Third game.
Tezuka served.
"Hey, Tezuka."
Kamikawa stood at the baseline with his hands held level, smiling at Tezuka. "Don't bother trying. I won't let you use Domain Technique."
"Domain Technique?!"
Everyone watching from the sidelines was baffled.
What kind of strange move was that?
Only Sanada's pupils contracted when he heard it, disbelief written all over his face.
Had Tezuka already tried using that move during their earlier rally?
And had his opponent managed to suppress it?
How had he done that?!
Sanada stared at Kamikawa, utterly confused. He really wanted to know how Kamikawa had pulled it off.
"Come on, Tezuka!!"
When Tezuka still didn't answer, Kamikawa lowered his stance, gripped his racket with both hands, and fixed his gaze ahead.
Thwack!!
Tezuka raised his hand and sent the ball flying with a clean, decisive stroke.
The shot landed precisely in the inverted-triangle area behind the service line.
Kamikawa didn't hesitate for long. He rushed forward, and as the ball bounced up, he drove a fast shot straight down the line.
Thwack!!
A sharp crack rang out.
Tezuka lowered his racket face and sent over another Zero-style Slice.
The ball skimmed past the center line, then began to drop sharply. Kamikawa had already charged forward. When Tezuka hit a slice, his movement paused for a brief moment.
Kamikawa had spent so much time with Tezuka that there was no way he wouldn't know about this little habit.
The shot looked sudden, but it was still within Kamikawa's control. He ran to the net and flicked his racket upward. With the ball so low, a lob was the only way to handle it.
The most ingenious part of the Zero-style Slice was the way the ball rolled backward in an uncanny fashion the moment it hit the ground. Even though Tezuka hadn't yet mastered it to that degree, the ball would still bounce slightly backward.
Just as Kamikawa lifted the ball—
In the next moment, Tezuka appeared in front of him and leaped into the air.
A milky-white aura swirled around him. It seemed even deeper than the auras Yukimura and Sanada had reached. Then came a sharp pop.
The ball streaked past Kamikawa and slammed into the court behind him.
"15-0!"
"The Muga no Kyochi?!"
Shishido and Mukahi hadn't known much about this state before.
It wasn't until that morning, when they watched Kamikawa and Yukimura's match, that they finally understood it.
It was a state only tennis players who had surpassed their limits could enter.
And now it had appeared on this court once again.
"Come on, Kamikawa. Give it everything you've got!"
The aura of Muga no Kyochi swirled around Tezuka, steadily strengthening him. Unlike Yukimura and Sanada, Tezuka had already begun to explore one of the doors within the Myriad Self Profound Mystery.
The Limit of a Hundred Refinements!
Thwack!!
"30-0!"
Thwack!!
"40-0!"
With Muga no Kyochi activated, Tezuka sent nearly every ball right along the boundary line. His control had taken a remarkable leap, and...
Tezuka lowered his racket face and unleashed a powerful slice.
The Zero-style!
Kamikawa raced forward without the slightest hesitation.
The instant the ball hit the ground, it spun fiercely, then rolled in a straight line toward the center of the net.
The entire court fell silent. Everyone stared wide-eyed at the ball as it rolled across Kamikawa's side.
"Game, Tezuka, 2-1!"
The referee's call broke the silence on and off the court.
"What... what was that just now?!"
"The ball... the ball actually rolled straight backward!"
Th-this is a shot a grade-schooler can pull off?
After a long moment, the spectators sucked in a sharp breath.
"Mukahi, did... did you see that?"
Shishido instinctively turned to Mukahi beside him. It was the first time he'd ever seen a shot like that.
Tezuka's earlier slice had already been astonishing, but compared with the one they'd just seen, it didn't even come close.
"I... I saw it, Ryo~"
Mukahi looked just as dumbfounded.
When Tezuka had played against him,
he definitely hadn't used anything like this. He hadn't even used a slice that bounced backward.
Likewise,
Sanada, who had lost to Tezuka, looked stricken.
He had thought that mastering Muga no Kyochi would bring him closer to Tezuka. Now, it seemed the opposite had happened: Tezuka had pulled even farther ahead.
"Has he actually completed that slice?!"
After seeing Tezuka's shot, Sanada knew all too well that the earlier version hadn't been perfect. The slice Tezuka had just hit was the true, perfected form.
Even among middle schoolers—the golden generation, the generation about to graduate—no one had ever hit a slice this terrifying.
Once this slice landed, it was guaranteed to score.
With that shot alone, and Muga no Kyochi to bolster him, Tezuka could already stand among the best in middle school tennis. He might even be able to face players who had barely entered the national level.
And Tezuka was only in sixth grade, just about to enter his first year of middle school.
Such strength, such composure—it was truly rare.
"I wonder which team those two will join in the future."
Inoue couldn't help marveling as he watched the two on court.
For some reason, he could see the figure of Echizen Nanjirou in both of them—the legendary Samurai.
Especially in Tezuka Kunimitsu!
That brought one particular school to mind.
He was old friends with that school's coach: Seishun Academy, the venerable tennis powerhouse of Tokyo Metropolis.
"As I thought."
Seeing Tezuka use Muga no Kyochi, Kamikawa's smile gradually widened. "With your ability, you could've entered Muga no Kyochi a long time ago. You can use it to perfect the Zero-style Slice, too."
As expected of the strongest player of his generation, Tezuka Kunimitsu. Compared with Yukimura, Tezuka had been far stronger before his injury. After all, his talent was said to be the closest to that of the legendary Samurai.
"Fine, then."
Kamikawa tossed the ball. "Show me your Limit of a Hundred Refinements!"
Thwack!!
Kamikawa served.
This serve came faster, sharper, and with even greater precision.
Tezuka hurried forward, caught up to the ball, and drove it back, aiming for his opponent's backhand. Kamikawa seemed to have anticipated it, stepping into position early and returning the shot in one fluid motion.
Thwack!!
The ball landed on Tezuka's side. Tezuka turned sideways, lowered his racket, and struck it back.
"Another slice?"
He narrowed his eyes, but his movements didn't slow. He charged forward again.
With Muga no Kyochi mastered, every aspect of his abilities had improved significantly. The most important was Tezuka's control.
The key to the Zero-style Slice was imparting a unique spin to the ball.
Before, Tezuka had been limited by his body and couldn't apply the right amount of spin. But once he activated Muga no Kyochi, his basic abilities rose across the board, quickly overcoming that physical limitation.
With that in mind, he sped up. Before the ball could hit the ground, he took the initiative and lifted it high, sending it back.
Pop!!
The ball hung in midair. A moment later, a figure sprang into the air.
Thwack!!
Tezuka slammed it down.
Kamikawa turned his back and hit another Giant Bear Return. After landing, Tezuka quickly spun around and charged toward the baseline. The moment the ball bounced up, he returned it.
What a shot!!
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