The Pinnacle of a Thousand Forgings

"Ace, 15-0."

As the burning sensation from the flames disappeared, only a faint smell of scorched aftermath seemed to linger in the air.

Tezuka also regained his ability to move, but at this moment, his entire body was frozen in place.

In that brief instant, he had a fleeting moment where everything within his field of vision vanished.

There was only endless darkness and constantly burning, growing flames.

Besides clearly seeing that dazzling, fleeting point of sunlight, his time and the surrounding space had actually paused for a millisecond!

This was the same move he used to return Akutsu's smash!

This move could actually be used for serving!

And the effect produced by the serve was even more terrifying!

Tezuka looked down behind him; a bright yellow tennis ball lay quietly there.

Tezuka's pupils contracted, and he turned to look at Muneyoshi, his eyes filled with shock.

Meanwhile, Akutsu Jin, standing by the sidelines, seemed to be triggered by a painful memory from this move, exuding an aura that warned others to stay away.

The match continued, still Saeki Muneyoshi's serve.

"It's coming!"

Tapping the tennis ball again, holding it in his hand, Muneyoshi narrowed his eyes and said with a smile.

As his words fell, a surge of mental energy from Muneyoshi's body began to spread across the court once more.

Swish!

The tennis ball in his hand was like a burning fireball. Muneyoshi tossed it up, and Tezuka's gaze was fixed on the ball as it slowly ascended.

When the rising tennis ball coincided with the sun in the sky.

The dark world instantly became a tempest of wind and fire, the flames burning more intensely.

A terrifying wave of mental energy swept from Muneyoshi's body towards Tezuka on the opposite side of the court.

Boom!

Before Tezuka's eyes, endless burning flames and suffocating darkness reappeared.

In the dark space, no matter how fiercely the flames burned, the endless light was completely absorbed.

Only a crisp sound of a racket hitting the ball could be heard, clear and distant.

"Thwack!"

Splattering embers exploded again by Tezuka's feet. The flying sparks fell onto his skin.

Instantly, it jolted Tezuka, who was immersed in the experience, awake.

However, by the time Tezuka regained his senses, Muneyoshi had already finished his serve and was walking towards the other service area.

In a regulation tennis match, the first serve of each game is from behind the right baseline. After winning or losing a point, the players must switch to the left side to serve.

When Tezuka saw Muneyoshi walking directly towards the left side, he turned his head again and looked behind him.

A bright yellow tennis ball lay quietly there once more.

Even if it happened again, Tezuka couldn't suppress the shock in his heart.

However, this was followed by even greater focus and a determination to break through this move.

In essence, Saeki Muneyoshi's strength had not yet broken through to truly reach the national level. However, like Yukimura Seiichi, he possessed an unparalleled talent in terms of mental energy.

And unlike Yukimura Seiichi, who was still fumbling and exploring on his own, he was acutely aware of the benefits brought by the power of mental energy.

Of course, he couldn't achieve the otherworldly techniques like Yukimura Seiichi's future abilities such as reversing the future, mirage realms, or zero-sense tennis.

And these were not his style.

He had his own way!

In terms of using mental energy, although it was still somewhat rough, he had managed to develop a set of techniques unique to him.

Scorching Sun Tinder was one application, while Scorching Sun Burn was another.

Currently, he couldn't affect an entire person, especially a strong opponent like Tezuka.

But for just a serve, with sufficient preparation time, and ample time to use mental interference and deception, he could indeed do it.

However, that was all. His current mental energy was a full 4.5, the highest among his Five Dimensions attributes. Being able to achieve this much was already very difficult.

But as long as the opponent's mental energy attribute was similar to his, or even higher.

Such tactics would simply not work.

Glancing at Tezuka, who showed no signs of panic on the other side, Muneyoshi sighed, "Tezuka, you must have noticed it too!"

As if responding to Muneyoshi's question, as he served again, white streams of air rose from Tezuka's body.

"State of Selflessness?"

The amplification from the State of Selflessness greatly enhanced Tezuka's senses in all aspects, especially his resistance to mental interference.

Bang!

Another ball was served, but this time, even Muneyoshi's mental interference couldn't cause Tezuka to misjudge.

He erupted in a dazzling radiance.

The mental energy that had spread around his body all dissipated.

"Muneyoshi, I've seen your tennis!"

Bang...

The silver-white racket acted like a giant net, catching the orange tennis ball, and then he swung with all his might.

The tennis ball flew back like a cannonball, whistling as it crossed the net and landed.

But Muneyoshi had already anticipated this and rushed towards the net. Before the ball could land, he lightly tapped it into Tezuka's court.

After a few more rallies, Muneyoshi managed to hold his serve.

"1-1."

Then, the scores began to rise rapidly on both sides.

Bang!

"Saeki Muneyoshi scores, the score is 2-2."

Bang!

"Tezuka Kunimitsu scores, the score is 3-2."

Bang!

"Saeki Muneyoshi scores, the score is 3-3."

"Hmm, you've noticed, haven't you, Tezuka..."

Muneyoshi chuckled inwardly. Dealing with him seemed to become even more effortless.

The game had already passed five sets, and the effects of the Scorching Sun Tinder were finally beginning to show.

The power, penetration, and speed of his returns had changed significantly compared to before.

As the match continued, he became stronger and stronger.

This change, of course, did not escape Tezuka's notice.

Sensing the increasingly scorching temperature around his body, Tezuka began to ponder.

He pushed up his glasses, glanced at Muneyoshi, and thought to himself:

"Is it this mental energy? Under constant mental assault, it's me who's weakened, not him who's gotten stronger!"

"Muneyoshi, your tennis is truly strange, but this is the end!"

"Roar!"

The wisps of white energy that had merely been swirling around Tezuka suddenly expanded, enveloping his entire body. Then, under Tezuka's suppression.

All the energy converged into his left hand, and a multi-colored light flickered around him.

"State of Selflessness, The Pinnacle of a Thousand Forgings."

Although Muneyoshi wasn't surprised by this, he was still amazed by Tezuka.

At his age, with such talent, what would he have become if he hadn't had those three years of obscurity in middle school?

No one could know, but Muneyoshi looked forward to it.

The match continued. It was Tezuka's serve, and he was still in relatively good condition, so the power, angle, and speed of his serve had not diminished at all.

Muneyoshi hit the ball back to the diagonal again, but after the tennis ball landed in Tezuka's court, it flew towards Tezuka.

It was the Tezuka Zone!

The State of Selflessness consumed a large amount of stamina, but with the help of the Tezuka Zone.

By applying subtle spin to the ball and standing slightly behind the center of the court, creating a circle with a diameter of 4.2 meters, it moved towards him.

This effectively prevented the waste of stamina, allowing the State of Selflessness to shine in Tezuka's hands.

Coupled with the effects of The Pinnacle of a Thousand Forgings, the spin, power, and speed of his returns were amplified twofold and fed back to Muneyoshi.

The score was quickly pulled apart.