Seven Balls
In a secluded mountain temple, one drinks the morning dew and sleeps soundly under the glow of the setting sun.
Having left behind the hustle and bustle of Tokyo Metropolis and dispelled the malice in my heart...
Muneyoshi once again felt a long-lost sense of comfort. His strength hadn't improved, but he felt completely relaxed.
Under the guidance of Rokkaku Old Man, he was doing a training that seemed similar to, yet was completely different from, that of Byōdōin.
While unaware of Byōdōin's progress, Muneyoshi himself had made considerable gains.
Compared to his initial confusion when he first grasped the Path of Darkness, he has now taken another step forward after reviewing the intense competitions of the past few months.
Through continuous battles, he finally established his own tennis system and knew the direction for the future.
Furthermore, he truly absorbed the Path of Darkness he had already mastered into his own tennis system.
Whew~
After finishing his evening prayers, Muneyoshi glanced at Byōdōin, which remained silent with its eyes closed beneath the tree.
He did not disturb him at that moment, but waited silently until the sunset on the horizon began to fade, Byōdōin finally awoke from his meditative state.
Without further hesitation, Muneyoshi took two or three steps forward and stood under the eaves.
Whoosh!
A tennis ball flew from his hand and was thrown towards the Byōdōin Hōō.
Snap!
Without even opening his eyes, Byodoin, who was sitting Byōdōin -legged under the tree, raised his hand and precisely caught the flying tennis ball.
"Heh, can't wait any longer?"
Looking at Muneyoshi, whose face was serious and earnest but whose eyes held a burning passion, Byōdōin finally regained his composure and asked coldly, his composure gone.
Muneyoshi Byōdōin taking the competition so seriously, and he couldn't help but become serious as well.
"Senior, we agreed to have a match."
His aura began to gather, yet he showed no fear, his tone brimming with fighting spirit.
"Oh! Interesting... but I remember I said Game 7!"
"If this is a real competition, let's forget about it. I don't want to send you to hell so soon."
After a pause, Byōdōin Hōō glanced at Saeki Muneyoshi.
If his initial interest in Muneyoshi stemmed from his Old Man's introduction, then after spending a few days with him, he found that Munehiko's personality was quite to his liking.
Therefore, he mostly regarded this as guidance from a senior to a junior.
"Can!"
Muneyoshi readily agreed.
His main purpose was simply to witness the current strength of the Japan U-17 team; the tiebreaker was enough for him to understand the gap between himself and his opponents.
"Let's do it in the practice area at the back then."
Muneyoshi pointed to the sports field behind them. Although the temple was in the mountains, it was not without modern facilities.
Moreover, it was already dark, and the stadium was illuminated by bright incandescent lights.
Byōdōin's lips curled into an interested smile as he followed Muneyoshi to the practice area.
"Shall we guess which side goes first?"
"No, you can have it."
"Can!"
Since it was only a tiebreaker, Byōdōin allowed Muneyoshi to serve the first ball, and then they took turns serving twice more until whoever reached seven points first, or won by two points, would win the tiebreaker.
Muneyoshi did not refuse Byōdōin's offer of concession, knowing that his strength was inferior to Byōdōin's.
He just wanted to see just how big the difference really was!
Muneyoshi gripped his racket and walked towards his backcourt service point.
Inhale... Hah...
Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Muneyoshi cleared his mind of all inappropriate thoughts and focused all his attention, gently pressing the tennis ball in his hands.
Byōdōin Hōō was probably the strongest opponent he had encountered in the arena in a long time.
From the moment he entered the stadium, even though Byōdōin on the opposite side was just standing there casually, he felt an invisible pressure.
This pressure was more terrifying than he had ever felt before.
However, this is exactly what he wanted.
His eyes narrowed. Since there were seven balls, he had to fight for every single one!
Swish!
Without further hesitation, Muneyoshi raised his gaze and tossed the ball upwards, ready to give it his all from the very beginning.
After digesting all his achievements, Muneyoshi's tennis has entered a new realm.
Under the cover of darkness, the black light enveloped the entire stadium like a vast curtain.
Muneyoshi's unique spiritual power began to exert its influence, misleading and delaying Byōdōin's perception.
Although it's unclear how effective it will be, this is the best that Muneyoshi can achieve right now.
Bang!
The speed of darkness— Light Shadow Fleeting!
This is a further refinement of the previous serving skills.
I don't know when it happened, but Muneyoshi read a report in a third-rate tabloid that presented a novel viewpoint.
The speed of light is the limit of the speed of matter, but the speed of darkness can exceed the speed of light!
At the time, he thought it was just a joke and didn't take it seriously. But after he truly mastered the Dark, he gained a new understanding of how to develop it.
In the universe, darkness is eternal, while light and shadow are merely rays that seep through the gaps in that darkness...
Compared to the beginning when he could only momentarily dazed his opponent, this time he was able to do so.
At this moment, Muneyoshi has clearly taken another step forward, as if he has truly constructed a realm of dark spiritual world.
In Byōdōin's eyes, as Saeki Muneyoshi stood still, a dark curtain enveloped everything around him.
Strands of light spilled out from behind Muneyoshi's dark shadow as he tossed the Muneyoshi ball upwards, which seemed to transform into a dark sphere that absorbed the light.
As the black tennis ball rose higher and higher into the air, all the light around it disappeared.
Byōdōin's lips curled slightly. He could clearly sense the effect of Muneyoshi's spiritual power, but he did not stop him.
He found himself in a completely dark world, where everything around him had vanished, leaving only a blurry figure in front of him and a tennis ball imbued with extreme darkness.
Tennis is like a "Black Hole," emanating a chilling and deadly aura. The temperature on the court begins to drop, and even the skin feels a biting, cutting sensation from the cold wind.
With a loud bang, it was like a dark explosion, or perhaps the emergence of a new world.
Byōdōin saw a fleeting flash of light pierce through the endless darkness, and he too broke free from the shackles of darkness, returning to the court once more.
A cool mountain breeze swept through the air, and the tennis ball behind him had already rolled to his feet.
1-0.
"Little guy, I take back my previous opinion. You deserve some attention! Keep going!"
Muneyoshi remained silent; maintaining such a spiritual world was not easy for him either.
Bang!
Darkness returned, and the tennis ball was served again.
"The use of this spiritual power!"
"Hey, not bad... but it's not powerful enough, just a child's toy!"
Once he perked Byōdōin, Byodoin abandoned his languid demeanor, and his eyes gleamed with a sharp light as he looked at Muneyoshi.
Byōdōin had only intended to offer some guidance as a senior, but he never imagined that this boy, so highly regarded by his Old Man, had already come so far.
His voice came from across the court, containing both approval and regret.
It seemed that Muneyoshi's shot shouldn't have been limited to that level; it could have been even stronger.
Learning from the experience of the first goal.
Even as Muneyoshi made his move, Byōdōin quickly adjusted his entire body, slightly bent his knees, and his muscles instantly unleashed an extremely violent power under the stimulation of the cold and icy air.
Bang!
Byōdōin pressed down with his arm and wrist, and the racket in his hand left a terrifying afterimage.
Sizzle...
The racket collided with the tennis ball that had just flown to his feet, and the violent impact seemed to cause a wavy, twisting flash of light to emanate from the point of contact between the net and the ball.
With Byodoin's powerful shot and the advantage of hitting the sweet spot, it sped towards Muneyoshi's half of the Byōdōin.
Muneyoshi's serve, which he had been researching and completely upgrading, was surprisingly countered by Byōdōin on the second try!
But before there was time to be shocked, Byōdōin's counterattack had already arrived.
"A fence around the border!"
Muneyoshi gave a cold shout. Without any preparation from the previous game, he had to fight for every point and dared not hold back at all.
This newly created Darkness Secret Technique is an upgraded version of the previous technique, "Treading Fire Chasing Sun," which evolved through the cheat function. It is also a defensive technique.
The next moment.
A flash of dim light appeared, and suddenly, streaks of black light appeared in the half of the Muneyoshi, like barriers, blocking and dissipating the power of Byōdōin's return tennis.
Just as the tennis ball flew to Muneyoshi's side, a simple black-framed racket blocked Byōdōin's return shot.
"So strong!"
Muneyoshi's heart sank. Although he had been mentally prepared and had taken precautions, he was still taken aback by Byōdōin's nonchalant attitude...
"However, I won't give up so easily!"
The moment the racket caught the tennis ball, Muneyoshi felt the immense power and irregular spin it carried.
He knew this was just a casual strike from Byōdōin, yet it possessed such power; Muneyoshi's vigilance rose once more.
Meanwhile, thanks to Muneyoshi's use of Sweet Spot Technique and wrist flick, the shot was finally saved.
He retaliated with his explosive power.
"Nice shot!"
Seeing that Muneyoshi had caught his attack, Byōdōin was not surprised at all. He stared intently at the strike shrouded in darkness and moved his feet quickly.
Tread!
"In that case, you'll have to try my trick too— Matryoshka!"
The moment the racket swung, Byōdōin's movements suddenly changed slightly.
Muneyoshi caught up again and swung his racket hard, but he couldn't feel the ball coming in.
Before Muneyoshi's eyes, the tennis ball shrank.
Muneyoshi stared at the ball that Byōdōin had hit. In the distance, yellow pieces of the ball's skin scattered in the air, eventually turning into a small ball!
Very, very small, extremely tiny!
Combined with the speed and power of Byōdōin's shot, the tennis ball seemed to have completely vanished.
Call out!
Muneyoshi felt a gust of wind brush past his side.
Bang!
A pale yellow stream of light leaped out from behind him.
"1-1."
With just a simple counterattack and a world-class technique, Muneyoshi was easily scored on!
P. S.: "Please vote with monthly tickets!"