Beside the stone beetle camp, Kiba waited in silence with Akamaru for Hayashi Ren.
Boom.
With a swift kick, Hayashi Ren finished off the red buff, casually walking up to Kiba.
"Hmph, so you were stealing our red buff? How pathetic," Kiba sneered.
"You dare mock a god?" Hayashi Ren quoted a famous line from the blind monk of his past life. His figure blurred as he launched a kick straight into Kiba's face.
"Damn it!"
Kiba roared, "Fang Over Fang!"
Blue chakra surged around him as his hands and feet pressed to the ground, his expression growing feral—he looked more beast than man. It was his second skill, increasing traction and attack strength.
"Shadow Leaf Dance!"
Without hesitation, Hayashi Ren surged forward and launched Kiba into the air with a kick.
With a whoosh, Ren leapt up and struck Kiba in the gut, immediately following up with a Leaf Whirlwind. A punch, a kick, then the Leaf Gale, and finally, a resounding slap across Kiba's face.
Smack!
Ren landed lightly on the ground and calmly said, "You're not worthy of life." Then, he vanished into the nearby brush.
[Hayashi Ren has slain Kiba Inuzuka.]
[Unstoppable!]
The battle system's announcement echoed. The red team was stunned.
"Unstoppable?!" Shikamaru muttered in disbelief. He felt like things had already spiraled beyond his control.
He had just arrived at midlane, and Kiba was already dead. He hadn't seen how Ren took him down, but from the sound of it, it must've been brutal.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Suddenly, Sasuko's voice rang out. Shikamaru was caught off guard and took the full hit from the fireball, losing a quarter of his health instantly.
"This is bad," Shikamaru's once-lazy face turned serious, taking a step back.
[Dominating!]
Another alert came. Shikamaru saw Hayashi Ren's second kill notification against Kiba and immediately pulled back, checking the minimap. Ren was calmly entering the top river path… and then vanished.
"This is such a drag…" Shikamaru scratched his pineapple-shaped hair and warily readied himself. He braced for the worst.
Looking at Sasuko, who was casually farming their minions, Shikamaru sighed and tossed a shuriken her way.
"Heh, pathetic shuriken technique."
Sasuko's red Sharingan eyes—each adorned with two tomoe—flashed with disdain. Her passive skill, the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, granted her visual insight and partial skill mimicry.
"With these eyes, your shuriken might as well be a toddler's toy."
She smirked and tilted her head slightly to dodge, then swiftly threw a kunai in return, bringing Shikamaru's health down to nearly a third.
"Tch…"
Shikamaru sucked in a sharp breath and dared not take another step forward—Sasuko had completely locked him down.
"Sakura, if you get a chance, gank Sasuko mid for me," Shikamaru called in the team chat.
"On it," Sakura responded as she finished off the blue buff in her jungle with a Smite. Upgrading her Smite to Challenging Smite, she began moving toward midlane.
"Control yourself, dominate your enemy."
A nightmare-like voice echoed as Hayashi Ren's lean form emerged from the bushes, launching a kick straight into Sakura's chin.
"Shadow Leaf Dance!"
He let out a cold shout as chakra surged within him. Sakura was knocked into the air. A Leaf Whirlwind followed, then a deep blue Smite.
Her health plummeted. Smack! Ren finished her with a heavy backhand across the face.
[Hayashi Ren has slain Sakura Haruno.]
[Hayashi Ren is godlike!]
The alert rang again as Hayashi Ren calmly exited the jungle, heading toward bot lane.
At this point, Sakura and Kiba were both 0–3. They were no longer a threat.
Shikamaru was still being suppressed mid by Sasuko, and only Naruto and Hinata were holding their ground at bot lane. They'd played carefully and avoided confrontation, but they lacked the power to defeat Choji and Ino just yet.
Now, Naruto had hit level 6.
With Hayashi Ren's incoming gank, the Butterfly-Pig combo at bot lane was about to be shattered.
With that, the tempo of the entire match would fall into Ren's hands.
"Naruto, Hinata—go in, bait some mistakes and pull them out. I'm coming to clean them up," Hayashi Ren ordered in the team chat.
"Got it!"
"I understand, Ren-kun," both responded immediately.
"Naruto Barrage!"
Naruto shouted, flashing closer to Ino. Instantly, multiple shadow clones appeared and launched her into the air. The timing was perfect—simultaneous actions.
This move was inspired and refined from Hayashi Ren's style: Flash Naruto Barrage.
Boom!
With a final leap, Naruto's real body smashed Ino into the ground with a punch.
"This is bad!"
Shikamaru yelled in the team chat.
The Naruto Barrage would only take about a quarter of Ino's health, but the sudden aggression from Naruto and Hinata—who had been playing safe—was suspicious. It had to mean Ren was on his way.
"Damn you, Naruto!" Ino growled, hurt from the combo. As Naruto landed, she quickly formed the "Za" hand seal from her clan's Mind Transfer Jutsu, preparing to control him.
Meanwhile, Choji, accustomed to Ino and Shikamaru's tactics, immediately guessed her plan. As Ino rose and began forming her seal, Choji was already activating his Human Boulder technique, charging toward Naruto.
"Rasengan!"
Naruto didn't hesitate. He activated his ultimate, Rasengan, aiming right at Ino's face. But Choji's Human Boulder was fast and about to slam into Naruto.
If Choji's move connected, the Rasengan would instead hit him—a tank with enough defense and health to survive it. The recoil damage would shave off a third of Naruto's health, and if Ino's Mind Transfer connected afterward, Naruto would be immobilized and finished.
"Naruto!"
Hinata cried out, stepping forward as a yin-yang shaped diagram glowed beneath her. She thrust her hands forward, activating her third skill.
"Eight Trigrams: Air Palm!"
Whoosh! The blast struck Choji, knocking off a fifth of his HP.
"Don't worry."
A calm voice followed, accompanied by a flash of golden light. Then came Hayashi Ren's voice in the blue team chat: "Hinata, catch him."
"Leaf Strong Whirlwind!"
Ren's battle cry thundered. Boom! In a flash, Choji—already at half health—was kicked straight into Hinata's face.
And Hayashi Ren? He now stood exactly where Choji had been.