Two fists, one large and one small, met in mid-air. As they collided, their strength and memories synchronized instantly.
As it turned out, this version of Ren Kurogane in the white lab coat had been whisked away to the world of Zombie Brother—and he had been born into it from infancy!
Initially, Ren thought he had simply landed in some parallel modern world. He planned to leverage his knowledge as a traveler to make a grand name for himself. However, just as he began to stand out as a prodigy, he encountered another boy known as a child genius: Mu Tiancai.
At first, Ren didn't think much of this "prodigy." In his eyes, the boy was just a kid. Even if he was a bit bright, could he really compare to a university graduate from a previous life?
But Ren soon discovered a problem.
Mu Tiancai's brain was simply not human. At only eight or nine years old, the boy had self-taught the entire middle school curriculum. Under a teacher's supervision, he had completed that year's high school entrance exam; while he didn't get a perfect score, his results were staggering.
Ren was floored. He hadn't expected to encounter a super-genius of this caliber in the flesh. For a time, Ren even suspected that Mu Tiancai was the protagonist of this world.
Following that encounter, Ren and Mu Tiancai exchanged contact info. They stayed in touch over the years, and their relationship grew quite solid.
Unlike Mu Tiancai, Ren didn't choose to skip grades during elementary school. He finished those six years quietly and only began to show his hand in middle school. Within a year, he took the college entrance exam and headed to high school. By then, Mu Tiancai was already a senior.
Once in high school, Ren realized his past-life knowledge was hitting a ceiling. To put it bluntly, he had only been an undergraduate worker in his previous life, and much of the advanced high school curriculum had long since faded from his memory.
Consequently, Ren settled into a more conventional academic rhythm. He kept his class ranking consistently within the top fifty—high enough to be respected, but low enough to avoid excessive scrutiny.
It wasn't long before he discovered he had a distant relative named Bai Xiaofei. At that moment, Ren lost his cool.
After confirming Bai Xiaofei's family situation and the fact that the man had recently started dating a girl named Xiaowei, Ren realized he might not have a choice in his future path.
That same year, his friend Mu Tiancai was scouted by a university and became the student of a somewhat famous mentor. After two years of university-level study under that mentor, Mu Tiancai completely vanished from Ren's sight.
By this time, Ren had finished high school and entered a top-tier university for advanced studies.
It was only after Ren graduated from university that news of the long-absent Mu Tiancai finally surfaced. Unfortunately, it wasn't good news.
Just like in the original story, Mu Tiancai's research fruits had been stolen by his mentor. No matter how much he appealed, his influence as an ungraduated youth couldn't shake the mentor's deep-rooted connections. In the end, the mentor destroyed the boy's reputation, leading to his expulsion from school. Mu Tiancai had returned home, spiraling into a deep depression.
The moment he heard the news, Ren didn't hesitate. He called Mu Tiancai immediately, telling him not to lose heart. Ren claimed he was on the verge of making a major breakthrough and was starting his own studio—he wanted Mu Tiancai to come and be his right-hand man.
"I'm notorious right now," Mu Tiancai said bitterly over the phone. "Are you sure you want to take me in?"
"Don't talk nonsense," Ren replied with a light chuckle. "You're the smartest person I've ever met. We haven't seen each other in years; how about we meet up in a few days?"
"...Alright."
The voice on the other end cracked slightly. Mu Tiancai hadn't expected that in his darkest hour, a brother would still believe in him without hesitation, let alone call him the smartest person he knew.
For a moment, Mu Tiancai's eyes grew misty, and he felt the gloom over his head lift just a little.
This... is what a brother is.
A few days later, the two met in their hometown. Ren declared his intention to open a biotech company in H City, which currently consisted of only him and Mu Tiancai.
Mu Tiancai was speechless. He had never found Ren to be so unreliable.
"Is it too late for me to back out?"
Ren smiled thinly. "Absolutely."
"Sigh..."
And so, the two began two years of dedicated scientific research.
Though the country was Yan Huang, its development mirrored his original world. Ren exerted only a bit of effort to make a fortune, ensuring they wouldn't starve.
It was only this year that Ren happened to meet a master who taught him a few moves. Through those, he developed internal energy within his body, which finally allowed him to appear in this space.
After exchanging their information, White Coat Ren felt the power surging through his body, his face lighting up with raw ecstasy!
"Chakra! Such a miraculous energy! And this physical strength! If I go back to my world now, I'll practically be a Superman!" The anxiety that had plagued White Coat Ren finally began to dissipate.
"Biology, huh..." Ninja Ren narrowed his eyes. "With this knowledge base, I could actually consider working with Orochimaru."
White Coat Ren laughed. "That's not a bad choice at all. Maybe one day you can fuse the power of the Otsutsuki yourself and start playing around with ocular jutsu!"
The new power gave him a massive boost in confidence, and the shadows that had loomed over him for years vanished. His tone became increasingly lighthearted.
"But Orochimaru is still too unstable. Maybe the future 'Snake Mother' version would be trustworthy," Ninja Ren mused cautiously. He had only been in the Naruto world for a year—a world that was far from peaceful—and had been unlucky enough to get caught in the Second Ninja War.
It was no exaggeration to say that without "Beyond Kage" level strength, his life was never truly safe. After all, even the Third Raikage—a man who could brawl with the Eight-Tails until both were exhausted—was eventually swarmed to death by ten thousand Iwa ninja.
"True enough." White Coat Ren agreed completely. After thinking for a bit, he added, "If you hit a wall, come find me here. If I can't solve it, I'll go back and ask Mu Tiancai. In the original story, that guy developed something as insane as the God Gene in less than a week. Analyzing Otsutsuki power should be child's play for him."
Ninja Ren frowned. "Isn't that too dangerous?"
"I know what you're worried about. Relax, Mu Tiancai hasn't 'blackened' yet; he's completely trustworthy," White Coat Ren smiled. "Besides, even if he does research the Otsutsuki genome in our world, it won't affect yours."
In the end, Ninja Ren was tentatively convinced. He agreed to let White Coat Ren and Mu Tiancai research the ancestral Otsutsuki lineage together. However, he offered one final warning: "If you notice anything off about him, you have to take him out immediately. An uncontrollable mad scientist is a nightmare the whole world would have to wake up to."