A Crushing Defeat (Part 2)

"What's wrong? What's wrong with Ryoma?"

"Why did he stop moving when he had such a good chance to retaliate?"

"Really? Is Ryoma already tired?"

The three giants of Seigaku all raised their own questions. ♔✌ 💢🍮

Their negative attitude displeased Osakada Tomoka, a die-hard fan, and the group immediately started arguing.

At this moment, Inui Sadaharu, who had been recording data on the sidelines, glanced at them and then said:

"Temporary paralysis, one of the signature moves of Ibu Shinji of Fudomine Junior High, involves continuously hitting Topspin and backspin balls to fatigue the opponent's wrist and muscles through constant twisting."

"When this fatigue reaches a critical point, it will instantly paralyze the opponent's swinging hand, just like what you just saw!"

After finishing speaking, Inui Sadaharu turned to another page in his notebook and continued:

"This tactic is most effective against opponents who can engage in direct confrontation, and it can even be used to counter opponents who are slightly stronger."

"However, Echizen hadn't been able to truly keep up with Ibu Shinji's pace, so many of his spin shots resulted in direct points."

This is probably why the temporary paralysis has only taken effect now!

"It seems we need to record more data regarding Ibu Shinji..."

After explaining, Inui Sadaharu stopped paying attention to the first-year students and continued calculating the data he had collected.

His explanation just now left the group looking at each other in bewilderment.

After a brief silence, Katsuro was the first to break it. "Horio, according to what Miki-senpai said, doesn't that mean the guy from Fudomine on the other side is much stronger than Ryoma?"

"How is this possible... and is it really possible to temporarily paralyze someone? Their tennis is so different from ours..."

"Aaaaaah!"

Horio Satoshi scratched his hair in frustration. "No matter how they did it, what Senior Gan said means that Echizen has no chance of winning!"

Seeing Fudomine's Ibu Shinji take another point, bringing them to match point, the three Horio players grew increasingly impatient.

They were initially very confident in Seigaku's strength, but now they were starting to waver.

Even the cheers for Echizen Ryoma subsided.

The strength displayed by Ibu Shinji is too terrifying. It seems that Echizen Ryoma has no other way out but to surrender.

"Echizen!"

"Little one!"

Seeing Echizen Ryoma struggling on the field, seemingly reaching his breaking point, the Seigaku members shouted to cheer him on.

The seventh game was still Echizen Ryoma's serve.

Years of training, along with intense matches against Echizen Nanjirō, gave Echizen Ryoma a powerful physique and stamina, as well as a high battle IQ.

But those were all training sessions and informal matches.

Over the years, Echizen Ryoma has never lost a single official match.

This also fostered his extremely strong self-confidence.

He might even say in the future, "In tennis, he will not lose to anyone," a boast that even Saeki Muneyoshi wouldn't dare to utter.

However, all of that is probably gone now; the feeling of defeat has truly enveloped Echizen Ryoma.

Standing on the service line, Echizen's mind raced, constantly searching for a way to break the deadlock.

Bang!

He tossed the ball and raised his racket; the tennis ball flew back into Ibu Shinji's half of the court.

"Once the paralysis begins, it will never stop!"

Bang!

The racket's afterimage swept past the point where the tennis ball landed, and the mustard-yellow ball vanished in an instant.

When they reappeared, a cloud of dust rose from Echizen Ryoma's half of the court, accompanied by the sound of a racket falling to the ground.

Then came the hissing sound of the tennis ball rubbing violently against the net.

"Fudomine Ibu Shinji scores, making the score 15-0."

When Shinji's return shot was hit by Echizen's net, his temporary paralysis returned, and the tennis ball knocked his racket away.

After slightly loosening his wrists, Echizen picked up his racket and went to the left service court.

The numbness in his left hand made him subconsciously use his right hand to serve. This instantaneous change of racket gave him a quick solution, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

However, Shinji wouldn't hold back; his left and right hands meant nothing to him.

Seeing Echizen serve again, the power of his right hand was much weaker than that of his left.

"Too slow!"

With a single glance, Ibu Shinji anticipated the landing point of the tennis ball, took a step forward, and moved swiftly.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared at the landing point of the tennis ball, using the momentum of running to generate powerful force in his arm, then pulled back and swung the racket fiercely!

At the instant the tennis ball bounces back, Shinji unleashes a powerful swing using his racket!

Boom!

The tennis ball transformed into a streak of light, swirling backwards, its target aimed Echizen Ryoma's sideline!

Tap tap tap...

Although Shinji's counterattack was swift, Echizen Ryoma did not give up. Instead, he continued to take Single-Footed Split Step, chasing after the tennis ball that was about to fall to the sideline.

"Keep it up, little one."

[ ]

"Tch! That kid's speed isn't fast enough!"

"Damn it, we can't catch up at that speed, and there's also the temporary paralysis..."

Outside the stadium, the Seigaku players seemed to have already predicted the outcome of this shot.

"As expected, it really was just a little short... but it's not unsolvable."

Echizen Ryoma was well aware of his own disadvantages, and a glint flashed in his eyes.

During the movement, the racket in the right hand was directly switched to the left hand.

Dual Wielding!

This is a technique that Echizen Ryoma stole from Echizen Nanjirō.

Despite moving quickly, the rhythm Echizen remained stable.

After switching hands, he forcefully pulled the racket towards the tennis ball.

Bang!

The tennis ball traced an exaggerated parabola through the air, plummeting towards Fudomine's backcourt!

"Change of hands..."

"Ambidextrous, it can actually break paralysis like the Minister and Yukimura?"

Upon seeing Echizen Ryoma's retort, Shinji's gaze also sharpened.

He was well aware of his weaknesses, which he had temporarily numb; after all, he had personally experienced the Ambidexterity among the junior high school students.

Unexpectedly, this guy on the other side also instinctively broke through his move at this critical moment.

However, he is no longer just temporarily paralyzed.

Thinking of this, Shinji's eyes flashed with a grayish-white light, which clung to the racket, causing the racket face to emit a faint glow.

"They fought back!"

"Not paralyzed!"

"The temporary paralysis has been broken!"

"Well done! Echizen, that's it! Let's bring the score back in one fell swoop!"

Seeing that Echizen seemed to have regained the upper hand, the Horio trio plus Tomoka immediately cheered loudly for Echizen Ryoma.

Tap tap...

Ibu Shinji's figure sped from midfield towards the backfield.

As he chased the ball with his back to the goal, a grayish-white glow constantly clung to Shinji's racket.

As the tennis ball landed and was about to bounce again, Ibu Shinji exerted force with his foot, causing his shoe to screech violently against the court.

With this burst of energy, they finally caught up with the ball. Shinji glanced at Echizen Ryoma on the other side, his right palm Shinji clenched.

A grayish-white Light Ball appeared in his palm.

At the same time, the racket, imbued with spiritual power, directly caught the tennis ball.

A grayish-white light enveloped the tennis ball.

Nightmare!

Gemini!

Bang! Whoosh!

Two tennis balls flew over the net in an instant, and after landing, they quickly rushed towards Echizen.

Suddenly, Echizen, whose mental focus was incredibly sharp, saw a terrifying figure appear before him.

Tennis seems to have cast a shadow over it.

Before he could dodge, the shadow struck Echizen Ryoma directly. The tremor in his heart caused by Ibu Shinji's all-around crushing victory was connected with his deepest fear.

Like a fuse, the nightmare erupted instantly.

This froze him completely.

Then two shadows knocked his racket away again, and the tennis ball flashed past Echizen Ryoma!

"Fudomine Ibu Shinji scores, score 30-0."

The referee immediately blew his whistle and announced the score.

"What's this..."

Echizen Ryoma raised his head, his Ibu Shinji opposite him.

Echizen Ryoma's personality meant he had very few fears, so this move didn't bother him as much as Shinji had thought.

But the impact of this completely different path in tennis is real.

He himself had just used Dual Wielding to break Ibu Shinji's paralysis.

But in the blink of an eye, Ibu Shinji unleashed an even more terrifying and irresistible attack.

"Japan, how interesting!"

Bang!

Snap~

With the final shot knocking Echizen Ryoma's racket away once again, the match came to an end.

"Game 7: The singles match between Seigaku and Fudomine Junior High, number three, has ended. Fudomine Junior High 'Ibu Shinji has won, with a score of 6-1."

After the match, Echizen shook hands with Shinji and silently returned to the rest area.

After taking the towel from Momoshiro Takeshi, he put it directly on his head.

He remained completely silent throughout.

This match was a complete and utter defeat for Echizen Ryoma.

None of his methods were effective against his opponent.

Ibu Shinji was able to score frequently using only Basic Tennis skills, as he worked hard to catch up with his opponent's pace.

His opponent only slightly demonstrated the ability to paralyze, yet he was already struggling to defend himself.

Although Dual Wielding could counter this, when Shinji finally unleashed his full power at the last moment, Shinji's suppression left him with almost no chance to fight back.

To think that he, the Prince of Tennis, maintained an undefeated record in the main draw of America, would have his career ended so badly in his very first main draw singles match after returning to Japan.

"Ibu Shinji... Fudomine..."