Heatstroke?

"Great! It's finally over!"

"I can't believe Higa Junior High's two players ended up losing to Kaitou through sheer endurance. That's incredible."

"Their coach and players must be humiliated. They lost at their own specialty."

The match had ended early, giving everyone watching from the sidelines a much-needed reprieve.

"Kaitou, you held up well."

"Senpai..."

"Kaitou, there's something I need to tell you. This match was meant to test your limits, but I still ran simulations to make sure we wouldn't lose. You far exceeded my expectations."

Beside the court, Inui commented on Kaitou's performance as they finished the match and started packing up.

"We'll have to put off finding your limit for a while."

"Okay..."

Hearing Inui say that, Kaitou had nothing more to add. He answered briefly, then headed off the court.

"Not bad, you snake. Still, putting that aside, even with your monster stamina, you look pretty tired."

Momoshiro was waiting just outside the court. Kaitou's impressive performance had left him feeling a little outclassed.

So, as usual, Momoshiro couldn't resist teasing him.

Kaitou didn't say anything. He simply removed his weighted wristbands and tossed them to Momoshiro.

Momoshiro instinctively caught what Kaitou had thrown.

The moment it landed in his hands, he felt its startling weight.

"Weighted training wristbands..."

Looking down at them, Momoshiro's eyes filled with frustration.

"What a monster. But I'm not going to lose to you."

Momoshiro gritted his teeth as he watched Kaitou walk away.

"If we win the First Singles match, we'll make the quarterfinals with a perfect record."

"Don't worry. We're sure to win First Singles, because the next player up is that kid."

After the little incident in Doubles Two, the final match, First Singles, was about to begin.

Seigaku hadn't lost a single match so far. No