Ryonan vs. Miuradai

The players spread out in an orderly fashion, stretching, dribbling, and running suicides as if they were simply going through their usual training routine.

There was almost no communication between them, only the occasional glance or nod. The atmospheres on the two sides were completely different, and the strange mismatch gave the audience the surreal feeling of witnessing ice and fire side by side.

Chi Tong did not join the warm-up. She remained standing at the sidelines, a white jacket draped over her shoulders, its collar slightly raised. With her arms folded across her chest, she looked like a silent, imposing statue.

Her gaze swept calmly over the Miuradai players before slowly returning to the Ryonan team.

In the stands, Hanagata Toru narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze nailed firmly to the red figure in the white jacket by the court.

Hanagata murmured, "So that's Ryonan's first-year captain?"

Teng Zhen also followed his gaze toward Chi Tong. His brows furrowed unconsciously as his fingertips rubbed against the armrest. His eyes gradually darkened, like an undercurrent silently spreading beneath the surface.

Chi Tong gave him a very different feeling. It was not the flamboyant oppression of someone showing off, nor was it simply an overwhelming presence. It was an almost instinctive sense of danger hidden within her calmness.

It was like the first time he had seen Muzanichi at the Kanagawa tournament—the feeling that no matter how hard he fought, fate would still force him to remain a step beneath the other person.

And now, that feeling had surfaced again.

No, that wasn't right. It felt even heavier than when he had faced a stranger.

But how was that possible? No matter what, she was only a first-year student.

"Teng Zhen, what's wrong?"

Hanagata Toru noticed something off in Teng Zhen's