True Twist Serve

Echizen Ryoga raised an eyebrow. The aura that Saeki Muneyoshi was constantly gathering and his fighting spirit could not escape his eyes.

"Oh! Interesting..."

Echizen Ryoga glanced at Saeki Muneyoshi, his mind racing with thoughts.

It seemed like he was meeting Saeki Muneyoshi for the first time, but judging from Saeki Muneyoshi's wary posture and the challenger's eyes full of fighting spirit, he seemed to know something about him.

But Echizen Ryoga couldn't recall where he had seen Muneyoshi before.

Don't doubt Echizen Ryoga's paranoia. For someone like him who's involved in the Underground Tennis World, Muneyoshi's change in attitude is something to be wary of.

Otherwise, it's easy to crash at any time.

However, Echizen Ryoga was quite certain of Saeki Muneyoshi's information, so his wariness was only momentary, and an interested smile appeared on his lips.

"Just!"

"Good!"

Muneyoshi looked at the referee beside him.

Snap!

The coin landed, and both of them looked down at the ground simultaneously.

"Looks like today is my lucky day."

Echizen Ryoga smiled lightly, picked up his racket in one hand, and walked towards his backcourt.

"Echizen Ryoga, I know your strength, but if you think you can easily defeat me, you're in for a disappointment!"

At the bottom line, Muneyoshi frowned as he saw that Echizen Ryoga had no serious attitude at all, and provoked him slightly.

"Really? It seems my gut feeling was right. I don't know where you got that information from, but as for your abilities... well, I'll be watching closely."

Looking at Muneyoshi across from him, Ryoga's expression was full of amusement.

However, after being slightly provoked by Muneyoshi's words, a serious look appeared in his eyes.

"Then let's see how good you are!"

He tossed the tennis ball high, then jumped up, his left hand swung back, and a blur of an arm flashed above his head Echizen Ryoga swung the ball.

Muneyoshi's eyes lit up at the familiar posture and perfectly synchronized movements.

This is Echizen Nanjirō's signature serve: the Twist Serve!

"If it were used by Echizen Ryoga, it should have some of the spirit of Echizen Nanjirō, right?"

Muneyoshi's eyes were fixed on Ryoga's body, not intending to miss a single movement.

Bang!

After the tennis ball flew off the racket, it was like a streak of light, moving at an astonishing speed. Even Akutsu, Yukimura, Atobe, and others with excellent dynamic vision couldn't see the trajectory of the ball clearly from the sidelines.

The sudden appearance of this opponent caused the expressions of the Japan Team members watching from the sidelines to become extremely serious.

"This guy hits the tennis ball very fast! He's very strong."

Tanegashima Shūji was no longer in a lazy mood. His eyes were wide open, his gaze following the trajectory of the tennis ball with alertness.

"That's right, I didn't expect America to have a hidden expert. This guy dares to go up against Muneyoshi, so he's definitely not here with good intentions!"

At this moment, Oni Jūjirō also arrived at the sidelines.

He originally thought America only had Reinhardt hiding, but he didn't expect...

"Although this unknown guy hits the tennis ball very fast, given Saeki -kun's skill level, that guy's serve shouldn't pose much of a threat to him."

Although the serve was of high quality, Irie knew how formidable Muneyoshi was.

Not only him, but the junior high school students also didn't believe that Ryoga's shot would stump Muneyoshi.

"You seniors are giving him too much credit. Although this guy is strong, Muneyoshi should have no problem defeating him."

The worries of Oni and Tanegashima put immense pressure on the middle school students. Sanada let out a cold laugh, knowing that Muneyoshi's strength and personality meant he would not fail so easily.

On the field.

Step... step...

Muneyoshi took a step forward, his speed exploding, and the Darkness Field began to envelop the entire half of the field as he moved.

Muneyoshi brought his own defensive stance to its fullest potential. While clearly seeing the trajectory of the tennis ball, the purplish-black Glowing Flame wrapped around each string like silk threads.

As he watched countless Dark Radiance swirling around Saeki Muneyoshi, Ryoga let out a soft laugh:

"I never imagined that your Path of Darkness would take such a completely different direction from Amadeus's, and that your techniques would be so interesting."

"Did you think that after all that preparation and preparatory movements, you could return my serve?"

Echizen Ryoga immediately put away his racket and let out a sneer.

He seemed completely unconcerned about the tennis ball being returned, and looking at Muneyoshi preparing to return it, he said with a hint of sarcasm, "I forgot to tell you, my serve... can curve..."

Upon hearing this, Muneyoshi's heart tightened, and his racket was about to collide with the tennis ball.

As Echizen Ryoga speaking, the tennis ball, which had bounced off the ground, suddenly made a nimble turn during its flight.

After dodging Muneyoshi's swing, the ball flew directly to the left sideline, leaving Muneyoshi with a blank shot.

"See, you believed me now! I told you my serve would curve."

Muneyoshi ignored Ryoga's mockery. He watched the tennis ball fly out, thinking about the agility at the last moment. His mouth was slightly open, and a word suddenly came out of his mouth.

"Greece Team, Naive Tail! You actually incorporated that into your Twist Serve?"

Muneyoshi's words were tinged with disbelief, because this was an unknown variable, and he wasn't sure if Ryoga's serve could have been done this way.

But this is indeed a signature move of a master player from the Greece Team!

If the original Ryoga didn't know how, wouldn't that mean that for some other reason, he was forced to hunt down a Greece Team player?

It absorbed his ultimate move?!

"Oh? You actually know about Naive Tail!"

Ryoga, who had been smiling, turned dangerous in the eyes when Muneyoshi revealed his secret.

"Looks like you do know something! In that case, why don't you try receiving my serve!"

"Alright, then I'll break your true Twist Serve!"

Saeki Muneyoshi thought to himself, this is not the Twist Serve that Echizen Ryoma will use later, but a move derived from Echizen Nanjirō, incorporating his own elements.

A unique Twist Serve, exclusive to Echizen Ryoga.

Bang!

Another exquisite serve flew from the racket, perfectly embodying the interplay of speed and technique in tennis, and Echizen Ryoga's strength attribute was also quite high.

"Since a normal counterattack doesn't work, let's try this!"

"Dark!"

Sizzle~~

Saeki Muneyoshi exerted force with his right hand gripping the racket, and the handle seemed unable to bear the weight, creaking and groaning.

As he focused his mental energy, the scattered Darkness Field that had been dissipating outside began to return to his side.

A radius of two meters formed beneath his feet.

It was precisely because darkness was completely withdrawn.

The dark radiance was condensed to its extreme, and a darker purplish-black light, far more so than that Muneyoshi had shown before, began to seep from between Saeki Muneyoshi's fingers.

Accompanying the spread of the dark light was a powerful mental pressure and a strong sense of danger.

Moreover, a milky-white wave of air, like a shockwave, swirled up countless streams of air around Muneyoshi.

The tennis ball, which had just landed and bounced up, was enveloped by the airflow before it could react and paused for a moment.

In an instant, Muneyoshi appeared at the landing point of the tennis ball.

Falling Bright!

A surge of powerful spiritual energy erupted from the air currents, unleashing a torrent of dark shadows across the stadium, instantly filling the entire field with a terrifying and dangerous aura.

Bang! Boom!

A loud bang followed, and the huge sound of the smash echoed throughout the entire stadium.

As the tennis ball flew back, darkness began to spread, and the entire tennis ball was enveloped in continuously burning black flames.

All the secrets that Echizen Ryoga had attached to tennis were directly burned away by Muneyoshi's dark and domineering power.

At the same time, a black wall of air seemed to appear around the tennis ball. After flying over half the court, the wall of air began to expand, and the tennis ball grew larger and larger.

In the blink of an eye, the tennis ball transformed into a dark, Black Hole -like mass of energy that hurtled directly towards Echizen Ryoga.

Muneyoshi hadn't used his full power with his Darkness Shot in a long time.

Moreover, it's Darkness Shot resulting from the fusion of Darkness and Qi.

The commotion on the field was immense, and the resulting changes gave the surrounding spectators a sense that impending doom.

"Is this what Muneyoshi looks like when he goes all out?"

"Is there really such a big difference? Both that guy's serve and Muneyoshi's smash require tremendous wrist strength..."

"It seems we've been looking at the world from the bottom of a well. These two are simply overwhelmingly powerful, both in terms of strength and skill."

Before they showed Echizen Ryoga and Saeki Muneyoshi seriously.

They had initially underestimated Echizen Ryoga, but upon seeing this ball, Yukimura and the others' expressions became extremely serious.

After seeing Muneyoshi start getting serious with his second shot, Oni Jūjirō and Tanegashima's gazes towards Echizen Ryoga changed.

They knew Saeki Muneyoshi's personality well; if he hadn't felt immense pressure and recognized the opponent's formidable strength, Muneyoshi wouldn't have acted so recklessly.

Who exactly is this Echizen Ryoga? Why is Saeki Muneyoshi so wary of him?

And on the field at this moment.

When Echizen Ryoga on the opposite side saw Muneyoshi hit such a powerful shot, he laughed heartily:

"Not bad, not bad, very impressive skills. The thought of having it all mine afterward is truly exciting, but before that, let me experience all your amazing techniques first."

The next moment.

A simple, unadorned black-framed tennis racket broke through the air barrier, stopping Saeki Muneyoshi's descent into light.

The irregular spin, powerful airflow, and subtle force carried by the tennis ball were cleverly neutralized by Echizen Ryoga's gentle flick of his wrist.

"So strong!"

Seeing this, Saeki Muneyoshi's heart sank, even though he was mentally prepared and knew that the other party could retaliate.

But seeing how casually the other party spoke...

It still shocked him somewhat.

P. S.: "Starting to write about the main character and Ryoga, more chapters to come, please vote!"

The competition requires detailed writing, and it's almost the end of the month, so please vote for me!