Once the match began, neither side made any rash moves.
Kakashi chose to strike first, using Zabuza's first skill, Water Dragon Bullet Technique. This skill had an incredibly long range and dealt significant damage!
So even without vision of the enemy, Kakashi felt confident using it.
The skill missed, but that was expected. After all, without vision, using a skill was essentially a gamble.
Then, Kakashi lightly tapped the basic attack button, causing Zabuza in the game to enter stealth mode.
This was one of Zabuza's mechanics in the game. After using the first or second skill, following up with a basic attack would activate the Hidden Mist Jutsu, commonly referred to as 'stealth.'
This is also the core mechanism of Zabuza.
Once in stealth, Kakashi controlled Zabuza to sneak behind Asuma's character, Ebisu.
For some reason, Ebisu was floating in the air at this time. Kakashi hadn't yet familiarized himself with this character's skills.
But he didn't hesitate. He immediately used Zabuza's second skill, Water Prison Technique, to grab the opponent.
However, at the critical moment, just before the Water Prison Technique could be activated, the stealth duration ended, and Zabuza became visible again.
But at this distance, even if stealth was broken, there's no difference, as most people wouldn't be able to escape!
However... Asuma quickly pressed his first skill.
As a result…
Kakashi was shocked to find that Zabuza's Water Prison Technique had missed.
'How is this possible? At this distance, the opponent shouldn't have been able to escape!'
Kakashi quickly focused his attention on Ebisu.
At this moment, Ebisu, who was already in the air, suddenly leaped even higher, completely dodging Zabuza's Water Prison Technique!
Then, while still in the air, Ebisu threw a barrage of explosive kunai toward Zabuza's location.
Boom!
After the explosion, Kakashi was stunned by what he saw.
"What... what kind of Jutsu is this?" Zabuza, who was watching from behind, also showed a look of surprise.
Although he hadn't reached the jonin rank, he had seen many players using high-tier characters like Zabuza and Kakashi in the Chunin-ranks.
So he was very familiar with Zabuza's skills in the game.
And as the real-life counterpart, Zabuza felt an inexplicable familiarity with his in-game skills.
'The Water Prison Technique could be countered like this?'
Instantly, both Kakashi and Zabuza became deeply interested in Ebisu, this B-Rank Ninja.
Since he had no skills, Kakashi didn't rush to substitute. He wanted to see how stable Ebisu was during combos.
'And also… Ebisu had jumped so high, but the height at which he launched the enemy was relatively low. Could he follow up?'
Asuma, on the other hand, wore a smug expression.
During the Jonin Meeting, while his father was passionately giving a speech, Asuma had been in the training camp, frantically practicing with the new Ninjas.
Seeing Kakashi's Ninja fall into his expected rhythm, Asuma was eager to show off.
He immediately used the second skill to kick down...
Ebisu, who was high in the air, launched a flying kick toward Zabuza below.
After the kick, he followed up with an upward stab.
As Ebisu touched the ground, he immediately added another attack, returning to the air while dealing damage to Zabuza.
But it didn't end there!
Asuma frantically tapped the basic attack button. During his training camp tests, he remembered that tapping basic attacks could add another hit.
Since this was his first time using it in an actual match, he was a bit worried it might not work.
But just as he expected, Ebisu, after returning to the air, performed a horizontal dash in mid-air, dealing another hit!
One skill, three movements, three instances of damage...
The flashy display left both Kakashi and Zabuza wide-eyed.
Kakashi sat up straight, leaning slightly forward.
Zabuza, who had been standing a meter away with his arms crossed, relying on his exceptional eyesight to watch the match, also took a small step forward.
He rested his hands on Kakashi's chair and table, observing closely.
'What about the basic attacks?'
As the most veteran player in the Arena and the most idle player in Konoha, Kakashi and Zabuza were both highly experienced gamers.
Unlike the novice players from the beginning, both Kakashi and Zabuza placed great importance on the stability of basic attacks.
To be honest, Ebisu's two skills had thoroughly shocked both of them.
But at this moment, a thought crossed their minds...
'With such powerful skills, the basic attacks must be terrible, right?'
Then, after landing from the second skill, Ebisu, under Asuma's control, smoothly comboed into Zabuza, who was still reeling from the attacks.
Although Asuma had only briefly practiced in the training camp, he seemed to have a natural talent for the game.
In his combo, he didn't choose to fully execute a basic attack chain like other characters.
Instead...
1a, 1a, 1a, 1a, 1a…
'Wait, this Ninja?'
Seeing this unusual basic attack pattern, both Kakashi and Zabuza sensed something was off.
'The basic attacks were fast, making the combo stable, and it seemed... the recovery frames were also minimal?'
Both of them glanced at Zabuza's interrupted basic attack inputs and realized that Asuma was controlling the number of basic attack hits.
Then, perhaps calculating that Zabuza's first skill, Water Dragon Bullet Technique, was about to come off cooldown and Kakashi would substitute out, Asuma held down the basic attack button, executing a normal combo.
Realizing that Ebisu's basic attacks had changed, Kakashi seized the moment and quickly substituted out.
But by then, Ebisu had already flown halfway into the air with the 5a. Seeing Zabuza substitute out, Asuma pulled back and executed the 6a basic attack in the opposite direction.
As Kakashi substituted out, ready to counterattack, he suddenly saw Ebisu dart behind him...
At that moment, a strange thought crossed Kakashi's mind.
'Wait... such an absurd movement, could it also be part of the basic attacks?'
Zabuza, who had been watching Asuma's finger movements, couldn't see Asuma's screen but could confirm that this was indeed part of the basic attacks!
'Stable combos, excellent basic attacks, flexible skills, and the ability to jump into the air to avoid skills...'
'This Ninja was ridiculously strong, wasn't it?'
Although they had only seen a glimpse and hadn't fully explored Ebisu's potential, what they had seen was enough for Zabuza to decide to save up for this Ninja!
At this time, Zabuza's heart raced with excitement. He was almost close to having enough coins to buy a 1888-coin B-Rank Ninja.
'If I could get my hands on such a powerful character...'