106. A match neither side could afford to lose

“Don’t think that rattling off a bunch of names I don’t understand makes you impressive; martial arts aren’t as simple as you imagine.” Sō Shudō’s mood soured under Narui Matsubara’s taunts, compounded by his two-set deficit, he gritted his teeth and said, “Whether it’s martial arts or anything else, aren’t these techniques meant to let the weak overcome the strong?”

Narui Matsubara chuckled lightly again. “If martial arts are so complicated, then does that mean you’re admitting you’re the weaker one?”

With that, Narui tapped Sō on the shoulder with his racket and smiled.

“What...?” Sō’s face darkened further upon hearing this. From the sidelines, Kurohane spoke gravely, “This Matsubara seems to be constantly provoking Sō, but in reality, he’s gradually breaking down Sō’s mental defenses.”

“That guy’s rambling nonsense while hitting tennis shots with strange postures, seriously disrupting Sō’s rhythm of attack. Now he’s resorting to verbal provocation. An experienced player indeed has his tricks...” Saeki glanced at the smiling, squint-eyed Fuji and then turned his gaze back to the court.

“Let’s end the game here. I’m already tired of playing,” Narui said as he pulled out a tennis ball from his pocket and applied an excessive repulsive force to it!

“Boom!”

“It’s a heavy serve!”

Everyone from Evergreen knew this serve all too well — it was the move that had crushed Kiyoshi Chiseki during their match against Yamabuki. They erupted in cheers.

“3-0! Change sides!”

“That kind of serve... What a joke...”

Sweat beaded down Sō’s face as he failed to return even one of Narui’s heavy serves. When it was his turn to serve, his heart burned with anger, but even so, facing Narui’s repeatedly blurring, spinless strikes, Sō couldn’t return a single ball!

“Matsubara’s been playing full out since the start,” Fuji smiled faintly.

“Yeah, he usually lets a few points go early on. It’s rare to see him this intense,” Akira Shishido agreed.

“Is that a heavy strike?!” The score quickly reached 4-0, with Narui’s visually overwhelming style ruthlessly scoring point after point on Sō’s court. Soon it was 5-0!

“No wonder Matsubara must be holding back a lot of frustration after we barely lost two consecutive doubles matches, right?” Sadaharu Inui vaguely suspected this was why Narui abandoned his usual habit of conceding a few points early.

“Add to that Tezuka’s use of Zero-Style slice shots and the ‘Thousand-Hammer’ technique against Kondo and Ishihara to boost the team’s morale, Matsubara must be unleashing all his pent-up resentment and dissatisfaction,” Renji Yanagi said softly.

“No... perhaps Matsubara’s best form is like this. Or maybe what he showed us before... was never his perfect state...” Fuji opened his blue eyes wide, cold sweat appearing on his face. He suddenly felt he couldn’t quite figure out this boy.

Hearing this, everyone turned to watch Narui Matsubara sweating on the court. Tezuka sat on the bench, arms folded, his gaze calm.

“If what Matsubara’s showing today is a more perfect peak form than before, then his potential truly is limitless...” Sadaharu Inui adjusted his glasses and said, “I guess the data I’ve collected needs updating.”

“Match over! Evergreen’s Matsubara wins! 6-0!”

Sō stood bewildered and drenched in sweat, while Narui turned and slowly walked away. The breeze lifted his black bangs, and in that frozen moment, he looked as if bathed in the gentle spring sun.

“That means if we win one more match, we’ll advance!”

“Matsubara and Tezuka are amazing — they shut out the opposing team’s third and second singles players!”

“Come on, Fuji!”

Fuji took off his long-sleeved jacket, smiling at the enthusiastic Evergreen students. “Everyone’s really fired up.”

“Deputy Captain Fuji, you can’t have a worse record than me or Captain Tezuka,” Narui teased.

“That record? Honestly, that’s a tough act to follow, since the opposing first singles player is Saeki Kojirō, the captain of Rokkaku,” Fuji smiled, following Saeki’s movement with his eyes.

“Never expected Evergreen to win two matches in a row. You can’t underestimate them. No team advancing to the Kanto tournament is a pushover,” Saeki muttered, glancing at Narui resting offcourt, holding his head.

His gaze shifted back to Fuji, who was approaching slowly. Saeki suddenly smiled but knew he wouldn’t lose this match. If the opponent were anyone else, the outcome would be uncertain, but Fuji was a different story.

“Though we grew up together, I didn’t expect you to show such talent in the regional qualifiers. But as long as you don’t add spin or smash, your Triple Counter won’t find its mark. Also... there’s no wind today.”

Saeki had been secretly watching Fuji, even learning spinless shot techniques from Jukihiko. Though not fully mastered, it was enough to counter the swift ‘Flying Swallow’ attack.

“The first singles match between Evergreen Academy and Rokkaku Junior High starts now, best of one set! Evergreen’s Fuji to serve!” the referee announced.

Fuji served. Saeki, with excellent dynamic vision, smiled subtly, watching the ball’s trajectory. He spotted a subtle but critical weakness near Fuji’s feet. As Fuji moved forward to receive, Saeki swung and scored with a deep shot!

*Thud!*

The ball landed where Fuji had been standing and flew out of bounds. Fuji froze, his face paling.

“?!”

“As expected from Saeki... he read Fuji’s serve perfectly and struck the fatal weak spot!” Kurohane observed, understanding that Saeki meant business right from the start.

“Yeah, after losing two singles matches in a row, Saeki had to get serious,” Jun Kisarazu nodded softly.

“This is a match neither side can afford to lose,” Akira Kisarazu added.

Saeki’s crisp return stirred the tense atmosphere at Rokkaku, though he showed no sign of pride—it was just routine for him.

“To score with a single shot...” Akira Shishido said in astonishment.

“And Fuji had no chance to react or move, which means Saeki hit his dead zone...” Sadaharu Inui stated calmly.

“As expected of Saeki Kojirō, captain of Rokkaku. He’s strong...” Mamoru Inoue remarked.

“Why do I have a feeling Fuji might lose...” Saori Shiba worried.

“Saeki Kojirō possesses outstanding dynamic vision and insight, excels in man-marking tactics, specializes in serve-and-volley play, and is adept at quickly transitioning to baseline attacks to wear down opponents...” Renji Yanagi slowly recited Saeki’s profile.

“If he were a doubles player, he’d be a nightmare for us with that vision and those tactics...” Akira Shishido commented.

“Fuji’s a baseline defender. Against Saeki, he might end up on the back foot...” Sadaharu Inui flipped through his notebook. Based on previous training, he had categorized players. If Fuji remained trapped passively by Saeki for too long, the consequences could be dire.