Sasuke shook his head in disappointment. Despite his efforts, he still couldn't win... Sure enough, before his substitution bar could even finish cooling down, his Eternal Mangekyo Sasuke had lost the round.
Sasuke sighed, placing his hopes on his second pick: Cursed Seal Sasuke Shippuden. Just as the second round was loading, Sasuke finally turned around to look at the person behind him.
Although he bore some responsibility for losing the previous round, the person standing behind him was also to blame!
Sasuke thought bitterly, 'If it weren't for this guy suddenly standing behind him, I wouldn't have played so poorly.'
However, what Sasuke met was a pair of cold eyes.
A completely unfamiliar face.
Sasuke stared at the face, too shocked to speak.
Because... he could see through the Transformation Technique.
Although he didn't recognize the face, the deep nasolabial folds were unmistakable.
The man sat down across from Sasuke without any hesitation, as if he wasn't worried about Sasuke recognizing him. Then, the man activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, revealing the spinning pattern.
Now, Sasuke was 100% sure who this person was.
His brother... Uchiha Itachi.
Itachi didn't waste any words. "Keep playing."
Sasuke wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say, so he just continued playing the game.
But now, his mind was no longer on the game at all.
His emotions were a tangled mess. He wanted to ask Itachi why he had come, but he didn't know how to bring it up.
'Was Itachi... not my enemy anymore? Was he... family now?'
Sasuke didn't know how to face Itachi, so much so that during the second round...
'Damn Itachi, still peeking at my screen?'
Sasuke roared inwardly, but he didn't show any of it on the surface.
Watching Cursed Seal Sasuke get utterly destroyed in the game, Itachi frowned. "You were a bit too hasty earlier. You could have saved your skills for later."
"Yeah..." Sasuke replied softly.
"But it's fine. The opponent is quite skilled. Losing to him is normal." Itachi commented.
"Yeah..." Sasuke replied again. If it were anyone else standing behind him and watching him play, he might have felt a bit of pressure, which was normal. Many people would feel the same, and he was just more sensitive to it.
However, having Itachi standing behind him, watching his every move... that was overwhelming!
Meanwhile, Yuto was also confused.
'That's not right. Although the Eternal Mangekyo Sasuke's operation in the last round didn't seem very skillful, at least his awareness was still very good… definitely fitting for his current rank.'
He felt that once the player base climbed higher and Super Kage became more common, a player of this caliber would definitely be in the upper echelons of Super Kage.
But now, the Cursed Seal Sasuke felt... completely lacking in awareness and strategy. His mechanics were purely instinctual, and his skills were used randomly.
It was like he was a completely different person.
Soon, less than half a minute later, the match ended.
Sasuke wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and stiffly turned to look at Itachi, "Can you not stand behind me?"
Itachi nodded, then performed hand seals right in front of Sasuke and released the stealth technique.
Sasuke was too exhausted to complain. Knowing that victory was hopeless, he simply closed his phone and asked, "So, why did you come find me?"
Sasuke said in a calm tone.
He was surprised that Itachi had come to see him. In the past, he would have immediately activated his Susanoo to greet his dear brother.
But now that he knew Itachi's circumstances, Sasuke didn't hate him as much.
Itachi shook his head and said, "Nothing important. I just happened to be near Konoha on a mission, so I thought I'd drop by and see you."
Sasuke was confused, "That's it?"
Itachi nodded, "That's it. Anyway, our leader already knows about my identity. He patted me on the shoulder and told me it was fine. He even said that once we conquer the world, he'll grant me a fiefdom in Konoha, making me the King of Konoha."
Sasuke was speechless, "Why are you telling me this? Unless you're planning to kill Danzo, I'm not interested in your plans."
Itachi shook his head again. "I'm really planning to work for Akatsuki now, which more or less makes me a Konoha's Missing-nin. I'll deal with Danzo, but not right now."
The two brothers stared at each other, neither saying a word.
It was hard to imagine that the same pair of brothers who had such an emotional story in the plot could end up in such an awkward situation in real life.
Itachi cleared his throat. "I noticed that your match wasn't over yet."
Sasuke replied irritably, "Yeah, and it's all because you were distracting me. But even without that, I didn't stand a chance. I really don't know where these players come from, and those who made it to Super Kage... it's just ridiculous..."
Itachi silently pulled out his phone, which was still on the game interface. He opened the ranked match screen, and what Sasuke saw next... was the Super Kage rank.
It made Sasuke's breathing quicken.
"You...are also a Super Kage?"
Sasuke wasn't surprised that Kakashi was a Super Kage. After all, he was his teacher. What's wrong with a teacher being stronger than his student? Not to mention, Kakashi liked to cheat with his Sharingan.
Sasuke also wasn't surprised that Zabuza had reached Super Kage. Work was work, and games were games.
Although playing games could make you stronger, not many people could treat gaming as a full-time job.
Zabuza spent no less than 16 hours a day gaming… he's a pure grind lord. He could go toe-to-toe with those Sharingan cheaters, and Sasuke respected that.
But why... was Itachi also a Super Kage?
Sasuke's expression twisted. In the past, he had seen Itachi as a goal to surpass.
But after fighting alongside Kakashi against Itachi a few months ago, although he had felt Itachi's strength firsthand, Sasuke realized that Itachi wasn't as terrifyingly powerful as he had imagined.
Now that their misunderstandings had been cleared up, and Sasuke's goal to grow stronger was no longer centered around Itachi, he thought he could look beyond Itachi toward even greater heights...
But he never expected... that beyond Itachi was still Itachi!
'Why was Itachi so strong at gaming?'
Moreover, Sasuke recognized Itachi's username and nearly died of frustration.
Sasuke knew to avoid big shots like Zabuza and Kakashi during the day, so he always played ranked matches at night.
However, Itachi, who had to do organization missions during the day, could only play games at night.
So... Sasuke clearly remembered that he had lost quite a few points to Itachi!
At that moment, a sound came from Sasuke's phone.
[Round 3]
[Battle Start]
Itachi said directly, "Let me play a match for you. You can watch from the side."
Sasuke snorted and handed his phone to Itachi.
Then he voluntarily gave up his seat and stood where Itachi had been standing.
Sasuke was conflicted. On one hand, he hoped Itachi would win.
As someone who had lost many points to Itachi, he knew how skilled Itachi was. If Itachi won using his account, the points would go to him!
On the other hand, Sasuke didn't want Itachi to win.
He hadn't been able to take out even one of the opponent's Ninjas with two of his own.
If Itachi accidentally swept the opponent, where would Sasuke's face be?
And his lineup was all Sasuke-series Ninjas!
Sasuke didn't want to see a scenario where just anyone in high-level matches could use Sasuke-series Ninjas better than he could.
In this state of inner conflict, Itachi took the phone, and the real battle began...