"Ahhh, damn you, Sasuke!"
Naruto controlled [Uzumaki Naruto] to chase after [Uchiha Sasuke], but since their movement speeds were the same, catching up was obviously impossible.
Thinking about how he had just been tricked by Sasuke into wasting his Substitution Jutsu, Naruto couldn't help but feel annoyed.
The Substitution Jutsu had a 15-second cooldown. During that time, if you got hit, there was no way to counterattack—unless your opponent made a mistake.
And the invincibility right after substitution was extremely brief. If you didn't seize that moment to catch your opponent, you lost your chance to counter, and your initial advantage would be gone.
The top priority now was to chase and deal as much damage as possible before Sasuke's substitution recovered.
With that in mind, Naruto quickly pursued Sasuke and activated a Secret Scroll—a massive boulder descended from the sky.
[Earth Release: Rock Drop]
Sasuke was struck by the stone ball and sent flying upward. Naruto moved in to attack.
"So the attack range is just a straight line, huh?" Sasuke wasn't panicked; instead, he analyzed it.
If he had moved up or down off that horizontal line of the duel arena, would he have been able to dodge Naruto's attack?
He didn't know what an X-axis or Y-axis was, but he realized it instinctively during the fight.
While taking hits, he glanced at his own Secret Scroll—it was a blue-white lightning beam.
Back in the practice field, Sasuke had tested its range carefully, from far to near.
The lightning strike didn't need to travel in a straight line—it could bend off-angle to hit. But its range wasn't as far as Naruto's Rock Drop.
Sasuke patiently waited for his Substitution Jutsu to recharge.
During this time, Naruto used both his first and second skills to maximize damage output, but the downside was that once Sasuke's substitution came back, he could start with a normal attack combo.
Their substitution cooldowns were only two or three seconds apart, so after Sasuke's first hit landed, he didn't immediately use skills—he just kept steady pressure with normal attacks.
"Still trying to bait me, huh?" Naruto clicked his tongue but kept his finger hovering lightly over the substitution button.
Sasuke continued attacking, using no skills.
As seconds ticked by, Naruto started to grow impatient. If this kept up, Sasuke's substitution would come off cooldown first.
Bang! (Substitution sound effect)
Naruto immediately used substitution and charged after Sasuke, launching a Rasengan right at him.
Sasuke flicked his thumb, trying to dodge downward off the X-axis—but Naruto moved with him, stepping down and slamming the Rasengan straight into him.
"You can move like that?" Sasuke frowned.
There was no helping it—he had to wait for substitution again.
But by then, Sasuke had already eaten two more of Naruto's skills. His health bar wasn't looking great.
Naruto clearly understood the importance of sustained damage.
If the HP gap grew too large, there'd be no way to recover later. So Sasuke, as soon as his substitution came back, used it immediately.
Then he counterattacked with a lightning strike, followed up with Fireball Jutsu and Lion Combo to deal serious damage.
"There's a substitution difference now!"
Kuroda clicked his tongue in admiration. Sasuke's HP was at a disadvantage, but his substitution cooldown was seven or eight seconds faster than Naruto's.
Even though he lost initiative early, successfully baiting out Naruto's substitution gave him the upper hand. Whether he could expand that advantage would determine victory.
Still...
This was one hell of an exhilarating fight!
...
Meanwhile, though Naruto and Sasuke had only exchanged a few rounds on-screen, many across the Shinobi World had already begun to understand the mechanics.
"Is this… turn-based combat?"
While traveling abroad, Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, catching on to the pattern.
It had to be said—this was a completely different kind of battle compared to traditional ninja fights.
In this new set of rules, the Substitution Jutsu was undeniably the core mechanic.
Without substitution—you could only get beaten.
So mastering and controlling your opponent's substitution, then timing your own perfectly—that seemed to be the true path to victory.
Naruto appeared on screen, and Jiraiya recognized him immediately. What surprised him more was that Naruto could actually use the Rasengan.
Had someone taught him over the years?
Still, it looked a bit clumsy—he even needed Shadow Clones to help cast it. A perfectly instant technique turned into this mess.
"That kid Naruto… he's got Earth-nature chakra too? That Earth Release move isn't bad," Jiraiya muttered, stroking his chin.
But then—his jaw nearly dropped.
"Wh–what… Enma?!!"
When the Monkey King Enma came crashing down into the arena—summoned by Naruto, no less—many across the ninja world were stunned.
That was too iconic. Wait—did the Third Hokage already decide to make that brat his successor?
Villages like Iwagakure and others grew suspicious.
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't sure what others were thinking—but his own mind was a bit of a mess.
He didn't mind Naruto forming a contract with Enma, but… wasn't this a bit sudden? Had Enma gone behind his back to approach Naruto?
Watching his old partner wreak havoc in the duel, the sheer visual effects shaking the arena, Hiruzen couldn't help but fall into thought.
Unlike the spectators, Sasuke—the one actually in the fight—was starting to question reality itself.
"What the… he summoned a creature that big? And that final area of effect—wasn't that a bit too much?"
He stared at his own avatar flying through the air, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.
Naruto seized the opportunity and unleashed a flurry of attacks.
Golden damage numbers—each marking a critical hit—flashed across the screen, making Sasuke's eyelids twitch.
Hiss… that looked painful!
Sasuke took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm. He had his reasons to win this match.
Bang! (Substitution sound effect)
But the moment he reappeared from substitution, Sasuke froze—then broke into uncontrollable joy.
Naruto, on the other hand, was in despair.
"Noooo!!!"
On-screen, [Uzumaki Naruto] suddenly summoned multiple clones, launching a storm of punches at empty air all around him.
Naruto clasped his head and screamed.
[Uzumaki Naruto: Two Thousand Combo]
He had misclicked—his finger had tapped the ultimate instead of the Secret Scroll.
Four energy bars—gone in an instant!
"Hahaha, Naruto! You got careless again! Still, this battle was one of the few times I've felt truly serious. I won't forget it."
Sasuke couldn't stop grinning as he controlled [Uchiha Sasuke] to run out of Naruto's ultimate range.
Of course he could escape—the invincibility after substitution lasted long enough.
But as he caught the exhausted Naruto afterward and dealt damage like mad, he gradually fell silent.
Time... wasn't enough.
Maybe he'd overthought things during the fight, or maybe he hadn't noticed the need to close the HP gap.
Sasuke had overplayed the mind games, and by the time Naruto's accidental ultimate dragged the match out, there just wasn't enough time left to deal enough damage.
His final act of defiance was summoning a giant hawk and unleashing his own ultimate.
Lightning crackled through the sky—and the PK match ended.
[Time Expired]
[Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!]
...
Inside the small room, Sasuke's expression froze. His hands, which had been gripping his phone tightly, slowly loosened.
He had lost.
Even though it was just a game he'd barely started playing, with only ten minutes of practice, he still lost to that bottom-ranked idiot.
And with it—he lost this crucial opportunity...
Suddenly, Sasuke noticed an emoji appear beneath Naruto's avatar. It was a small hand patting a white dumpling on the head.
His face turned pale, then flushed red, cycling several times before he muttered in disbelief,
"That guy... is he trying to comfort me?"