Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-118.211.8.204-20150302141811/@comment-178.239.99.68-20150812113440

Sorry to be that guy who keeps whipping the dead horse, but I do like to be that guy that shares his opinion. I honestly don't think Kirito was holding back in that final fight as most people say he was the be all and end all for caring for others. Saying that, caring doesn't always mean pulling your punches. Yuuki would have known in an instant if Kirito was going easy on her and the suprise at his counter attack shows she was not prepared for the strength of Kirito's attacks.

He always used the heaviest possible blades - over the top damage - throwing the weight of the blade and using that momentum to alter his body position. A style of fighting that would quickly unbalance and tire you in reality. (shown somewhat in his kendo match vs his sister, though I accept muscle degredation doesn't help) Point being the damage from a single full on blow from Kirito would have destroyed her. Given the few seconds more to connect. I think the entirety of this debate comes down to "Could Yuuki avoid that counter" (If we don't care about the timer, that lets all be honest deep down we don't) We have seen her avoid a strike from Asuna at near point blank range a girl known for the speed of her strikes, that said she had longer to prepare for the attack than Kirito's explosion out of the smoke.

I think that Yuuki could have turned it into a glancing blow and at that point the fight would reset position and stance wise, hp low for both. Yuuki would then take it as she had for the rest of the fight.

In regards to Yuuki dual wielding, I don't doubt she could but also doubt it would assist her as Kirito has more experience doing so and Yuuki's style would not benefit much from a second blade anyway imo.

If Kirito had two blades I think the only diference would be that Kirito's final counter would have 100% killed Yuuki for sure. The rest of the fight prior would have gone the same as Yuuki out manouvered Kirito.

I hope that all makes sense, but after reading it all I was so hyped and couldn't wait to add my thoughts :)