The Kanto Tournament: A War of Attrition?

"That's right! Horio is right. Although they wanted a quick victory, they expended a lot of energy in the other two games, apart from our own service games."

"And even with all that effort, they still couldn't widen the score gap!"

Mukahi and Hiyoshi on the field were clearly fatigued, and even with unreasonable physical exertion, they only managed a draw in the end.

"There are only two possible outcomes in this situation: either they continue to fight us and drag the game into a tiebreaker, and then they eventually lose because they are too tired."

Another possibility is that they lose the game due to fatigue before they can even force a tiebreaker. In that case, we will win regardless.

If the two players from Hyotei continue to play according to their current tactics, their stamina will eventually be worn down.

The situation may not be clear enough yet, with the score remaining very close, so the Hyotei players haven't noticed the problem.

Bang...

Hyotei scores Mukahi Hiyoshi, 40-0.

Mukahi and Hiyoshi used the same tactic again, securing game point in the sixth game.

This Hiyoshi struggled to rotate his wrist.

"What's wrong, Hiyoshi?"

"No... it's okay, let's keep going."

Hiyoshi brushed off Mukahi's concern.

"Don't rush. Calculate, analyze, and gather more information! The most difficult shot to handle Mukahi this situation is... a head-on shot!"

The two Hyotei's lack of strategy caught Kan off guard.

The data has just been collected and analyzed.

The shot, played according to the analysis, became something never seen before.

This change posed a significant challenge to Gan's Information Tennis, or rather, the two members of Hyotei sealed Gan's Information Tennis away.

After another calm analysis, Gan aimed his guns at the Mukahi, which was now online, and fired directly at it.

The flying tennis ball is about to collide with the Mukahi.

Just before the collision, Mukahi pushed off with both feet.

The Moon Surface Flip and appeared, and the figure of Hiyoshi appeared in the position that was originally Mukahi.

The ancient martial arts style was used to counterattack, and the tennis ball was hit again in a place where Gan and Kaitou had no time to return the hit.

Bang...

Hyotei scores against Mukahi and Hiyoshi, making the score 4-4.

"Not enough fun yet, Senpai Mukahi..."

"A quick victory isn't enough to satisfy everyone; we need to push ourselves harder."

"That's true. That dry, Waterfall Pouring Down should be less powerful by then."

"We'll find out in the next game; we're not planning on a long battle with them."

After tying the score again, Mukahi and Hiyoshi remained full of confidence.

"Kaitou, you'll serve in the next game. I need to start gathering data again."

"Ah... Senior Senpai..."

Gan suddenly walked up to Kaitou, and what Gan said surprised Kaitou as well.

In regular doubles matches, Gan doesn't repeatedly collect data on his opponents.

Now that he's seriously telling her to collect data again, how could Kaitou not be surprised?

"Mukahi, who was defeated due to exhaustion from spending too much time in the Kanto Tournament, should generally conserve his energy for the next match."

But now they've paired him with Hiyoshi in a quick-win doubles team, aiming to finish the match before his stamina wears off. That's quite an unexpected tactic, Sakaki."

On the Coach bench, Coach Ryuzaki looked at the serious-faced Inui and couldn't help but nod in approval of Hyotei's tactics.

"This is our tactic. Seigaku can only score with dry serves, but serves eventually run out of power, and that's when our tactic truly takes effect."

As if sensing Coach Ryuzaki's gaze, Coach Sakaki also turned to look at Coach Ryuzaki.

"Sure enough, Gan no longer had the strength to hit Waterfall Pouring Down, so Kaitou switched to serve."

On the court, seeing Kaitou appear at the baseline, Mukahi and Hiyoshi couldn't help but feel happy.

Kaitou didn't notice the changes in their expressions and simply served the ball as Gan instructed.

Whether serving or returning, Kaitou maintained a consistent level of power output.

Facing such an unchanging force, things might be alright at the beginning of the match.

However, if you repeat this too many times, your wrist will eventually get tired.

At this Hiyoshi deeply felt that even though the tennis ball was the same as at the beginning of the match, it now felt heavier and heavier to him.

"It seems that Senpai Kaitou's technique is starting to work."

"Has Kaitou done something?"

"Yeah, Horio, what have you discovered this time?"

Horio's words piqued the curiosity of the others, and Horio didn't try to hide anything.

"From the very Senpai, when Kaitou was playing against the two opponents, especially Hiyoshi, he set his return shots at a certain intensity."

Using this intensity as a standard, Kaitou Senpai hit the ball with the same intensity for every subsequent return.

The intensity he initially set was already quite high, and with each return, the strain on Hiyoshi's wrist was bound to increase.

"Isn't this like boiling a frog in lukewarm water? At first, you return the ball in a way that won't annoy your opponent, then you slowly build up the damage until, by the time they realize what's happening, it's too late to recover."

Fuji understood Horio's meaning, and everyone admired Kaitou for persisting with this technique until now.

Bang...

Hyotei scores against Mukahi and Hiyoshi, making the score 5-4.

"Thank you, Kaitou. My data is almost updated, and there's nothing else to collect."

One of their opponents should be trapped in your snare and almost unable to move, so we can begin our counterattack.

In the ninth inning, Mukahi and Hiyoshi exhausted even more energy than before and successfully won, bringing Hyotei to match point.

"We've broken their serve. Now, all we need to do is hold our own serve, and we'll win the match."

"Yes, Senpai Mukahi, let's finish this last round cleanly."

The two, who thought their quick and decisive tactics had worked, were overjoyed.

Winning this match means that Hyotei's revenge is one step closer to success.

Little did they know that what they were thinking would soon turn out to be a painful reality check.

"Kaitou, all the net shots are mine from now on. You just need to focus on the defense in the backcourt."

At the Seigaku point, after taking his position, Gan said to Kaitou without turning his head.

When he said these words, he didn't control his voice at all, and he didn't even flinch when his opponent heard him.

"To dare to discuss tactics so openly, even with death looming, they're still so arrogant! Let me accomplish the feat of insubordination!"