The popular two$-$player game of Tic$-$Tac$-$Toe involves players alternately placing their symbols on a $33$ grid. The first player $($P$1),$ who uses crosses, and the second player $($P$2),$ employing circles, each aims to align three of their pieces in a continuous line$-$vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Victory is claimed by the player who first achieves this alignment. The game results in a draw if the grid is filled without either player forming such a line. Let $W,L,$ and $D$ denote the possible outcomes of winning, losing, or drawing for the first player P$1.$ Suppose you are the second player P$2($placing circles$),$ and is currently facing the following game state $($let$\text{'}$s call this the initial state$)$ after three steps of the game.

Using backward induction, answer the following questions.

$(1).$ How many different game states you need to consider for the next step? Draw all these game states. $[$hint: using symmetry, you can eliminate many possible states$]$

$(2).$ Consider the following possible game state in the next step, draw the backward induction tree to determine the value $,$ or $D)$ of this game state. $[$hint: when the opponent's action is forced to defend, not many branches you need to consider$]$

$(3).$ Perform a similar analysis for the following game state. Compare to the previous move, which one is better for you? Why?