The Almighty Chuunibyou Expert

A few seconds later, his expression changed drastically. His face turned even redder, and he swore.

"Damn it, I'm not playing this match for this! Come on, let's switch sides and continue! It's my serve next, you better watch out! I'll show you my 'Bullet Serve' right now!"

He held the tennis ball in one hand, saying menacingly.

"Huh? Does the boss have a serve like that? I've never seen him use it before?"

"Could it be that we're not worthy of witnessing such a technique?"

"Idiot, he's probably just saying that."

The tennis club members murmured amongst themselves.

Whoosh!

Kawamura Kentaro leaped up, the muscles in his arm tensing into a single knot. He exerted maximum force, wanting to turn all the humiliation he had suffered before into rage and unleash it upon his opponent.

That's right, he didn't have any special skills. He was merely showcasing the serving technique he had honed through training.

This serve could be considered a super-level performance, nearly ten percent faster than his usual shots.

He believed that even a national champion would have trouble returning it.

Unfortunately, he had no idea who he was facing.

"There's power, but the ball's trajectory is too simple."

Hasegawa Izumi calmly raised his right hand and easily returned the ball.

This display, after witnessing the previous outward spin serve, no longer warranted shock from the onlookers.

"As expected, it was returned!"

Kawamura Kentaro had a premonition of this, so his reaction was not slow. He chased after the direction the ball was flying.

But no matter what, this was a good start. At least it wasn't the one-sided thrashing from the previous service game.

Just as he got into position, ready to return the ball, a strange thing happened.

"The ball... disappeared!?"

He completely lost sight of the tennis ball and froze on the spot.

"15-0."

It wasn't until the umpire announced the score that he dazedly looked at the tennis ball rolling back onto the ground in disbelief.

"What just happened? Did I miss it because I blinked?"

Kawamura Kentaro couldn't figure it out and could only blame himself.

Once again, he leaped and served.

Another confident shot.

At this moment, he noticed the person on the other side standing still, holding his racket with both hands, motionless.

Was he going to let him have this point?

That's too humiliating!

This scene was also witnessed by everyone.

"Why isn't Izumi-chan moving? Is he tired?"

This was Fujiwara Chika's thought.

"Is he trying to leave the opponent some dignity? That can't be it! Crushing your opponent without holding back is the aesthetic of a strong person."

This was Takanashi Rikka's thought.

Just as everyone was guessing, the tennis ball landed.

"Too slow."

Hasegawa Izumi finally moved.

Zzzt... Zzzt...

Faintly, the sound of crackling electricity could be heard in the air.

The figure in everyone's eyes instantly blurred and disappeared, appearing in front of the ball with lightning speed. He raised his racket and swung it down like a slash!

Crack!

A faint, dazzling bolt of lightning seemed to echo across the court.

24 Thank you, Hasegawa-san.

"Ah!!"

The girl let out a sharp scream, drawing strange looks from her friends.

"What are you screaming about? It's creepy."

"I'm scared... of thunder."

She replied weakly.

"Come on, it's a bright sunny day, there isn't even a single cloud."

His friend pointed to the bright sun in the sky and said, annoyed.

"Oh... I guess it was just an illusion."

The girl turned her pleading gaze back to the court.

"Let me explain a bit. What you just saw was 'Move Like Thunder' from the 'Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain, Shadow, Thunder' set. It allows me to appear anywhere on the court at lightning speed and makes the ball bounce at a right angle, so it's completely normal that you couldn't return it."

Hasegawa Izumi looked at his stunned opponent, who showed no reaction. After a moment's thought, he decided to explain his technique.

In his dreams, such actions were perfectly normal. While it revealed his hand, it was more a demonstration of his confidence in his strength and techniques.

This was the composure of a true powerhouse!

His words left everyone present utterly confused.

Who was he trying to fool!

This was reality, not some anime!

Except for Takanashi Rikka, everyone else believed it was just nonsense, a fancy name for a powerful move.

Did he think calling it the 'Pinecone Shake Lightning Whip' would change their perception?

No way!

The match resumed.

Kawamura Kentaro had figured it out.

Winning was impossible!

His opponent could easily use some technique, and he struggled to cope. How could he possibly fight back?

Even professional players wouldn't understand what the opponent was doing.

Amateurs watch the spectacle, while insiders see the skill.

The spectators outside could probably only see that he was at a disadvantage, but not why.

So, what he was thinking about now was how to lose gracefully.

But considering the gap between them, it was truly disheartening. He could only try his best to cope.

A ball flew into the air. Kawamura Kentaro had no other thoughts now, only the action of swinging his racket.

In this moment, he became incredibly pure.

Hasegawa Izumi sensed the subtle change in his opponent's aura and praised him inwardly.

"Evolving under pressure! Not bad!"

As expected of someone who could become the head of a department at Shuchiin, he wasn't as weak as he initially appeared.

However, he was in a hurry today, so he could only hold back so much.

With this shot, he returned the opponent's serve with an invisible swing.

"40-0!"

Another point.

His movements were like a gentle breeze, calmly executing a slice. The tennis ball, like a fierce tiger climbing a mountain, crossed the net and landed in the opponent's court.

"Hasegawa wins this game, 2-0!"

In a blink, it was his serve again.

He didn't escalate; he still used his outward spin serve.

This time, Kawamura Kentaro returned it as expected, but it wasn't stable, and the ball flew high.

He jumped directly, reaching a new height. Under the scorching sun, he was like a sun falling from the sky.

"Crack!"

It was a smash like a raging inferno!

"Hiss..."

The sound of tearing wind reached his ears. Kawamura Kentaro had no time to react. The bouncing tennis ball hit the wire fence behind him.

"Wow, so cool!"

"Hasegawa, you're amazing!"

"Hasegawa! Hasegawa! Hasegawa!"

Among the onlookers, the girls' eyes sparkled, and they couldn't stop cheering and screaming.

His figure was so dazzling that they momentarily forgot his typical persona.

"Swift as the Wind."

"Gentle as the Forest."

"Fierce as Fire."

"Next should be... Immovable as a Mountain, right!"

In the crowd, Eriri turned her head and saw a beautiful girl with headphones on her shoulder muttering these words, her face showing a very excited expression.

"What the heck, he's actually this popular with girls!"

She pouted, feeling a little jealous.

This was truly unexpected.

Because in her understanding, normal people would be very disgusted with their Childhood Friend.

However, she wasn't too worried.

These people were just temporarily attracted by Izumi's coolness, but they would automatically retreat once they got to know him.

"Go for it, Izumi-chan!"

"Sage, keep taking victories!"

Beside her, two girls within the net also cheered.

"Wait..."

It was then that Eriri specifically noticed the strange girl wearing an eyepatch next to Chika.

It was one thing for that Earth Cancer-like girl Chika to be there, but why was someone else acting so close to Izumi?

What had happened while she wasn't by Izumi's side?!

The ongoing match inside the court quickly shifted her attention.

"Hasegawa wins this round, 4 to 0!"

Before the match even started, Kawamura Kentaro had been excited, wanting to show off his prowess as a strong player and thoroughly humiliate the weak. But what he didn't expect was that he would be the one humiliated.