Enjūro Rengoku/Sypnosis

## History:

Enjūro Rengoku was the first Flame Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, and the first 'Rengoku' to do so. He was the one who found Yoriichi and roped him into the Corps, without whom KnY would not have happened. Yet, he was not the first 'Rengoku' to become a demon slayer. That honor belonged to his father, without whom he would not have become a Hashira at all.

His father, Enji Rengoku (煉獄 炎司), was not always called 'Enji' or even 'Rengoku'. He was born into a peasant family under a completely different name, and for unknown reasons, with flame-colored hair, the only one in his family. Yet his physical prowess was incredible for a child. For this reason, he was often bullied and seen as an anomaly by his own family. This led to him becoming somber and solemn, quite the opposite of his son. When he was ten, his entire family was killed by a demon, leaving him as the only survivor. He was saved by a passing demon slayer just in time. Despite his original family's cold attitude towards him, he still loved and cared for them. He saw this as an opportunity to wipe the slate clean, to start over, starting with his name: his greatest defect became his greatest pride. Henceforth, he was called 'Enji Rengoku', the first 'Rengoku.' Enji trained rigorously as a demon slayer. His incredible physique made up for the lack of breathing styles at that time. He slew countless demons over the years and rose amongst the ranks. Eventually, he saved and married a woman from a wealthy family, who financed and built a mansion for him as gratitude. Sometime later, Enjūro was born as Enji's second child, the first being his daughter, Hibana (火花). From then on, the flame-colored hair was encoded into the Rengoku family.

From the day they were strong enough to wield a wooden sword, Enjūro, his sister, and his younger brothers were trained rigorously by their father. Day in and day out, with little to no rest. Enjūro did not understand at first why he had to train this hard while other children can play all day. As time progressed, he even started to resent his father a little. But then, his mother told him about his father's origins, how Enji cared for him in his way, and how Enji is training him for his good and safety. Enji even wanted all future descendants to become demon slayers to avoid his tragedy. Understanding this, Enjūro's resentment turned into undying respect for his father. Unfortunately, his mother soon passed away from an illness, and his sister perished in the final selections. Enji did not realize that, by wanting to protect his family from tragedy, he roped them into another form of tragedy. Waves of depression hit him and his heart began to waver. Enji even revoked his decision to make all his descendants demon slayers and forbade Enjūro from participating in the final selections. Unable to comprehend this, Enjūro went anyways and survived the selections. He became a demon slayer as his father had previously wished. His two younger brothers also made it through the final selections with his guidance.

Unfortunately for his father, his declining mental health only worsened over the years and stopped him from performing his duties effectively. Enjūro decided to take his father to the priestess of the Ubayashiki family for some advice: She predicted that Enji's demon-slaying days are over, and advised him to live somewhere secluded as a hermit until one day, 'the chosen one' will arrive at his doorstep to become his student. Having no other choice, Enji departed for Mount Yōkō and left his mansion and everything else he owned to his sons. Enjūro took over his father's duties and moved in with his two brothers. He lost contact with the older one while the younger one became his housekeeper.

When he was 18, Enjūro arrived at Mount Kumotori on the trail of a demon. There, he found Yoriichi Tsugikuni and saw his potential. Enjūro decided to rope him into the Demon Slayer Corps and sent him to his father for training, fulfilling the prophecy of the Ubayashiki priestess. Two weeks later, Yoriichi arrived at the Demon Slayer Corps HQ to demonstrate his breathing techniques at the request of the Oyakata-sama of the time. Yoriichi then began teaching his breathing style to other demon slayers. Enjūro was unable to master it, so Yoriichi taught him a modified style that focused on the strength of his swings. Enjūro named this breathing style after himself (the 'En' in his name means 'flame'). Thus, Flame Breathing was born. As the Golden age of the demon slayer began, Enjūro wrote and kept many records of that time. At the same time, the Oyakata-sama of the time wanted to form a group of exceptionally powerful demon slayers to help him lead the corps. Enjūro was amongst the nine chosen candidates and became the first Flame Hashira. As his first act, he turned his father's wish into a formal decree: *"Henceforth, all future male descendants under the name 'Rengoku' shalt be slayers of demons."*