Chapter 203: Desperate Situation

Boom!

With a blast, the terrifying ball of lightning was precisely intercepted by Ju Juping. The 【Thunder】, possessing extreme penetrating power, continuously impacted the racket face, electric light splashing everywhere.

"Zzz-zzz-zzz..."

A terrifying, hair-raising cutting sound rang in his ears; Ju Juping seemed to hear the wailing of the racket in his hand, as if the lightning would pierce through in the next second.

"That's it, bring it on!"

Hmph...

The electric light illuminated Ju Juping's face, turning it deathly pale, but his aura became increasingly terrifying and complex—fierce and violent, thick and heavy, cold and sharp; various contradictory characteristics projected from his lion-like eyes.

The lightning raged, unable to break through this rock-like mammoth. The muscles around his waist were all twisted together, like a giant python turning over, gathering unimaginable power.

"Ten Thousand Beasts: Rampaging Lion!"

Swish!

Ju Juping sank his hands, and a massive golden ball of light instantly condensed across the entire racket face.

Whoosh!

Immediately after, his tightened waist and abdomen relaxed instantly, and the power accumulated by his muscles surged out like a tsunami. He swung the racket, and the tennis ball was smashed back, carrying a terrifying, boiling golden tail flame.

Just as the tennis ball crossed the net.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Golden flames exploded and split on the tennis ball, and countless tennis balls flew in different directions—leaping high into the sky like long eagles, rushing forward and crossing mountain streams like leopards, and charging forward like fierce mammoths, trampling the earth.

The tennis balls filling the sky were like roaring, galloping beasts, following closely behind the rampaging lion. The galloping ball shadows appeared densely in every spot in front of the net, crushing toward Sanada Kunimitsu in a dense swarm.

"... This kind of tennis!"

His pupils shook, and the calmness on Sanada's face was broken for the first time, his voice rarely showing a few traces of trembling.

There was no time to think.

The next moment.

Sanada's body pulled a sky-blue lightning afterimage, instantly moving to the position in front of the net, which was the path the tennis ball had to take.

"Haaah!"

"Movement... Like Thunder!"

The rolling air currents rushing toward him blew the black cap off Sanada's head. Lightning exploded in his eyes, and the splashing electric arcs scattered upward along his standing black hair.

Swish!

Sanada repeated his old trick, using the same method to deal with the "Exploding Ball Dance," once again slashing his racket out with the force of thunder, wanting to destroy all the scattered ball shadows before him.

Crackle! Crackle!

Straight bolts of lightning were pulled out across the court. Every time he swung the racket, he could shatter several ball shadows. Sanada's bangs fluttered, his rapidly slashing arm turning into streaks of lightning afterimages in front of him, and one ball shadow after another shattered like bubbles.

Due to the ultra-fast instantaneous swings, Sanada's arm turned slightly red, his muscles trembling visibly, but he still hadn't managed to catch the true body of the tennis ball.

Time seemed to freeze.

The vertical thunder tore through everything in front of him, but at his side, above his head, behind him... and everywhere outside his body, there were ball paths rushing past like wild beasts.

The ball shadows he could destroy were only five or six tenths of the total; more golden light had long since broken through his defensive zone.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Boom!

After the shrill whistles, the tennis ball, infused with terrifying power, exploded behind Sanada.

When the gale dissipated and the dust settled, only one tennis ball remained quietly on the ground. Sanada's gaze was still somewhat shocked; the sight of the beasts galloping just now was still rolling in his mind.

"Game, Budongfeng Middle School's Ju Juping, Yiwu Shen Si, 4-2."

A few seconds later, the referee finally regained his senses to confirm that the tennis ball's final landing was not out of bounds. He swallowed his saliva and wiped away a non-existent cold sweat; he had truly never seen such an exaggerated split-ball before.

The court was exceptionally quiet. This exaggerated and terrifying scene made the spectators forget to breathe, their breath caught in their throats, their faces deathly pale.

"A-are you kidding me?"

"Is this still tennis played by humans?"

The service changed, and the players on the court changed positions.

"Ju Juping!"

Liu Lian Er clenched his fists, his gaze fixed on Ju Juping, who, after breaking free from the cage, walked like a lion inspecting its territory.

This ball just now truly exceeded his expectations; more accurately, perhaps the moment the change occurred, the situation of the match had already left his control.

Sensing the wild aura on the court that seemed to be of the same origin as Yuuki Satoru's but was actually vastly different, Xingcun Jingshi narrowed his eyes slightly.

"A higher form of wildness... a stance that has mastered the power of ten thousand beasts? Budongfeng's Ju Juping, you really are an incredible guy."

On the high platform, recalling the terrifying scene just now, Shitenhoji's Oshitari Kenya's face turned somewhat pale.

Being able to hit such a unique skill that ordinary people couldn't understand, Ju Juping's strength far exceeded their imagination. Facing such a terrifying character, perhaps even Shiraishi wouldn't have much chance of winning.

"Actually integrating the 'Wave Ball' style into the split-ball shadow path, that's truly amazing!"

Beside him, Ishida Gin's arm was wrapped in bandages, his rugged face also showing a shocked expression, and the slight regret and unwillingness in his heart also quietly disappeared at this moment.

Even if he and Oshitari had won the doubles match, Shitenhoji couldn't have taken the singles points from Ju Juping.

From the moment Shiraishi faced Yuuki Satoru, they had already lost their chance of winning.

"Power, speed, technique..."

"What is perfection? What exactly is truly perfect tennis?"

Shiraishi's gaze landed on the court. When he saw Ju Juping's extreme evolution after breaking his shackles, and saw the terrifying tennis technique born from the fusion of speed, power, and technique, he seemed to understand something, just like the moment of enlightenment when the Spear of Longinus pierced and tore the Bible apart.

But when he wanted to pursue the answer further, the doubts in his heart sprouted one after another like bamboo shoots after rain.

The answer was clearly right before his eyes, but his vision was blurry and hazy. This feeling of being within reach yet powerless was truly infuriating.

"... One day, I will definitely find the truly perfect tennis."

Shiraishi gritted his teeth, his deep-seated obsession coiling around his heart like a vine.

Soon, the noise in the stands subsided. On the court, there were only the drum-like hitting sounds, the heavy breathing of the spectators, and the referee's judgment.

Boom!

"Budongfeng Middle School scores, 0-30!"

Boom!

"Budongfeng Middle School scores, 0-40!"

Boom!

"Game, Budongfeng Middle School's Ju Juping, Yiwu Shen Si, 5-2!"

"Change sides."

The four players on the court returned to their respective rest areas. In the eyes of everyone on and off the court, this might already be the last 90-second break.

Slap!

As soon as he got off the court, Qieyuan Chiye slapped himself hard.

"Vice-Captain Sanada, I'm sorry!"

The demon state had faded away at some point, and the bright red finger marks on his face were particularly clear.

After his reason returned to his brain, a wave of guilt followed. If it weren't for him, the Vice-Captain wouldn't have fallen into a bitter battle, and wouldn't have given that Ju Juping a chance to surpass his limits and enter this stance that even Vice-Captain Sanada found difficult to deal with.

It was because he was too weak that the situation had evolved into what it was now!

"Haa... haa..."

Supporting his knees with both hands, Sanada hunched over, eyes closed, his nostrils trembling slightly. The fatigue from using "Movement Like Thunder" for a long time was slowly surging up.

He didn't respond to Qieyuan's self-reproach immediately; according to the current situation, he had to seize every second to recover his stamina.

"Continue with Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain? No, it's no longer effective. Then..."

With a white towel covering his head, Sanada frowned, images flashing rapidly in his mind, and various seemingly feasible tactics were excluded one by one.

The current Ju Juping was extremely tricky.

After thoroughly digging out the wildness hidden deep in his body and mastering it perfectly, the opponent's power, speed, and reflexes had all been greatly improved. Conventional means simply couldn't stop his wild offensive.

That beast-like power and speed were almost no less than the first door of the No-Self Realm, "Thousand Hammer Hundred Tempering," and his exaggerated reflexes also allowed the opponent to perform pre-emptive reactions similar to "Talented Radiance."

From a certain perspective, the boost brought by the wildness stance alone was enough to match the blessing of opening both doors of the No-Self Realm, not to mention that Ju Juping had also mastered tennis techniques that could perfectly exert his own strength.

In such a situation, the threat level of Ju Juping had clearly far exceeded the other of the Kyushu Duo.

Time passed second by second, but Sanada still hadn't found a secure way to respond.

Tick-tock, tick-tock...

His hair was completely soaked with sweat, and one or two crystal-clear water droplets dripped down from the tips of his hair. Sanada raised his eyes slightly, glancing at the black, arrogant figure opposite him.

"Could it be that this is my limit..."

The moment the sweat dripped, the scenes of his memories flashed one by one in the crystal-clear sweat droplets.

Following Xingcun's back from childhood to adulthood, suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of Tezuka Kunimitsu two years ago, being defeated by Yuuki Satoru in a humiliating way at the Kanto Tournament...

Sanada's breathing stalled. His trembling fingers pulled the white sweat towel off his neck and threw it onto the bench, then he reached out and grabbed a tennis racket leaning against the bench.

After gripping the racket, his trembling fingers stopped shaking immediately. The familiar touch made Sanada calm down instantly, looking like a panicked traveler who had found a familiar path home.

Rustle...

Sanada's fingers rubbed the frame of the racket, like a soldier about to charge, caressing his long sword for killing the enemy.

Then, he turned around and fixed his gaze on the opposite side of the court, staring intently at Ju Juping's unstoppable appearance. At this moment, a calm and determined face appeared in his mind.

Clatter!

Sanada flicked the racket in his hand, and the racket leaning against the bench flew lightly into Qieyuan's hand.

"Vice-Captain Sanada..."

Qieyuan Chiye caught the racket, still somewhat stunned.

"The match isn't over yet. Go all out and focus, Qieyuan!"

Sanada stepped toward the court.

Whoosh, whoosh~

A continuous stream of scorching wind entered the stadium through the opening above the center, blowing the Lihai University team's flags until they rustled and snapped.

At this time, the referee's voice also sounded over the broadcast.

"Please have the players enter the court. Lihai University Affiliated Middle School's Sanada Kunimitsu to serve!"