Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-180.214.233.65-20141121100326/@comment-6697950-20141224224606

And I'm personally getting fed up with people trying to find excuses for Kirito not being almighty. Of course Kirito wasn't giving his 100%, since he loathes his dual blade persona, but aside from refusing to use two swords, he wasn't holding back... especially not because she was terminally ill. That wouldn't be rude, that would be an insult.

So it wouldn't make sense that lovey dovey does not count as training? We've been over it on some other thread, Kirito does not spend nearly as much time training as he did in SAO and even other characters notice this.

As for Yuuki, it's not grinding that is the source of her skills, it's the fact that she became a resident of the virtual world, as Kirito puts it. Unlike Kirito who has to keep switching between virtual and real worlds, Yuuki only has to control a virtual avatar, so she is more used to it than Kirito is to his.

As for Kirito having a chance, of course he still had a chance. Their duel did take a long time because they were near equals. In such cases, the smallest mistakes can determine the outcome of the battle.