Breaking the Snake Shot
Hirakoba and Chinen's defensive strategies were effective, demonstrating their excellent teamwork.
On the Chinen neutralized Kawamura's attack, and then, seeing an opening on the other side of Kawamura, hit a short ball.
Lacking speed, Kawamura could only manage a weak counter-attack, and his hasty defense culminated in a Lob Shot.
Hirako Hirakoba took a long stride forward, jumped, and then Smash Shot.
Because everything happened so fast, Fuji even forgot that he couldn't hit a back-and-forth shot.
Facing the smash from the Hirakoba, he used the Brown Bear Drop.
Fuji turned his body and swung his racket out smoothly.
The force of the smash was neutralized, and the tennis ball flew towards the backcourt of Higa Junior High.
Because the smashes from the Hirakoba are very powerful, the ball returned by the Brown Bear Drop is also faster.
But no matter how fast you go, it's impossible to cross most of the field in a second.
After capturing the Brown Bear Drop, Fuji realized he shouldn't have done it.
Fuji subconsciously turned his head and saw that Hirakoba had already appeared at the baseline.
Fuji sensed Fuji was wrong and immediately adjusted his posture to prepare to receive the ball.
However, the fact that they never resolved the battle gave Hirakoba an opportunity.
The ball, returned by Hirakoba, moved erratically once again.
"Higa Junior High School, Hirako Field, Chinen scores, 15:40"
"Use whatever tricks you have left, or you won't have time."
Hirakoba -ba tapped his racket against his shoulder and tilted his head as he spoke to Fuji.
Fuji had thought he could at least win a game with his seemingly Disappearing Serve, but his opponent broke through it at the last moment, Fuji somewhat frustrated.
"Wow, just one more point and we'll win the game."
"What bad luck, their opponents truly live up to their reputation as a team that has distinguished themselves in the Kyushu Region."
Kikumaru and Oishi, watching from the sidelines, also felt it was a real pity about that last shot.
"Fuji, it's okay. The competition has only just begun. We'll definitely win."
"That's what I think too, Aron."
Kawamura assumed that Fuji was psychologically affected by his broken tennis skills, so he quickly went over to comfort him.
But that wasn't what Fuji was thinking about; he was deciding whether or not to use that move.
"Forget it, we still have plenty of time, let's look for weaknesses first."
Having made his decision, Fuji prepared to serve.
Instead of using the Disappearing Serve, I simply hit a regular serve.
Without further ado, Hirakoba played his Fan Shi Qian again.
Bang...
"Higa Junior High School, Hirako Field, Chinen scores, 30:40"
Bang...
"Higa Junior High School, Hirako Field - Chinen scores, 40:40"
Bang...
"Higa Junior High School, Chinen advantage"
"Damn it, they caught up with us so easily."
"Qian can't possibly throw that rice spoon back."
"Fuji isn't Fuji reacting yet? His serve is about to be broken."
"I think Fuji has been counterattacking the whole time. He deliberately let the opponent Fan Shi Qian those few points; I think he must have had another purpose."
The scoring surge at Hirakoba made the Seigaku players on the sidelines a little anxious, and Tezuka, who had his arms crossed, spoke up at that moment.
"Is Fuji looking for a weakness? But that Fan Shi Qian is completely unpredictable."
Even the most perfect skills have weaknesses; that Fan Shi Qian wasn't exactly difficult to return.
Upon hearing Tezuka's words, the others also fell silent.
On the court, Fuji serves again.
"I saw it; to return that ball, you can't swing the racket with a wide swing."
After being scored on consecutively, Fuji finally noticed something amiss.
After repeating the same trick once again at the Hirakoba, Fuji swung his racket, ready to test his idea.
Puff...
"Higa Junior High School's Hirakoba and Chinen score, making the score 2-1."
"Did he see through me? That's really scary."
Fuji finally hit the Fan Shi Qian, but his power and angle were not right, and the ball didn't clear the net, resulting in his serve being broken.
"Hit!"
"But their serve was still broken."
"That Fan Shi Qian is really amazing, what kind of ball is that...?"
"This is the force that led Okinawa, which had been unable to break out of the Kyushu Region for 26 years, to finally reach the National Tournament."
Tezuka also acknowledged the strength of Higa Junior High.
"Since that Seigaku Fan Shi Qian, let's target the other one next."
"Okay, just keep him hanging on either side."
Hirakoba, having his signature move broken, didn't hold back and immediately turned his attention to Kawamura.
At the start of the fourth set, Chinen became the main attacker for Higa Junior High.
Chinen, positioned in the backfield, kept passing the ball to the left and right, leaving Kawamura with no choice but to run back and forth defending.
"Aron has been constantly scrambling left and right, and hasn't landed a single heavy blow so far."
"It's really worrying. If Kawamura can't hit a powerful shot, then it's all for nothing."
"The other side anticipated that Kawamura wouldn't be able to build up his power, which is why they did this."
The Seigaku members were anxious, but Kawamura managed to hit Lob Shot after several successful counter-attacks.
No matter how Chinen returned the Lob Shot, Kawamura always managed to hit Lob Shot.
The cheerleaders at Higa Junior High thought Kawamura was starting to play passively, and their mocking voices rang out again.
Hearing these negative comments, Kikumaru also became anxious.
"What exactly are you trying to do? Is this supposed to be doubles? Enough already! If you really want to play, then go ahead and attack like crazy!"
Chinen, don't be so impatient! What will happen to the competition if you lose patience!
Chinen, who had been repeatedly Lob Shot by Kawamura, couldn't take it anymore.
Hirakoba's Chinen and hit the ball towards Kawamura.
Having achieved his goal, Kawamura began to gather his strength.
After tensing his muscles, he roared and hit the tennis ball.
The tennis ball flew towards Hirakoba and Chinen with a strong shockwave, and Hirakoba immediately warned Chinen to retreat.
Chinen didn't argue and quickly retreated to prepare for defense.
However, Kawamura's Wave Ball were not easily blocked; the intense shockwave from the ball sent both players' rackets flying.
Bang...
"Seigaku Fuji Kawamura score, 15:0"
Even when two people blocked the ball at the same time, the tennis ball, after knocking their rackets away, still spun around on the wire mesh of the fence for a long time.
"Damn it, they actually won with a trick... But... it wouldn't be fun otherwise."
Hirakoba was quite surprised when his racket was knocked away.
Although I had heard about the power of Kawamura's Wave Ball, I didn't know how powerful it was until I actually experienced it.
For the second goal, Hirakoba and Chinen's plan against Kawamura remained unchanged.
However, Kawamura no longer actively tries to block all the balls, Fuji will also look for opportunities to counterattack.
Thus, a scene unfolded on the field where the two players were running back and forth, left and right.