Match point

The deciding point has arrived, and the tennis ball has successfully landed in Hyotei's half of the court.

With the referee's verdict, Seigaku secured the victory in Second Doubles, giving Seigaku a 2-0 lead in the overall score.

"Great! Two wins in a row!"

"We only need to win one more game to advance to the semifinals."

" With Second Doubles finished, it's time for Second Singles. Who will be playing in Second Singles?"

After Kane and Kaitou won, the focus of the Seigaku team shifted to the upcoming Second Singles.

"To think things are going so badly right from the start, it seems Seigaku's strength shouldn't be underestimated."

"Damn it! We've worked so hard for revenge, haven't we? Why are they even stronger than during the Kanto Tournament...?"

After losing two games in a row, Meido's emotions were starting to get a bit chaotic.

The other members of Hyotei also seemed somewhat dejected due to their consecutive defeats, and they all lowered their heads.

"What are you doing! Is the game already lost? All of you, lift your heads!"

At that moment, Atobe, who had his hands clasped in his Atobe, suddenly became stern and turned to shout at the crowd.

"The match isn't over yet, and you're already putting on this show. Is this how you've been working all this time?"

Atobe's words once again struck a nerve with everyone, but Atobe as if he hadn't seen it.

"The outcome of the Second Singles match is still uncertain, so get your spirits up!"

After saying Atobe turned away and stopped looking at the people behind him, but his eyes were full of solemnity.

"If they lose the Second Singles, the match will be over. Who will play for Seigaku in the Second Singles? Tezuka, Horio, or someone else...?"

"Hmph, no matter who you are, you'll only suffer losses when facing Kabaji."

Looking towards Seigaku, Atobe let out a cold snort.

"The Second Singles match will now begin. Both players, please come to the stage."

At that moment, the referee's voice rang out, and the entire stadium fell silent.

Just then, footsteps sounded, and everyone looked in the direction from which the sound came.

Upon seeing the person who made the sound, the Seigaku members all smiled.

Meanwhile, the members of Hyotei, including their Hyotei, all wore expressions of surprise and fear.

"Seigaku's ace is playing Second Singles?"

"He... he's always been First Singles, hasn't he!?"

"What's going on..."

Horio's appearance caused an uproar throughout the venue, as if they had seen a ghost.

"As expected, you're playing Second Singles. It seems Seigaku is intentionally hiding Tezuka's true strength."

Atobe frowned when he saw that it was Horio made the appearance.

However, Coach Ryuzaki did not share Atobe's speculation.

Coach Ryuzaki's original intention was to have Tezuka settle his score with Hyotei against Atobe, who had already suffered a defeat and were looking for revenge.

However, the reality is that while Hyotei has indeed become stronger, Seigaku Hyotei progressed at a faster pace.

It was originally thought that the match would continue until the First Singles match between Tezuka and Atobe, but Seigaku had already secured match point in the Second Singles.

"Hyotei has already sent out Oshitari, Mukahi, and Hiyoshi. The First Singles will definitely be Atobe, and the first doubles match will likely be Meido and Ootori. So, the most likely candidate for the Second Singles is..."

Off the court, Kikumaru, seeing that Hyotei's Second Singles hadn't yet entered the game, began eliminating players one by one.

Just as they ruled out the most likely candidate, a massive figure appeared on the field.

"It really was him, Kabaji..."

"Compared to Atobe, Kabaji is probably even more troublesome."

"His talent for imitating others means that no matter who he faces, his opponent won't have an easy time."

Kabaji's appearance immediately gives people a sense of reassurance.

Because every step he took made people feel that there was a formidable strength hidden within him, and with his height of 1.9 meters, he was like a moving mountain.

"You're only a year ahead of me, what do you eat to grow so big...?"

On the field, Horio looked at Kabaji in front of him and couldn't help but sigh.

When Horio enrolled, he was already 1.6 meters tall, which was quite tall for a first-year junior high school student.

And with all the exercise he's been doing, he's grown a few centimeters taller.

But when facing the Kabaji, one still has to look up.

If you don't look up, it's fine, but once you do, you see Kabaji's face, which looks more weathered than others his age and has a blank expression.

Especially since he was facing away from the sun, blocking Horio's view, Kabaji's face looked terrifying in Horio's eyes.

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

After shaking hands with Kabaji, Horio returned to the baseline.

"Is it really possible for someone to be born with a pure heart? To have remained unchanged for over a decade—it sounds unbelievable, doesn't it?"

After returning to the baseline, Horio remembered Kabaji's talent.

However, Horio harbored more doubts about Kabaji's childlike innocence.

"Since you're making it sound so mysterious, let's see how powerful you really are."

Horio decided to test Kabaji's abilities and started causing trouble right from the beginning.

Instead of using a regular serve, the tennis ball was lifted up.

"That's... Disappearing Serve!"

"Horio can do this?!"

"Please, I wouldn't be surprised by anything he can do, okay?"

Fuji himself seemed quite interested in what the people around him were saying.

On the court, Horio was seen spinning the ball counterclockwise.

As the tennis ball slumped downwards, Horio delivered an Underhand Serve.

"It's Fuji's Disappearing Serve!"

"Is he trying to score directly with his serve?"

"Damn it, I never expected him to use that trick..."

"I wonder if Kabaji can crack it before the first game ends..."

As Horio swung his racket, the Hyotei players noticed something amiss.

They were also quite worried about this serve.

Despite the Hyotei players' worry from the sidelines, Kabaji on the court remained expressionless, simply watching the incoming ball and preparing to catch it.

The tennis ball, clustered closer and closer to Kabaji, finally bounced off the ground right in front of him.

However, the rebounding ball did not create the illusion of multiple balls; it remained a single ball bouncing towards the Kabaji.

"It's different from Fuji's move! He doesn't even know that move."

Seeing that the illusion of multiple balls being generated after a bounce in the past had not occurred, Mukahi on the sidelines subconsciously thought that Horio was just scaring people.

But what happened next silenced him. When Kabaji swung his racket to return the ball, the tennis ball, after contacting the racket, actually passed right through it.

Thump...

"Seigaku Horio scores, 15:0"

The sound of a tennis ball hitting the ground was heard, and then it appeared behind Kabaji.

"Wearing... wearing through..."

"Although it's different from Fuji's style, true tennis has indeed disappeared..."

"It seems that Horio's Disappearing Serve is more troublesome than Fuji's."

"While a rapidly changing ball can create the illusion of several balls, at least some clues can be observed from it. But Horio only hits one ball, and it's still an illusion..."