148. The New Limit of Flash Time

Actually, Matsubara Mei's technique was not impossible to imitate; the only thing that could not be imitated was the cheat-like system within the boy's body. The techniques he mastered could not be presented through standard tennis methods, but the movements themselves—which completely defied the lethality of the tennis balls he hit—could be mimicked by anyone.

However, even though Hiroshi Wakato replicated the movements with striking realism, he was unable to imitate the supernatural aid inside the boy, which led to the distorted form during his shots. Those hitting motions were merely a part of the boy's personal playing habits; what truly gave the tennis balls their destructive power was far from being as simple as a racket and a hand.

"His posture and movements while playing against Matsubara are very similar, but... it seems the imitation failed..."

Shibagaki Saori said with a slight look of astonishment.

"Indeed. Although we recorded his posture during the match against Matsubara, Matsubara's shots themselves rely on a playstyle that ordinary people find extremely difficult to execute. So, even though most of the outer form was copied, the inner essence wasn't captured at all."

Inoue Mamoru remarked non-committally.

Refusing to accept the defeat, Wakato tried once more to imitate Matsubara's over-spin shot, but the ball merely sailed out of bounds just as it crossed the net. The boy secured another point without any suspense.

"30-0!"

"Did he fail the imitation again?"

Hanamura Aoi felt a sense of novelty. She straightened up and watched Wakato closely. After a long moment, she felt certain there was no mistake—the movements were identical to Matsubara's, yet... why couldn't he successfully execute the shot?

"You've got to be kidding me..."

Kajimoto Takahisa was unwilling to believe everything unfolding before his eyes.

"He actually can't hit the ball the way Matsubara does..."

Tanaka Kohei blurted out.

"Failing the imitation is secondary. The important thing is that two consecutive failures must deal a heavy psychological blow to Wakato..."

Tanaka Yohei's eyes flickered, and as he looked at Wakato, a hint of worry was unavoidable.

"The most humiliating thing about imitation isn't that you copied someone else, but that despite putting your heart into copying them, it turns out to be utterly useless."

Matsubara Mei smiled faintly and mocked.

"Damn it..."

Wakato was already covered in sweat, squeezing the words out slowly from between his teeth.

"Matsubara's techniques have always been un-imitable. Because Wakato only knows how to copy blindly without tracing back to the source, it leads to a situation where he loses points despite imitating the strongest player on the court."

Kaidoh Sadaharu stated.

"Are you saying, Ahan... could it be that Wakato's racket was lifted a few centimeters too high during the imitation, or perhaps a few centimeters too low?"

Shishido Ryo anticipated Kaidoh's usual line of reasoning and spoke up first.

"Don't say foolish things. It's not a matter of a few centimeters too much or too little. The Matsubara movement Wakato copied deviated by merely a few millimeters."

Kaidoh turned his head and said.

Shishido's eye twitched as he said speechlessly, "Re... really...?"

"Wakato's method of using his muscles is extraordinary, having reached a realm of perfection. It's hard to imagine he achieved this in just a few months. However, he is terribly unlucky to have run into Matsubara. Matsubara's hitting style always deviates significantly from the moves he ultimately executes; in other words, those physical motions are not the standard movements specifically meant to produce such shots."

"Huh? No way..."

Shishido felt as though Kaidoh were telling a joke.

"Indeed. This is also something I have never quite figured out. Some of Matsubara's actions can indeed be explained by science, but others are truly difficult to reconcile with science. I am currently pondering what kind of existence lies at the very end of science."

Kaidoh stroked his chin and said calmly.

"Ha..."

Seeing the former acting so mystical, Shishido felt even more speechless.

At a certain moment, Matsubara released the gravitational pull of the Universal Pull on the ball. Then, his gaze sharpened, and a wave of grey energy slowly spread outward like a tide, dyeing everything in the surroundings in monochrome hues. This included the spectators watching the match outside the court. When that grey energy wave perfectly blanketed every person and object within the field of view, everything came to a complete standstill!

"It's time to test how many consecutive shots I can sustain while using Time Flash now."

Matsubara stretched lazily, loosened his arms and waist, and then stepped off into the empty air. Immediately afterward, his figure dashed forward explosively, leaving behind footprints in the air that rippled like concentric waves!

Quickly arriving at the net and looking at the tennis ball suspended motionlessly in mid-air, Matsubara struck it fiercely with his racket. As the stroke finished, the corner of the boy's mouth curled up, and the enveloping grey energy instantly dissipated!

Thud!

Everyone saw the flight path of the tennis ball; everyone saw how Matsubara returned the shot. But what surprised them above all was that Wakato simply stood in place and failed to make a play for the ball.

Wakato stared blankly ahead with a dazed expression, and the referee sitting on the high chair also wore a vacant look. The boy smiled and asked, "Shouldn't that last shot count as my point, referee?"

"No... it doesn't..."

The referee snapped out of his trance and shook his head. While recording the score, he had been paying close attention to the match between the two. What puzzled him was that the previous shot should have been quite easy to return—why did Wakato just stand there motionless, as if he were spacing out?

"40-0!"

"Uh..."

Wakato still maintained his dazed expression. Had his eyes not been blinking, many would have thought something was seriously wrong with him. Outside the court, Tanaka Yohei couldn't help muttering, "Seriously... what is Wakato doing? He could easily have returned that shot, yet he just stands there without moving!"

"Yeah, that hit wasn't as difficult to return as the previous ones."

Tanaka Kohei nodded in agreement.

Hanamura Aoi also noticed Wakato's momentary absence of mind. Although it lasted only a fraction of a second, human intuition could easily perceive it. She sensed that Wakato's state was somewhat abnormal; could the failure of his imitation have placed too much psychological pressure on him, preventing him from playing normally?

"He lost a point on such a normal ball—that shouldn't have happened, Wakato."

Tanaka Yohei raised his small fists to his chest, expressing regret for the former.

"Hey, Wakato! Switch to a different persona! This style isn't working!"

Tanaka Kohei shouted toward the court.

"There is indeed a problem with this persona. Not only can he not hit Matsubara's shots, but just now... I clearly sensed the reason why Wakato failed to return that ball. That brief moment of distraction might seem insignificant at a glance, but had he not lost his focus, he definitely would have reached it."

Kajimoto thought to himself.

"They are right. You'd better stop this monkey-like imitation."

Matsubara touched his nose and smiled.

Time stood still. Because humans are three-dimensional rather than four-dimensional creatures, they were completely incapable of perceiving the existence of time. That stealthily slipped-away 0.1 second was the 0.1 second during which Wakato was dazed. He only knew that he had failed to return the ball, but could not comprehend why he had missed such a simple return. Since the spectators were not experiencing it firsthand, they only perceived it as Wakato spacing out and missing the ball, without feeling the puzzlement of why he couldn't reach it.

"Interesting... You're a formidable player, actually managing to drive me to this extent."

Wakato couldn't help laughing. Seeing this, Tanaka Yohei looked somewhat surprised. "Wakato... can he still laugh at a time like this?"

"It seems he has no intention of switching to another persona. Is he going to go head-to-head with Matsubara using Matsubara's own style to the bitter end..."

Tanaka Kohei chimed in.

"4-3! Midori Matsubara leads!"

"5-3! Midori Matsubara leads!"

"Seriously... what is Wakato doing? Why is he being so stubborn?!"

Tanaka Yohei clenched his fists nervously and said.

"Exactly, wouldn't it be better to just switch to a different style?"

Tanaka Kohei followed up.

"Wakato..."

Kajimoto's gaze grew heavy as he softly uttered a name.

To Matsubara, Wakato trapped within the Time Flash was like a sitting duck. During that paused 0.1 second, the boy could accomplish whatever he wished. Unless Wakato could anticipate his attacks in advance like Hit in Dragon Boy Super or shatter the time-freezing function of his Time Flash with an even stronger technique, Time Flash had no weaknesses.

Leaving aside the former weakness, let's look at the latter: wanting to forcefully break his time pause with a power transcending Time Flash? To do that, Matsubara would at least have to encounter an opponent on the level of the New Prince of Tennis.

"6-3! Midori Matsubara wins!"

The referee raised a hand and signaled loudly.

"Whew... Eight Time Flashes, huh..."

Covered in sweat, Matsubara shook his heavy head and sat down heavily. Compared to the initial limit of Time Flashes, the maximum number of times he could use it had increased once again. Excellent, a great feeling!