Although there was still a noticeable gap in raw skill, Asuma managed to defeat Kakashi's first Ninja thanks to the strength of his Ninja and the advantage of using a new, unfamiliar Ninja.
This outcome didn't surprise Kakashi.
During the loading screen for the second round, Kakashi quietly pushed up his forehead protector, revealing his crimson Sharingan with three tomoe.
In the game, Dosu had bandages covering his face, leaving only one eye exposed, resembling Danzo in appearance.
Kurenai, who had been watching, asked with curiosity, "Is that kid one of the Otogakure Ninja from this exam?"
Kakashi and Asuma both nodded. Yes, he was one of the Otogakure Ninja involved in the upcoming Konoha Crush Plan.
---
Once the match began, Zabuza continued to observe Ebisu's movements.
Ebisu's agility in the game made him a perfect fit for Zabuza's playstyle.
As the 'Fight!' prompt appeared, both sides sprang into action.
Kakashi already had a rough idea of what to expect.
Based on Ebisu's ability to leap into the air with his basic attacks, Kakashi guessed that Ebisu's playstyle revolved around aerial combat.
So, Kakashi decided to move his character forward slightly before Ebisu could take to the air.
Sure enough, Ebisu was still in the middle of his basic attack chain!
He had already reached the 4a, summoning shadow clones to attack.
From Kakashi's earlier observation, the 5a would launch Ebisu into the air with a slash, allowing him to stay airborne.
This was the moment!
Without hesitation, Kakashi quickly tapped the first skill.
From across the screen, Dosu instantly appeared on the other side of the map, grabbing Ebisu with one hand and unleashing a sonic boom.
Asuma was startled by the sudden attack.
'This... this can't be right? The fastest movement skill in the game so far was Kakashi's Raikiri, and even that wasn't nearly as fast as this!'
As Asuma prepared to substitute, he saw Dosu turn and walk away.
'What... what was going on?'
In reality, Kakashi was baiting out Asuma's substitution. He loved skills with knockdown effects.
Once he secured the first move, he could try to bait out the opponent's substitution.
After circling around for a bit, Kakashi noticed that Asuma still hadn't substituted out, so he moved closer...
Sound Wave Shock!
The second skill's knockdown effect launched Ebisu into the air!
At this point, after just two attacks, Asuma looked at his health bar and saw that nearly a quarter of it was gone!
'Wasn't this damage a bit too exaggerated? Or did I misremember my health? Was this leftover damage from Zabuza in the previous round?'
Asuma was confused. He had been so focused on the skill animations that he had overlooked the damage.
Finally, he used substitute.
Just as he was about to counterattack, Kakashi's Dosu had already dashed away vertically.
Asuma was surprised, 'Did this Ninja have no recovery frames?'
Most Ninjas had a brief animation after using a skill, commonly referred to as 'recovery frames' or 'end lag,' as opposed to 'startup frames.'
But Dosu... while he couldn't move during the second skill's animation, there was almost no recovery animation afterward. In other words, there were almost no recovery frames.
By this point, the two Ninjas had created some distance between them.
With Kakashi's slick movement, Asuma didn't dare to use his skills recklessly.
After a few seconds of stalemate, Asuma decided he didn't want to be led around by Kakashi anymore.
Relying on his sharp reflexes, he aimed his second skill in a specific direction and activated it.
'Got him!'
Asuma felt a surge of joy, but just as he was about to follow up with another skill, something felt off.
Ultimate: Sonic Boom!
Although Asuma's skill had landed, Kakashi had already activated his ultimate skill!
Regular skills couldn't interrupt ultimate skills, and Asuma had no substitution left.
But he was puzzled, 'My Ebisu still had a decent amount of health... How could Kakashi be so confident he could finish me off? Was it a misplay?'
When Dosu's ultimate ended, it didn't deal as much damage as Asuma had expected, which only added to his confusion.
Then he saw Dosu slammed the ground, effortlessly launching Ebisu back into the air just as he was about to hit the ground and trigger knockdown protection.
Asuma's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the screen, looking at the short, hunched-over Ninja. He could only think one thing...
'Does this character have no recovery frames?!'
Meanwhile, Kakashi followed up the second skill's knockdown with the first skill's grab and sonic boom, securing the kill!
---
Aside from the two players battling, Zabuza, who was watching from the side, also furrowed his brow, though he didn't have much of a brow to begin with.
Asuma's second Ninja is [Yakushi Kabuto].
This was another Ninja that neither Kakashi nor Zabuza had much experience with.
Kakashi glanced at the Ninja's rank...
'B-Rank? Wasn't this the guy Sasuke mentioned, the one who had been sneaking around and teaming up with them?'
'He's ranked B? The same rank as Gaara?'
Kakashi was puzzled, 'It seemed that, as Sasuke had said, this guy must be hiding something.'
'But why... would he withdraw from the exam before the third stage?'
'The reason couldn't possibly be severe injuries. That guy was definitely hiding his strength, but what was his purpose?'
While Kakashi was still lost in thought, the [Fight!] prompt snapped him back to reality.
'Yakushi Kabuto, huh... let's see what this guy's skills are like.'
---
At the start of the match, Kakashi hadn't yet figured out how to approach the fight.
Then, a flash of blue light caught his eyes.
Kabuto charged forward, wielding a Chakra Scalpel, slashing at Kakashi's Dosu.
'This... from such a distance?'
Although Kakashi had been caught off guard due to his distraction, he didn't panic. Instead, he calmly assessed the situation.
Seeing Asuma follow up with a basic attack, Kakashi used substitute during the recovery frames.
After substituting, Kakashi immediately used the first skill to dash forward.
However…
Kabuto suddenly disappeared… or rather, burrowed underground.
Asuma's lips curled into a smirk.
He knew Kakashi was waiting for the recovery frames, but wasn't he also waiting for Kakashi's substitution?
The moment Kakashi used substitute, Asuma immediately turned and activated Kabuto's second skill… Underground Movement.
And so... he successfully dodged!
By the time Kakashi realized what had happened, it was already too late to chase after Kabuto.
Both characters had used their movement skills, and now they were even farther apart.
Despite pulling off such a brilliant move, Asuma couldn't afford to get greedy and go for another opening.
Because... the game hadn't yet introduced summonings and secret techniques.
In many cases, the options for initiating or countering were much more limited.