138 Naruto Mobile Game

BO3, first match—begin!

(T/N: Bo3 = Best of three, first to win 2 games wins the match)

As a burst of rhythmic music rang out, it tugged at the audience's hearts, pulling them into the duel that was about to begin.

It couldn't really be called "about to begin," because both sides were already in position. Now it was the ninja ban phase.

For the first round, the system rolled the B-rank ninja pool.

Obito was on the left side, so he had first ban and first pick.

[Uzumaki Kushina]—after scanning the options, Obito banned this ninja without hesitation.

Seeing this, Minato felt a bit regretful. He had been planning to have some fun using Kushina right in front of Kushina herself.

With a snap, Minato banned Swimsuit Sakura, for reasons unknown.

[Ameyuri Ringo · Seven Ninja Swordsmen]—after a brief moment of thought, Obito took this ninja as his first pick.

Minato hesitated slightly, then locked in [Uzumaki Naruto · First Tail] and [Ebisu] one after another.

Ebisu is a ninja who's extremely strong in the hands of someone who knows how to use him—strong enough to climb ranks.

As for Naruto… that's his son!

Too naive, Minato-sensei. Obito thought to himself. Naruto has short reach, and both of his skills have end lag. How are you going to fight my Ameyuri Ringo?

And if you're thinking of using Secret Scrolls to make up for that, that's even more naive. Would I allow you to do that?

Obito then picked [Gaara · Possessed Form] and [Motoi].

When he saw Minato take [Rock Lee · Shippuden] as his third pick, he almost laughed out loud.

This B-rank ninja's strength was extremely lacking—worse than C-rank Lee. A classic example of a ninja who got weaker instead of stronger with age.

I've won! Minato-sensei!

Obito was brimming with confidence. He guessed that Minato didn't have a deep enough understanding of Unlimited Class—he'd probably only made it this far thanks to good luck.

Now it was time to pick Secret Scrolls. Obito glanced over them and casually banned Dark Walking Technique.

Among the Secret Scrolls were Dispel, Flying Shuriken, Water Dragon Vortex, Vacuum Wave, and more.

By banning Dark Walking, Obito had effectively wasted a ban—strong scrolls were guaranteed to remain.

Minato understood his opponent's thinking as well.

If he picked Flying Shuriken, the opponent would definitely take Vacuum Wave, and vice versa.

The best approach was ban one, pick one.

But Minato didn't do that. He didn't ban either of those scrolls. Instead, he banned the less functional Lightning Sword Transformation.

Seeing this, Obito curled his lips.

Since Obito had first pick on ninjas, Minato got first pick on Secret Scrolls.

The two made their selections, and the final lineups were set.

Tobi (Obito)—

[Ameyuri Ringo · Seven Ninja Swordsmen] + Wind Release · Vacuum Wave

[Gaara · Possessed Form] + Lightning Release · Lightning Strike

[Motoi] + Dispel

Namikaze Minato—

[Uzumaki Naruto · First Tail] + Flying Shuriken

[Ebisu] + Water Release · Water Dragon Vortex

[Rock Lee · Shippuden] + Water Release · Water Infusion Origin

Worth noting: in Unlimited Class mode, after selecting ninjas and Secret Scrolls, players can adjust the order in which ninjas enter battle.

However, neither of them did so.

"Battle start!"

After the countdown ended, neither Ameyuri Ringo nor One-Tail Naruto launched an attack right away.

This was typical in Unlimited Class. Every attack had to be cautious—but within that caution, boldly and decisively seizing opportunities was the key to victory.

After moving up and down a few times, Obito lined up the X-axis and had Ameyuri Ringo raise her lightning blade, releasing three bolts of falling lightning forward.

They missed—One-Tail Naruto twisted aside and avoided them.

Perhaps thinking that Ameyuri Ringo's pressure dropped after whiffing her skill, One-Tail Naruto immediately moved in to apply pressure.

Seeing this, Ameyuri Ringo seemed to panic and hastily turned around and ran.

In reality, Obito's fingers had been hovering over the skill buttons the whole time, waiting for the right moment.

He was planning to use a "drag-the-blade" feint.

This tactic exploited the opponent's eagerness to start an attack—turning to flee to expose a fake opening, luring the enemy in, then suddenly turning back to counterattack.

He had used it to great effect repeatedly in the main tournament qualifiers.

But this time, he seemed to have forgotten one thing: his opponent wasn't one of those nameless ninjas from the qualifiers.

"Ohhh—!"

One-Tail Naruto roared as chakra formed into claws, lunging forcefully at Ameyuri Ringo.

Minato saw through it! He went along with the plan and launched an attack!

Obito narrowed his eyes. At this distance, with the base movement speed of the ninjas… he would get caught!

His other finger decisively pressed the Secret Scroll.

Whoosh—

A burst of Vacuum Wave surged out, knocking One-Tail Naruto into hitstun. There was no helping it—the skill had startup lag.

Obito moved in carefully and landed a few basic attacks, knocking him away.

As he watched One-Tail Naruto about to land from the air, Obito had Ameyuri Ringo close in. Her raised hand suddenly stopped—no further basic attack followed.

And One-Tail Naruto didn't fall for it either. No substitution.

Tch! As expected of Minato-sensei! Obito clicked his tongue and had Ameyuri Ringo retreat.

The first exchange ended within three seconds.

Both reacted quickly. Using three-finger control, Obito turned instantly and chained into his Secret Scroll the moment he saw the opponent attack—negating the strike and even gaining initiative.

But he got a bit greedy, trying to fake a basic attack to bait a substitution. Minato didn't bite.

After getting up, One-Tail Naruto became even bolder. His movement was reckless—just short of jumping straight onto Ameyuri Ringo's face to claw her.

No way around it. In Unlimited Class, if you don't have a Secret Scroll and your opponent does, you're going to be pressured.

As a top-tier ninja, reaction speed is no joke. Reacting to Secret Scrolls isn't just talk.

As long as you have the Secret Scroll's super armor, there's nothing to fear—unless you can summon in Unlimited Class. Then you're truly impressive.

One A, one A, one A—

One-Tail Naruto repeatedly probed with basic attacks. Obito didn't dare use the lightning dash on Ameyuri Ringo's first skill.

That skill's charge-up startup was ridiculous—even Obito's grandma could react to it.

Ah, someone's bound to say it.

Ameyuri Ringo can do three basic attacks and then chain into her first skill with no startup—instant cast.

Sure, sure—if you can stay on the same X-axis as your opponent, have the time, and successfully land three basic attacks before pressing the skill.

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Ameyuri Ringo let out a shout. Obito could only trade basic attacks with One-Tail Naruto, looking for a chance to gain initiative that way.

From this perspective, that earlier attempt to bait a substitution had actually been a loss… Obito felt a bit of regret.

The distance between them closed—up and down, left and right, turning back and forth—until the ninja models looked like they were twitching.

Snap!

With a crisp sound and a damage number popping up, Obito's eyelid twitched.

Ameyuri Ringo was known as a B-rank ninja in Unlimited Class, but no matter what, she couldn't out-A One-Tail Naruto backed by a Secret Scroll!

That's right—seeing that pressure wouldn't force out the opponent's first skill, Minato directly threw a shuriken to take the initiative.

Obito stayed calm, even while getting hit.

Seeing One-Tail Naruto landing nothing but second-hit basics without exposing end lag, he decisively substituted and used his second skill to pursue.

Ameyuri Ringo has combo options—first into second or second into first. Obito chose second into first, because he substituted only after his second skill had cooled down.

After releasing three falling lightning bolts with her second skill, Ameyuri Ringo blinked into the air and then launched a diagonal downward dash.

The latter half of this combo could change direction, enabling full X-axis coverage.

Obito used it now to bait a substitution—otherwise, why fly from the far left all the way to the far right?

And if he didn't do this, whether using a single skill or a combo, getting caught during end lag would be fatal.

Unfortunately, Minato held his substitution tightly.

Seeing One-Tail Naruto press in again, Obito glanced at his just-used dual skills and the Vacuum Wave with only a few seconds left on cooldown. His heart sank.

Damn it… how did he fall into a disadvantage again?