Chapter 146: National Tournament? A Coaching Match?

Takahashi was surprised; he had thought that seeing the powerful Tezuka would ignite Sanada's fighting spirit and push Sanada to continue working hard on his special moves against Tezuka.

He hadn't expected it to have the opposite effect; Sanada seemed to have lost his fighting spirit.

This was completely contrary to Takahashi's intentions.

Takahashi knew that the current Sanada was absolutely no match for Tezuka, because unlike in the original story, this Tezuka was already a sparring partner for Borg.

This was the news Kurobe had disclosed to Takahashi.

Borg was the strongest active professional tennis player, and by following Borg, the speed of Tezuka's improvement must have increased significantly.

Therefore, Takahashi understood that if Sanada were to face Tezuka in the National Tournament, Sanada's chance of winning would be very small.

And Takahashi, having spent so much time with Sanada, did not want to see the scene of Sanada losing to Tezuka again.

So Takahashi decided to step in himself and play a match against Tezuka.

Because he had reached a cooperation agreement with Kurobe, he would slow down the pace of the match to allow Tezuka to fully display his strength.

So Takahashi thought that since he was already going to expend the energy, besides the gains from Kurobe, he also wanted to let Sanada observe this match up close and understand Tezuka's strength.

In the future, Sanada could then practice with specific targets based on this rare data.

Just because the current Sanada couldn't beat Tezuka didn't mean the future Sanada couldn't beat Tezuka.

Things are always changing as they develop!

Who could say that the future is absolutely certain!

But he hadn't expected Sanada to have such an attitude.

After pondering for a moment, Takahashi said, "Do you think that by specifically letting you sit in the on-court coaching seat and letting you watch this match up close, I am trying to use Tezuka to crush you?"

Sanada was stunned for a moment.

"Even if you can't beat Tezuka now, does that mean you will forever be inferior to Tezuka in the future?"

"As the Emperor of Rikkai, are you content with Tezuka always being above you?"

Takahashi continued.

Sanada stared blankly at Takahashi.

Takahashi said, "Wind Forest Fire Mountain Shadow Thunder can indeed deal well with a Tezuka who hasn't activated Peerless Perfection, but Tezuka has opened the door to another realm; why can't you open it?"

"The Forest's drop shot and the Fire's smash are very useful moves for dealing with Tezuka, but against the current Tezuka, Forest and Fire are not enough; how to evolve your moves is the problem you should be considering."

A low voice rang out.

"What exactly do you consider this match to be?"

Takahashi answered without even thinking, "A coaching match!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Takahashi suddenly realized that the low voice just now did not come from Sanada's mouth, but from behind him.

It was none other than Tezuka Kunimitsu!

Takahashi, Sanada:...

Tezuka's originally sharp-featured face looked even more piercing.

An extremely cold voice rang out.

"Rest time is over; it's time to switch sides."

As he spoke, Tezuka's chest rose and fell slightly, and his breathing became a bit hurried.

He was very angry, but he did not lose his composure.

It turned out that the halftime break was only 90 seconds; after the break ended, both sides switched courts.

To be fully prepared, Tezuka had set off a few seconds early, not expecting that when he walked to the other half of the court, he would happen to hear the conversation between Takahashi and Sanada.

Takahashi's emotions seemed somewhat agitated, and his voice was a bit loud.

Tezuka had originally had no intention of listening to their conversation, but the other party's voice had already entered his ears.

The more he listened, the more he felt something was wrong; this was his match against Takahashi.

Why was Takahashi encouraging Sanada and coaching Sanada on how to improve his moves to deal with him?

So, feeling somewhat puzzled, he asked tentatively.

He hadn't expected Takahashi to answer without any concealment that he regarded this match as a coaching match—a coaching match to instruct a teammate.

This caused Tezuka's gaze to turn sharp in an instant.

Looking at the anger Tezuka was deliberately suppressing, Takahashi shrugged and stood up, preparing to go to the other side of the Court.

He had been so focused on how to ignite Sanada's fighting spirit that he had completely forgotten that the rest period had a time limit.

"I will make you bring out all your strength."

The moment they brushed past each other, Tezuka's words entered Takahashi's ears.

"Defeating you is Sanada's goal, not my goal!"

The faint words reached Tezuka's ears.

The second set began.

Standing on the Court, Tezuka's mood at this moment was very complex.

First was anger; anyone who knew that their opponent did not take them seriously, did not take the match seriously, and instead regarded the match as a coaching match to instruct a teammate, would be very angry.

Especially a powerhouse like Tezuka.

He was already the strongest in Seigaku, and on this trip to D Country, he had been scouted by the world's strongest active professional player, Borg, successfully becoming Borg's sparring partner and gaining practice experience with world-class experts.

His horizons and knowledge had grown rapidly.

And having gone through the training in D Country and having already activated the Ten-i Muhou no Kiwami, Tezuka believed that he might be the strongest in the Japan middle school tennis world.

He hadn't expected that in the National Tournament, Takahashi, as his opponent, would not take him or this match seriously at all.

To Tezuka, this was simply an unbearable humiliation.

But upon second thought, he recalled the previous set.

Takahashi is using the most basic style of play; it seems he hasn't used his own special moves at all.

Yet he has used his own special moves one after another: Zero-Style Serve, the Limit of the Thousand-Hammered Refinement, the Limit of Talent Blooming, the Limit of Peerless Perfection, Domain, Phantom, and other techniques.

But these so-called special moves were neutralized by Takahashi one by one.

Takahashi's strength is evident.

At least judging from that last game, Tezuka feels that Takahashi truly has not exerted his full power.

Even after exhausting all his special moves, he still cannot see where Takahashi's limit lies.

Perhaps Takahashi's words are true; he really has treated this match as a practice match.

Although Tezuka cannot accept it emotionally, his reason tells him that, to a large extent, this might be true.

This makes Tezuka very wary of Takahashi, a wariness mixed with a trace of fear.

"Bang!"

The tennis ball turned into a streak of light and headed toward Tezuka.

Tezuka immediately entered the Limit of Peerless Perfection, raised his arm, and swung his racket fiercely.

This ball is still a Phantom that would cause the opponent's return to go out of bounds.

Regarding the Phantom at the end of the last game, Tezuka feels he lost the point inexplicably; what exactly did Takahashi do?

Was it luck? Or was it strength?

Tezuka wants to witness it with his own eyes.

His gaze is fixed firmly on Takahashi, not missing a single one of Takahashi's subtle movements.

He saw Takahashi first move his body slightly; the range of the body movement was so small it was simply outrageous!

Then he saw Takahashi casually raise his arm, and while swinging the racket, his wrist twisted slightly, creating a small arc.

Tezuka realized instantly that this hitting posture was to add spin to the tennis ball.

The tennis ball was originally filled with the intense, complex spin he had imparted, and the spin Takahashi added was not significant.

This caused the tennis ball, the moment it left the racket after Takahashi's return, to have the two types of spin intertwined, appearing even more chaotic.

However, the spin Takahashi added was not large; like a clay ox entering the sea, it only affected the tennis ball for an instant and did not completely change the spin belonging to the Phantom on the tennis ball.

Tezuka's gaze then followed the trajectory of the tennis ball closely.

The tennis ball was pushed into the air, heading toward the baseline on Tezuka's left with extremely complex spin.

At the moment it was about to go out of bounds, the tennis ball landed heavily.

It landed exactly on the line!

"Thud!"

"15-0!"

"Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School, Takahashi scores!"