Kikumaru's Singles Match

"There's no other way, Horio. You've appeared quite often, and your abilities can't be easily assessed by other schools, so you're the best candidate."

Oishi didn't think much of Horio's complaints, after all, it was for the "bigger picture".

"Second Singles: Kikumaru from Seigaku vs. Kai from Higa Junior High Kai."

"Um... aren't you a doubles player?"

"But I sometimes want to play singles too."

Kai's words were clearly a bit of a provocation, but Kikumaru wasn't going to fall for it.

"The match begins, with Kikumaru from Seigaku Kikumaru serving."

The referee announced the start of the match, and Kikumaru immediately served.

The two then began to play, the tennis ball flying back and forth, each probing the other's movements.

"Why is this happening? Why are they letting him fight one-on-one... But Kai isn't an opponent you can beat with just some fancy tricks."

Even the cunning Kite was caught off guard by Kikumaru's decision to play Second Singles.

"Tch, does this guy even know that the Ground Shrinking Technique can't move left or right? If that's the case, then you should be the same way!"

Kai kept returning Kikumaru's cross-court shots, and Kai roughly guessed that Kikumaru knew the secret of the Ground Shrinking Technique.

Kai thought that since he could only run left and right, Kikumaru must be the same.

So after running to the right to receive the ball again, Kai did not take another cross-court kick.

Instead, after confirming that Kikumaru was also standing on the right side of their respective courts, he hit the ball straight towards Kikumaru's left side.

"The Ground Shrinking Technique' prevents left and right movement, which limits the opponent in one-on-one situations."

"Although doing this will only force me to run around, that's an advantage for Kikumaru, who has excellent lateral mobility."

As the attacking player responsible for the net in doubles, Kikumaru needs to have the ability to move flexibly left and right.

Moreover, his skill in Special Skill Shot surpasses that of most offensive players, which is one of the reasons why Coach Ryuzaki chose Kikumaru to play as the Second Singles.

Kai was clearly unaware of this; at that moment, he still believed he was sure to score.

But Kikumaru's accelerated footwork made his smile vanish; in the blink of an eye, Kikumaru caught up with the ball.

With a backhand shot, this time Kai was caught off guard.

Bang...

"Seigaku Kikumaru scores, 15:0"

"Tch, what's that guy doing..."

It's hard to believe that someone could cross the field in two seconds using only their foot speed.

"Was that just my imagination? I felt like there were two double images of that guy..."

Off the field, Hirakoba rubbed his eyes.

On the court, Kikumaru serves again.

Unlike the previous point, this time I chose to serve and volley.

Kai hit the ball towards Kikumaru's weak hand, and Kikumaru immediately moved his feet.

With a spin, he used the momentum of the rotation to return the ball.

"Idiot, it looks like you're full of weaknesses."

Kai saw that Kikumaru had chosen to return the ball with his back to him, so he hit the ball to Kikumaru's right.

Kikumaru, who had just turned and jumped into the air, remained calm and nimbly pushed off to the right after landing.

With a somersault, he caught the ball again with both hands, like an eagle spreading its wings.

Bang...

"Seigaku Kikumaru scored, 30:0"

It was another return shot without looking at the ball, and the returned tennis ball landed precisely at Kai's feet.

At this moment, Kai realized Kikumaru's strength as a singles player.

After that, with his agile body and Special Skill Shot, Kikumaru completely overwhelmed Kai.

Bang...

"Seigaku Kikumaru, score 3:0"

"It's Kikumaru Beam!"

"Great, it's completely one-sided!"

"Is that guy from Higa Junior High Senpai going to be controlled by Kikumaru -senpai?"

The match went smoothly to 3-0, and Kikumaru's form showed no signs of weakening.

"Idiot, with the way you're fighting, it's obvious you'll run out of stamina."

Despite being down by three points, Kai remained calm.

In the three matches that have already been played, Kikumaru's training intensity was two to three times that of his opponent.

He believed that Kikumaru would soon run out of energy, at which point he could begin his counterattack.

Little did they know that Kikumaru's stamina problem had long been solved, and now, with this level of exercise, Kikumaru had no need to worry about running out of stamina.

Kikumaru remained relaxed despite Kai's shots that switched back and forth between the left, right, and front fields.

On the other hand, Kai's face was covered in beads of sweat.

"What's wrong with this guy? He's been running for so long and he's not even out of breath."

Seeing that Kikumaru was breathing evenly and had not a drop of sweat on his face, Kai began to doubt himself.

"Kikumaru has been working on overcoming his stamina issues since the Tokyo Metropolitan Tournament. Trying to exhaust him to defeat him is not a wise choice."

On the Coach bench, Coach Ryuzaki looked at Kikumaru with great satisfaction.

Bang...

"Seigaku Kikumaru scored, score 4:0"

After winning the fourth game, Kikumaru remained calm and composed, looking at Kai without batting an eye.

"Good! Keep this momentum going, let's get three consecutive wins and advance to the quarterfinals!"

Momoshiro, standing on the sidelines, shouted excitedly. Upon hearing this, Kai's aura also began to change.

With his back to the net, Kai swung his arm into the air, sending his racket flying.

"Is it finally about to begin...?"

Seeing Kai, Kite smiled.

After the racket was thrown into the air, it fell back down and was caught by Kai in the opposite direction.

"What's going on? Why is he holding the racket backwards?"

"And he switched the racket to his left hand, could it be that he..."

"Kai was originally left-handed, and even backwards-handed."

Kite made no attempt to hide his suspicions about Momoshiro and Kaitou.

At the start of the fifth game, Kikumaru served, and Kikumaru became wary of Kai's changes in play.

After Kikumaru served, Kai surprisingly returned the ball by swinging his racket.

Kikumaru was a little unaccustomed to this, but he still managed to catch the ball with a side somersault, utilizing his agility.

But Kai was already waiting in place. Seeing that Kai had already taken his stance, Kikumaru immediately adjusted his posture.

However, another change in Kai caught everyone's attention: the tennis ball had already flown past the optimal hitting zone, but Kai still hadn't swung his racket.

Instead, he only made a move when the ball flew to the side of Kai's body, and even then, he didn't use the racket face.

Kai suddenly crouched down with a sprinting motion, then used the handle of his racket to hit the ball.

"The Pirate's Horn!"

Just as the ball was about to reach the ground, the end of the handle was used to successfully return it, and the ball flew out with a spiral-like airflow.

After clearing the net, the ball's trajectory changed, arcing in the opposite direction of Kikumaru's jump.

The overall effect is similar to a regular snake ball, but it far surpasses a regular snake ball in terms of power and speed.