After defeating Kakashi, Naruto was ecstatic, his cheers echoing loudly even in the bustling shop.
Sasuke looked on in disbelief, 'How had even Kakashi lost to Naruto?'
Although Sasuke had lost several matches to Naruto earlier, he didn't think it was due to a lack of skill. Instead, he believed Naruto had just gotten incredibly lucky.
He had been hoping Kakashi would teach Naruto a lesson, but instead, Kakashi had been completely swept… three rounds in a row!
This was worse than Sasuke's performance. At least Sasuke had managed to make it to Naruto's third Ninja.
But the third Ninja...
Sasuke felt a headache coming on just thinking about Naruto [Sage Mode].
He knew Naruto had always been lucky, but this character also seemed tailor-made for him.
With two long-range skills that could randomly hit and an ultimate that reduced the cooldown of both skills, Sasuke had no desire to face that kind of Ninja again after experiencing the bombardment of skills.
---
Meanwhile, Kakashi, who had just lost the match, remained calm.
For him, losing wasn't a big deal. It wasn't a ranked match, and even if it were, he could always win it back later. But not now.
The sheer absurdity of Naruto [Kurama Link Mode] made Kakashi eager to get his hands on the character first, analyze its playstyle, and prepare for future matches.
However, the core issue wasn't just that.
'The real question is: since when did Naruto have such a form?'
'The Naruto in the game looked like... a grown-up version of Naruto?'
Kakashi's mind was filled with questions. While he was deeply engrossed in the game, part of the reason was that it made him stronger in real life.
'I needed to ask Manager for answers, but first, I had to get my hands on the new Ninjas.'
Leaving the jubilant Naruto to his celebrations, Kakashi was about to look up how to obtain the new Ninjas when Naruto suddenly exclaimed, "Kakashi-sensei, let's go again! One more match!"
Kakashi firmly refused, "Forgive me, Naruto. Maybe next time."
Naruto pleaded, "Just one match... Kakashi-sensei, this is the last one!"
Kakashi ignored him, "Now's not the time. Why don't you go spar with Sasuke instead?"
Seeing that Kakashi was determined to refuse, Naruto decided to pull out his trump card.
With a serious expression, Naruto declared, "Kakashi-sensei, you have to duel me because... because you're my sensei. Yes, that's right! It's a sensei's responsibility to help their students grow!"
Naruto, who was usually terrible with words, had somehow managed to string together this sentence, seemingly using all the vocabulary he had ever learned.
The reasoning was a bit forced and illogical, but to everyone's surprise, Kakashi actually agreed!
Kakashi, who had already clicked into the event page to obtain the new Ninja and was waiting for it to load, patiently listened to Naruto's request before decisively exiting the event.
With a serious expression, he said, "You're right. As a teacher, it's my duty to help my students improve."
He then sent Naruto a duel request, leaving Sasuke and Sakura utterly confused.
Kakashi's sudden 180-degree change in attitude was just too bizarre.
About ten seconds later, as Kakashi carefully adjusted his lineup, he glanced at the duel interface on the screen and raised an eyebrow with a hint of amusement.
'If my instincts are correct, I was supposed to be getting the new Ninjas right now.'
Why had he suddenly agreed to Naruto's duel request?
Thinking back to the details of what had just happened... after Naruto finished explaining his reasoning, Kakashi had felt that Naruto's words made perfect sense, and he couldn't help but instinctively agree.
Even now, Kakashi still believed that agreeing to Naruto's request had been entirely his own decision, and he couldn't find anything wrong with it.
But there was one thing: this decision completely contradicted his original intention of obtaining the new Ninjas.
He had already clicked into the event page. How could he have possibly agreed to Naruto's duel request at that moment?
That's why Kakashi's expression had suddenly turned strange.
'Could it be... that I was under a Genjutsu?'
But he felt that possibility was almost zero. After all, not only were there very few Ninjas in the entire Ninja World capable of casting a Genjutsu on him, but they were also in the shop, surrounded by so many powerful Konoha Ninjas... How could anyone casually cast a Genjutsu here?
So, something must have happened just now.
But everything that had happened pointed to Naruto.
The duel request had come from Naruto, and the current outcome was exactly what Naruto had wanted.
'So... was it Naruto's Genjutsu?'
Kakashi couldn't help but suspect Naruto.
But he remembered that Naruto could barely use any jutsu beyond Shadow Clone and Rasengan, let alone Genjutsu, which he was completely clueless about.
However, thinking about the bizarre scene in the game, with three different forms of Naruto appearing simultaneously...
This was something that simply didn't exist in reality.
The more Kakashi thought about it, the more absurd it seemed, which was why he had that playful, enigmatic expression.
'It felt like... Jiraiya-sama might know something about this.'
As Kakashi pondered this, he saw that the match had already started, so he decided to set aside his earlier speculation for now.
This round, he was determined to win.
Winning, in fact, was quite simple.
Given the absurd situations that had frequently occurred in the previous match, Kakashi decided to use his excellent awareness and precise skills to gain the upper hand... and then enter 'Fifty-Fifty Mode.'
The Fifty-Fifty Mode was an ability Kakashi had gained after the world's command was formed. It was similar to Jiraiya's ability to constantly gather intelligence.
During his fight with Kakato and Obike, the visitors from another dimension, Kakashi had relied on this mode to hold out until Jiraiya could gather intel on their opponents.
After mastering this mode, Kakashi could activate and deactivate it as easily as his Sharingan.
---
Then, Sasuke and Sakura, who were watching the match, witnessed a rather bizarre scene.
Kakashi's Ninja gained the upper hand and forced Naruto's Ninja to use substitution.
After Naruto substituted, he forced Kakashi to substitute.
Then Kakashi forced Naruto to substitute again... It was like a never-ending cycle.
And because Naruto used a summoning to counter, the substitution cooldown was perfectly extended by eight seconds.
As a result, the fighting game turned into something resembling a turn-based game in their hands.
And this back-and-forth continued for five rounds!
In the end, Kakashi won the match by the slimmest of margins.
Naruto, on the other hand, had a sullen look on his face, clearly unhappy… until a tall figure appeared at the shop's entrance.