158 Naruto Mobile Game

[Nagato·Edo Tensei]'s ultimate doesn't have time-stop, but it does have an extremely brief freeze-frame.

And for that freeze-frame, some things are immune.

For instance, summons. Summons can be released inside a time-stop ultimate and keep outputting damage until the duration ends.

And the King of Hell of [Nagato·Edo Tensei]is the same. The freeze-frame doesn't affect the King of Hell detecting the enemy and then launching an attack.

But who would think of that normally?

Kuroda looked at the man standing up from the players' seats and couldn't help adding one more sentence.

"Let us give our applause once again to the two contestants of this match!"

Clap clap clap clap ~

This time, the audience applauded willingly, waves of clapping coming one after another without end.

Kabuto listened, somewhat dazed. Would he really become popular too?

Suddenly, he felt the light change in front of him, because someone was standing right there.

"That last move was very decisive. Well played."

It was Itachi, and Itachi actually praised Kabuto with an unchanged expression—praised the opponent who had just eliminated him.

"Uchiha Itachi....." Kabuto pushed up his glasses.

"Even though it's game understanding, that's not simple. The audience can't understand that part." Itachi said calmly. "And there was psychological warfare too, right?"

Kabuto nodded, looking a bit pleased with himself.

Of course. Naturally. To secure victory, he had started all the way from the first Ninja ban phase.

Kabuto didn't ban Mifune. He planned to build himself up as arrogant—swollen with victory, unable to see the overall situation.

All of it was to confuse Itachi, but unfortunately, the difficulty of deceiving this man was extraordinarily high.

Then, in the later matches, Kabuto deliberately kept exactly the same tempo as Itachi, like following your opponent in a game.

This is nothing to veterans, because they can easily set traps.

But to newcomers, it's a headache.

Itachi also saw through it and chose to counter in the same way, which is why it became a 2:2 tie.

By the fifth game, no tactic mattered. Kabuto longed for victory, and Itachi had no intention of going easy on Kabuto.

They fought bitterly to the end, and Kabuto narrowly took the win.

Pay attention, there was a small detail of mind games when Nagato fought the Fourth Raikage at the end.

Nagato's 2A is a commonly used bait-switch kiting method. Kabuto used 2A first and then released the King of Hell. That not only showed he accurately calculated the opponent's cooldowns, but also deliberately misled Itachi into thinking he was just baiting a switch.

But in reality, once it played out, it was clear—baiting a switch wasn't the goal. A one-breath kill was the real win condition.

Itachi actually understood all this at the time.

Unlimited Class doesn't bait switches? He's not a newbie. Stalling time was all in his favor. Even if Nagato had blue armor, the Fourth Raikage could still use lightning-level delayed damage to kill him.

But unexpectedly, he was still set up by Kabuto.

Itachi felt a faint sigh in his heart. Yakushi Kabuto—this man was perhaps even more brilliant and cunning than he was.

Both were spies. In the end, who was truly living within deception? Who was better at lying...

"Because you can see yourself clearly, you can fully bring out this kind of power. Those who cannot see themselves clearly cannot decisively command ninja in battle. That was already reflected in the match."

Itachi's tone was inexplicably meaningful, as if hinting at something, but Kabuto no longer wanted to listen to his nonsense.

"I'm going back to the backstage. Are you going back with me all the way? Oh, sorry, sorry, I forgot—losers can only leave directly."

Kabuto's lips curled upward. As if unintentionally, he glanced at Itachi, shrugged casually, and walked off.

Itachi looked once at Kabuto's back, expressionless.

Although it was just a match, just a brief encounter, the two already had a deep understanding of each other.

You're only using 'victory can prove myself' to hypnotize yourself, immersing yourself completely in it.

Your heart is empty. You don't recognize your true self. You don't even know why you joined this Unlimited Class Tournament.

The goal was given by others; the match result was something you temporarily decided. Someone like you...

Kabuto will not keep winning.

Itachi stopped looking at Kabuto. He merely swept a glance at Sasuke and Fugaku down below, had no intention of going down, and directly exited the venue.

...

At this point, the losers' bracket had reached its end—only the very last match remained.

[Hatake Kakashi VS Yakushi Kabuto]

Whoever won would be the one to break out of the losers' bracket, successfully claiming the final ticket to the grand finals.

At that time, they would be just one step away from victory!

Obito, Rin, Kushina… it's close. Please wait just a little longer; soon you'll be able to continue the lives that were cut off!

Kakashi inhaled and exhaled, inhaled and exhaled. He was taking deep breaths, making his final preparations.

Speaking of which, the people he wanted to revive weren't many—just those few mentioned above.

As for his father, Sakumo Hatake...

The two had already talked long ago. After learning that Kakashi didn't resent him, Sakumo finally let go, saying he wanted to accompany Kakashi's mother.

His father didn't need to be revived, and didn't wish to be revived, so the only choices left were his companions.

Kakashi didn't think too much about exactly whom to use it on. That wasn't something he should be considering right now.

In fact, when it came down to it, even now he didn't know what rewards the Unlimited Class Tournament would give the contestants.

No, it should be just now—not "now," because… now it was already being announced!

"Before the last match of the losers' bracket begins, everyone must have long been looking forward to the rewards of the Unlimited Class Tournament, right?"

Kuroda's sudden words drew attention. Whether on-site or online, the audience's eyes immediately burned with excitement.

Was it finally being announced!

Kuroda didn't waste words. He waved his hand. "Everyone, please look at the big screen!"

Everyone at the venue stretched their necks in unison, all gazes focusing on the large screen above the stage.

There, the previous player-versus-player page disappeared, replaced by one large line after another arranged text.

Very direct, very clear.

[Unlimited Class Tournament ranking rewards]

[Champion: Resource Card x6 or Revival Card x2]

[Runner-up: Resource Card x2 or Revival Card x1]

[Finals Round Five——Revival Card Fragments (collect two Revival Card Fragments to synthesize one complete Revival Card)]

[Finals Round Four——All players of round four and above automatically become privileged players (able to participate to some extent in Ninja Mobile Game version decisions)]

[Finals Round Three——All players of round three and above automatically install the Ninja Mobile Game test server (some content will be updated on the test server first)]

[Finals Round Two——All players of round two and above automatically obtain the Ninja Scroll Pass permanent card (buy one issue of Ninja Scroll Pass, enjoy it for life)]

[Finals basic rewards——Everyone can, on top of their original basis, receive two Good Luck Cards (increases luck during draws)]

[Main Tournament——The 16 players advancing to the offline finals each automatically receive 1000 Coupons]

[Preliminaries——The 16 players advancing from the preliminaries can each claim 500 Coupons on the event page]

[Participation rewards——All players who registered and participated in the Unlimited Class Tournament can unlock full-ninja trial mode in the practice field]