"Ha! Ha! Ha!"
On the phone screen, after activating the Byakugan, [Hyūga Hinata] raised her hand and unleashed a critical hit—golden numbers popped up one after another, making everyone's hearts race.
In the end, [Hatake Kakashi · Youth]'s HP was completely emptied.
Even so, [Hyūga Hinata] was left with only half of her HP, and facing the second ninja, her chances of victory weren't high.
Still, Naruto let out a small sigh of relief.
Although Sasuke had improved significantly compared to their first-day PK battle, he wasn't one to be underestimated either.
After fighting the café owner twice, the pressure from those battles had forced him to evolve, especially considering the punishment for losing—it couldn't be ignored.
Sasuke said nothing and entered the match.
"Earth Release: Earth Pillar Explosion!"
"Sealing Technique: Exorcism!"
At the start, both [Yakushi Kabuto] and [Hyūga Hinata] crouched down at the same time, launching their Secret Scrolls head-to-head.
The damage from those two Secret Scrolls wasn't much different, but for Sasuke, it was still a loss.
"Heh heh~ Sasuke, Exorcism consumes one Chakra Bean—you only have one left now!" Naruto immediately taunted.
"That has an official name. It's called an Ultimate Point." Sasuke's voice was calm, yet more cutting than any insult.
Naruto's face turned blue, then pale, and finally he just shut his mouth, refocusing on the battle.
If he lost, arguing would be meaningless.
The second match between the ninjas was much wilder than the first.
Because the range of these ninjas' abilities was relatively small compared to the entire Unlimited Class Tournament arena, positioning became especially important.
Still, Naruto wasn't wrong—Sasuke's previous ninja, [Hatake Kakashi · Youth], had already used his ultimate move.
Meanwhile, [Yakushi Kabuto] had inherited only two Ultimate Points, and one of them had already been consumed by Exorcism at the start.
That meant if [Yakushi Kabuto] couldn't find an opportunity before [Hyūga Hinata]'s Exorcism cooldown reset, he would fall into a no-bean disadvantage.
Everyone knew this.
Sasuke's fingers continuously worked the joystick back and forth, resulting in [Yakushi Kabuto] narrowly brushing past [Hyūga Hinata] several times.
After the previous round, Sasuke had already learned [Hyūga Hinata]'s abilities.
The first skill was Byakugan, and the second was just a short dash—if it didn't connect, there was no follow-up.
Even without the previous round's intel, Sasuke—who had played every ninja in Ninja Mobile Game—still remembered.
Aside from the Byakugan crit, [Hyūga Hinata] was practically useless—she couldn't even chain into her ultimate move.
As they were locked in a mind game, the Secret Scroll cooldown finished.
"Earth Release: Earth Pillar Explosion!"
The ground beneath [Yakushi Kabuto] split open, auto-tracking the opponent... it was released from behind!
Naruto pulled the joystick diagonally, and [Hyūga Hinata] successfully dodged by crossing both the Y and X axes.
But immediately afterward came a flash of the Chakra Scalpel—a sharp slash sent [Hyūga Hinata] flying!
Seeing that, Kakashi knew the outcome was decided.
Although Exorcism could reduce Ultimate Points, its cooldown was ten seconds longer than Earth Pillar Explosion's.
In other words, the opening Secret Scroll clash seemed to corner Sasuke with only one Ultimate Point remaining, but in reality, it put Naruto at a disadvantage.
Because if he couldn't catch Sasuke before his Secret Scroll refreshed, he was already half defeated.
But [Hyūga Hinata]'s opening potential was terrible—or rather, she had almost no counter options at all.
When they were picking ninjas earlier, Kakashi had actually wanted Naruto to choose [Rock Lee].
However, in Unlimited Class Tournament, BP (Ban-Pick) was everything—victory could already be decided during that stage.
Kakashi understood this well, but since he was only a spectator now, he stayed silent.
"That Secret Scroll… Sasuke used it to limit Naruto's movement range, didn't he?" Sakura bit her finger, watching intently.
She was right—Earth Pillar Explosion had an auto-tracking effect within a certain area.
Although its tracking from behind wasn't as far as when facing forward, it still worked.
...
To avoid it, Naruto had to move [Hyūga Hinata] downward, closer to the corner.
But in that position, facing [Yakushi Kabuto]'s Chakra Scalpel, there was no way to dodge—not even to trade skills.
While everyone analyzed, Naruto had already used Substitution Jutsu and hit Sasuke with a short burst of damage when activating Byakugan.
Then he tried a few normal attacks to test the waters and immediately turned to retreat.
Sasuke didn't substitute, because he knew Naruto wouldn't dare to continue attacking—it had to be bait.
The second round of mind games began.
Naruto could've opened from long range with Exorcism, but there was a risk of insufficient stiffness.
He still went for it—decisively.
Slash!
[Yakushi Kabuto] took the hit and lost one Ultimate Point. [Hyūga Hinata] instantly followed up with her second skill—Gentle Fist.
But before she could strike [Yakushi Kabuto], he recovered, slipped underground, and countered—sending [Hyūga Hinata] flying.
Naruto put down his phone. The second ninja was gone.
The skill was still too short—he couldn't chain it properly with the long-range Exorcism that had such a small stiffness window.
At this point, the advantage was obvious.
Sasuke had two full-health ninjas left, while Naruto was down to his last one—the newly released ninja he'd never played before.
[Uzumaki Naruto · First Tail]
In the illustration, Naruto's hair seemed to spike up; his sky-blue eyes had turned deep red, and his teeth and nails were unnaturally sharp.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura couldn't help but ask.
Kakashi knew—but he didn't answer.
With "First Tail" in the name, it couldn't be more obvious—it was referring to the Nine-Tails' chakra leaking out.
Naruto didn't know any of this, and he didn't care. Going one-on-two was already a heavy burden.
"Brat..."
Suddenly, he raised his head, looking around—only to see Kakashi and Sakura's puzzled faces.
"Did I... hear that wrong?" he muttered to himself.
Or maybe he hadn't noticed before? As expected, what a hopelessly dull guy...
Naruto's pupils shrank—he had heard it. The voice was deep, with an oddly vibrant undertone.
In the next instant, his vision blurred—the world seemed to spin violently.
When his sight cleared again, he froze.
No longer was he standing in the sunlit forest. Now, he was surrounded by a damp, shadowy expanse of water, stretching endlessly into darkness.
And right in front of him stood two massive iron gates.
Through the bars, he could see a pair of blood-red eyes inside—eyes filled with all the malice in the world.
"Brat, come closer! Step up to this gate and open this damn thing for me!" The Nine-Tails' mouth stretched into a snarl as it roared.
That roar jolted Naruto awake. He looked up and saw a huge figure looming in the shadows.
So this was the Nine-Tails.
The very same creature sealed inside him by the Fourth Hokage over a decade ago—the reason everyone shunned him...
The Nine-Tails continued to roar and curse, yelling about wanting to tear Naruto apart but being trapped by this hateful seal.
"Hey! Nine-Tails Fox!" Naruto put his hands on his hips and shouted, "You're living in someone else's belly, so keep it down, will you? Can't you see I'm busy?!"
The Nine-Tails fell silent, probably thinking about how to deal with him.
"Annoying kid. I'm still fighting Sasuke, that bastard! How am I supposed to get out of here? Hurry up and tell me!" Naruto yelled, fuming.
"Uchiha... You're fighting that Uchiha brat, aren't you?" the Nine-Tails asked.
"What's it to you? You're not planning to help, are you?" Naruto scratched his head. "Come to think of it, you did help me back in the Land of Waves, when we fought Haku."
He remembered the moment Sasuke had shielded him from the barrage of senbon in the Demonic Ice Mirrors, ending up looking like a porcupine.
"That guy even saved me..."
Everyone in the Ninja World knew that story, but for those involved, it was still embarrassing.
Of course, there was also that legendary accidental kiss between Naruto and Sasuke back in the classroom...
Naruto's face went pale—he almost felt sick.
The Nine-Tails was speechless. This kid had somehow mistaken future events for reality... but maybe, just maybe, that could be useful.
"Naruto, next..."
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