A Long-Distance Battle

"Kaitou, what will you do if you can't hit a snake shot?"

At this moment, Yanagi suddenly spoke, Kaitou was somewhat puzzled upon hearing this.

"For some reason, or perhaps the Snake Ball is ineffective, if you encounter a situation like this, what will you have left?"

Yanagi spoke again, sunlight reflecting off Yanagi glasses, as if shining directly into Kaitou's heart.

Yanagi's words made Kaitou reflect, realizing that she had relied on the snake ball to overcome all obstacles.

So, with this self-reflection and questioning in mind, Kaitou found Gan and experimented with it in this competition.

"After six sets, the score is 3-3. It's been over two hours already. If we don't score soon, the match will only drag on."

On the sidelines, Kawamura looked at the scoreboard, his worry quite evident on his face.

"Seigaku, I don't know what you're up to, but you're deliberately trying to wage a war of attrition against us, huh? That's quite interesting."

On the Higa Junior High side, Kite smiled as he watched the field.

"Aragaki and Shiranui, the two of them have been training under the scorching Okinawa sun since they were young. Their amazing endurance and amount of exercise are unmatched even in our Higa Junior Higa Junior High."

The longer this match goes on, the better it will be for us.

Kite had great confidence in his team members and was not worried at all about the impact a prolonged battle would have on Shiranui and Aragaki.

Inside the stadium, Kaitou continued to dominate all the balls.

Even though the other person seemed completely unaffected, he persisted in running under the scorching sun.

Why doesn't Kaitou ever play the snake ball?

"Who knows? That venomous snake is probably being held back now, wanting to save it for last."

Fuji's words voiced everyone's doubts. Although Momoshiro was also puzzled, he mostly thought that Kaitou was hiding her true abilities.

On the court, after Shiranui returned a ball to Kaitou, Kan immediately went to the net to prepare to return the ball.

"Short-range diagonal kick!"

Gan's return shot made Shiranui think that Gan was about to start a tactical shot, and she immediately prepared to intercept.

Just as the ball reached Gan's hitting area, Gan's movement stopped again, and the tennis ball flew directly over Gan's body.

Then Kaitou appeared and hit a cross-court shot with a backhand.

This attack caught Shiranui off guard, leaving her no choice but to hastily run towards the baseline.

Finally, at the last moment after the ball bounced off the ground, he arrived at the ball's position and returned a Lob Shot.

"Great opportunity, Kaitou! Finish them off with Spinning Snake Shot!"

Upon seeing the Lob Shot, Kawamura hurriedly shouted a warning.

But Kaitou seemed not to hear, and when faced with an opportunity, she simply hit a forehand smash.

"Why didn't Kaitou seize such a good opportunity just now...?"

"At this rate, they'll never finish fighting."

"Even if Kaitou has great stamina, she should start to get tired after fighting two against one like this."

"But so far in the game, there hasn't been a decisive crisis yet. I don't think this situation developed naturally from the course of the game."

With the competition going on for so long, everyone started to worry about Kaitou's stamina.

"It's so hot. I've already drunk several cans. When will this game end?"

Horio drank his third can of beverage in front of the vending machine.

"That's quite a good attempt, relying solely on one's physical and mental strength to challenge personal limits in pursuit of a higher realm."

At this moment, Tezuka, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up. After such a long match, he finally understood why Kaitou had done this.

"Kaitou, what would you do if you encountered a situation like this?"

"Persist until victory is achieved."

On the court, Kaitou kept running and catching the ball, and the scene of talking with Yanagi appeared in her mind again.

"Then let me ask you... do you know to what extent this can be utilized?"

This sentence kept lingering in Kaitou's mind, and he also wanted to see himself beyond his limits.

Suddenly, as if stimulated by something, a wisp of air arose beneath Kaitou's feet.

Then, the force of the return shot was increased, and when the racket made contact with the ball, the tennis ball was immediately enveloped by a vortex formed by airflow.

"This is me! I... am Kaitou Kaoru!"

With a roar, the tennis ball flew out with a hidden, immense force.

Aragaki received the ball, was somewhat stunned by Kaitou's sudden attack, and his footwork was also disrupted.

But even if he wanted to adjust, it was too late, because from that last shot onwards, Kaitou had already increased her pace.

Having already adapted to the previous pace, Shiranui and Aragaki suddenly found themselves expending more energy as the pace quickened.

In particular, Kaitou likes to hit diagonal shots back and forth, and occasionally hits short shots, leading the two students from Higa Junior High by the nose.

Bang...

Bang...

Bang...

The sound of scoring continued, and Aragaki, who had been defending in the backcourt, was already panting heavily.

Large beads of sweat kept appearing on Aragaki's face; the hot weather made the ground scorching.

Even though the ground was already hot, the speed at which Aragaki's sweat dripped kept the scorching ground moist, preventing it from evaporating.

"Seigaku Kan and Kaitou score, score 5:3"

"Finally, we've reached match point. This match has been incredibly long."

"In that case, this match is finally coming to an end..."

Kaitou's extreme approach completely overwhelmed the two junior high students from Higa Junior High, leaving them utterly helpless.

Shiranui is alright, after all, she's an offensive player in the frontcourt.

However, Aragaki was already showing signs of distress; his eyes were unfocused, and his eyelids were starting to droop.

"The ninth game begins with Seigaku serving."

As expected, after the umpire announced the start of the ninth game, Gan stood at the baseline, ready to serve.

Before the ball could even be tossed into the air, Aragaki on the other side began to sway unsteadily, and after a few seconds, he collapsed.

The sudden turn of events made Shiranui, and even the off-field Kite, anxious.

"Oh? Looks like he's had heatstroke. Honestly, even someone who grew up in a place like Okinawa would find it hard to cope in a place like Tokyo with such a pronounced heat island effect."

Horio, holding a drink, returned to the arena and saw Shiranui checking on the collapsed Aragaki.

"He's showing signs of dehydration and heatstroke; he can't continue the competition."

Inside the stadium, the referee was also inspecting Aragaki.

After confirming Aragaki's physical condition, the referee had no choice but to end the match early.

"Higa Junior High's Aragaki player is deemed unable to continue the match and will be disqualified. Seigaku wins this match."

Hearing the referee's words, Kite was also helpless.

However, when faced with such an unexpected situation, one can only accept it, no matter how unwilling one is.

Saotome Harumi looked rather unwell; as an Okinawan, she had actually lost an endurance contest to a Tokyoite under the scorching sun.