Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-118.211.8.204-20150302141811/@comment-104.128.194.206-20160701211414

In their final duel Kirito would have landed that hit if he had more time. She was stunned by the post motion delay. When she recovered, due to Kirito's counter surprising her, she was thrown of balance and fell on her butt. Not the best position to defend in. He would have gotten a hit on her.

But... Yuuki was only surprised because Kirito cheated. She wasn't caught off guard due to celebrating to soon. She had expected Kirito to land further away, not suddenly use his wings. That was why she was caught off guard. Although he would've gotten a hit in before she recovered, I seriously doubt it would have done enough damage. I mean, her 11 hit high damaging skill didn't kill him.

It wouldn't really matter though ,as neither of them took that duel seriously. The only duel with Kirito she took seriously was the first one. And that was only at the end of the duel, when he revealed he knew her secret. We know Yuuki won't ever take a duel with him seriously unless he takes it seriously. Although, when she did, Kirito said she moved faster than the system assist.

Now, when neither of them take their duels seriously, they seem to be very close to the same skill level, with Yuuki being slightly higher. I say this because in both duels their health is always at (or near) the same level before she delivers the winning blow.

So, even if he got the hit or not, he would've lost. Also, I don't think she would've been taken off guard like that if she was serious.

A better question is, "Would the SAO Kirito win against her?" And I don't mean because of his superior stats. We all know he's slacked off after Aincrad.

And a side note, remember that Kirito not being serious doesn't mean he's holding back. Look at Leafa's and Lizbeth's conversation with Asuna about his first fight.