It sounded like an unwilling roar—a furious cry before death.
The blue stone statue collapsed beneath a beam of golden light, ending its short and unremarkable existence.
Hayashi Ren stood up and began heading toward the Shadow Wolf camp.He glanced at the minimap—he saw that Gaara had already pushed Naruko back under the tower.Naruko could only cling to the minions' dying experience, looking utterly pitiful.
"Naruko, once I hit Level 6, we'll go in and hit him with a full combo."
Hayashi Ren calmly spoke in the team voice chat.
"Understood."
Naruko responded quickly, then tossed a few kunai at Gaara.But Gaara didn't even bother to dodge them.He simply let the basic attacks hit him—his health barely moved.
"So this is your strength?"
"You should go back to your village and continue being a student."
Gaara mocked her, then hit her with another Sand Bullet.Naruko's health immediately dropped to half.
"Ribbit—!"
A pitiful croak rang out—the Marsh Toad had just died at Hayashi Ren's hands.
He had already slain the Shadow Wolf earlier.Now, with the Marsh Toad down, his level rose to 6.His Smite had upgraded into Deep Blue Smite, which also slowed enemy movement.
Seeing Naruko's HP bar drop below half, Hayashi Ren stepped forward,his legs moving swiftly as he made his way along the river toward top lane.
After passing through the river's bush area,he didn't issue any command, but Naruko instantly knew what he meant—
—They were going in for a combo on Gaara.
"Swoosh!"
A Shadow Clone burst from Naruko's side.Immediately after, she activated Leaf Dancing Shadows,with her clone mimicking the exact same move.Both of them leapt toward Gaara with synchronized kicks.
"Useless."
Gaara sneered coldly.He activated his second ability—Sand Shield // Sand Armor.
A shimmering shield materialized in front of him,completely blocking Naruko's strike.
Then Gaara extended a single hand.His fingers curled like claws, and a sinister crackling sound echoed from his palm.
"Sand Binding Coffin."
As those chilling words left his mouth,a wave of sand surged out, wrapping tightly around Naruko's body, trapping her in place.
She was completely immobilized.
"You're going to die."
Gaara said with a cold finality,and the sand around Naruko began to writhe as if alive.
"Not necessarily."
Hayashi Ren's icy voice suddenly echoed across the battlefield.A shiver ran through Gaara's heart.
He turned to see Hayashi Ren sprinting toward him.In a panic, Gaara tried to activate Sand Shield // Sand Armor again for defense.
But then—he realized something was wrong.
Hayashi Ren was still quite a distance away, yet suddenly—
A golden flash burst in the air.
"BAM!"
Hayashi Ren appeared right in front of him in the blink of an eye and kicked him into the air.
"That was… Flash Leaf Dance?"
Still suspended midair, Gaara didn't panic at all.Instead, he asked in a frigid tone.
"No. It was Leaf Dance Flash."
As Hayashi Ren replied, he chained in several basic attacks,combined with the burn effect from the red buff.
That combo managed to wear Gaara's HP down to about three-quarters.
"Leaf Hurricane!"
With another forceful shout, Hayashi Ren unleashed a spinning kick that knocked Gaara back two steps.
"Leaf Dance Flash, huh?"
"That's all you've got. I'm still going to kill you."
Gaara hit the ground, sand trickling off his body as he snarled viciously.
Earlier, when Hayashi Ren kicked him into the air, it interrupted the first phase of his second ability—Sand Shield.
But once Gaara landed, he immediately activated the second phase—Sand Armor—to avoid wasting the cooldown.
Now he was preparing his first ability, Sand Bullet, to wear Hayashi Ren down,followed by Sand Binding Coffin to trap him,and finally his ultimate skill: Sand Burial, to finish him off.