Ren Houki

"'Being a shinobi isn't about doing what's right, or even about doing what youthink is right. It's about being able to separate your ideals from reality and doing what's smart.'"Ren Houki (Houki Ren) is a shinobi of Konohagakure's Houki clan, a member of Team 24, the President of the Classical Literature Club, and the former Vice-President of Iruka Umino High's Student Council.

Appearance
Ren stands at slightly above average height, with a lean but muscular build earned from years of intensive training under Fightin' Brawly. He has a handsome, if somewhat effeminate, face with sharp cobalt blue eyes and tinted silver-blue hair kept neatly at medium length. Before Lineage First, his hair was kept tied back into a small pony tail with an even fringe that reached his eyebrows and long, angular bangs that flowed down to his jaw.

Outside of school, he can usually be seen in a dress shirt, dark colored pants and a matching pair of oxfords. Contrary to popular belief, Ren does also own casual clothes, but chooses not to wear them for reasons both stylistic and personal.

Personality
Prideful and arrogant, yet cautious and practical, Ren's personality has been morphed considerably by the series of traumatic events that have occurred in his life. Ren is outwardly friendly, but his confident, sociable exterior hides a soul that has been crushed by his many failures. He has come close to succumbing to despair many times and, indeed, likely would have were he not so driven by his hatred both towards his own self and his sister Lin Houki. Though his own personal misfortunes continue to make this an exceedingly difficult endeavour for him, Ren tries to not let his life or himself be defined by his tragedies and remains determined to see the completion of his goals.

As a shinobi, there is no doubt that Ren is a tactical genius and natural-born leader, a fact begrudgingly acknowledged by even his most steadfast enemies. He is intuitive, quick at thinking on his feet and his overly cautious nature means that he is prepared for almost any situation. Ren is also highly perceptive, though not to the same extent as fellow intellectuals Hirari Hyūga and Hotaru Uzumaki, and sensitive to the events that occur around him. He is stubbornly unwilling to take events at face value, even (or maybe especially) those engineered by the Hokage. To his great ire, this distrustful and obsessive facet of his personality has also brought on conflicts with some of his friends, who either feel personally slighted by his doubt in the village's authority figures or are wary of his seemingly reckless actions when it comes to his dealings with Kamiumi.

With all that said, the side of Ren that most observe, and that he allows to be observed, is undoubtedly that of the fluent socialite rather than the conflicted soul or the paranoid leader. Immensely charismatic, Ren's wit and breadth of knowledge allows him to get along with most people he meets and, with varying degrees of success, manipulate them to his own ends somehow. Unfortunately, Ren's arrogant and inflated opinion of his abilities also sometimes lead to him attempting to manipulate people who are, by all means, way out of his league, leading to... mixed results.

Early Life
The details of Ren's early life are known to only a few outside his clan, the full details known to even fewer—much to the annoyance of the Sewing Circle. What is known is that Ren moved out of the clan's compound at the ripe age of eleven, affording a somewhat modest house near the shopping district with the sizable inheritance leftover from his deceased mother, and proceeded to spend the greater part of his final years at the academy in almost complete isolation from others.

For those who have been made privy to the details of Ren's early life, they understand his childhood to have been a dark time with a great deal of hardships and tragedy, involving the betrayal and deaths of many loved ones. Above all, however, they understand it to be a topic kept strictly taboo unless Ren personally brings it up.

Beginning of Team Brawly
Ren's first year at Iruka Umino High marked what would be (unbeknownst to him at the time) a transformative moment in his life: the formation of Team 24. The peculiar makeup of the group, both in terms of personalities and skill distribution, did not elude Ren and neither did the reason behind the creation of the team, but this did little to affect his aloof and haughty behaviour towards his team. In fact, it was only after their mission in the Land of Rice and a terrifying encounter with the manifestation of death itself that he began to warm up to his team, and slowly rekindle his friendship with Hirari. Albeit, probably in a way that deviated slightly from what the Hokage expected.

Abilities
Ren is a natural prodigy and an extremely well trained fighter from the Houki clan who is, alongside Hirari, widely considered to be the most talented shinobi of his generation. In contrast to his more specialized teammates, who command absolute mastery over taijutsu and genjutsu, he excels at most forms of combat and is capable of fighting at all ranges with equal effectiveness and comfort.

Chakra and Physical Prowess
Within his age group, Ren has chakra reserves and physicality that can be considered above average, owing to his clan's sturdy constitutions and his training under Fightin' Brawly. This allows him to fight for extended periods of time, as well as consider a wide range of options when it comes to choosing the appropriate strategy in battle.

Ren's proficiency in taijutsu also allows him to take several approaches in close-quarters combat. His stealth training from Lin and incredible speed enables him to launch swift, instantaneous attacks from his opponent's blind-spot, while his constant sparring with Hirari and Brawly have made him equally comfortable with attacking from the front. In direct physical confrontation, Ren generally employs a combination of rapid knifework, feints and ninjutsu to overwhelm his opponent(s).

Ninjutsu
Ren's wide library of techniques allows him to fill any role in battle, be it support or combatant. He typically engages in close-quarters combat with his knife, flowing it with Lightning Release: Sapphire Blade in order to increase piercing damage, but is also able to fight from medium distance with Houki Style, Lightning Release: Electric Pearl or long distance with Houki Style, Lightning Release: Sharp Spear of Lightning.

Typically, he uses Flow: Isolation Barrier in order to defend against attacks, but also uses it in order to re-position his opponents or create an environmental advantage. In close quarters combat, his main method of defense is Lightning Release: Piercing Cry.

Intelligence
Alongside his versatility, Ren's biggest assets in battle are arguably his intellect and tactical mind. His skill at reading the people he encounters manifests in battle as a predictive probability crunching; guessing where his opponents will move, how they will react and setting up counter-measures accordingly. To this end, he is very fond of using the Shadow Clone Technique with the Transformation Technique, as well as using Manipulating Attack Blades in order to set up angles where he can launch an attack while the opponent is distracted. Hirari and Sessho have both noted that Ren is very efficient with equipment—a fact used against him in his fight with the latter, as it helped her see through his ruse.

In group battles, Ren's leadership similarly shines through. He makes efficient use of his teammate's abilities and, combined with his penchant for trickery, is capable of constructing effective strategies that can even take down seasoned kunoichi like Era of the Seven Swordsmen.

Trivia

 * Ren's hobbies include learning new hobbies, taking late night walks and training.
 * Ren's favourite foods are hamburgers, potato salad and steak, while his least favourites are barbecue and anything spicy.
 * Ren wishes to fight Hirari Hyuuga and Taneda Senju.
 * His biggest regrets are allowing the ISO Destiny to merge its conscience with Taneda, and introducing Taneda to Yume.
 * Despite his simple taste in food, Ren is actually an excellent chef, having picked the skill up from years of living alone.
 * Before the events of the Land of Water arc, Ren ran a highly successful FireRelease channel where he posted his various mixtapes. According to Sanada, he is known online as the 'Prince of Dankness'.
 * Unknown to everyone apart from Sessho and Hirari, Ren has a hidden room in his bedroom where he keeps the mementos of his fallen loved ones. These include: a painting his mother painted for him during his childhood, a scarf Makoto got for him during a 'friendship anniversary' and a pair of glasses he received from Taneda during one of his birthdays.