Ryoma Echizen Thinks He's Got It Again

Bang!

Another standard Twist Serve; after a crisp click of Echizen racket, the tennis ball hurtled rapidly towards Aoi Kentaro's feet. 6̷9̷s̷h̷u̷x̷.̷c̷o̷m̷

"Good timing! Now you can witness my Sniper Tennis! Cheers!"

On the opposite side, Aoi Kentaro exhaled and suddenly let out a loud shout. He took a half step to the side with his left foot, raised his racket backward, and the intense pressure made his muscles very visible.

Bang!

The racket steadily covered the tennis ball, and Kentaro smashed it back with a smash, instantly increasing both speed and power.

Seeing that this move couldn't score directly, Horio Satoshi from the sidelines, was utterly devastated. "They actually managed to return the Twist Serve?"

"Hmph, not bad at all."

However, Echizen was different from them; he believed that it was perfectly normal for the other party to retaliate.

Echizen sprinted forward, his figure flashing as he chased after the tennis ball.

Echizen's expression was very serious. The moment he reached the landing point, he used the momentum of his racket to strike the ball directly.

However, the moment he received the ball, his expression changed; the opponent's shot was completely different in power from before.

"How can it be so heavy?"

Echizen looked at the other side in shock, only to find that Aoi Kentaro also had a happy expression on his face, as if he was quite comfortable under such pressure.

Sizzle!

The sudden increase in force compressed Echizen's net to its limit, and unable to adapt to this change in power Echizen Ryoma couldn't even control his counterattack.

"Out of bounds! Rokkaku Middle School's Aoi Kentaro scores, 15 to 30."

As expected, it went out of bounds. The referee swept his hand over the mark outside the boundary line and immediately announced the result.

"Huh, you big liar, that first-year Seigaku actually got countered by a first-year student from Rokkaku? What does 'Sniper Tennis' mean?"

In a corner outside the arena, Tachibana An, eating ice cream, tilted her head and asked Muneyoshi a question.

Looking at Tachibana An's adorable appearance, Muneyoshi patted her hair and said softly, "So-called Sniper Tennis is just a technique that involves alternating the use of power."

"Aoi Kentaro from Rokkaku Middle School should be a player who has just begun to master this technique of controlling the rhythm of the game by varying the power of his tennis shots."

"His strength is not bad among junior high school students, but he poses no threat to our Fudomine."

"Since he poses no threat to our Fudomine, I don't need to create another file on him, which will make things easier for me." Tachibana An nodded with complete trust, her voice sweet and innocent.

"You~"

Muneyoshi gently pinched the tip of Tachibana An's nose and smiled indulgently.

Because of his laziness, many things in the Tennis Club were done by the siblings Tachibana Kippei and Tachibana An, so when Tachibana An wanted to slack off, he didn't have the confidence to refuse.

After joking around with Tachibana An for a while, Muneyoshi's gaze returned to the court.

However, at this moment, his gaze shifted slightly when he looked at Aoi Kentaro.

It wasn't his skill that impressed Muneyoshi, but rather the way he played tennis, especially his philosophy of Sniper Tennis, that reminded him of someone.

A very powerful opponent.

Mars di Cologne, the Spain cross-dressing icon, the strongest trump card in Spain doubles, and a key player for the Spain Team.

Muneyoshi and Mars are acquaintances; even Medrano is probably not as familiar with him as Mars.

The two met in Spain when Muneyoshi was a freshman. At that time, Medrano was attacked and hospitalized, and the Spain Team came to visit him.

That's when Muneyoshi met him, and got to know this guy who always dressed in women's clothing, even when playing tennis, he wore a women's tennis skirt.

Back when the World Tournament group stage draw was underway, Mars even tried to poach Muneyoshi from Spain in front of Byōdōin.

This is why Byōdōin harbored such resentment towards Spain, and ultimately directed that anger at Tokugawa.

Mars's most impressive skills are his Sniper Tennis and his ability to Absolute Paralysis for five seconds.

His sniping skills can take down and knock out another representative of the Spain team, Rodriguez, from 200 meters away.

Furthermore, it can paralyze the opponent's hand with every return shot, whether it's one hand or the other.

Of course, compared to Mars, Aoi Kentaro's sniping skills are child's play.

Thinking of this, Muneyoshi smiled. Comparing this kid to Mars was inherently unfair to him.

At this moment, the match on the field entered its most intense phase.

"Game, Rokkaku Middle School's Aoi Kentaro scores, score 4-3."

"Switch courts!"

As the two figures crossed paths, Echizen Ryoma, having learned of the other's true strength, curled his lips into a smirk, his swagger reappearing once more.

"While your sniping is interesting, if you don't get a chance to catch the ball, you're out of options."

Upon hearing this, Aoi Kentaro gripped the handle of his racket tightly, and his previously fierce gaze calmed down.

Echizen Ryoma's words essentially mean that he won't be able to touch the ball again except for serving.

Such arrogant words made the faces of the Rokkaku Middle School students watching from the sidelines look rather unpleasant.

"Kentaro's pressure-based style of play and his Sniper Tennis —he found his weaknesses so quickly?"

Two puffs of white breath escaped from Itsuki Kihiko's nostrils, his tone somewhat resentful.

However, the change in gaze was exactly as Echizen Ryoma had predicted.

Bang!

"Game, Seigaku Echizen Ryoma, 5-4!"

"Change of scenery."

He won two games in a row with almost unstoppable momentum, and Echizen Ryoma didn't care whether his opponent was angry or not.

What could be more meaningful than regaining the confidence to win?

After the change of ends, the game continued.

In the final game, the tenth game, it was Echizen Ryoma's turn to serve again.

This time, Ryoma did not use Twist Serve, but instead used his left hand to hit a super-fast serve, and applied a stronger sidespin when serving.

Bang!

A sharp gust of wind swept through, and the tennis balls made a series of popping sounds.

Driven by a strong offensive desire, Echizen's agile and nimble body Echizen moved across the field.

This kind of performance, getting stronger and stronger as the game progresses, is quite surprising.

"This is the Samurai Second Generation, Echizen Ryoma..."

On the other side of the guardrail, Inoue Mamoru looked at that brave and fearless figure, as if he were seeing a young Echizen Nanjirō appear before him.

Moreover, Ryoma seemed to be getting more and more comfortable as the fight progressed, as if he had been freed from a shackle.

Boom!

The tennis ball tore and vibrated through the air, drawing a beam of yellow light directly above the center of the net.

The strong wind made the net swing.

The aura of selflessness had been rekindled by Echizen Ryoma at some point.

Bathed in Echizen of selflessness, Echizen's gaze was persistent and unwavering, and a very familiar posture kept changing in his pupils.

He used a move that even I couldn't imitate before, and now he used it directly.

With a twist of his waist, Echizen Ryoma squatted down, leaping into the air, his racket sweeping across the tennis ball.

Boom!

With a deafening roar, a blinding white light crashed back down beside Aoi Kentaro.

It stirred up a lot of smoke and dust, which continued until the smoke and dust cleared up.

The spectators on the sidelines were shocked to see Aoi Kentaro lying on the ground.

"That's... Akutsu's violent return shot!"

"The little one didn't learn the demonic aura; instead, he directly replaced it with the aura of selflessness?"

"Game 1, Seigaku's Echizen Ryoma wins, score 6-4."

The referee immediately announced the result of the match.

On the coach's bench.

"Coach Ryuzaki, congratulations to Seigaku!"

"Thank you, your first-year students are also very impressive." Coach Ryuzaki smiled at Rokkaku Old Man.

" In the Kanto Tournament, Seigaku Rokkaku Middle School Seigaku with a perfect 3-0 record, advancing to the next round!"

The crushing 3-0 scoreline declared that Seigaku had once again demonstrated its strength, advancing to the semifinals and qualifying for the National Tournament.

"Let's go, An, we should head back."

The spectators surrounding the stadium slowly dispersed.

It was then that the audience realized that the teams from Fudomine, Hyotei Academy, and Rikkai Dai had also arrived.

The four finalists have now been determined.

Meanwhile, Echizen Ryoma, standing in the center of the field, listened to the spectators' discussions and looked around the field.

They saw the groups from Fudomine, Hyotei Academy, and Rikkai Dai.

For some reason, Echizen Ryoma, who had been somewhat depressed before, reverted to his arrogant nature after basking in this victory.

Compared to his previous losing streak, Echizen Ryoma now felt that his tennis career after returning to Japan should be like this...

After glancing at his opponents, a slight smile crept onto his lips as he uttered his favorite phrase once more:

"The semifinals, here I come! Yukimura Seiichi of Rikkai Dai and Saeki Muneyoshi of Fudomine, I will definitely beat you! You're still a long way off..."

Upon hearing this, the previously noisy stadium fell silent.

Everyone stared blankly at Echizen, who was spouting nonsense on the court, and even the members of Seigaku forgot to stop him.

"Hmph, what are you chattering about? Kid, you want to fight our minister? Wait until you've beaten me first!"

Kirihara Akaya from the Rikkai Dai region immediately retorted, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

At the same time, Shinji and Kamio from Fudomine also reprimanded Echizen Ryoma.

Yukimura from Rikkai Dai frowned but remained silent; he wasn't one to talk the talk.

However, Muneyoshi wasn't the type to tolerate such pretentious behavior. He was about to leave when he heard those words and couldn't help but scoff.

"Heh, looks like the beating you got before... wasn't enough! Wait until you're right in front of me, then I'll personally teach you a lesson!"

After saying that, Muneyoshi led the Fudomine members away.

The sky cleared, the rain stopped, Echizen Ryoma felt like he was back in action...

In Muneyoshi's view, such a person should certainly be made to experience what hell is like.

P. S.: "Please give double the reward for this long chapter! Last day!"

I've been working myself to the bone while sick, so I'm asking for monthly votes. If you have any, please give them to me, as they expire today~

Also, fellow book lovers, please be careful not to catch a cold. I caught one after I came back.