Counterplot Upon Counterplot

Looking at the Kite that had been beaten until it vomited Execution Method, Tono Atsukyo's smile grew even more cruel.

"It's over."

"What?"

"I said the match was about to end, Tono Atsukyo far."

Off the field, Irie didn't understand when Horio said the match was almost over.

Hearing him mention Tono Atsukyo again, his face showed even more confusion.

Even though he had some doubts, he didn't choose to ask Horio for the reason.

The two tacitly focused their attention on the field, observing the current one-sided situation.

Meanwhile, the middle school students watching from the sidelines felt terrible seeing "Killer Kite" being beaten so badly by Tono Atsukyo.

Especially the students of Higa Junior High, seeing their Captain passively taking the beating, were filled with mixed feelings, having grown accustomed to the tough side of Kite.

"Only seven moves left, you have to hold on, hahaha..."

On the court, Tono Atsukyo continued to mock Kite without restraint.

At that moment, Kimijima Ikuto, who was in the backcourt behind him, glanced at him sideways with a somewhat gloomy look in his eyes.

"You should have been the one executed, but the original plan has been disrupted."

Fortunately, there was more than one person to negotiate with.

Adjusting his glasses, Kimijima Ikuto then looked at Marui, a strange smile appearing on his lips.

At this moment, Marui was being protected behind Kite, his eyelids drooping, seemingly lost in thought.

However, you could tell from his expression that he was struggling internally.

"Do we really have to do this... even though Yukimura's illness has been cured since the last surgery."

But now the Kite is being constantly attacked by the other side, and that behavior is clearly intended to harm people.

Marui recalled what Kimijima Ikuto had told him before the match: that he only needed to aim for Tono Atsukyo's left knee and deliver a fatal blow during the match.

Then he could help Yukimura contact better hospitals abroad and completely cure his illness.

However, Yukimura's illness had been cured during the last treatment, but he also thought that refusing Kimijima Ikuto might cause other trouble.

Therefore, Marui agreed to Kimijima Ikuto's conditions at that time, promising to do as he said.

However, this does not mean that Marui will keep his promise. After so many days of the match, Marui has never even thought of attacking Tono Atsukyo.

Even though he was targeted by Tono Atsukyo from the very beginning and then endured so many Execution Method.

However, this idea only began to waver just now. When Kite was beaten by the Execution Method, Marui became somewhat angry.

At this moment, Kimijima Ikuto was already preparing to serve from the baseline.

After glancing at Marui happened to meet her gaze as well.

Kimijima Ikuto gave Marui a knowing smile, then served a normal serve.

Kimijima Ikuto's smile pierced Marui's heart like a needle, and at that moment Marui finally made up his mind.

"That's right, hurting someone with tennis is absolutely unforgivable."

When Akaya did that to his opponents, I could still see it as him striving for Rikkai Dai's three-peat.

But now he has learned how to properly use that power, so I would never allow my partner to be treated like that!

As Marui became more resolute, his gaze also changed.

"Kite, let me receive the next ball."

After returning Kimijima Ikuto's serve, Marui immediately spoke to the Kite in front of him.

Upon hearing Marui's words, Kite paused for a moment, but did not refuse.

"Hahaha... Prepare for your execution!"

At the net, Tono Atsukyo's sharp laughter rang out, Execution Method was struck again.

The tennis ball flew straight towards the Kite, but this time the Kite did not choose to catch it with its body.

Just as the tennis ball was about to hit him, Kite's body suddenly moved to the left.

The tennis ball flew past him, and at the same time, Marui, who had been hiding behind Kite, appeared.

Although his right eye was injured, it only affected his defense.

Marui aimed at Tono Atsukyo's knee and made his move.

Puff!

"Ah! My patella! My patella!"

The tennis ball hit the target precisely, Tono Atsukyo's expression changed instantly.

The intense pain from the old wound, which had previously made him arrogant and conceited, caused him to fall to the ground, screaming in agony as he clutched his left knee and rolled around on the floor.

His sharp shouts turned into screams of agony. Kimijima Ikuto looked at his partner, with whom he had worked for a long time, without a trace of pity or worry in his eyes.

"Marui hit that guy in the knee."

"That guy seems to be in a lot of pain."

"What happened? Does that guy have some old knee injury?"

The middle school students watching from the sidelines were somewhat surprised to see Tono Atsukyo writhing on the ground in pain.

I'm curious not only about Tono Atsukyo's performance, but also about why Marui did what he did.

"I never imagined that he would be the one to deliver the final, fatal blow to Tono."

"How could someone like Kimijima Ikuto, who plays with his brain, not have a backup plan?"

He has two opponents, so he certainly won't allow any unstable factors to exist.

But what he didn't expect was that no matter how thoroughly he considered things, some factors were simply beyond his control.

"So, in that case, this doubles match..."

As for his rivals Kite and Marui, it was Kimijima who orchestrated their pairing. It seems that everything he did was aimed at eliminating Tono.

"Who knows? Anyway, judging from the current situation, he's achieved his goal."

From the sidelines, Horio and Irie watched the dramatic turn of events unfold like two adults watching children fight.

"Let's continue, the game isn't over yet."

"Now it's a duel between you and me, Bunta-kun."

"Although I hate to say it, it seems that's not the case."

On the field, Kimijima Ikuto ignored the wailing Tono Atsukyo and turned his gaze to Marui on the opposite side.

Upon hearing Marui's denial, Kimijima Ikuto felt a bad premonition.

"You don't think that level of attack can defeat me, do you?"

At that moment, Kite's figure appeared in Kimijima Ikuto's line of sight. Although his face was still injured, his boiling fighting spirit made people realize that Kite could continue to fight.

"How is that possible!? After being tortured by Tono so many times, how could you still have the strength to continue!"

"Really? So that's what you think. It seems you, like other high school students, have a lot of prejudice against junior high school students."

Hearing the surprise and skepticism in Kimijima Ikuto's words, Kite's face revealed a hint of mockery.

"Didn't you want both of us to play in this match? This is exactly what you wanted."

What!? Could it be the two of you?

"That's right. When Marui asked me if I wanted to play doubles together, I was curious why someone I didn't usually interact with would make such a suggestion."

Then I thought of a possibility, one that neither of us expected: that you would go to such lengths with your tricks.

Upon hearing what Kite hadn't explicitly said, Kimijima Ikuto realized he'd been tricked.

"So we had no choice but to go along with it. To be honest, I didn't originally intend to do it, but that executioner was just too much."

"Heh... I never imagined I, Kimijima Ikuto, would end up in your hands. How ironic."

Marui and Kite had already said all they needed to say, Kimijima Ikuto didn't want to continue.

Once back on the line, he was now all alone, struggling to deal with the two of them.

However, even if his basic five dimensions were higher than the two, he, who was good at negotiation tennis, could not possibly withstand their attacks.

At this point, Kite and Marui were no longer working in separate roles; both of them were now employing their own offensive and defensive tactics.

This made things increasingly difficult for Kimijima Ikuto, and in the end, he could only watch as Kite and Marui caught up in the score.

"What a disgrace! The other two are just two middle school students."

As a negotiation expert, he was discovered by the opposing side before the competition even began; as the executioner, he ended up being the one executed.

Byodoin on the sidelines, finally spoke up, probably because he was really dissatisfied with the performance of Kimijima Ikuto and Tono Atsukyo.

With his arms crossed, he looked at the two disheveled figures on the field, his eyes flashing with a fierce light.

Bang!

"The junior high school student scores, making the score 6-2, and the junior high school student wins."

With a total score of 2-0, the junior high school students emerged victorious in the third round of the reshuffling battle between the First String and the second team.

After the Kite hit a Great Fan Shi Qian, the tennis ball landed and scored a point, and the referee's announcement ended the match.

After two defeats, the junior high school student finally regained some confidence in the third round.

"I never imagined that it wasn't you who fell into the trap from the beginning, but myself..."

You made me lose so badly, you middle school students.

At the net, Kimijima Ikuto looked at Kite and Marui.

Although he lost the game, his face had regained its previous calm expression.

"You won. This is your spoils. Now you are part of the first First String."

After saying that, Kimijima Ikuto handed his No. 7 badge and the No. 8 badge that Tono Atsukyo had left behind to Kite and Marui.

The two men didn't stand on ceremony and took the two badges.

He then turned and walked back to the stands, where the other junior high school students were already preparing to cheer for the two of them.

"Next up should be the ghost, right?"

"That's right. Because it's a match between the First String and junior high school students, that's why he took back the number five badge. He probably wanted to take this opportunity to personally test their level."

With the third round over and the fourth round about to begin being another singles match, Horio concluded that it would be Oni, who had returned to the First String, who would be making his appearance.

"Come on, you little devils, if you dare to come up here, I'll send you all crashing back into hell."

Sure enough, no sooner had Horio and Irie finished speaking than Oni stepped forward with his racket.

He pointed his racket at the middle school students' camp and shouted out that familiar phrase.

Upon hearing what the ghost said, most of the people in the Court No. 3 remained still.

Just as Akutsu was about to pick up his racket Akutsu go on the court, a figure jumped onto the court.