"Still not fast enough!" Momoshiro Takeshi rolled his shoulder with a serious tone, then pulled up the sleeves on both arms.
For the second ball, Ishida Tetsu dropped the Hadōkyū serve. He knew Momoshiro could return it, and more importantly, it still put strain on his arm.
So, Ishida decided to go head-on using Hadōkyū for regular rallies instead. He launched a powerful serve, the ball flying straight toward the backcourt.
Momoshiro caught up and smashed the return. Just as Ishida prepared to respond with another Hadōkyū, Kamio Akira suddenly appeared in front of him and stepped up to the incoming ball.
The moment the ball touched Kamio's racquet, it turned into a blur, speeding past the net and slamming onto the baseline behind Momoshiro. Neither Momoshiro nor Kaidō reacted in time.
"Supersonic Shot!"
"30-0!"
"Using Hadōkyū back-to-back—your arm's gonna feel that, right, Tetsu?" Kamio turned and called out after the return.
"It's fine. This much isn't a problem for me. Don't worry, Kamio!" Ishida grinned with his usual honesty.
Kamio couldn't argue with that and returned to his spot with a sigh. Ishida served again.
Momoshiro chased the ball, shifted his weight onto his front foot, jumped vertically, and hit a powerful backhand—his signature Jack Knife!
Kamio was worried about Ishida's arm, but he knew his own power wasn't enough to fully counter the Jack Knife. He had to let Ishida handle it.
Ishida responded by getting into Hadōkyū stance again. His right arm charged up and slammed into the ball with force that neutralized Momoshiro's power and added even more energy, sending it flying back.
"20th-Style Hadōkyū!"
This time, Momoshiro was fully prepared. He put all his strength into his grip and charged at the ball. What he didn't notice was Kaidō right behind him.
Just as Momoshiro was about to swing, Kaidō's racquet joined his. The two racquets struck together, combining their power against Ishida's 20th-Style Hadōkyū.
"Viper! What the hell are you doing!" Momoshiro shouted in surprise.
"Shut up and focus on hitting it back!" Kaidō roared.
Momoshiro didn't have time to argue. With Kaidō's help, the burden lightened, and together they managed to return the ball.
Ishida saw them and steeled himself, preparing another Hadōkyū. The joint return had caught Kamio off guard, so he didn't make it in time to intercept.
Fully charged again, Ishida smashed his racquet into the ball. It transformed into a beam, bursting with even more force than before, hurtling toward the duo across the net.
"Try returning this! 40th-Style Hadōkyū!" Ishida shouted.
Momoshiro and Kaidō didn't back down. They swung together again, but this time, after just a second of contact, both their racquets were blown out of their hands. The ball shot past them, crashed into the chain-link fence.
"40-0!"
Kaidō and Momoshiro shook out their numbed arms, walked over to pick up their racquets, then returned to position with serious expressions, ready for the next serve.
Ishida served another powerful shot. His right arm was already feeling sore, so he didn't aim for angles this time—the ball flew straight into the front court.
Momoshiro reached the bounce point, and since his arm was still tingling, he didn't use Jack Knife. He just hit a standard forehand, sending the ball back to Ishida.
But suddenly, Kamio's racquet intercepted the ball's path. With a lightning-fast swing, he returned it, slamming it near the right sideline.
Ishida didn't push himself to chase it. He used the moment to let his arm rest.
Kaidō was already on it. He reached the ball and made a wide horizontal swing, sending the ball spinning wildly off-court, curving around the umpire's chair before flying back toward Kamio's left side.
"Boomerang Snake!"
Kamio turned and sprinted after it. But he rushed too hard, couldn't adjust his angle well, and the ball sailed high across the court.
Momoshiro dashed into the front court, using his explosive jumping and perfect balance to slam the ball downward in midair—his signature dunk smash!
The ball flew across the net, smashed into the ground, and shot upward, bouncing out of bounds. Kamio couldn't recover in time, and Ishida wasn't fast enough to catch up.
"40-15!"
Thud! After landing, Momoshiro struck a pose at Kamio and Ishida.
That made Kamio Akira's eyes turn sharp. It was his mistake that gave Momoshiro the chance for a dunk smash. But he didn't say anything, just returned to the front court, bent down, and got ready to continue.
When Ishida Tetsu served again, Momoshiro casually returned it. Kamio dashed forward, intercepted before the ball hit the ground, and smashed it. The ball turned into a blur, slicing past Momoshiro and Kaidō before landing on the baseline and bouncing out.
"Game! Fudomine! 2-0!"
The third game was Momoshiro's serve. Standing at the baseline, he tossed the ball, jumped lightly, twisted from the waist up, and slammed it. The ball blasted toward Ishida with speed and power.
"Bullet Serve!"
The speed caught Ishida off guard. He barely made it to the bounce point and returned with a topspin lob.
Kaidō caught the ball and sent back a Boomerang Snake, looping outside the court and spinning back toward Fudomine's side.
Kamio adjusted his pace this time and intercepted the ball before it hit the ground, returning it with a sharp crosscourt shot. The next moment, Momoshiro jumped into the air and motioned for a Jack Knife.
Ishida instantly prepared for a Hadōkyū, but it was a fake. Momoshiro didn't use the Jack Knife—he dropped a soft short ball over the net.
"15-0!"
Neither Ishida nor Kamio expected that. They always thought Momoshiro was the hot-blooded power type. Turns out he had a finesse game too.
In the rallies that followed, Momoshiro avoided power clashes with Ishida and subtly coordinated with Kaidō to shut down Ishida's Hadōkyū.
Despite his aggressive, power-heavy image, Momoshiro wasn't reckless like Kawamura. He had sharp instincts and situational awareness.
Once Momoshiro gave up on head-to-head power duels, the match became a tug-of-war. Kaidō kept launching Snake shots, forcing Kamio and Ishida to scramble nonstop, and the score see-sawed back and forth.
"30-0!"
"30-15!"
"30-30!"
"40-30!"
"Game! Seigaku! 2-1! Court change!"
In the end, Momoshiro and Kaidō held their service game. During the break, Inui Sadaharu shared info and data on Kamio and Ishida's styles and gave them strategic pointers.
To be honest, Inui was far more effective as a coach than Ryūzaki Sumire. Maybe not great at managing people, but for match analysis and intel? Top-tier.
On the other side, Akashi also passed on insights gathered using Emperor Eye—how to break Kaidō's Snake, counter Momoshiro's smashes, and how to help Ishida set up for Hadōkyū.
After the break, both sides returned. The fourth game was Kamio's serve. He hit a high-speed serve, but Kaidō caught up and returned with a Snake.
Kamio recalled Akashi's advice, chased down the ball, and returned a sharp crosscourt to the baseline. The fast and low ball made it hard for Kaidō to swing comfortably.
Still, Kaidō forced a return. The awkward stance reduced the Snake's curve, creating a chance for Ishida.
Ishida dashed forward, charged up, and blasted the 30th-Style Hadōkyū. The ball turned into a beam and rocketed across the court.
Kaido had no time to set up with Momoshiro. Momoshiro braced and rushed forward alone but couldn't handle the power. His racquet flew out of his hand.
"15-0!"
For the rest of the game, Kamio used speed and angles to help Ishida find windows for Hadōkyū. Momoshiro and Kaidō, of course, countered with some solid plays too.
"30-0!"
"30-15!"
"40-15!"
"40-30!"
"Game! Fudomine! 3-1!"
In the end, Kamio and Ishida pulled ahead again and took the fourth game. That gave them a bit of breathing room.
The fifth game was Kaidō's serve. He delivered a solid diagonal serve, but for Kamio, it wasn't a problem. He caught up and fired a Supersonic Shot.
"0-15!"
Kaidō didn't sweat the point. He knew Kamio couldn't keep spamming Supersonic Shots—he just needed to wear him down.
Kaidō served again, and just like he predicted, Kamio went with a normal forehand. But Kaidō had already started prepping.
As the ball reached him, Kaidō raised his right arm and unleashed a wide, sweeping motion, adding intense spin the moment he struck the ball.
The ball spiraled like a tornado, curving into Fudomine's half. Kamio and Ishida both froze for a moment—they'd never seen that move before. By the time they processed it, the ball had already bounced out of bounds.
"Tornado Snake!"
"15-15!"
Kaidō rode that momentum and scored several more points with Tornado Snake. Ishida did push back with Hadōkyū, but Fudomine couldn't close out the game.
"Game! Seigaku! 3-2!"
The match returned to Ishida Tetsu's service game. Just as he was about to serve, a deep crimson aura suddenly surged from Kamio Akira at the net—he had entered Beast Aura state.
Ishida didn't hesitate. He served, and with the boost from Beast Aura, Kamio's speed increased again, trailing afterimages behind him.
Momoshiro and Kaidō couldn't adjust in time and stuck to their earlier strategy, giving Kamio several chances to break through.
"Game! Fudomine! 4-2! Court change!"
Kamio rode his Beast Aura to take the sixth game. After the change of sides, the fierce match resumed. Although Kamio and Ishida were stronger individually, they were a step behind when it came to teamwork.
Momoshiro and Kaidō were known rivals, but that made them understand each other even better—sometimes more than they understood themselves. That deep familiarity made their coordination shockingly seamless.
Still, Kamio didn't hold back and unleashed a Supersonic Shot that left Momoshiro and Kaidō helpless. Neither was great at handling high-speed shots.
"Game! Fudomine! 5-2! Court change!"
After securing the seventh game, Kamio's breathing had turned heavy, but he concealed it well, not letting it show to the opponents.
Unfortunately, Kaidō, who'd been watching Kamio's stamina closely, noticed something was off. In the eighth game, he and Momoshiro focused their attacks on Kamio. Ishida tried to shield him, but they still exposed Kamio's weaknesses.
"Game! Seigaku! 5-3!"
"Game! Seigaku! 5-4! Court change!"
Momoshiro and Kaidō racked up two straight wins by focusing on Kamio. Ishida did his best to help, but his slower speed meant he couldn't cover everything. All he could do was watch Kamio keep scrambling across the court.
On the sideline, Akashi frowned as he watched Kamio down water in the player bench. Their weaknesses were being fully exposed. He originally paired them to complement each other, but now they were being taken down one by one.
The break ended quickly. In the tenth game, Kamio's Beast Aura started fading. That confirmed for Kaidō that Kamio's stamina had bottomed out—he couldn't even sustain the aura anymore.
But by over-focusing on Kamio, Momoshiro and Kaidō lowered their guard against Ishida, who seized the chance to unleash multiple Hadōkyū shots.
"15-0!"
"15-15!"
"30-15!"
"40-30!"
Though it was Fudomine's match point, Kamio looked completely out of gas. He could barely run and couldn't even keep up with Kaidō's normal Snake shots.
Seeing Kamio like that, Momoshiro and Kaidō finally relaxed. Their strategy had paid off. Now, all they had to do was watch out for Ishida's Hadōkyū, and victory was within reach.
Ishida served again. Momoshiro returned the shot toward the left sideline. Ishida had just enough stamina to sprint after it.
Then Kaidō started bombarding Ishida's far corners with Snake shots, trying to exploit his slower movement. Ishida struggled but held on, trying to buy time for Kamio to recover.
But then Momoshiro hit a sharp crosscourt drive. The ball whizzed right past Ishida. He turned and gave chase, but everyone could tell—he wouldn't make it.
Just when Momoshiro and Kaidō thought the point was theirs, Kamio, who had been hunched over and gasping the whole time, suddenly burst out with crimson aura again. He became a blur, dashing toward the ball about to go out.
In the blink of an eye, Kamio caught up and slammed the ball using all the momentum from his sprint. The ball shot past the net at a speed Momoshiro and Kaidō couldn't react to, landed on the baseline, and bounced out.
"Supersonic Shot!"
"Game! 6-4! Match over! Winner: Fudomine Middle School!"
As the umpire announced the score, Kamio finally smiled and collapsed. The crimson aura vanished in an instant, and Ishida rushed forward to catch him.
With all his stamina spent, Kamio couldn't even walk. Ishida ended up carrying him off the court. Back at Fudomine's bench, Akashi said nothing—he simply told them to rest.
On the other side, Momoshiro and Kaidō had already started blaming each other. Both believed the loss was the other's fault. They argued the whole way back to the Seigaku bench.
In the end, it was Oishi, freshly warmed up, who stepped in to separate them. No surprise—Seigaku's babysitter in action. He immediately started lecturing them, and honestly, from some angles, Oishi might be the scariest one on the team.
Thankfully, the doubles match was about to begin, cutting the lecture short. Oishi and Kikumaru got ready to enter. On Fudomine's side, their players were Fuji Yūta and Ibu Shinji—both already close to national level. No telling what would happen in this next match.