Chapter 145: The Deliberately Slowed Match Pace

Sanada had not expected that Tezuka would hide so many special moves.

The Peerless Perfection, the Zero-Style Serve, and the Tezuka Phantom that had just appeared.

Every move was difficult to resolve.

Sanada pondered how many balls he could return if he were standing on the court, utilizing Wind Forest Fire Mountain Shadow Thunder.

The Thousand Hammers Limit could be broken with Thunder, and the Talent Blooming Limit could be sealed with Shadow, but what about the Peerless Perfection Limit?

Facing that shining radiance at close range, Sanada realized that since entering the Peerless Perfection Limit, Tezuka's movements and speed were completely different.

Could he himself deal with such a Tezuka?

He had not expected that the Selfless State he had once abandoned would be so powerful.

No wonder Takahashi had rejected his request to play against Tezuka.

Three years ago, after the Jr Tournament ended, Sanada and Tezuka had once had a match.

Regrettably, that match ended in a crushing defeat for Sanada.

Ever since entering Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School, Sanada had wanted to have another match with Tezuka.

It was just a pity that Seigaku's strength was insufficient; for three years, Sanada had never crossed paths with Tezuka again.

This time at the National Tournament, when Sanada learned that their opponent in the finals was Seigaku, he had asked Takahashi to let him face Tezuka head-on.

However, Takahashi had ruthlessly rejected this request of his.

The former Sanada had been very puzzled, but now Sanada finally understood: facing a Tezuka who had progressed so much, if it were Sanada on the court today, this match would likely be lost.

Just, facing this Phantom, Sanada was very curious if Takahashi could return it.

Sanada cast his gaze toward Takahashi.

He saw Takahashi staring intently at the trajectory of the tennis ball, his body shifting slightly, his wrist twisting gently, raising his arm, and swinging his racket.

"Bang!"

Accompanied by the crisp sound of the ball being struck, the tennis ball headed toward Tezuka's half of the court with astonishing spin.

In Sanada's eyes, the spin was still very complex, but for a split second, Sanada caught that the spin seemed to have been altered.

Tezuka on the opposite side still made no move, letting the tennis ball land.

"Thud!"

Accompanied by the sound of the tennis ball landing heavily, the umpire announced loudly:

"Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School, Takahashi scores!"

"Score 1-0!"

"90-second changeover."

Hearing the umpire's voice, a look of confusion suddenly appeared in Tezuka's eyes.

He turned around and discovered a dark ball mark appearing clearly at the baseline.

It was a ball on the line; it hadn't gone out!

Tezuka's pupils shrank violently.

How could this be?

Although he hadn't developed this move for very long, this move was theoretically the same as the Domain.

He wouldn't say he had mastered it to perfection, but he was at least using it with ease.

How could it not have bounced the opponent's ball out of bounds?

Since it wasn't his own problem, then the opponent must have done something.

Thinking of this, the look Tezuka cast toward Takahashi held more wariness.

……

In the spectator stands.

Kurobe was recording in his notebook while saying: "Zero-Style Shot, Domain, Phantom."

"This Tezuka Kunimitsu is truly excellent; every one of the above moves is a great test of a player's technique."

"No wonder he could become Borg's sparring partner and be invited by Germany U17."

"And the Peerless Perfection Limit—Takahashi hasn't even opened it, yet he actually opened it!"

Saito said: "Indeed, it is a bit of a pity that we didn't recruit him."

Kurobe said: "It is a bit of a pity, but fortunately it wasn't Takahashi who was recruited by Germany U17, otherwise we really wouldn't even be able to cry."

Saito asked with some confusion: "Today's Takahashi, why do I see a shadow of Irie Kanata in him?"

Kurobe said: "Your intuition is very sharp! Today, Takahashi is deliberately slowing down the pace of the match."

Saito was incredulous and said: "What?"

Kurobe said: "Tezuka Kunimitsu, as a Japan middle schooler recruited by Germany U17, is playing in the National Tournament. For us, this is a very good opportunity to collect data on the Germany Team."

"We can roughly judge the level of middle schoolers recruited by Germany U17 by studying Tezuka Kunimitsu's strength."

"So before the match, I spoke with Takahashi over the phone, hoping he would slow down the match pace a little and try to give Tezuka Kunimitsu the opportunity to fully display his strength."

"For this, I even specially sent him Irie Kanata's match videos to watch, letting him study and learn from them, so he wouldn't win so quickly."

Saito replied: "So that's how it is!"

"In the end, the way Takahashi cracked the Phantom was to add the opposite spin to the tennis ball in reverse, thereby canceling out the original spin on the ball."

"This Takahashi is really full of tricks; he didn't eliminate it completely, just eliminated a little bit, making the tennis ball land exactly on the line."

"This control over spin far exceeds that of Tezuka Kunimitsu."

"Since he has this ability to eliminate spin, why did he use power to break through the Domain head-on earlier? This behavior really doesn't fit his personality."

"So he was doing it on purpose."

Kurobe laughed: "Yes, with his original strength, this match would have ended long ago, and we wouldn't have been able to collect so much data on Tezuka."

"Likewise, there is no need to let Tezuka, a player who has already joined the Germany Team, know Takahashi's true strength."

"Today can be considered a full harvest!"

While laughing, Kurobe's expression darkened again.

He thought of that phone call from a few days ago; the coaching staff's idea was wonderful, but Takahashi was simply unwilling to cooperate.

Given Takahashi's personality, asking him to take half an hour or an hour to finish a match that could be resolved in 5 minutes was simply impossible.

In order to make Takahashi "act" in this match, Kurobe had to sign several "humiliating treaties."

Such as, as long as Takahashi is in the U17 Training Camp, his training is decided by himself, and the coaching staff must not interfere.

His name must also not appear in the U17's fixed random matches.

It made Kurobe so angry he almost hung up the phone on the spot.

Fortunately, both sides reached a consensus in the end.

But Kurobe always felt that compared to the data collected, he had lost out somewhat.

On the court.

Sanada stood up and handed the mineral water from the side to Takahashi, who was walking toward him.

Takahashi unscrewed the cap and took a large gulp.

"Captain, did you guess long ago that Tezuka was hiding so many trump cards?"

Sanada's voice came over.

Takahashi put down the mineral water in his hand and said, "Do you remember the match we watched together, the one between Tezuka and Higa's Kite?"

"I felt that in that match, Tezuka didn't even display half of his own strength."

"At that time, I had an intuition that Tezuka might have already opened the Peerless Perfection."

Sanada's voice gradually lowered as he said, "I didn't expect Tezuka's rate of progress over these three years to be so fast; in our Rikkai, I'm afraid only you, Captain, could defeat him."

Takahashi looked at Sanada with some surprise and said, "I thought seeing Tezuka be so formidable would stir up your fighting spirit; I didn't expect you to be so dejected."

Sanada lowered his head and said, "The Peerless Perfection combined with the Domain, the Phantom, and the Zero-Style Shot—Tezuka's offensive combination is simply watertight."

"I have no way to break through these techniques of his head-on!"