Ochi Tsukimitsu did not respond to Bertie Borisovich Volk, but everyone on the Japan Team knew Bertie was right. Ochi's mental assassination really did rely on eye contact to activate, and being figured out by an opponent was only a matter of time.
Seeing that Ochi had no intention of replying, Bertie did not care. He turned around and went back to the baseline, bent over to prepare to receive the next ball. Mōri Juuzaburō glanced at Ochi with concern, then walked to the baseline and quickly tossed the tennis ball up.
"Eye contact isn't that easy to avoid..." Ochi muttered quietly the instant Mōri served.
After cleanly returning Mōri's serve, Bertie repeated his old trick, sprinting quickly to the net with his eyes still closed. Relying on the brief memory in his mind and his sharp hearing, he judged the general trajectory of the ball. This time, though, Bertie chose to draw the opponents' attention, using a feint to let Dankmar Schneider finish the point, just as he expected. Mōri was once again drawn in by the fake move.
Just as Dankmar was about to swing and smash, a flash of blue swept across his vision. Dankmar instinctively glanced sideways, and in that instant, it felt as if the entire space froze. All he saw was Ochi staring at him with icy eyes, the scene he saw while under mental assassination.
"15-15!"
'So that's why Ochi dyes his hair. Turns out it's useful in matches too~' Akashi Seijurō thought to himself from the sidelines, unable to help complaining inwardly.
To be fair, the streak of blue hair on Ochi's forehead really did grab attention. No wonder Dankmar's gaze shifted for a split second, but sadly, a trick like this would not work a second time.
Sure enough, as Bertie and Dankmar increased their guard, Ochi's mental assassination became much harder to affect them. With Bertie's data collection almost complete, he directly began to step up the offensive.
Mōri suddenly realized that all of his attacking routes and interception habits seemed to be fully predicted. Bertie always used strange shot angles to slip past his blocks. Luckily, Ochi's movement from the back was excellent, allowing him to cover the gaps well.
"Bertie is using this to drain Ochi's stamina! With Ochi's height, there's no way he can sustain high-speed lateral movement for long!" Byoudouin Houou frowned and spoke from the Japan Team bench.
"I think Ochi has already noticed that too, Boss. Now we just see how he responds next~" Duke replied calmly beside Byoudouin Houou.
The German Team's attack pattern was now the complete opposite of before. Bertie took charge of the offense, while Dankmar focused on covering and intercepting. Their roles were clear, yet their coordination was extremely tight.
"15-30!"
"15-40!"
"30-40!"
"GAME! Germany! 5-2!"
After Ochi realized Bertie's intention, he indeed reduced his running. But that meant once Mōri failed an interception, they would easily lose points. The result was exactly that, and they directly lost the seventh game.
"We can't hesitate anymore. Next game, I'll enter sleeping mode. I'll leave the rest to you, Tsukimitsu-san!" Mōri said seriously to Ochi after returning to the bench.
"Yeah. I get it. Just like before, I'll work with you," Ochi replied after a brief moment of thought, nodding just as seriously.
On the other side, at the German Team bench, Bertie looked at Dankmar and chuckled softly.
"Based on my analysis, in the next game, Mōri Juuzaburō will most likely activate that so-called sleeping mode. It's his best way to deal with data tennis, so let's focus on recording data for now."
"Got it~ Bertie Boy~ Listening to you is always right~" Dankmar replied with a light laugh. That was how they worked together. With Bertie's strongest brain, Dankmar never had to worry about tactics.
After the timeout ended, it was Dankmar's turn to serve. He tested the ball's bounce at the baseline, then tossed it high and blasted a powerful serve. But the receiver, Mōri, had already closed his eyes. If you listened carefully, you could even hear faint snoring.
However, the instant the ball crossed the net, Mōri suddenly opened his eyes. Those purple pupils instantly locked onto the ball. His figure flashed as he appeared directly at the landing point, and by then, his eyes were already closed again. When the ball slammed into the court and bounced up, Mōri swung his racket in an instant and blasted it back. The huge force on the ball seemed to have no effect on him at all and was returned in a flash.
Seeing this, Bertie immediately moved several steps to the left. His body rotated one hundred eighty degrees, and using centrifugal force, he slashed down with a backhand. The ball turned into a streak of light and smashed into the Japan Team's front court. Just as it was about to bounce out past the sideline, Mōri's figure suddenly appeared and intercepted it. A yellow afterimage flashed past Bertie. Even though Dankmar rushed in to cover, he still could not catch up, and could only watch as the ball flew out past the baseline.
"0-15!"
"Speed, power, technique... all of them have improved a lot. Looks like your strength evaluation needs to be raised another level," Bertie said in a low voice as he looked at Mōri with his eyes tightly shut.
Dankmar quickly fired off a second powerful serve, but against Mōri in his sleeping state, that level of power could not affect him at all. Mōri easily returned Dankmar's serve. This time, Bertie learned from the last exchange and did not rush into an all-out attack. After catching up to the ball, he first observed Mōri's movements, then aimed directly at a habitual weakness he had noted earlier and sent a down-the-line passing shot.
But the trajectory that had easily slipped past Mōri's block before was now stopped by Mōri in a strange posture. The return path even went completely beyond Bertie's prediction, leaving him unable to react in time.
"0-30!"
When it was Ochi's turn to receive, Mōri moved at the net like he was dancing, unfolding a bizarre attacking stance. For a moment, Bertie and Dankmar felt extremely uncomfortable. It felt as if Mōri had completely turned into a different person.
"0-40!"
"GAME! 6-2! The first set is over! Winner, the Japan Team! Overall score 1-0!"
"Japan!" "Japan!" "Japan!" "Japan!" "Japan!" Seeing the Japan Team take a set off professional players, the crowd erupted in loud cheers. At that moment, the arena seemed to turn into the Japan Team's home court.
"Acting completely on instinct? Interesting. Trying to collect data from someone who's asleep really isn't easy, but as long as the underlying logic doesn't change, instinct isn't something that can't be analyzed," Bertie muttered to himself at the bench, wiping sweat from his face as he stared thoughtfully at Mōri.
——————
"GAME! 6-4! The first set is over! Winner, the Spain Team! Overall score 1-0!"
At the same time, in the arena where the United States Team faced the Spain Team, the first set of the second doubles match had also ended. Kiko Balentien looked at Romeo Fernández with a complicated expression. The familiar smile he usually wore was nowhere to be seen.
"6-4~ That sounds like a nice score. If I remember right, that's your favorite result, isn't it? So~ does this little welcome gift suit your taste, Kiko Balentien-san?" Romeo said gently, looking back at Kiko with a soft smile.
"So you guys deliberately gave us two games just now?!" Dodo Obando glared at the two of them, his voice filled with anger. After all, once the score reached five to two earlier, the two Spanish players had clearly started holding back.
"If our actions made you feel angry, then please allow me to apologize to you here, Obando-san," Romeo replied politely, though that did nothing to calm the anger in Dodo's heart.
"Well~ anyway, Medanoré already said this match is completely under Romeo's control, so no matter how you look at me, it's useless~" his partner said casually, sounding completely unconcerned.