1547 A Clash of Skill and Technique

Zhang Jiale stared attentively at the approaching Deception and his two hands.

Reading the Ninja's attacks was the most effective method against Ninjas. According to their analysis of Mo Fan, they noticed that Mo Fan didn't tend to turn sideways to hide his hand seals like most Ninjas did. Perhaps this was related to how he often used sneak attacks.

But at this moment, Deception turned away slightly.

Just because he didn't often use it didn't mean he didn't use it. And what team was Mo Fan on? With teammates like Fang Rui and Ye Xiu, how could he not pick up on such a useful technique?

Sure enough, it was just wishful thinking! Zhang Jiale sighed. A team that could reach the semifinals in the playoffs wouldn't have anyone with such a glaring weakness.

Zhang Jiale's Dazzling Hundred Blossoms moved to the side to reach an angle where he could see Deception's hand movements. In practice, this forced the Ninja to act faster. The Ninja didn't want their opponent to know their next move, but at the same time, the Ninja couldn't just keep turning and turning to hide his hand movements. If the Ninja turned too far, they would lose sight of their opponent.

Instead, Deception followed along with Dazzling Hundred Blossoms and took a few steps to the side.　　

Zhang Jiale wouldn't be able to move laterally to widen his view. If he kept going, Dazzling Hundred Blossoms would jump right into the lava. The area here was rather narrow, so there wasn't too much else he could do.　

Even now, Dazzling Hundred Blossoms was only two or three steps away from the lava, which was already quite nerve-wracking for the audience.

Deception suddenly made his move.

He spent all that time hiding his hand movements, but he ended up using a move that didn't require any hand seals.

Peng!

A cloud of purple smoke burst forth and spread outwards.　　

Ninja Tool - Smoke Bomb.

The purple smoke instantly swallowed Deception. The terrain didn't have any places to hide and set up sneak attacks, so Mo Fan set it up himself. Dazzling Hundred Blossoms was only two-three steps away from the lava. If Mo Fan used the Smoke Bomb as cover and landed a blow, Dazzling Hundred Blossoms would be knocked into the lava and the battle would be over!

This was what everyone thought at this moment.

These were Mo Fan's thoughts as well. He had used Smoke Bomb to obtain this opportunity for a single deciding blow. As the smoke from Smoke Bomb spread, Deception began to move. After joining the pro scene, he had slowly learned this technique. It was harder for the opponent to notice the Ninja's movements if the Ninja moved as the smoke spread. Waiting for the smoke bomb to fully spread out would give the Ninja more space to move, but at the same time, the flow of smoke was slow. If the Ninja moved too fast, the Ninja would disrupt the flow of the smoke, and an experienced player would be able to deduce the Ninja's location.

When moving inside Smoke Bomb, you had to move at the same speed as the smoke's expansion. In the competitive scene, there were countless details that needed to be accounted for. There were simply too many incredibly skilled players there, who would take advantage of even the slightest openings.

Mo Fan had good control over his movement speed. He matched the speed of the smoke, and gently made his way over as if he were smoke.

Dazzling Hundred Blossoms!

Mo Fan didn't relax his guard, but at this moment, light blossomed all around the area two-three steps away from the lava.　

The light instantly enshrouded Dazzling Hundred Blossoms.　

Should Mo Fan continue? Could he find Dazzling Hundred Blossoms within that blinding light and knock him into the lava?

If it were Tyranny's Han Wenqing playing, he would have definitely done this. But not Mo Fan. With the light blinding him, he wasn't certain he could do it. As a result, Deception stopped and waited quietly in the smoke for an opportunity.　

He was an opportunist as well. Huang Shaotian was agile, fast, and decisive. Every move he made would certainly succeed. Mo Fan couldn't compare to Huang Shaotian in these areas, but he was more patient. He could watch as an opportunity slipped by, while maintaing a steady heart.　

Just like now. Deception had stopped, and how could Dazzling Hundred Blossoms continue staying in such a dangerous position near the lava?　

Many people felt that it was a pity losing this opportunity to knock Dazzling Hundred Blossoms into the lava. Many people thought Mo Fan should have followed through. Mo Fan' didn't feel that way though, and he didn't feel any regret.

On the other hand, Zhang Jiale was very regretful!

Dazzling Hundred Blossoms had put himself in this dangerous position as bait. He had thought up of four different ways to counterattack and send the approaching Deception into the lava instead.

However, Mo Fan gave up and didn't continue forward.　

Was my Hundred Blossoms too excessive?

Zhang Jiale began reviewing the circumstances. But if I didn't do anything, wouldn't my bait be too obvious if I just stood there? I could continue having Dazzling Hundred Blossoms stay by the lava, but that would also let Mo Fan know that something was up.

It wasn't that my acting wasn't good enough, but rather, Mo Fan is too cautious!

Dazzling Hundred Blossoms left this dangerous position, but he couldn't keep up this light cover. The Hundred Blossoms style was very mana-hungry. In the past, it had been him and Sun Zheping. One of them traded mana, the other traded health. Their styles were actually very unsuited for group arena play. In the regular season, the group arena was between three players though, so it wasn't as obvious. But for the playoffs, with five players each in the group arena, trading health or mana for the opponent's health was quite awkward.

Five players made it so that the consumption of mana or health in a fight was more important than with three players.

After getting away from the lava, Dazzling Hundred Blossoms immediately launched his offense. The Smoke Bomb hadn't dispersed yet, so Zhang Jiale didn't know Deception's precise position. But his previous dangerous position should have been quite enticing. Even if Mo Fan gave up in the end, he had likely been tempted in the beginning. Therefore, Deception's position.

Light, push forward!

Zhang Jiale only needed to know his opponent's approximate location. The Hundred Blossoms wave of light covered an area even greater than what a Launcher could.

The light intruded into the smoke and raged through it, tearing the smoke apart.　　

A figure flickered from inside. Zhang Jiale quickly caught it and immediately started aiming towards there.

But the instant he turned, another figure immediately rushed out from the previous location.　　

It was a bait from Shadow Clone Technique!

Zhang Jiale was surprised, but he responded promptly. Dazzling Hundred Blossoms turned back, and his bullets blasted Deception into bits.

This time, Zhang Jiale was very surprised. It turned out that the one here was fake, and the other one was actually the real one!　　

He hastily tried to turn back again, but Deception had already arrived.

Now, Zhang Jiale only had time to throw an Implosion Grenade.

The powerful shockwave expanded outwards, and Deception was blown away. Dazzling Hundred Blossoms chased after him to continue attacking. This Implosion Grenade shockwave also disturbed the smoke even further. Now, several Deceptions could be seen.

It wasn't Shadow Clone Technique, but Shadow Dance!

Zhang Jiale had realized it. But he had just used Implosion Grenade, which was very annoying for Shadow Dance users. He couldn't use it again to destroy all of these clones.

The Deceptions rushed out in different directions and swarmed Dazzling Hundred Blossoms.

It was true that the Hundred Blossom technique could cover a wide area and affect all of these clones, but expanding the area of effect would sacrifice the damage dealt per unit of area. While it was useful as a cover, it posed very little threat in terms of offensive prowess.

Focusing on a single point would allow him to quickly dispatch a clone, but it would be too late to deal with the others if he did that, especially when there were so many "others".

As a result...

Chaotic Grenades!

High-level skill against high-level skill. Chaotic Thunder against Shadow Dance.

Both of these skills required the player to control them. As a result, the effects of the skill depended on the player. It would be better to call it as a confrontation in technique than rather than skills.

All sorts of grenades flew out from Dazzling Hundred Blossom's hands. Impact, Timed, Poison Gas, and so on.

There was no time to rest. There was no time to think. Every action was instinctive. Were all of these grenades effective against the oncoming shadow clones?

Some were... some weren't...

Because Mo Fan was also controlling his clones.　

Some of the grenades were dodged, some were not.

Amidst these successive explosions, Deception's shadow clones were able to reach Dazzling Hundred Blossoms in the end.　

Ninja attacks were silent, but the blood that flew about was as brightly-colored as ever.

The scarlet blood was quickly engulfed by the flames, and then, new blood would take its place.

Dazzling Hundred Blossoms was using long-ranged weapons to fight against an opponent in close combat. His character weaving in and out was similar to the Sharpshooter's Gun Fu.

But in the end, the farther the better.

After all, Spitfires didn't have martial skills like Sharpshooters did. Sharpshooters had a "Firearms Martial Arts" skill too, which greatly enhanced the Gun Fu playstyle.

Zhang Jiale had no way to completely rout Mo Fan, and Mo Fan had no way to completely suppress Zhang Jiale.

It was a stalemate, and if it continued, the winner would be decided by who had more health to start with.　

Dazzling Hundred Blossoms only had 21% of his health when he started, far lower than Deception. This amount of health wasn't enough for him to last long in a fight.

This sort of health wasn't good for this sort of clash between skill and technique, but he had no other choice.

When Dazzling Hundred Blossoms fell, the smoke and light that was left behind hadn't even completely dissipated yet.　　

Spitfires were considered the mages of the gunners, yet in the end, it became a clash at close quarters.

Even though Zhang Jiale had lost, his performance was brilliant.　　

"It was a brilliant match. I think everyone's only regret is the same as mine. It was just too short," Pan Lin sighed.

"Yes," Li Yibo also nodded his head. There was no need to analyze all the details in this fight. Both players had played spectacularly.