A Tie

Bang!

"Mori Juzaburo scores, 40:0."

Bang!

"Game! Mori Juzaburo wins, score 1-0."

With his superior skill, Mouri easily held serve and took the first game.

"Change venues!"

The serve went to Ibu Shinji.

Tap tap... slap!

He lightly tapped the tennis ball in his hand, then squeezed it tightly.

Ibu Shinji held the tennis ball in his hand, his deep gaze sweeping over Mori Juzaburo's stance and body.

His greatest advantage lies in his strong control over his emotions, which prevents him from panicking even when he is in a passive position.

However, his calm demeanor did not mean he did not want to get revenge.

"Let's go for it!"

With a soft hum in his heart, Ibu Shinji's deep eyes brightened.

Swish~

He tossed the tennis ball high in front of his body, then pushed off with the toes of his right foot, a motion that gave his body a forward sprinting burst of power.

With a flick of his elbow, Ibu Shinji pressed forward forcefully, feeling a surge of power coursing through his body, and sensing the wind pressure generated by his powerful swing.

Bang!

A surging wave of air emanated from the racket, compressing the tennis ball into a long, spindle-shaped arc that pierced the air and hurtled towards Mori Juzaburo's court.

The next second!

Boom!

When a tennis ball touches the ground, it generates intense spin, which makes the angle at which it bounces up extremely aggressively.

Mouri watched the tennis ball bounce towards his face and smiled knowingly.

Sidespin serve!

He recognized the move immediately; it was one of the Fudomine moves that Fudomine Tachibana Kippei had previously demonstrated.

Compared to Tachibana Kippei's controllable launch angle, Shinji's launch angle is much less variable.

"Hey, those scary little tricks won't work on me at all!"

With a casual sidestep and turn, Mouri instantly circled behind the tennis ball.

He flipped his wrist and smashed the ball back with ease, easily returning Ibu Shinji's sidespin serve.

Moreover, the speed of the returned tennis ball was so fast that it landed directly on the sideline of Shinji's side.

Just like when Shinji first retaliated against his move.

"Truly worthy of being one of Rikkai Dai's ace singles players, he's incredibly strong!"

"It seems we were too hasty in saying that Rikkai Dai was no good."

"Fudomine is strong, but still a little lacking. This year's Kanto champion will probably still be Rikkai Dai! Rikkai Dai is simply unbeatable in every aspect..."

Seeing this, the spectators outside the stadium had given up all hope that Fudomine Rikkai Dai the second singles match.

Mori Juzaburo's strength began to be revealed, directly blocking Fudomine seemed to have a chance.

Bang!

A heavy thud came from Ibu Shinji's racket, and the moment they made contact, a powerful force relentlessly impacted his arm.

"This guy's getting stronger and stronger..."

The continuous parries and returns put immense pressure on Shinji's wrist.

Shinji frowned slightly, tilted his racket slightly, and the tennis ball flew diagonally out of bounds, brushing against the racket face.

"Mori Juzaburo scores, score 40-15."

Back at the baseline, Shinji serves again.

As Shinji's serve flew into Mouri's half of the court, his body moved swiftly, carrying powerful momentum and sprinting force to catch up with the tennis ball!

Then, with a powerful swing of his arm and wrist, Mouri's racket left a trail of afterimages.

Bang!

The tennis ball traced a sharp arc through the air, and this ball, combining speed and power, went straight through Ibu Shinji's legs!

A direct return shot scores the point!

"Game! Mori Juzaburo scores, score 2-0."

Ibu Shinji's sidespin serve is hardly a threat to a player of Mouri's caliber.

His serve was easily broken.

Realizing the vast difference in strength, Shinji abandoned his conservative approach and became more aggressive.

He launched a fierce attack, Shinji knew perfectly well that passive defense was simply no match for the opponent's offensive.

Since that's the case, he might as well be more direct and use his newly acquired mental strength to quickly make his temporarily paralyzed ball skills take effect.

Therefore, for the rest of the time, all of Ibu Shinji's counterattacks were fixed movements.

He continuously applied Topspin and backspin to Mori Juzaburo.

"Ha! This stubborn way of returning the ball, along with the constant topspin and backspin, is the prerequisite that Liu mentioned for the opponent to use temporary paralysis?"

Mouri's lips curled up slightly. If that was all, given his control over his body, he would probably disappoint Shinji.

"However, he's just a first-grader after all. It's quite genius that he could come up with such an idea. I'll hold back a little so I can see what this so-called temporary paralysis is all about!"

Swish!

After tossing the tennis ball high into the air, Mouri jumped up, bent his knees, and slammed his racket down hard on the falling ball.

Bang!

The tennis ball, seemingly full of impact, cut through the air with a whistling sound, landing once again in Ibu Shinji.

"Huh? What's going on? Why have my speed and strength suddenly weakened!"

Although nothing seemed to have changed, Shinji, who had already played several rounds with Mouri and gotten used to the increasingly faster speed and power, immediately sensed something was wrong.

But Shinji couldn't figure out the reason for a while, and looked at Mouri with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"Hmph! Mouri Mori feels victory is in his grasp and is starting to act recklessly again!"

Mouri's change was obvious, and it didn't escape the notice of Sanada and Yukimura, who knew him well. Sanada, who deeply abhorred this behavior of not giving his all in the game, let out a cold snort.

They had initially assumed that Mori Juzaburo had made changes because he was so serious from the start of the match.

Unexpectedly, he was still the same in his nature.

Sanada, who is quite strict with himself and his teammates, has always disapproved of Mori Juzaburo's lax attitude.

If it weren't for the fact that even with his current strength, he couldn't gain the upper hand against Mouri, he would definitely have captured him and subjected him to forced training.

"Forget it, Genichiro, Mouri- senpai's bad habits can't be changed anytime soon. Let him play if he wants to!"

Seeing Sanada Yukimura his hand to calm his friend who was rising in anger.

Having recovered somewhat after his defeat, Sanada once again became the emperor of Rikkai Dai.

In contrast, Yukimura Seiichi was much calmer.

Compared to Sanada's focus on the process, Yukimura cared more about the result.

As long as Mori Juzaburo wins, no matter how he plays, Yukimura Seiichi won't say anything.

Rather than focusing on the football field, Yukimura had more important things to do at the moment.

That is to figure out a strategy for dealing with Saeki Muneyoshi in the next round.

If Muneyoshi were here at this moment, he could clearly sense that Yukimura Seiichi's spiritual power had begun to surge again.

Moreover, the momentum is even stronger.

As Mouri deliberately suppressed his strength, the match seemed to become evenly matched.

This excited the spectators outside the arena, as well as the first-year students from Fudomine.

"Shinji, that's it!"

Wow, Shinji has become so amazing!

"Oh, what a pity! We were so close to winning this game!"

"This temporary paralysis has taken effect, Shinji! Good, we have a chance! Shinji, try to turn the tide!"

Kamio Akira, Ishida Tetsu, and several other first-year students started discussing it excitedly.

However, if they were to look back at the expressions of the two ministers and their senior classmates, they probably wouldn't be so happy.

Bang!

The tennis ball landed right at Mao's feet, and bounced just high enough for Mouri to swing his arm and return it.

However, the next moment, his right hand went numb again and he couldn't use it at all.

"Wow, that's amazing, you've temporarily put me on my guard again~"

Mouri showed no panic, and chuckled softly, "But I still have my left hand to use!"

With his left hand, Mouri's swing was quite powerful.

Boom!

A loud cracking sound rang out, and the tennis ball flew into Shinji's half of the court in an instant, without stopping for a moment.

"A tie, 40:40."

The referee's voice rang out.

"Little guy, those are some interesting skills. But now that I've had my fill of a few games, it's time to end this match!"

Seeing the tennis ball fly towards him again, Mouri lost interest in playing. He swung his racket and smashed the ball down hard.

Boom!

The tennis ball transformed into a streak of light, instantly piercing through Shinji's court and scoring a point!

Bang!

"Match ended! Rikkai Dai High School's Mori Juzaburo wins, score 6:1."

"Rikkai Dai won the singles match 2. In the Kanto Tournament Semifinals, Fudomine faced Rikkai Dai, tying the overall score at 2-2."

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