Chapter 100: Light-Strike Ball: Mirror Surface, the Attention of the U17

As time ticked away second by second, the match quickly arrived at the final ball.

"Kirihara, how many minutes are left now?"

Takahashi asked toward the outside of the court.

"There is 1 minute and 30 seconds left!"

Kirihara answered excitedly.

Originally, they had thought that if they had to wait for this match to finish, they wouldn't be able to make it to Yukimura's hospital in time.

After all, with 5 minutes left, at least 3 games would need to be played.

Time was tight; it was almost impossible.

But Takahashi was too amazing, turning the impossible into the possible.

As long as the opponent couldn't return the ball, how much time could simply serving the ball himself really consume?

This was Takahashi's method of accelerating time.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the final ball.

With Takahashi's speed just now, there was absolutely enough time!

There was even time to spare.

At this moment, Takahashi on the court spoke up.

"It's the final ball, let me show you my move!"

"Echizen, you had better stand still where you are, otherwise, you will get hurt."

While speaking, Takahashi began to serve.

He did not toss the tennis ball upward; instead, he held the tennis ball in his hand and placed it at chest height.

Takahashi opened his palm, and the tennis ball began to fall slowly.

The tennis ball was suffused with a bright golden halo.

That halo.

Dazzling.

Radiant.

Time seemed to have frozen.

The speed at which the tennis ball fell was extremely slow, and the speed at which Takahashi swung his tennis racket was also abnormally slow.

Finally, Echizen was able to see Takahashi's swinging motion clearly.

But facing this eerie golden light, he did not have the thought of going to return the ball; instead, the fear in his heart grew ever larger.

He could only grip the tennis racket in his hand tightly and stand blankly on the spot.

Outside the court, the gray-haired Akutsu's pupils shrank violently; when he saw that golden light, he understood everything.

This was the ball that had made him feel a threat to his life at the Street Tennis Court back then.

Originally, he hadn't wanted to come watch this match; Echizen Ryoma was a guy he disliked.

The new first-year Captain of Rikkai also had nothing to do with him.

However, hearing from Tan Taiyi that this newly appointed Captain was surnamed Takahashi, he felt something was suspicious and came to the scene.

It was actually the same person he had seen at the Street Tennis Court back then.

Not just him, even Tan Taiyi was extremely shocked.

The two passersby Akutsu had casually found on the streets of Tokyo were actually players from Wangzhe Rikai Da, and one of them was even the Captain.

What luck!

"That's not right!"

Akutsu blurted out.

This momentum was not the same as what he had felt back then.

The power was greater!

The sense of oppression was stronger!

Even standing by the spectator seats at a distance from the match court, Akutsu still felt his heart beating violently.

Soon, the tennis ball in the air answered Akutsu's doubts.

The yellow tennis ball, carrying astonishing momentum, drew two neat, brilliant golden streaks in the air, rendering the entire space into a golden ocean.

Yes, two streaks.

The tennis ball seemed to split from one into two.

One on the left and one on the right, they surged toward Echizen Ryoma together with astonishing, glorious momentum.

Echizen's face was full of horror, his entire body's blood was boiling, his heart was pounding wildly in his chest, and a wave of immense fear surged into his heart.

"Boom!"

Accompanied by a huge roar.

The tennis ball merged back into one and landed.

That resplendent golden light suddenly erupted with unparalleled momentum.

Echizen couldn't help but raise his hands to cover his eyes.

A few seconds later, Echizen took his hands away.

He was surprised to discover that a huge pit had appeared behind him.

The pit was about half a meter long, and in the center of the pit was, shockingly, a tennis ball that was constantly emitting black smoke and making a sizzling sound.

In an instant, the entire venue fell silent.

The sound of the audience gasping for air, one after another, was clearly audible.

……

Watching this scene, Takahashi nodded with satisfaction.

This was the ultimate move he had recently developed: Light Strike—Mirror.

Based on the original Light Strike, by adding a subtle spin to the tennis ball through the angle of the racket swing, when light shines on the spinning ball, it reflects in such a way that the human eye sees two tennis balls at once.

It utilizes light and spin.

In reality, there is only one tennis ball.

……

In a corner of the spectator stands.

"That's a Light Strike, isn't it!"

A sturdy-looking man said with some surprise.

"Yes! I didn't expect to see a Light Strike appear in a middle school student's match, and not even an ordinary Light Strike at that! Are middle school students these days all this formidable?"

A man wearing a long white coat said.

"This middle school student, let's send him an invitation letter first!"

A man dressed in a white suit concluded.

As it turned out, these three were the coaches of Japan U17: Kurobe, Zaiteng, and Tsuge.

This year, the international tennis world changed the competition rules, allowing middle school students to participate in this year's Australia U17 World Cup.

As coaches for Japan U17, they had originally only trained elite high school students and rarely dealt with middle schoolers.

Therefore, they decided to start by looking for suitable middle school students in the ongoing Kanto Tournament.

They never expected to see a Light Strike appear in a middle school match, and not just an ordinary Light Strike, but one that actually split into two in mid-air.

One must know that the appearance of a Light Strike already indicates that the player has reached a World Level.

Not to mention splitting a Light Strike into two; such strength made even them, as U17 coaches, somewhat surprised.

Therefore, Kurobe, acting as the tactical coach, immediately decided to issue an invitation letter to Takahashi first.

High school students with such strength were already rare, let alone middle school students.

Although Takahashi's opponent, the small Echizen Ryoma, also had quite good strength.

But Kurobe still placed his primary target on Takahashi.

Because, the results of Japan U17 in recent years had not been good.

In the Training Camp, only people like Byodoin Houou, Tanegashima Shuji, and Oni had decent strength; the strength of the others was truly too average.

Therefore, this year they urgently needed to find excellent middle school students to join and improve the team's strength.

Originally, the three of them were just here to watch the match and understand the strength of the middle school students; they were not in a hurry to let these middle school students join the Training Camp, as there was still the National Tournament ahead.

Beyond their current strength, they valued the players' growth speed even more.

But the appearance of Takahashi made Kurobe change his mind.

Such a talent must be recruited into the Training Camp as soon as possible to prevent any accidents.

In order to adapt to the changes in the U17 World Cup, countries everywhere are now actively searching for excellent middle school students.

Once a person with high-level strength appears, it will surely attract the attention of all parties.

What if this were seen by another country's training camp and they issued an invitation to him in advance?

Therefore, without delay, Kurobe decided to issue an invitation letter to him alone first, letting him join the U17 in advance.

……

On the court.

Echizen stared blankly at the giant crater smashed into the ground behind him, where the cement floor wrapped in plastic was shockingly exposed.

His mood was extremely complex, containing both unwillingness and frustration, mixed with deep fear.

This match allowed him to successfully enter the final gate of the Selfless State, the limit of Peerless Perfection, and his entire state was better than ever before.

But even so, the last three games.

Takahashi took less than 5 minutes to finish them.

And he even smashed such a large crater into the match court.

He had actually been shut out, not scoring a single point.

Such a situation had never occurred in any of the matches he had experienced in the past.

Except for when playing against his father.

……

"Match over! Score 6-0! Takahashi wins!"

"Rikkai Dai Fuzoku Chugaku wins! Score 3-0!"

"The champion of the Kanto Tournament is Rikkai Dai Fuzoku Chugaku!"