"Oh? Too bad—I already saw that coming! What happened just now won't happen a second time!" Jonathan replied coolly to Kaji's words, his tone dripping with arrogance.
"You bastard!" Kaji growled, about to step forward and argue again, but "Sanada" grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back.
Kaji scowled, retreating to the baseline. He tossed the ball high and struck with full force. The ball streaked past the net and slammed into the far left corner of the court—but Edgard was there, blocking it effortlessly.
Seeing his shot returned, Kaji dashed toward the front court, eyes locking onto Jonathan, who had also moved up. As Jonathan anticipated how Kaji would attack, Kaji suddenly fired a sharp crosscourt passing shot.
The ball zipped past Jonathan's far side and headed straight for the backcourt, where Edgard reacted instantly, sidestepping and swinging his racket in fluid arcs. When he struck the ball, a glider appeared and soared over Kaji's head.
But Kaji didn't jump to intercept—because behind him, "Sanada" was already wreathed in a dense black aura. The glider transformed back into a tennis ball as it descended, and the moment it fell, that dark aura enveloped it completely.
Seeing this, Jonathan immediately recalled the data he had collected on Rikkai's middle school ace, Sanada Genichirō. His sharp eyes fixed on the opponent's arm movement.
Using the pressure from a racket swing to alter the ball's trajectory… If I can read the motion of his arm, I can predict the shot before it happens! Jonathan thought quickly.
Just as expected, when "Sanada" returned the shot, his right arm flicked up and to the right. A knowing light flashed in Jonathan's eyes. The instant the ball crossed the net, he leapt high into the air—and the ball sharply refracted upward.
"Edgard-senpai! Left sideline!" Jonathan shouted midair.
"Tch! Making me take orders now, huh?" Edgard clicked his tongue but moved quickly to the left sideline. The ball, which had been arcing high, suddenly refracted again, diving straight toward the left boundary.
Edgard spun his racket in a few quick motions, glancing briefly at Kaji's position across the net. As the ball met his strings, it transformed into a small white wagtail, fluttering swiftly toward the opposite court.
Kaji's form blurred into a silver afterimage as he dashed forward to intercept. But to his shock, the wagtail danced up and down like a wave, slipping past the top of his racket.
As Kaji turned to chase it down, "Sanada," crackling with lightning, teleported to the front court. His body twisted in a swift spin, and his right arm brought the racket down with pinpoint precision.
A blazing explosion erupted—the court was engulfed in fire as a massive pillar of flame roared across the net toward the French side. Jonathan crossed his arms, sliding several steps to brace himself, but the next instant, his racket was knocked from his hands. The flaming shot continued, smashing into the backcourt before bouncing out of bounds.
"Fierce as fire!"
"30–0!"
"It seems the opponent didn't just copy appearance and technique—their five core attributes also match the data I collected almost perfectly! We'll need to be careful from here on, Edgard-senpai!" Jonathan warned gravely as he picked up his racket.
"Hmph! That middle schooler's style just happens to counter your Data Tennis. I'll take the lead on offense next."
Edgard spoke calmly, but as he did, he pulled out several paintbrushes from seemingly nowhere.
Jonathan blinked in confusion, but before he could say a word, Edgard was already painting on his face again. The bizarre scene left both "Sanada" and Kaji staring blankly across the net.
When Jonathan finally turned back around, his entire appearance had changed once more. His eyes were ringed in heavy purple smoke makeup, his lips darkened as if poisoned, and two slender violet lines ran from the corners of his mouth down to his chin.
"You've gotta be kidding me. Why do I feel like the aura around that middle schooler just changed again?" Chitose said, frowning from the Japan Team bench.
Why is no one noticing that his hairstyle changed too? And it's clearly permed now… Am I the only one focusing on the wrong thing? Akashi thought dryly to himself as he listened, silently sighing at the absurdity of it all.
"Edgard Delacroix… he's known in France as the artist of the tennis court. Jonathan's transformation must be connected to him," Yanagi Renji said, narrowing his eyes.
"They never revealed this technique during the group stage. Looks like the French team was saving it as a secret weapon for the championship," Inui Sadaharu added, pushing his glasses up. "An opponent who can freely alter personality and playing style—mentally, that's no small pressure for any tennis player."
"But they definitely didn't expect that our Japan Team has someone as special as Niō," Mitsuya Akuto said with a faint smile. "For a Data Tennis player, Niō is the trickiest opponent imaginable."
Across the court, on the French bench, Camus watched Edgard and Jonathan with a calm smile. Even though they had lost the first set, he was still completely confident in their strength.
Delacroix's paint is essentially a form of hypnosis, Camus thought silently. But it only works because Jonathan absolutely trusts and idolizes him.
On the court, Kaji noticed that both opponents were ready, so he didn't hesitate—he unleashed another Ultra-Speed Serve. But Jonathan, despite his new demeanor, hadn't abandoned his Data Tennis. The moment Kaji swung, he was already moving in advance.
As soon as the ball hit the ground, Jonathan was there, perfectly positioned to return it. Yet before he could even register the ball's speed, Kaji's body shimmered with silver light, and in an instant, the ball was struck back toward them.
"I see… that glow—if I'm not mistaken, that's the Ultra-Speed Dimension, isn't it?" Edgard said, reacting first as he chased the ball down.
Even as the words left his mouth, he appeared in the ball's path. But because Kaji's counter came so suddenly, Edgard had no time to paint this time. He struck the ball diagonally toward the far corner.
A flash of lightning cut through the air—"Sanada" appeared out of nowhere, bringing his racket down in a fierce strike. The ball twisted into a bolt of blue-white light, streaking across the court in a warped arc.
"Swift as lightning!"
But before the electric light could fully cross the net, Edgard was already waiting for it, racket drawing intricate streams of air. The two forces clashed midair for a moment before Edgard managed to send it back with a sharp backhand.
Seeing this, Kaji flickered forward to the left front court, ready to intercept—but the ball seemed almost alive, veering away from his racket on its own. In that instant, Kaji's eyes widened in shock—the tennis ball now had a pair of large, blinking eyes.
"30–15!"
"I told you before," Edgard said proudly, striking a pose after scoring, "everything within my art gains life—and that includes the tennis ball itself!"
Kaji frowned, glancing at the ball as it returned to normal outside the court. That strange shot had completely defied logic. Still, there was no time to dwell on it—his serve clock was ticking.
For his fourth Ultra-Speed Serve, Kaji dashed to the net immediately after serving. He knew "Sanada's" playstyle worked best for backcourt counterattacks, so his role was clear: control the net while "Sanada" handled the defense and rebounds.
Before long, Kaji and Edgard were locked in a fierce exchange at the net. Having learned from the previous rallies, even Edgard's Art Tennis couldn't break through Kaji's reflexes so easily.
Meanwhile, "Sanada" occasionally launched a Black Dragon Double Strike from the baseline, forcing Edgard on the defensive. Soon, the French side began to falter.
When Kaji fired a clean passing shot down the baseline, convinced it was a winner, Jonathan suddenly flashed in front of him—his movement leaving behind a streak of golden afterimage.
"30–30!"
"This is doubles," Jonathan said coldly, tilting his head slightly. "You two seem to have forgotten that I exist."