Itachi and Sasuke's conversation didn't waste any time. By the time Itachi took over the phone, the match had just begun.
Seeing that his character was Hawk Sasuke, Itachi nodded slightly to himself.
He was well aware of this character's strength, and it is very solid!
Or rather, he was confident in any A-Rank or S-Rank Sasuke series Ninja, because just like the Naruto series Ninjas, the Sasuke series Ninjas were strong by design!
As for Hawk Sasuke, Itachi considered himself quite proficient.
Unlike the impulsive and reckless Sasuke, Itachi, who was always meticulous and cautious, had specifically trained with Hawk Sasuke in the training mode when the character was first released.
At the time, he was on a mission with Kisame, and the mission wasn't particularly demanding.
So Itachi spent several hours in the training mode. After all, there was no harm in idling in the training mode. At most, he'd just get disconnected.
This gave Itachi plenty of time to thoroughly test and understand the abilities of the Ninjas, including all of Sasuke's forms.
Except for a few deeply hidden techniques, like the god-tier move of Susanoo Sasuke's double blade cancel, Itachi was quite familiar with most of the tricks.
After testing the Ninjas, Itachi would feel the urge to try them out in ranked matches.
But then he'd glance at his Super Kage rank... and instead, he spent an entire night playing Sasuke in casual matches.
Among them, he played Hawk Sasuke the most.
Hawk Sasuke's skills weren't as complicated as Eternal Mangekyo Sasuke's, nor did they require the constant repositioning of Susanoo Sasuke!
Hawk Sasuke's skills were all about one thing: simple and brutal! But there was still plenty of room for skill expression.
Itachi thought about his win rate from last night's casual matches.
'Seems like... 80 matches with a 100% win rate?'
Not bad. In fact, there were a few close calls that almost pushed him to a fifth round.
So now, seeing Hawk Sasuke again, Itachi was feeling the heat!
Susanoo Sasuke vs. Hawk Sasuke.
Itachi carefully watched the opponent's movements while constantly repositioning himself.
Unlike Sasuke, Itachi had a deeper understanding of Susanoo Sasuke. He knew this ninja could manually control Kagutsuchi.
He also knew why this Ninja was strong, when it was best to counter, and so on...
However, no matter how much he thought about it, he never expected...
Suddenly, Susanoo Sasuke appeared from off-screen. Itachi immediately judged the distance and explained to Sasuke, "At this range... Hawk Sasuke's Chidori Blade can initiate directly, but the opponent might also use Kagutsuchi."
Sasuke asked, "If we go in, can we catch the invincibility frames?"
This was a new term he had learned after his match with Yuto.
Itachi thought Sasuke's guess was reasonable. Just as he was considering whether to go for the invincibility frames, a giant hand grabbed Hawk Sasuke.
"The current me is different."
A not-so-prominent subtitle appeared on the screen.
Watching the scene of Hawk Sasuke being grabbed by Susanoo Sasuke's combo, both brothers fell silent.
Sasuke really wanted to mock, "You can't even react to that? Maybe you shouldn't be a Ninja."
But because of their relationship, Sasuke held back.
"For the next wave, he has no skills now, but he still has a secret scroll and a summon... right?" Itachi said.
Sasuke nodded. "Right. When I fought him, he still had two summons left. He used one shell."
"Got it." After hearing Sasuke's answer, Itachi replied.
Then he substituted down. It had to be said, Itachi's substitution timing was impeccable. He specifically waited until Susanoo Sasuke's 3a combo had just ended and was about to start the 1a before substituting.
At this moment, Susanoo Sasuke was most vulnerable to initiation!
Itachi substituted and immediately used Chidori Blade, but it didn't control Susanoo Sasuke.
Because at the critical moment, Susanoo Sasuke used his scatter.
Using a secret scroll to counter a skill, especially a single-hit skill like Chidori Blade, was particularly effective.
But Itachi remained calm. It seemed he had anticipated this situation, and he also pressed his secret scroll.
Sasuke had equipped Hawk Sasuke with the lightning strike secret scroll. Although it wasn't as conventional as indomitable spirit, lightning strike was a versatile, all-purpose secret scroll that also suited Hawk Sasuke well.
After Itachi used lightning strike to secure the initiation, he walked straight up and followed up with the second stage of the second skill, the stab.
Sasuke wanted to speak up and ask why Itachi didn't use the first skill to poke from a distance and see if he could bait out a substitution.
But he quickly realized why...
The opponent currently had no skills or secret scrolls left, so the chance of them substituting was low. Moreover, if he used the first skill, Chidori Sharp Spear, to poke, he might find himself in a tough spot later.
Because the opponent still had a substitution, and their skill cooldowns were faster.
Since Hawk Sasuke had already used the second skill, if he also used the first skill...
Wouldn't that leave him with a skill vacuum if the opponent substituted?
Sasuke felt like he was starting to understand Itachi's intentions.
And using the second stage of the second skill to follow up with a combo was relatively safe.
If the opponent substituted after the second skill, he could immediately use the third stage of the second skill to teleport away.
If the opponent didn't substitute, then he'd just wait for the skill cooldown.
As long as he kept one skill in reserve, he could ensure he wouldn't be left in a vacuum if the opponent substituted.
And the opponent was Susanoo Sasuke, a ninja with strong repositioning capabilities.
If he was left without skills and the opponent pressured him... he might really be forced to use a summon.
If the summon hit, that would be fine. But if it missed, it would be a huge loss.
Without the second skill, Hawk Sasuke's repositioning ability wasn't great, but Itachi was extremely cautious with every basic attack, frequently using the 3a combo to create distance while maintaining a stable combo.
This level of play left Sasuke envious.
Finally, after about five or six seconds, Susanoo Sasuke substituted.
Itachi took advantage of the 3a combo to create distance! Just when everyone thought Hawk Sasuke could escape, suddenly... Susanoo Sasuke's basic attacks followed up.
Itachi knew Susanoo Sasuke's basic attack combo was essentially a copy of Hawk Sasuke's second skill.
So without hesitation, he turned around and used the first skill, Chidori Sharp Spear. Unfortunately, Susanoo Sasuke was still in the invincibility frames after substituting.
But Sasuke could see the purpose of this Chidori Sharp Spear… it was to use the skill's invincibility frames to block Susanoo Sasuke's basic attack.
What Sasuke didn't understand was... why not use a summon to achieve the same effect? So he immediately asked, "Why didn't you counter with a summon?"