The first set was over.
Although the high schoolers and coaches on both sides had tacitly agreed to let the middle schoolers take the lead in one match,
Niou Masaharu had clearly come out on top. His seemingly endless array of transformations had raised his ceiling by leaps and bounds.
Even Sefried, who had trained hard to master Cloudbreak during this time,
couldn't gain the upper hand against Duke Watanabe, the embodiment of traditional Western tennis, and Niou, whose transformations could reproduce the power of a Different Dimension.
In fact, even if Bismarck and Duke had both stayed out of it, Niou alone could have completely suppressed Sefried.
Faced with Niou's relentless assault, even Cloudbreak could only help Sefried fend him off with difficulty.
To truly stand a chance against him, Sefried would have to master another light.
But that was clearly impossible.
And though Niou's use of Muneyoshi's Dark Techniques was still crude, he had clearly grasped some of their essence.
He couldn't use Light-Dark Fusion, but he had gotten fairly good at using darkness to manipulate and disrupt negative emotions. His skill already showed some of Muneyoshi's flair.
Under the continuous negative interference, Sefried's will and focus had both been affected.
He was impatient, irritable, and had trouble concentrating.
Judging from the final point of the last game, he might not even be able to activate Cloudbreak again.
"Niou, great work!"
"Keep it up, Niou-senpai!"
When Niou came off the court to rest, the Japan Team's supporters outside the court—especially the Rikkai Dai contingent—cheered him on.
Muneyoshi stood outside the court and smiled at the two of them.
"Niou, don't think the version of me you transformed into represents my full strength. You'll have to work harder if you want to reach my level!"
"Puri, I'm never choosing