious guest.

"Tedious."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Hotarubi, who Anbu members were restraining, froze.

"Since this matter involves me, I will take care of it personally."

Ren added to his speech as his gaze fell on Hotarubi's face.

"Your arrogance... is it out of ignorance?"

Ren muttered, and then his hood that covered his face flickered, revealing his blood-red eyes.

Sharingan!

The cursed eyes of the Uchiha clan and one of the most powerful Doujutsu in this world.

Hotarubi's body trembled at the sight of Ren's eyes, but what scared him the most was Ren's appearance which was that of a boy only seven years old. That was what scared him the most.

"How does a seven-year-old boy have so much power?"

That was the question that was constantly on his mind.

Ren's youthful appearance shocked not only Hotarubi but all the people in the hall except those who were defeated by Ren earlier.

With a V-shaped face, Ren has messy, dark hair that matches perfectly with his black eyes with small, round pupils that become narrow when he is serious or angry, resembling that of a cat.

Due to the Sharingan, his dark eyes turned blood red with three tomoe.

The next moment, a tremendous pressure descended and covered the hall as if the heavens were falling. It was like the announcement of the end of the world.

Everyone felt a deep terror coming out of the depths of their souls. It reached the point where many people fainted from fear.

"So this is Lord Ren's true power..."

Hoshikage thought in horror.

BANG!

As the main target of this pressure, Hotarubi's skin changed drastically, and his face paled. His firmly erect body gave way in a few seconds forcing him to kneel to Ren. Even with his hands pushing against the ground, he still found himself unable to stand up.

He had been defeated!

With his eyes closed due to the pain of being pressed against the ground, Hotarubi heard footsteps approaching his body.

Forcefully opening his eyes, Hotarubi saw Ren looking at him.

It was as if the master was looking at a slave who had made a mistake and was now kneeling.

The blood-red eyes stared at him coldly.

"This is where our eyes meet."

Ren's quiet voice sounded in Hotarubi's ears.

All the people in the hall trembled when they heard those words. The quiet way Ren spoke, his actions, everything was frightening. Everyone felt that he was not a simple seven-year-old ninja. If they said Ren was a ninja a few tens of years old, everyone would believe them.

Such a strong ninja couldn't exist at such a young age. At least, that's what these people believed.

If Ren knew what they were thinking, he would give a cold laugh.

The fact that he was strong at seven was purely due to the cheating he had received when he transmigrated to this world. If it weren't for that, he could probably only live his life like a mouse running from a cat.

The fact that he was a chunin at the age of seven was not only due to his talent but also due to the Third Ninja World War that was taking place.

No matter how talented he was, he was still inferior in talent compared to Itachi, Madara, Sasuke, and company...

Of course, Ren wasn't worried about being weaker than the aforementioned Uchiha. That's because he could easily surpass all the ninjas of this world with the cheating he received.

"I apologize for making Lord Ren deal with a brat like him."

A tremulous voice sounded, and Ren didn't even have to turn his face to know that the voice belonged to the Hoshikage's Confidant, who had been beaten a few minutes ago.

The Hoshikage's expression turned pale upon hearing his Confidant's speech. He didn't want Ren to kill Hotarubi since that would be a huge loss for his village, but as Hoshikage, he knew that he couldn't convince someone as powerful as Ren. Besides, he feared Ren would turn his anger towards the village, which would be a catastrophe.

"Damn, Hotarubi, you dug your own grave!"

Even with his eyes focused on Hotarubi, Ren could imagine what the Hoshikage was thinking, but to be honest, he didn't give a damn about the Hoshikage's thoughts.