Naruto was completely demoralized and could only rely on the last Ninja, Sage Naruto, to hold on.
But due to the mistakes in the first two rounds, he had already exhausted all his Chakra, and now he couldn't even substitute.
To make matters worse, Sasuke got the first move at the start.
At this point, Naruto's heart sank. Although he was the unstable type who often aimed for first place, now he was desperately hoping for a miracle. Just one block, one block was all he needed.
If he could just block once, he was confident he could regain some Chakra.
If nothing else, taking down that Eternal Mangekyo Sasuke would be enough to satisfy him.
But as a Ninja who seemingly didn't have a basic attack button, Sasuke honestly had no idea what Eternal Mangekyo Sasuke's basic attacks even looked like.
All he remembered was... first skill into ultimate, enhanced first skill into ultimate, enhanced second skill into ultimate, enhanced second skill into ultimate, enhanced first skill into ultimate...
After what felt like an eternity of listening to the cries of the Chidori and staring at Sasuke's smug face in close-up after close-up, Naruto finally...
[Later~]
...was finished off by another ultimate.
Naruto had had enough.
"Hey... do you even have a basic attack button?"
Sasuke smiled but said nothing, trying to hold back his laughter.
Naruto was so frustrated he was scratching his head. He had lost to Sasuke, and of course, he wasn't happy about it, but he couldn't fight back.
He couldn't even figure out Eternal Mangekyo Sasuke's skill set right now.
'Why did this Ninja have so many flashy skills in Sasuke's hands?'
Naruto was utterly baffled and could only resort to empty threats.
"Damn you, Sasuke! Just you wait, I'll come back and duel you later!"
With that, Naruto ran off. After making such a bold declaration, he couldn't bear to stay any longer. He'd have to wait for the next chance to turn the tables.
---
Sasuke, completely unfazed by Naruto's threats, continued to explore the remaining Ninjas on his own.
Soon, he finished testing out the Cursed Seal Sasuke Shippuden.
Honestly, this ninja's strength was pretty impressive. Among S-Rank Ninjas, he could easily hold a T1 or even T0 spot, far surpassing Four-Tails Naruto, from the same period, by a mile.
The only thing Sasuke couldn't accept was... this Cursed Seal Sasuke and the Cursed Seal Young Sasuke were just... so ugly.
Why did they have to look so abstract? It made it hard for Sasuke to get excited about using them.
If there were no other Ninjas to use, maybe Sasuke would have practiced with them, but the problem was... there were three other, much cooler forms.
Sasuke turned his attention to the Mangekyo Sharingan Sasuke. He knew this was the version of himself who had just joined the Akatsuki and formed the Hawk Team to exact revenge on Konoha.
This version could also be called [Hawk Sasuke].
Sasuke started testing out Hawk Sasuke, setting his opponent as Sage Mode Naruto, since they were from roughly the same period.
First, Sasuke tried out the basic attacks. Hawk Sasuke's basic attacks were decent. The third hit could be used to bait substitutions in specific situations, which was pretty useful.
But what really made Sasuke facepalm was the 5th hit. The first three hits were standard combos, the 4th hit had a small knockback, but the 5th hit... had a huge recovery time!
Therefore, in Sasuke's opinion, it was best to stop at the 4th hit. The 5th hit was just unnecessary.
Next, Sasuke started testing the skills.
The first skill, Chidori Sharp Spear, was a classic opener.
Its effectiveness was pretty good… instant cast, decent X-axis range, and some Y-axis coverage. As for damage... it was also quite respectable.
Sasuke was satisfied with this skill, and then he discovered a hidden trick...
If he used the first skill, Chidori Sharp Spear, and immediately followed up with a basic attack, Hawk Sasuke would spit out a burst of fire!
The fire's range wasn't huge, and the damage was negligible. There was even a noticeable delay in the animation, as the character couldn't use items or summoning to cancel the recovery during the fire-spitting animation.
At first glance, it didn't seem very useful... but Sasuke quickly realized the fire's potential.
He noticed that while spitting fire, Hawk Sasuke could actually dodge a lot of other Ninjas' skills!
For example, at the peak of the fire-spitting jump, he could perfectly dodge Sage Naruto's first and second skills... and for the most part, the fire-spitting could also dodge Edo Tensei Tobirama's skills.
Although the introduction of Naruto series Ninjas had significantly shaken up the game's ranked meta, many skilled players still had a soft spot for Edo Tensei Tobirama.
The only reason Edo Tensei Tobirama's popularity had waned was because Kurama Naruto had a slight advantage over him, as when Kurama Naruto jumped into the air, none of Edo Tensei Tobirama's attacks (except his ultimate) could hit him.
This led to a lot of average players abandoning Edo Tensei Tobirama.
But there was no denying it… popular characters remained popular, even if their player base shrank.
Sasuke couldn't help but smirk.
'In the plot, didn't the Edo Tensei Tobirama dare to disrespect me and say that I was an Uchiha brat who was born evil?'
'Then don't blame him for being rude...' Sasuke would make sure to use Hawk Sasuke to duel every Edo Tensei Tobirama player he encountered.
And then, with a single backflip, he'd dodge all their skills.
Just thinking about it made Sasuke feel excited.
'Next, let's look at the second skill.'
Hawk Sasuke's second skill, Chidori Blade, had three stages. The first stage was a dash attack… the range wasn't particularly long, but the speed was decent.
The second stage was a stab, which had a slight sweep effect and a decent hitbox, making it suitable for close-quarters combat.
The third stage was a large displacement move followed by throwing a lightning bolt...
Whether used after the opponent substituted or as a three-stage opener to catch them off guard, it was incredibly effective!
Just as Sasuke was getting excited and about to test out the ultimate Jutsu, a figure casually wandered up behind.
"Oh? Playing Hawk Sasuke, huh? Still messing around with that three-stage opener? Stop spitting that useless fire." Yuto chimed in with some advice.
Then he asked, "Do you know how to use combo skills yet? Do you know how to frame-cancel invincibility? Do you know how to chain ultimates into skills?"
If it were anyone else, Sasuke would have ignored them or just given them a cold look. After all, who dared to talk to Uchiha Sasuke like that?
But Yuto was different. Sasuke was genuinely grateful to him.
Instead of getting annoyed at Yuto for teaching him how to play, Sasuke listened intently and asked how to improve.
Yuto took over the controls, but after a moment of thought, he said to Sasuke, "You know what? Since I have some time now, let's have a match."
Yuto pulled out his phone, and Sasuke was stunned.
'A... match with Manager? I hadn't heard of anyone sparring with him before, except maybe Kakashi...'
Sasuke was still processing this when Yuto asked, "What's wrong? Not up for it?"
Sasuke immediately replied, "No, no, I'm in. Let me add you."