'Uzumaki… Naruto?'
'What the hell is this?'
Kakashi was completely baffled. He stared at the loading screen, where three confident and slightly handsome ninjas stood, then glanced at the small Naruto sitting next to him.
'Was this the same person?'
'And... since when did Naruto have these forms?'
'Kurama Link Mode, Nine-Tails Chakra Mode...' Kakashi could somewhat understand the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, but in his memory, the Tailed Beast transformation should have been a crimson red, so why was this Naruto golden?
As for the Kurama Link Mode, Kakashi had no idea what that even meant.
'It looked like the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode but with a few extra black streaks, and it seemed even cooler.'
Even the most unassuming of the three, Naruto Uzumaki [Sage Mode], looked incredibly impressive.
'Could it be... that this Sage Mode corresponded to Jiraiya-sama's Sage Mode?'
Thinking about Mount Myoboku's characteristics, Kakashi focused on the Sage Mode Naruto's eyes in the character art.
'Unlike the horizontal pupils of a normal human... these were indeed the eyes of Mount Myoboku's Sage Mode!'
'Hiss…'
Kakashi felt his head was in complete disarray. He really couldn't make sense of these three characters.
His inability to think clearly also caused his strategy in the first round to become messy.
Kakashi was using Hashirama [Edo Tensei], starting with a basic attack stomp, a common move for Hashirama players.
Facing a completely unfamiliar new Ninja, Kakashi accidentally fell into his usual playstyle.
This leads to...
Naruto seized the opportunity and immediately activated his second skill.
A flash of golden light swept across the screen, and Hashirama [Edo Tensei], who was in the middle of blocking, was suddenly grabbed by a fox-headed shadow that bit down on him.
'Wait... is that the Nine-Tails? But why is the Nine-Tails golden?'
Kakashi stared at his Ninja being grabbed on the screen, feeling numb. His already unclear mind became even more chaotic.
Although Kakashi wanted to force his brain to calm down, the shock he had just experienced was too overwhelming.
'What on earth was this Uzumaki Naruto [Kurama Link Mode]?'
As Kakashi watched Hashirama [Edo Tensei] taking hits, he chose a good moment to use a substitution to escape.
After substituting, he immediately followed up with a stomp and then activated Nativity of a World of Trees. If he could land the grab, he could chain it into Myojinmon and Wood Human Technique for a burst of damage.
Kakashi still remembered this commonly used combo very clearly.
However, Naruto had already landed three basic attacks, and with a long-distance dash, he created some space.
The Nativity of a World of Trees missed Naruto by just a bit, failing to connect.
Seeing that his skill missed, Kakashi didn't chase. Instead, he immediately moved in the opposite direction, pulling Hashirama [Edo Tensei] out of Naruto's line of sight, looking for another opportunity to engage.
Admittedly, Kakashi's decision-making here was very sound, but he overlooked one thing...
The Ninja he fought against was Naruto [Kurama Link Mode].
Naruto had no idea where Kakashi was? He had been staying near the centerline the entire time.
Seeing Kakashi move out of sight, Naruto didn't hesitate. After two basic attacks, he confidently threw out a Rasenshuriken, and then he saw Hashirama [Edo Tensei]'s health drop.
Kakashi was stunned. After moving out of Naruto's line of sight, he had planned to peek back to see what Naruto was doing.
Anyway, with his reflexes, blocking a basic attack shouldn't have been a problem.
But before Kakashi could even see Naruto's Ninja, a shuriken-like skill flew in from off-screen.
It was so fast that Kakashi didn't have time to press the block button.
'What kind of Jutsu is this?'
When ninjas in this world saw skills in the game, they often wondered what kind of Jutsu it was.
For example, young Sasuke had the Great Fireball Technique, Taijutsu, and even his ultimate was the Chidori... Then there was Yakushi Kabuto, with his Chakra Scalpel, Taijutsu attacks, and an ultimate skill that utilized hidden Anbu for attacks.
These were relatively ordinary.
As for the less ordinary ones, there's Hashirama [Edo Tensei]'s exaggerated Wood Release.
But whether it was Fire Release or Wood Release, the game characters all adhered to one principle: they had a basis in reality.
But what about Naruto [Kurama Link Mode]? What kind of Jutsu was this shuriken-like thing?
Kakashi couldn't help but be stunned. The shuriken landed and suddenly exploded, with the explosion taking on a semi-circular shape, resembling... a Rasengan!
That's right, it was a Rasengan.
Though Kakashi didn't understand why the Rasengan could take the shape of a shuriken and be thrown.
After all, whether it was Minato, the creator of the Rasengan, or Jiraiya, their Rasengans were all close-range attacks.
But this Naruto [Kurama Link Mode]'s Rasengan could actually be thrown?
Kakashi was completely baffled. Watching his Ninja get comboed again, the situation was gradually slipping out of his control.
Fortunately, the damage of this character wasn't particularly high, and it was only fairly average. Only the skills were just hard to deal with.
As the timer reached the last 20 seconds, Kakashi began to get a better grasp of the new Ninja, and the situation started to turn slightly in his favor.
At this point, Naruto [Kurama Link Mode]'s health was still decent, but all his skills, including substitution, were grayed out, clearly on cooldown.
Kakashi, on the other hand, was in a much better position, at least in terms of skills.
Hashirama [Edo Tensei]'s health, however, was not looking good.
The lower his health got, the more cautious Kakashi became.
He controlled Hashirama [Edo Tensei], gradually closing in on Naruto [Kurama Link Mode], using his skilled movement to corner his opponent.
Naruto [Kurama Link Mode] could only helplessly spam basic attacks, and Kakashi allowed himself a small smile.
It had been a while since he'd had such a close match.
This round had started as a definite disadvantage, but... he was about to turn it around.
Nativity of a World of Trees!
As Hashirama [Edo Tensei] clapped his hands in the game, vines erupted from the ground, surging toward Naruto [Kurama Link Mode].
Just as Kakashi was about to follow up with Gamakichi and Myojinmon, Naruto [Kurama Link Mode] suddenly teleported from the air, appearing behind Hashirama [Edo Tensei] and easily dodging the Nativity of a World of Trees.
'Is that a skill?'
Kakashi was shocked, 'No... although that teleportation skill had a short cooldown, it had just been used a few seconds ago. It couldn't be ready again so soon!'
'Moreover, he hadn't interrupted my skill activation, so it must have been a basic attack.'
'But this basic attack…'
Kakashi didn't know how to complain, 'Did the basic attack really have that much range? This was ridiculous.'
Although it seemed like he had just missed a skill, the skill he missed was Nativity of a World of Trees. If he tried to force a damage combo now, it would deal significantly less damage.
So Kakashi quickly adjusted his strategy, immediately using Wood Human Technique toward the area behind Hashirama [Edo Tensei] where Naruto [Kurama Link Mode] had appeared.
The Wood Human's range was massive, and most skills couldn't escape it, so Kakashi wasn't worried about this move missing.
Just as the Wood Human's body began to appear, a Chakra-formed arm suddenly extended from Naruto [Kurama Link Mode]'s back.
It grabbed Hashirama [Edo Tensei], yanking him into the air, and then a shadow clone appeared to deliver a series of strikes.
The real Naruto then reappeared outside the Wood Human's range.
Kakashi stared at the missed Wood Human Technique, completely baffled.
'Wait... didn't he already use all his skills? How could he teleport that far again?'