Shattering the Mental Domain
On the field!
Muneyoshi, though having regained consciousness, continues to struggle; having followed the path of the spiritual, his mental strength is not weak.
It was just that the positive feedback of previous happiness and joy interfered with him. When he realized that darkness had completely weakened, he immediately realized that he had fallen into the opponent's field.
However, Irie Kanata's mental strength was stronger than his, and he found it extremely difficult to break free.
At this moment, he "saw" Irie Kanata inviting him to put on a spectacular "performance," and his resistance intensified.
"Damn it, who wants to perform on stage with you!"
"What a joke! Get out of my mental world!"
In the midst of their ongoing mental battle, Muneyoshi managed to hold onto the last shred of clarity; he had no desire to respond to Irie Kanata's invitation.
Feeling the ball in his hand, he didn't care what was in front of him, nor did he care that the basketball court had completely disappeared.
Bang!
Muneyoshi once again relied on his body's memory to deliver his most familiar serve.
He still has great faith in his own experience and muscle memory.
Although the net and the court are gone, Muneyoshi believes that his years of dedicated tennis training and hard work will not be in vain.
However, he heard Irie Kanata's voice again.
"Saeki -kun's will is truly strong, but he still hit the net! Service error!"
Muneyoshi ignored Irie Kanata's voice and continued serving.
"Net shot! Double error!"
"Game, Irie Kanata, 3-2."
"Net! Missed catch!"
"Game, Irie Kanata, 4:2."
"Saeki -kun, shall we continue fighting? Or perhaps we should finish this performance together?"
Irie's smiling voice reached Muneyoshi's ears once again.
"Irie Kanata, are you kidding me?!"
This feeling of being manipulated in the match caused Muneyoshi's negative emotions to surge again, including not only anger towards Irie but also resentment towards himself!
As soon as he finished speaking, Irie once again sensed the surging spiritual energy coming from the other side of the court.
Upon seeing this, Irie's smile deepened.
He hadn't encountered such an interesting first-year junior high student in a long time, one who could actually ignite a competitive spirit within him.
Behind Irie Kanata, a ball of silvery-white spiritual energy continued to expand, transforming into countless threads that connected with Muneyoshi's spiritual world through Saeki Muneyoshi's dark tentacles.
Now that things have come to this point, Muneyoshi is finally going to witness Irie Kanata's true tennis skills!
At this point, the match was completely out of Saeki Muneyoshi's control, and he appeared on the stage...
Muneyoshi himself was like a puppet being manipulated, a clown performing on a stage set up by Irie Kanata.
However, Muneyoshi's strong will prevented him from succumbing to despair.
This is like someone who is dreaming, clearly aware that they are dreaming, but just can't wake up.
After his will "awakened," Muneyoshi tried to break free, but his heart was completely enveloped by the joyful emotions that belonged to Irie.
His physical strength was greatly depleted from the constant resistance.
"Saeki -kun, what's wrong with happiness? Why resist it?"
While controlling Muneyoshi's performance, Irie was still trying to undermine Muneyoshi's resolve. "Isn't the most beautiful thing in the world a stage play? Let's put on a magnificent performance together!"
"Ahhh... Get away... This isn't true happiness for me, this isn't the happiness I want..."
"I don't want to perform either!"
Bang!
Irie narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly, then delivered another powerful blow, sending the tennis ball flying towards Muneyoshi's feet.
"Ah!!!"
The remaining, weakened, and scattered spiritual energy was forcibly gathered by his will once again, and Muneyoshi regained control of his body for a moment. His eyes were extremely cold.
Without dodging or avoiding, he directly controlled his body to crash into the tennis ball.
Bang!
A dull thud that hit the skin.
The tennis ball that Irie returned with great force struck Saeki Muneyoshi squarely on the forehead.
"Snort..."
Suddenly everything went black, and Muneyoshi's body fell backward instantly.
Thump!
His hair, already soaked with sweat, became covered in dust after he fell to the ground, turning almost all of his white hair gray.
A clear mark from a tennis ball had appeared on Saeki Muneyoshi's forehead.
The intense pain and the humiliation of being manipulated finally forced the pleasurable emotions to be suppressed.
Muneyoshi struggled to his feet, panting heavily.
Driven by the combined effects of pain and shame, he finally broke free.
"They actually managed to get rid of it..."
A flash of white light Irie's round glasses, followed by a chuckle as he said, "As expected of Saeki -kun, you're already 30-0."
The match has reached match point for Irie.
However, Muneyoshi ignored all of this at the moment. After regaining control of his body, the competition was no longer on his mind.
He no longer cared about the competition; all that remained was the endless rage in his heart.
Regarding his own anger.
Because of his arrogance, especially after combining darkness with mental power and developing a new ultimate move.
He recklessly used his habitual playing style without fully understanding his opponent's abilities.
He exposed his own weaknesses first, allowing his opponent to exploit them. For four whole games, no one realized that he had already fallen into the Irie Kanata.
However, anger did not overwhelm Muneyoshi's rationality. More than anger, he now wanted to prove himself.
Even just one goal would be great!
He silently walked towards the baseline for receiving the serve, the whites of his eyes completely gone, filled with darkness, and he exuded an extremely dangerous aura.
"Oh dear, it seems I've gone a bit too far..."
Although Irie Kanata maintained a smile on his face, he had become wary in his heart.
Bang!
He served another quick serve, and then sprinted to the net.
Instead of catching the ball as usual, Muneyoshi stared intently at Irie Kanata with his dark eyes and took a step forward.
Swish!
With his right hand holding the racket, Saeki Muneyoshi exuded a dark aura, and the Dark Light Orbs he had painstakingly condensed behind him converged entirely towards his left and right hands.
His left hand clenched loosely in front of his chest, and his remaining spiritual energy frantically gathered, bursting into a ball of purplish-black flame in his palm, which devoured all the light around him.
The flames in his palm expanded as he absorbed the energy, enveloping his entire arm and then spreading along Muneyoshi's arm.
Shadows instantly enveloped Muneyoshi's entire body.
An oppressive aura that sent chills down one's spine emanated from him and spread outwards across the court; a cold and sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
"Is this sharp feeling a sign that some ultimate technique is about to be used?"
Saeki Muneyoshi's changes naturally did not escape the Irie Kanata.
In previous junior high school competitions and even in this away game, he had seen many strong opponents, but he had never seen anyone as sharp and ruthless as Saeki Muneyoshi.
Suddenly, he saw that the racket in Saeki Muneyoshi's hand seemed to change under the convergence of the Dark Light Orbs. The racket kept elongating and turned into the shape of a pitch-black katana.
The streaks of purple light that constantly darted along the black blade sent a chill down his spine.
Thump!
Muneyoshi slightly bent his knees and stomped his foot forward!
Irie Kanata's serve flowed like mercury, spreading out across Saeki Muneyoshi's side of the court in the blink of an eye.
Muneyoshi swept his gaze around and clearly saw the trajectory of the ball, his aura becoming increasingly profound.
Step~
He shifted his body in a flash, his highly concentrated mental energy allowing him to temporarily ignore the interference of Irie's mental energy, and accurately blocked a certain point on the hair extension.
Swish!
Muneyoshi, wielding a black katana, swung his arm and, without the slightest hesitation, slashed downwards.
The next instant, Muneyoshi's cold voice resounded throughout the entire stadium.
"Shadow Sever: Chaotic Flower Burial!"
Clang!
Bang!
At this moment, everyone watching on the monitor experienced a brief pause in their thoughts.
This is an absolute speed that they can hardly perceive.
The tennis ball flew back in an instant, transforming into a thick, black thread, like a streak of light, stirring up the extreme darkness.
The extreme darkness seemed to erode everything in its path, and the sky above the entire stadium appeared to have darkened considerably.
In Irie Kanata's view, a piece of the mental stage he had constructed using his mental power was suddenly erased.
In the pure and innocent world of the mind, a black line abruptly divided it into two parts.
The vanished portion transformed into streaks of black petals that drifted down...
Those extremely condensed black threads were the sharp edge that Saeki Muneyoshi wielded with a black blade, forcefully cutting through the air.
The tennis ball, carrying with it a profound darkness and extreme destructive power, swept through the air.
The blade sliced through the air and cut through space.
The cold and pure darkness twisted the spiritual world that Irie Kanata had constructed into a tangled mess.
The magnificent opera stage was also forcibly cleaved apart at this moment.
"I can't believe they could do that!"
Kanata Irie Kanata's powerful mental strength instantly exempted her from Muneyoshi's mental influence.
But the moment he regained consciousness, before the smile on his lips could even fade, that malicious black thread had already sliced through the space of the court.
A flicker of fear crossed his eyes; he, too, had no way to avoid this ball!
"Haa!"
For the first time Irie Kanata's expression changed, becoming somewhat ferocious.
He raised his rackets with both hands, holding them in front of him, hoping to block the tennis ball that Muneyoshi was hitting.
Whoosh!!
A streak of black light flashed past.
A sharp pain shot through Irie Kanata's wrist.
The next instant, he was knocked back four or five steps, his back slamming into the iron net behind him.
Thump!
The teeth-grinding scraping sound continued, as Muneyoshi imbued the tennis ball with extreme destructive power, tearing apart Irie's racket and plunging it heavily into the iron net.
The wire mesh was deeply dented, and the tennis balls were embedded in it, constantly emitting wisps of smoke.
P. S.: This chapter has been revised many times, please vote with monthly tickets!
This chapter has been revised several times. Originally, it was supposed to be two chapters, and the plan was to give the protagonist a power-up, but I wasn't satisfied with the later parts, so I deleted many of the ultimate breakthrough states. I think it's fine as it is for now, and we'll talk about those states later.
Requesting monthly votes~