A notification sound echoed.
Inside the MOBA arena, the ninja players stared in disbelief at Hayashi Ren, who had just launched a Leaf Shadow Dance that sent a Shadow Wolf flying into the air.
And yet—despite the previous brutal assault, he still had 200 HP left!
"What's going on?!"
Logically, Hayashi Ren should have been dead. So how was he still standing with that much health?
Could it be a glitch in the battle arena?
It wasn't just the other players who were stunned. Even Gaara, who had been sent back to the respawn fountain after being killed by Hayashi Ren, was completely frozen in place.
"What the hell happened?! Are you cheating?!"Gaara shouted furiously in the public chat.
"There's no cure for stupidity."Hayashi Ren replied coldly in the chat, then turned and finished off the Shadow Wolf with a single kick. Without wasting time, he walked toward the river, continuing:"You really think I went into the Wolf Den by accident?"
"I get it now!"Kiba Inuzuka suddenly yelled, eyes wide as it all clicked.
And it wasn't just him — Minato Namikaze, also spectating in the MOBA space, understood the situation as well.
[When Hayashi Ren entered the Wolf Den, even though Gaara had him immobilized, it didn't stop him from using Smite! At the time, we were all so focused on watching whether Ren would die, we didn't notice that he had already used Smite on the Shadow Wolf!]Minato quickly explained via bullet chat.
[Exactly. Since Smite restores a certain amount of HP, that's how Hayashi Ren managed to survive. And it also drew aggro from the Shadow Wolf.]Tobirama Senju followed up with another bullet chat.
[However, he only drew aggro from the main Shadow Wolf — because that's what he attacked. He didn't hit the smaller Shadow Cubs, so their aggro wasn't locked onto him and could still be redirected.]
[Right — and since Ren's Leaf Whirlwind had knocked Gaara right next to one of the Shadow Cubs, that's why the cub targeted him instead.]
[That explains why the cub attacked Gaara first — and since Hayashi Ren had tagged Gaara just before the cub attacked, the kill credit went to him.]
[This kid has insane battlefield IQ.]Minato and Tobirama's bullet comments wrapped up the entire explanation, and Tobirama couldn't help but praise Ren.
[Absolutely. Looks like Naruko has found herself a very promising friend.]Minato added with approval.
He admired Hayashi Ren deeply.
And it wasn't just him — nearly every high-ranking and respected figure in the Ninja World was beginning to take notice of Ren.
"Maybe… with his help, Naruko's future will be even brighter."Minato thought quietly to himself.
Meanwhile, in the Root Division Office, Danzo Shimura watched the screen intently as Hayashi Ren delivered a powerful punch that killed a river crab.
The old man's eyes gleamed with an unusual light.
"This kid... won't be easy to deal with."
After a moment of silence, he spoke in a cold, commanding tone:
"Tengniu. Luhu."
"Here."
Two voices responded, and a moment later, two black-clad figures appeared, each wearing an animal-themed mask — one shaped like a bull, the other a tiger. They both knelt before Danzo.
"You'll go with Chōen and Kuroji," Danzo ordered."Bring Hayashi Ren back. You've seen his combat intelligence — stay sharp."
"Understood, Lord Danzo."
With that, the two agents vanished.
Danzo's expression remained calm as he turned his attention back to Hayashi Ren, still locked in the center of the battlefield.
At that moment, Hayashi Ren had just finished off a river crab with a punch and was preparing to recall back to base.
Whoosh!
A bright light enveloped his body as he teleported back to the fountain.