But what left Sasuke utterly dumbfounded was yet to come.
Sasuke looked over...
At this point, Susanoo Sasuke had already executed the 4th basic attack.
'The first three basic attacks were extremely similar to Hawk Sasuke's, so the 4th... would it be Hawk Sasuke's knock-up?'
Sasuke's substitution was still on cooldown, so he could only watch helplessly as Susanoo Sasuke continued his basic attacks.
Then... Susanoo Sasuke flashed past with a Chidori Blade, leaving Sasuke completely baffled.
"Wait, what? How is Susanoo Sasuke's Chidori Blade cooldown so short? Didn't he already use it twice?" Sasuke really couldn't wrap his head around it.
He had tested all the skills and ultimates, but he hadn't discovered anything like this...
At this point, Sasuke still hadn't considered the possibility that it was tied to the basic attacks. He just thought... he must have missed something.
'Maybe Susanoo Sasuke had a rechargeable displacement skill similar to Nine-Tails Naruto's second skill.'
'Could it be an exclusive secret scroll?' Sasuke wondered.
Unique secret scrolls weren't unheard of. For example, Edo Hashirama's wooden spike could become the unique secret scroll, Myojinmon.
So it was natural for Sasuke to think in this direction.
After all... he would never think to associate it with basic attacks. Because, seriously, who would stuff invincibility frames and such a long displacement into basic attacks? That's just absurd!
Sasuke's substitution was still on cooldown, so he continued to watch Susanoo Sasuke's combo.
But Sasuke, being a skilled player, wasn't just good at mechanics… he was also great at learning.
For example, at this moment, he quietly activated his Sharingan to observe his opponent's moves, so he could replicate them later.
So... the Sharingan wasn't just powerful in real life, as it was also an external cheat for gaming!
Fortunately, this didn't worry Yuto too much about breaking the game's balance, because in this Ninja World, the Uchiha Clan... well, we have to give Itachi some credit for that.
---
Susanoo Sasuke executed the second set of basic attacks, still the first three hits being standard combos, and the fourth...
Sasuke watched intently, and then... he saw Susanoo Sasuke stab downward with his blade!
"Huh? A stab? Isn't that the second stage of Hawk Sasuke's second skill?" Sasuke was both shocked and confused. He wondered if Susanoo Sasuke also had the third stage of Hawk Sasuke's second skill?
At this point, he felt it's better to rename Susanoo Sasuke to 'Hawk Sasuke Plus.'
Sasuke was too tired to complain. He felt like Susanoo Sasuke had way too many skills.
'Could it be that Susanoo Sasuke could also switch skills with his ultimate?'
Sasuke was clueless. Just as he was about to continue watching Susanoo Sasuke's moves, he suddenly noticed that his substitution was ready.
'This is so weird. I was in such a hurry to leave the training mode earlier, but now I have to watch my opponent's Ninja to learn... Ugh, next time I'll make sure to practice thoroughly in the training mode before jumping into ranked. Otherwise, I'll just end up as reckless as Naruto.'
Once the initial excitement wore off, Sasuke quickly calmed down and started thinking carefully.
Although his substitution was ready, he didn't rush to use it.
Instead, he kept watching Susanoo Sasuke's basic attacks.
He noticed that Susanoo Sasuke kept using the first three hits of his basic attacks but never the fourth.
This made Sasuke wonder, 'Does Hawk Sasuke also need to keep using the first three hits?'
'But why do I feel like Hawk Sasuke's rhythm is better when using all four hits?'
"Maybe his skill is on cooldown... yeah, that skill that lets him use Chidori Blade and the stab." Due to the information gap, Sasuke could only make this assumption.
So, when Susanoo Sasuke was about to execute the third hit, Sasuke substituted and immediately went for the recovery frames!
He ruthlessly swung out with his second skill.
But once again, reality defied Sasuke's expectations.
'Why... why didn't he catch the recovery frames?'
Watching Susanoo Sasuke dash away with a beautiful arc of Chidori Blade's lightning, Sasuke was left in a daze, 'Wait, what? Why is Susanoo Sasuke's Chidori Blade cooldown so much shorter than Hawk Sasuke's?'
Having been outplayed by the invincibility frames of Chidori Blade again, Sasuke wasn't angry. Instead, he switched back to Flame Blade, planning to initiate from a distance.
But what he didn't expect was...
Yuto was thinking the same thing.
Hearing the sound of Eternal Mangekyo Sasuke switching blades, Yuto immediately knew what was going on.
So he repeated his earlier tactic, activating the Susanoo Skeleton and rushing straight toward Eternal Mangekyo Sasuke.
This time, Sasuke wasn't in a hurry. Having learned from his previous mistake, he knew Flame Blade didn't have a grab, so he quickly switched back to Lightning Blade.
Lightning Blade's first skill wasn't on cooldown, so he created some distance.
Sasuke didn't rush to initiate, knowing full well that this was a mind game.
If the opponent made the first move, he was confident he could use his first skill followed by an ultimate to secure a grab.
But if he initiated first... and it was dodged, he'd be put in a passive position.
Yuto, on the other hand, saw through Sasuke's plan and decided to proactively cancel the Susanoo Skeleton.
So... from a distance where he could just barely see the opponent's ninja, Yuto activated Susanoo Sasuke's second skill, Kagutsuchi.
Kagutsuchi's flames spread across the midlane, reaching Eternal Mangekyo Sasuke.
Knowing full well that this Kagutsuchi was 'cheating' and could move, Sasuke decided to take the initiative.
He dashed in with Lightning Blade's first skill, but Yuto's Susanoo Sasuke sidestepped it with a quick turn.
Admittedly, Sasuke's reasoning was sound.
Many Susanoo Sasuke's players, after using the first stage of Kagutsuchi, would rush to activate the second stage to catch their opponent off guard.
But... when Susanoo Sasuke uses the second stage of Kagutsuchi, if the opponent gets too close, the unavoidable recovery frames could be fatal.
Yuto had been guarding against this very thing. After maneuvering Susanoo Sasuke away, there was no need to use the second stage of Kagutsuchi.
Because Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo Sasuke had already moved out of the range where Kagutsuchi could extend.
Watching Kagutsuchi on the ground disappear, Sasuke finally breathed a sigh of relief...
He thought he might have figured out how to deal with Susanoo Sasuke.
Sasuke switched back to Flame Blade, and hearing the blade-switching sound, Yuto sighed.
'Although the current me had top-tier mechanics and reaction speed, my earlier strategy had been flawed.'
'If I had waited for the opponent to initiate or for the opponent to use Flame Blade's skill to test the waters... then activated the Susanoo Skeleton and rushed in, the opponent would have only had two options.'
'Either wait to get caught, or use his ultimate Jutsu, which would cost him a chakra bar.'
'And after the ultimate, they'd still be at risk of getting caught.'
But it was too late for regrets now, because at this moment... Yuto had no skills left, while Sasuke still had both skills in Flame Blade mode.
This was a critical moment.
If Sasuke seized this opportunity, he might just win the round. But if he lost it... although it was unlikely he'd lose it now.
The key was that he needed a thorough understanding of Susanoo Sasuke...