Chapter 14

In the morning, Yanagi Renji found Sanada at his usual practice spot. "Sure enough, you're here. Want to warm up?"

"You want to collect data, Yanagi?" Sanada backhanded the tennis ball that bounced off the wall to Yanagi Renji.

Yanagi Renji anticipated this and caught the ball and hit it back. "Indeed, your stats have fluctuated a lot lately. I need to review them."

The tennis ball flew at a steady speed between Sanada and Yanagi Renji.

"Both the power and the number of rotations have increased." Yanagi Renji could tell some of Sanada's stats had changed through the feedback from the racket.

Normal shots can be controlled at this level of stability, so there's no need to worry too much about Nioh's preparations this time.

"Nioh has made special preparations. A friendly reminder to you before the game, Sanada." Yanagi Renji noticed Sanada's expression, and the probability of his anticipation was 91%.

The person who knows you best is often your opponent. This statement is not wrong.

Sanada pulled the ball back on track. "Yanagi, don't let up."

It is understood that what Yanagi Renji was thinking during the brainstorming session was different from what Sanada was thinking. Sanada was familiar with it because he had experienced it himself.

However, even if it is not clear, Sanada, who believes that strength is supreme, will not be greatly affected by the changes in Niou Masaharu's moves.

"It's time, Sanada." Yanagi Renji put away his racket and took out his notebook, not worried at all that Sanada's tennis ball would get out of control.

The warm-up started suddenly and stopped suddenly. Hearing Yanagi Renji's prompt, Sanada changed the direction of the racket he was swinging. The tennis ball hit the stone behind Yanagi Renji and bounced off the wall. Sanada resolved it and it spun and stopped on the net of the racket.

At the Rikkai University indoor tennis court, the club members gathered early at the court where they played yesterday, waiting for the final match.

"I don't know if Niou can get any points from Vice Minister Sanada."

"That should be fine, right? After all, he's the regular pick."

"I hope to see all of Vice Minister Sanada's moves in this match."...

Without exception, no one in the Rikkai University tennis club thought that Niou Masaharu would win.

"No one is optimistic about you, Niou." Marui Bunta leaned against the sidelines.

Niou retorted. "Pfft~ Of course not, at least Birus supports me."

"But Sanada will win the match." It is one thing for Yagyu Hiroshi to support his partner, but it is another to analyze calmly.

Kirihara Akaya hurriedly followed his teammates in their uniforms into the arena. "Ah! I made it! Glad I'm not late."

"Why are you so punctual today, Kirihara?" Marui Bunta waved to his junior to come over to the main selection area.

Kirihara Akaya said, "I came here today following the monitors from other classes. Luckily, the English teacher didn't give me detention, otherwise I would definitely miss the Vice-President's competition."

Masaharu Niou entered the court with his racket, followed by Sanada.

The Group A competition begins.

"Who's going first? Puli~" This is the opportunity that Niou Masaharu has been waiting for. The start is crucial.

Sanada took his position and replied, "You first."

In general, Sanada would give up the right to serve in school games.

What Nioh needed was the right time, right place, and right people. After a period of preparation, Nioh Masaharu picked out two of Tezuka's moves from the information he had collected: Tezuka's Domain and Zero-style Slice.

There is no problem with the characteristics of Tezuka's domain, Nioh's Phantom, and the counterattack depends on the target. For Kirihara Akaya, this is a powerful move to counterattack or take the lead, but it may not be effective for Liu Junshi and Sanada.

Under certain conditions, the Zero-style slice can achieve unexpected results, just like the move he used in front of Marui Bunta. It can only be used by Niou Masaharu when certain conditions are met.

Every move of Niou's serve is the result of many times of practice.

Sanada saw the target and counterattacked. At first, Sanada didn't realize Nioh's intention.

After all, in Sanada's impression, Nioh had already mastered the illusion to perfection.

It wasn't until the two of them were at the net that Sanada heard Tezuka's voice. "Sanada, don't be careless."

Niou Masaharu and Sanada struggled for a long time before they got this chance.

The phantom appeared, and Masaharu Niou made a chopping motion, a zero-style chopping motion.

The racket that Sanada used to receive the ball stopped in front of the tennis ball, and the tennis ball did not bounce but rolled in the opposite direction when it landed.

Looking up, Sanada saw Tezuka appearing as an apparition from Niou.

"Too lax!" Sanada said this to both Niou Masaharu and himself.

In the National Championship of Junior Three, Tezuka's phantom appearance in Nioh was indeed nothing compared to the players who regarded Tezuka as a strong rival. Many flaws could be found in his technique, but only in terms of technique.

“15-0!”

Kirihara Akaya's eyes widened. "What is this? Niou-senpai knows this."

"Sure enough, he's still hiding something. Even though he lost the game, I still suspect Nioh is holding back." Marui Bunta muttered to himself.

Sanada was caught off guard by the Zero's slice. He had lost track of time; Niou Masaharu wasn't yet adept at using his illusions to the point where they could change at any moment.

Even if this ball was a Zero-style slice, Tezuka could have caught it with Sanada, but Nioh's phantom took advantage of it.

Niou Masaharu maintained his illusionary appearance, but he was not very optimistic in his heart.

He got the points, but Sanada's indifferent attitude towards the phantom Tezuka was different from what Niou Masaharu expected.

"Yukimura's judgment is always so accurate." Sanada didn't react much after losing the point, standing in the backcourt waiting for Niou Masaharu's next serve.

When Sanada really encountered Niou Masaharu's incomplete yet flawless illusion in the second year of junior high school, he felt that he would be dominated by his emotions.

Yanagi Renji glanced at Sanada. "That shouldn't be the case. Sanada wouldn't react so calmly to Tezuka's obsession."

Pushing the hand holding the racket upwards a little, Sanada prepared to face the challenge head-on while simultaneously breaking Niou Tezuka's moves.

"Game Sanada, 1-0!"

Apart from the unexpected performance at the beginning, the rhythm of the game later returned to Sanada's hands.

Sanada also cooperated with Niou Masaharu to directly counterattack Phantom's Zero-style slice.

Before the ball hits the ground, Sanada hits it back. "Such tricks are useless. You can only hit it from this angle at the net, so it won't have a big impact on the score."

Niou Masaharu maintained his composure. After all, Tezuka was considered a strong rival by Sanada, and it was Sanada who lost the previous match. So no matter what the score was, Phantom would realistically show what Tezuka would not show in the match.

"Deputy Minister Sanada, you're amazing! You cracked it just after watching one ball." Kirihara Akaya stayed close to the edge of the field.

Yanagi Renji turned the page to adjust the records. The performance of Niou Masaharu and Sanada on the field required Yanagi Renji to put them back in their places. The reserved space was not enough and the content that needed to be recorded was much more than that.

When it was Sanada's turn to serve, he started with the commonly used invisible racket backswing.

"Everyone has already figured this out." Nioh Phantom naturally couldn't say this, remaining silent and waiting to catch the ball.

Marui Bunta waited for Niou to make another move, but he was surprised to find that the one who had changed the most wasn't the always mysterious Niou Masaharu, but the honest and upright Sanada. "That ball's return trajectory wasn't right. Did Sanada's serve change?"

"The hitting point and rotation have changed, and the angle of the racket is lower. The probability that Niou can receive it is 76 because we received the original version." Yanagi Ren wrote non-stop, making inferences and recording them.

Niou Masaharu's phantoms are not only visually striking but also feature a variety of skills and styles...

Phantom counters many types of players, especially data tennis.

Data tennis is based on style and skills. According to the development of Niou Masaharu's skills, he has completely changed his person and thinking. Playing against different players requires targeted data. It is okay to refer to the records in Yanagi Renji's record. If a change is made that Yanagi Renji has not recorded, it needs to be collected on the spot on the court.

The future is promising, but now the shortcomings of Nioh Phantom are also obvious, and some moves can only be used at specific nodes.

Yanagi Renji compared himself with Uchihashi, who had similar slicing effects with Tezuka Zero. Uchihashi could not only be used by Yanagi Renji as a short ball in front of the net, but could also be adjusted to be used as a serve.

The return ball went off track and was countered by Sanada with fire.

The jackal Sangyuan said, "It's an invasion like fire!"

The smash left a black mark on the ground, and Niou Phantom hadn't reacted yet. If it were really Tezuka himself, he could have used Tezuka's field to pull the ball back, but Niou Masaharu's strength hadn't yet crossed the national level, so he couldn't do it for the time being.

"Game Sanada, 3-0!"

Niou Masaharu's phantom Tezuka had no effect on Sanada, and now Niou Masaharu was in a difficult position. "Since my opponent is Sanada, I can't give up easily."

As Niou received the ball again, Tezuka's expression shifted to Yanagi Renji. "Sanada, the probability of a diagonal shot is 73%, and the probability of a backhand return is 21..."

Yanagi Renji in Nioh Phantom is more realistic because the teammates spend more time together and have fed each other moves.

During practice at the Rikkai University tennis club, they don't deliberately use moves to attack each other and have others break through them. They are still aware of the moves commonly used by teammates, and have basically seen them all after a long time.

For example, Niou Masaharu didn't use the Phantom, so his teammates classified Niou Masaharu as an imitator based on his skills and usual playing style.

"I'm too relaxed. Yanagi's moves have no effect on me." The score difference between Sanada and Yanagi Renji was driven by strength. All Nioh can do now is to analyze the situation. He cannot use his skills to create scoring opportunities like Yanagi Renji.

Niou Masaharu's breathing was rapid. Seriously, he'd almost used all his strength and still managed to get only one point from Sanada. "I'm not willing to accept this!"

At match point, Nioh's phantom became Sanada himself.

"He's as fast as the wind! Senior Niou knows not only Senior Yanagi's moves, but also Deputy Minister Sanada's moves." Kirihara Akaya was a little confused. He actually won the sparring match.

Marui Bunta patted Kirihara Akaya's curly head. "Don't let your imagination run wild. You'd be remiss if you missed a single moment in this competition. Who would hold nothing back during normal practice?"

"I naturally know how to deal with my moves." Sanada had a big lead and the game was about to end.

Sanada's thoughts overlapped with those in Nioh's vision. "We must win!"

A faint, synchronized light lit up on the field.

Yanagi Renji's pen drew a crooked line on the notebook. "It's a bit of a miracle!"

"No way! Can two such contradictory people reach the legendary level of doubles?!" Marui Bunta's pupils trembled.

Jackal Kuwahara opened his mouth in surprise. The realm that he and Marui Bunta had been pursuing but had not yet found the entrance to suddenly appeared before them, and it appeared in a singles match.

Sanada was also startled by the sudden synchronization and missed a game.

"Game Nioh, 1-5!"

Sanada reacted quickly and cut off the synchronization connection, and won the game with four aces.

"Game Sanada, 6-1!"

The two people who finished the game tilted their heads to the side and left the field without even shaking hands.