"Winner: Hyōtei! Loser: Seigaku!"
"Winner: Hyōtei! Loser: Seigaku!"
Just as Kabaji was preparing to serve, Hyōtei's thunderous cheer echoed from the stands, making Seigaku's players show helpless expressions. They were used to Hyōtei's atmosphere, but it was still overwhelming.
Kabaji suddenly tossed the ball high and muttered four words under his breath:
"One shot, one soul."
As the words left his mouth, his racket slammed down hard onto the falling ball. It turned into a beam of light and shot across like a cannonball into the opposite court. Momoshiro saw only a flash before hearing the thud of the ball hitting the ground.
"Neo Scud Serve!"
"Ace! 15-0!"
"That's it. Well done, Kabaji!" Atobe grinned with pride after the point.
"What the hell?! Kabaji's supposed to only copy his opponent's techniques. How's he pulling off Ōtori Chōtarō's Scud Serve now?" Kikumaru asked in surprise from the Seigaku bench.
"Based on the expressions of Atobe and Ōtori Chōtarō, the probability that they fed him the move before the match is 99%," Inui Sadaharu answered confidently.
"I see. So they implanted the move in Kabaji's head during the warm-up, and then Atobe activated it during the match by triggering his instincts? That's pretty clever, Atobe," Fuji said, dropping his usual smile.
"Oh? Looks like Momoshiro-senpai is in trouble," Ryōma muttered, half cheerful, half concerned.
"Ace! 30-0!"
"Ace! 40-0!"
"Game! Hyōtei Academy! 1-1!"
As Seigaku's bench discussed what had happened, Kabaji had already fired off three consecutive Neo Scud Serves, securing his service game cleanly. Kabaji's raw power surpassed Ōtori's, making the serves even more destructive. Momoshiro couldn't keep up with the sheer speed.
The rest of the match unfolded exactly as Atobe had expected. No matter what technique Momoshiro used, Kabaji replicated it in the very next moment. With the Scud Serve anchoring his service games, Hyōtei took full control of the match.
"Game! Hyōtei Academy! 2-1! Change court!"
"Game! Hyōtei Academy! 3-1!"
"Game! Seigaku! 3-2!"
"Game! Hyōtei Academy! 4-2! Change court!"
Six games passed in a flash. Momoshiro, unable to perform at his usual level due to Kabaji's copying ability and superior strength, was clearly at a disadvantage. He scraped out a single game thanks to court conditions, but it didn't shift the match's momentum.
"It's about time that move was ready, right? Kabaji!" Atobe called out as Kabaji walked back to the bench.
"Usu!" Kabaji replied in his usual blunt tone.
Game seven started soon after. Momoshiro stood at the baseline, staring down Kabaji with a tense expression, racking his brain for a way out. Then, for the first time, Kabaji opened his mouth and said:
"Victory... will be... Hyōtei's!"
As his voice faded, a seven-colored light erupted from Kabaji's body and focused entirely on his right hand. Seigaku's players were visibly shaken and turned their eyes toward Hyōtei's bench.
From the bench, Oshitari adjusted his glasses, a sly grin forming on his face. Atobe stood confidently and said:
"You didn't really think the Scud Serve was the trump card I gave Kabaji, did you?"
Knowing Kabaji's ability to copy techniques, Atobe and Sakaki had long researched ways to maximize its effectiveness. During a practice match, Atobe had discovered that Kabaji could replicate techniques ahead of time and store them for later use. Though currently he could preload only two techniques, it was enough to thrill Atobe.
"Looks like Atobe completely played us. Momoshiro's going to lose. Oishi, Kikumaru—you two should start warming up," Fuji said grimly.
"I got it. But I don't think Momoshiro will give up that easily. Even if he loses, Eiji and I will win it back!" Oishi nodded and pulled Kikumaru away for warm-up.
On court, Momoshiro stared at Kabaji, who had activated Hyaku Ren Jitoku no Kiwami. A faint, bitter smile curled at his lips. He had seen Ryōma use this technique and knew it had a huge flaw under normal conditions. But with Kabaji's strength, even just rebounding shots with double power was already more than Momoshiro could handle.
As expected, the match unfolded exactly as he feared. Though Kabaji's movement slowed due to Hyaku Ren Jitoku no Kiwami, it wasn't enough to stop him from reaching the ball. Momoshiro, who wasn't great with high-speed shots to begin with, found his go-to moves—Jack Knife and his crouching smashes—completely ineffective against Kabaji's brute-force returns.
Facing Kabaji, whose strength already surpassed his own, and now with double-powered returns, Momoshiro couldn't avoid having his racket knocked away multiple times. In the end, both his arms were left numb from the impact.
"Game! Hyōtei Academy! 5-2!"
The eighth game was Kabaji's serve again. At this point, Momoshiro already had one foot in the pit of defeat. Still, he refused to give up. His eyes stayed locked on Kabaji's every move.
"One shot, one soul!"
"Ace! 15-0!"
But the result was still grim. Even though Momoshiro focused all his attention and barely read the trajectory of the serve, his body just couldn't keep up with the insane speed. He could only take a helpless step forward and watch the ball fly out of bounds.
"Game! 6-2! Match over! Winner: Hyōtei Academy!"
With the umpire's loud announcement, no miracle had come to save Seigaku's regulars. Momoshiro ultimately lost the Singles 3 match. In truth, the moment Hyōtei placed Kabaji in that spot, Momoshiro's chances of winning were slim.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't win this one." After the match, Momoshiro walked up to Ryūzaki Sumire, visibly downcast.
"It's not your fault. Who would've thought Kabaji had that kind of ability? Go rest for now," Ryūzaki-san sighed as she comforted him.
Momoshiro nodded, then headed toward the bench. As he looked around, he suddenly noticed Ryōma was missing. Curiously, he asked, "Where'd Echizen go? I haven't seen him. He's not even up next."
"Tch, who knows where that brat ran off to. But you! You lost, and you still have the nerve to worry about someone else? I don't get why coach even let you play!" Kaidō snapped, clearly annoyed.
"What was that, you damn snake?! What's wrong with me caring about Echizen? You're the one acting nothing like a senpai!" Momoshiro shot back without backing down.
Seeing the two about to start another fight, Kawamura quickly got between them to hold them apart. Just then, from the first row of the audience behind them, the trio of first-years chimed in:
"We saw Ryōma just now walking off with a middle-aged guy dressed like a monk. Not sure where they were going."
"Is that so? Looks like Echizen's off to level up. Let's not worry about him for now and focus on the next match," Fuji said thoughtfully.
"A monk... middle-aged... Based on the data, there's a 94% probability it's that person!" Inui's glasses gleamed as he spoke.
"Up next is the Doubles 2 match! From Hyōtei Academy: Akutagawa Jirō and Hiyoshi Wakashi! From Seigaku: Oishi Shūichirō and Kikumaru Eiji! Players, please take the court!"
The umpire's announcement echoed out. But Hyōtei's lineup stunned Inui, who then turned toward Sakaki Tarō on the Hyōtei bench with a grave expression, as if he'd just realized something.
"Hyōtei played this one well. If we had sent Inui and Kaidō, Jirō could've neutralized Inui's data tennis completely. And Kaidō alone wouldn't have been enough to beat Hiyoshi. But if we go with Oishi and Kikumaru, we'd have no one left to challenge Oshitari and Mukahi in Doubles 1," Fuji said, equally serious.
"Exactly. Which makes the Singles 2 match incredibly important. That means the chance of Atobe playing in Singles 2 is 97%!" Inui added.
"What?! That means Ryōma will be under a ton of pressure!" Momoshiro exclaimed.
"Looks like we got outplayed in the lineup this time. We've been at a disadvantage from the very beginning," Fuji sighed.
Originally, Inui had suggested Fuji take Singles 2. But Ryūzaki Sumire felt it was too risky to leave Singles 1 to Ryōma. If the match dragged out to the end, Ryōma likely wouldn't be able to beat Atobe. So in the end, Fuji was assigned to Singles 1, and Ryōma to Singles 2.
But Sakaki Tarō had clearly seen through Ryūzaki's thinking and crafted a strategy around it, tipping the scales in Hyōtei's favor right from the start. Never underestimate a wealthy man's ability in strategic planning.
On court, Oishi and Kikumaru paused slightly when they saw their opponents. Neither Jirō nor Hiyoshi had played much doubles before—especially Jirō, Hyōtei's current No. 2. Seeing him in a Doubles 2 match was totally unexpected.
Still, with the match about to start, overthinking wouldn't help. Both pairs followed the umpire's instructions and came to the net for the pre-match handshake. That's when Hiyoshi suddenly spoke up:
"The Golden Pair of Seigaku, huh? Let's see just how strong your synchronization really is… and whether it can stop my gekokujō!"