Chapter 121: Mental Domain—Time Distortion

Inside the Monitoring Room.

Mifune's gaze was somewhat stern as he said, "Saito, what do you think?"

Saito pondered for a few seconds before speaking, "This should be a mental-type attack, and one that leans toward the time category."

"Because Tanegashima's several errors were all due to time; because he misjudged the time of the tennis ball's landing, it led to him swinging his racket too early or too late, thereby losing points."

"It's just that I don't quite understand—with Tanegashima's powerful Spirit Power combined with the existence of Metsu Mu, how could he possibly fall victim to an opponent's mental-type attack?"

Saito's doubt was also Kurobe's doubt.

Tanegashima Shuji is a player who has participated in world tournaments; the strength of his Spirit Power has been tempered by world-class powerhouses and far exceeds his peers.

Ordinary mental-type ultimate moves have no effect on Tanegashima at all; Tanegashima's own willpower can completely break through them.

What's more, Tanegashima's ultimate move, Mu, can not only eliminate various techniques on the tennis ball but can also eliminate negative mental states.

This is also the reason why Ochi Tsukimitsu's Mental Assassination in the First String has no effect on Tanegashima Shuji.

But now, Tanegashima on the court is clearly suffering from a mental impact, and a time-based one at that; what exactly is going on?

Is Takahashi's Spirit Power actually this powerful?

……

On the court.

"0-40!"

"Point for Takahashi!"

Watching Tanegashima commit another double fault, the originally serious and stern expression on Takahashi's face gradually relaxed, and a hint of a smile crept onto the corners of his mouth.

"Friendly reminder, no one has ever played a match this long with me; there are no side effects!"

Takahashi's slightly smiling voice rang out in Tanegashima's ear.

This was the friendly reminder Tanegashima had given Takahashi during the first game, returned to him exactly as it was.

What a guy with a nasty personality.

Tanegashima's eyes slowly narrowed.

……

"0-2!"

"Point for Takahashi!"

This game was Tanegashima Shuji's service game.

Except for the first ball, Tanegashima committed double faults on all three remaining balls.

He had handed the score to Takahashi for nothing.

Takahashi's expression became increasingly cheerful!

So this is the feeling of being carried to victory!

Never expected to experience this while facing Tanegashima Shuji at the U17 Training Camp.

This feeling is truly wonderful!

"So, what exactly did you do?"

Tanegashima's puzzled voice rang out.

"This is my newly developed ultimate move, Mental Domain—Time Distortion."

Takahashi carried his tennis racket on his shoulder and said indifferently.

"Time? So it really is time? It seems my guess was not wrong."

Tanegashima took a deep look at Takahashi, and a sense of wariness toward him rose in his heart.

To think that even his own Mu is ineffective; this Mental Domain is very troublesome!

Watching Tanegashima's gloomy complexion, the smile on Takahashi's face deepened.

Tanegashima Shuji's greatest characteristic is turning others' trump cards into Mu, and he can even turn negative mental emotions into Mu.

But what if the Spirit Power Takahashi exerts on Tanegashima is not negative at all?

In fact, at the very beginning of the match, Takahashi understood that facing a player with such astonishing defensive capabilities as Tanegashima, he could only start from the aspect of Spirit Power.

But Metsu Gokan would not work.

If it were Yukimura here facing Tanegashima, it would be highly likely that he would fail or suffer a backlash.

Even if his own willpower is strong and his basic abilities are excellent, barely using Metsu Gokan on Tanegashima—

The speed at which Tanegashima would break free from Metsu Gokan would likely be even faster than Echizen Ryoma's was back then.

Because the negative emotions of this move are too heavy, sequentially depriving a person of their sense of touch, sight, hearing, smell, and pain.

In Takahashi's estimation, since Tanegashima's Mu could crack his Secondary Acceleration tennis ball, then facing Metsu Gokan, turning it into Mu should also be no problem.

Therefore, Takahashi dared not gamble; he knew that facing an opponent like Tanegashima,

a single small mistake could lead to ultimate failure.

So he chose another mental ultimate move.

This was also what he felt when he used Metsu Gokan on Atobe and Echizen back then.

That is, to have his own Spirit Power attach to a certain nerve in the opponent's brain.

Because the Idle Character is in a state of Flow for long periods while practicing tennis techniques, forgetting time, forgetting space, fully immersed, and practicing with undivided attention.

So Takahashi—no, the Idle Character—can very well find the opponent's brain region related to time control.

What Takahashi did was to inversely apply the Idle Character's characteristic of forgetting time during practice onto the opponent.

Due to the fear that it would be ineffective if used on Tanegashima Shuji, Takahashi specifically let himself immerse in the state of Flow.

With no distracting thoughts, fully immersed in the match, forgetting time, forgetting space, with only that yellow tennis ball in the entire world.

Then, by finding the brain region where Tanegashima controls time through Spirit Power, he inversely applied his own state onto him.

This state is actually very similar to the Selfless State, but because the Idle Character grinds tennis techniques every day and has such deep resentment toward tennis, Takahashi also understands that he will never have any intersection with the Selfless State in this lifetime.

However, since this state is very similar to the Selfless State, it shows that it is not a negative state, not as negative as Metsu Gokan.

Therefore, Shuji's Mu will not regard it as an opponent's ultimate move that must be turned into the ultimate move of Mu.

Then this Spirit Power can perfectly bypass Tanegashima Shuji's ultimate move and successfully take effect on Tanegashima.

When the tennis ball flies over, controlling the Spirit Power to make Tanegashima forget for 1 second, or even less than 1 second—just 0.1 seconds—is enough to make Tanegashima miss the tennis ball.

It can also extend Tanegashima's time, which would allow Tanegashima to swing his racket only after the ball has landed.

In short, Tanegashima's perception of time has already been controlled by Takahashi.

The tennis ball in his eyes is either in the state from 1 second ago or the state from 1 second later.

There is no tennis ball that truly conforms to the normal flow of time.

Then, even if Tanegashima swings his racket, he will never hit the tennis ball.

His Metsu Mu has become ineffective!

This is Takahashi's method, the best method to break Metsu Mu.

……

"Bang!"

……

"Bang!"

"3-0!"

"Takahashi scores!"

……

"Score 4-0!"

……

"Score 5-0!"

……

"Score 6-0!"

"Match over, Takahashi Yanichi wins!"

……

In the Monitoring Room.

Silence!

All the Coaches were so shocked they couldn't speak.

Only their slightly rapid breathing could be heard.

Tanegashima Shuji was shut out?

First String No. 2 Tanegashima Shuji was shut out by a middle school student?

And he was shut out even while this middle school student was restricted from using his own Ashuluoshendao—Taotie?

This fact greatly shocked everyone.

Because even Oni Jujiro and First String No. 1 Byodoin Houou must use their own Other-Dimensional Phantoms to score points against Tanegashima Shuji.

And they wouldn't necessarily be able to shut out Tanegashima Shuji.

After a long while, Mifune was the first to react, and he said: "What Takahashi used at the end should be an Other-Dimensional Mental Domain skill."

"Other-Dimensional Mental Domain?"

Kurobe repeated.