Chapter 16
Kirihara Akaya's match ended, and the doubles competition in the next court got serious.
Bunta Marui's frequent interceptions in front of the net accelerated the pace, and Masaharu Niou, who was wandering at the back of the court, went to the net to share the pressure on Hiroshi Yagyu.
"What's the score?" Yanagi Renji turned around after leaving the court and started to play the next game.
During the Nioh match, he took the time to reply: "4 to 2, we are behind~"
Kirihara Akaya knew that he had another match with Vice Minister Sanada, so he sat on the field to recover his strength.
When he was young and frivolous, Kirihara Akaya had a round-robin match with the three giants of Rikkai University, but of course he lost all three games. Thinking about it now, I don’t know what courage supported Kirihara Akaya to complete all three games.
"Hiro." Niou Masaharu pointed at Marui Bunta.
Yagyu Hiroshi nodded in understanding and took a step back to give Niou some space.
Niou Masaharu transformed into Marui Bunta and performed a secret technique—Time Difference Hell. "What a brilliant idea, isn't it?"
"How did you learn Niou?!" Marui Bunta lost a point because he was not able to react in time. You know, this move was a new secret technique that he had just mastered.
Niou Masaharu was like a fox that had caught a chicken leg. "Pfft! Who was it that sneaked into the small park near my house after tennis club practice?"
"So why did you go there?" Marui Fumita admired Yanagi Renji's ability to gather intelligence. It wasn't surprising that this move was gathered by Advisor Yanagi at some point, otherwise Marui Fumita would have used it in the main draw. 'How did Niou Masaharu gather this information?'
Niou Phantom's thoughts and Marui Bunta's actions were identical. "Maybe it was during the manual experiment~"
The phantom's movements are no different from the real person, but the tone is indeed very distracting from Nioh's own.
Based on the feeling of the phantom, Niou Masaharu wanted to try to achieve synchronization with Marui Bunta.
He tried to align his actions and thoughts as closely as possible, and adding the lingering feelings of synchronization with Sanada every once in a while, Niou Masaharu felt that the synchronization was only a thin veil away from him, but he couldn't break through.
"The thinking of a genius is not so easy to control. It's a secret technique, a tightrope walk." Marui Bunta tilted the racket, and the tennis ball got stuck on the net and slowly fell to Niou Masaharu's court.
Nioh touched his chin and turned back to his normal appearance. Marui Bunta's choice this time was different from his own. You know, the doubles match was already decided by the two of them as singles.
Jackal Kuwabara had no objection at all. When Marui caught the ball, which should have been saved with his energy, Jackal Kuwabara knew what Marui Bunta was intending.
Yanagi Renji then announced the match results. Marui Bunta and Jackal Kuwahara were the better team in terms of doubles chemistry. "6 to 4! Marui Jackal wins."
"This is a doubles match. Don't leave your partner behind when trying out your moves. Maybe synchronizing with your opponent will have unexpected results, but shouldn't you reach an agreement with your partner before discussing the next step?" After winning the game, Marui Fumita reviewed the game face to face with Nioh Masaharu.
In fact, Yagyu Hiroshi dotes on his partner as much as the Jackal Kuwabara in the game, otherwise he would not have allowed the two of them to turn into a frontcourt duel halfway through the game. It was Niou Masaharu who started it first.
Niou slammed his racket. "We can practice anytime with Hiru, but with Bunta, we don't have that much time. Otherwise, Jackal will get jealous."
During normal practice, everyone occasionally used their moves, but no one deliberately used moves that were constantly being exploited. The exception was Sanada's invisible backswing, which was used for practice. However, Sanada's only long-range moves within the team were Wind and Fire, and Niou Masaharu had never actually used the other two moves.
However, after this match, Nioh also realized that everyone has different ideas in practice matches and the main matches, and the slightest difference in their desire for coordination can make a huge difference.
In the match with Marui Bunta, Niou Masaharu thought it was the Jackal Kuwabara's turn to return the ball, but he didn't expect Marui Bunta to take over with his own moves.
Phantom is not just a blind imitation, and the data may be different from that of Military Advisor Liu, and it also includes Nioh's additions to the moves.
Sanada paused, then waited until the doubles match was over before calling Kirihara Akaya, who was almost done with his rest. "It seems Niou Masaharu hasn't mastered the sudden synchronization yet."
"Go on court." Sanada stood at the side of the court holding a racket.
Kirihara Akaya swiftly stood up from the ground. "Yes, Vice Minister Sanada."
"Kirhara must be nervous. Sanada's aura is indeed much more majestic, but he is not that scary." Marui Bunta recognized Kirihara Akagi's condition at a glance.
In normal matches, Kirihara Akaya was the boss, with Tian second only. The only exception was when he was playing against the Big Three.
Niou, making an exception, stood on Sanada's side. You know, Niou Masaharu usually supports Sanada's opponent during matches, regardless of their strength. "Pfft~ It's the aftereffects of losing so many times, otherwise why would we give up?"
No one has the time to let the juniors win. Even if they are aware of Kirihara Akaya's changes, as a senior, they would hesitate in the practice match, let alone the official match.
Sanada's playing style is different from Yanagi Renji's. They both hope that Kirihara Akagi can improve. Yanagi Renji prefers to guide patiently, while Sanada will show the difference directly.
Yukimura will use his ball skills to suppress anyone no matter who his opponent is.
Kirihara Akaya is in the same situation as Sanada to some extent. Sanada has always lost to Yukimura, and Kirihara Akaya has never been able to surpass the three giants of Rikkai University.
Facing Vice Minister Sanada, Kirihara Akaya started the game with full firepower. Once the gap was widened, the game was no longer suspenseful.
Sanada's serve was powerful, an ace.
"It's this ball. The action is faster than the invisible racket backswing. The Japanese style is also different and pursues speed more." Niou Masaharu pointed at Sanada's serve. This was the serve that decided the match in the last sentence of the match with Sanada.
Yanagi Renji was well aware of the invisible backswing and the invisible swing, and this serve was completely out of his league. "A new serve. Just ask Sanada what it's called when he gets off the court."
"Pfft~ Military advisors always look for shortcuts. The information Sanada gave me wouldn't be wrong just because they have a good relationship with him, right? Tezuka didn't have any effect at all..." Nioh spent a lot of time summarizing and collecting exercises. Although it was not a complete form, the phantom Tezuka did not affect Sanada at all.
Whether Sanada was offended by Phantom's lack of likeness or was invested in it because of the similarities it would have affected the match, but in the end Sanada acted like nothing had happened.
Yanagi Renji paused, writing. "The information is correct, but I don't know why Sanada has changed. Perhaps it's because Yukimura is in the hospital."
During normal practice, Yukimura would suddenly mention his experience of competing against Sanada, which would stimulate Sanada to double his training that day. Yanagi Renji also observed that every time Sanada didn't have the chance to meet Seigaku in the Kanto tournament, he would feel disappointed in him.
Sanada wouldn't watch Seigaku's matches, but Tezuka would. That's when Sanada would occasionally go to the prefectural tournament alone to watch matches, instead of immersing himself in practice like he does now. "The change came after Tezuka started competing as a singles player."
"That's true." Niou Masaharu believed that Yanagi Renji's information was obtained through secret observation and he would only take action after getting a confirmed answer. However, Sanada's actions after Minister Yukimura was hospitalized were quite different from before.
It's not just Sanada. In fact, all the regular players of Rikkai University have changed to some extent. For example, Marui Bunta has devoted a lot more time to practicing with non-regular players, has reduced the number of times he goes to the cooking club for free meals, and has shifted his focus more to the tennis club.
Military Advisor Liu has more things to do. Recently, he has not been going outside the school to collect intelligence, and has been focusing on being responsible for the school tennis club.
Niou Masaharu didn't mention himself, but in fact, Niou Masaharu's training time has also increased a lot.
After just two games, Kirihara Akari entered the demonic stage.
Because he had entered this state once before, it was easier for him to enter a state of concentration, and also because he just couldn't break through Vice Minister Sanada's defense.
In two games, Kirihara Akaya didn't get a single point. It seemed that to Vice Minister Sanada, Kirihara Akaya was just an ordinary non-starter.
Yagyu Hiroshi noticed the change in Kirihara Akaya's counterattack. This time, his demonization was even greater than when he fought Yanagi Renji. "It's even faster."
Yanagi Renji turned a new page, no longer needing to record Kirihara Akaya's status, and instead focusing on Sanada. "Based on his emotional upheaval, it seems he's more engaged in the match this time."
The Jackal Kuwahara's attention suddenly shifted from the field. "Niou, can your illusion mimic the state of the original?"
Since the younger generation's condition is unstable, Niou Masaharu has the ability to appear in an apparition to think of a solution and then pass it on to the younger generation to learn.
"Pfft~ I haven't tried it. My ball skills are fine, but my mental strength is too chaotic in this state. I don't know if the effect can be the same." Niou Masaharu has never tried it.
Even though Kirihara Akaya had won the practice match, Niou Masaharu was confident he could win the match, even if Kirihara Akaya turned into a demon. Deep down, Niou Masaharu, who believed in Rikkai's principle of "the winner is king," also had his sights on the Big Three.
Phantom fits Nioh Masaharu's taste as a fraudster. When it comes to strength, it naturally belongs to the strongest person, Yukimura. Nioh is currently trying to reach a level that Phantom cannot reach.
While discussing techniques outside the field, Sanada simply used the Invasion Like Flame inside the field to beat Kirihara Akaya into a demonic state.
"It comes with lateral rotation and the number of revolutions has increased. This is an improved version of the Fiery Aggression." Yanagi Renji described the changes in Sanada's moves.
Niou Masaharu checked silently in his mind, yes, that swing angle and center, this way the shot will be more powerful.
After synchronizing, Niou Masaharu's understanding of the phantom Sanada and Sanada's moves is not inferior to Yanagi Renji's.
This was the first time that Kirihara Akaya stopped transforming into a demon and continued to compete. He always maintained his form until the end of the game, regardless of winning or losing.
Kirihara Akaya, who was covered in sweat, had not given up the game yet, even though the gap between him and Vice Minister Sanada was like an insurmountable chasm.
"Hurry up! Right." Sometimes, even though he knew where the ball would land, his actions couldn't keep up with his thoughts, and Kirihara Akari was much slower.
Yagyu Hiroshi saw Kirihara Akaya's movements from the sidelines, and his body seemed to be out of control. "Is this a side effect of demonization? Kirihara can't keep up with his movements."
Yanagi Renji closed his notebook. He could understand Sanada's intentions, but fighting him wouldn't be enough to make any progress. "Sanada."
Sanada heard the faint voice clearly. He turned his head to glance at Yanagi Renji and stopped decisively. "The score is here. We'll continue next time. Don't let up! Don't fall behind in your daily training."
Sanada had already paid attention to his own performance, Niou Masaharu performed exceptionally well, but Kirihara Akaya did not find a chance to break through in the game.
"Ah, yes, Vice Minister Sanada." Kirihara Akaya responded blankly. Not only did this competition consume too much physical energy, but Vice Minister Sanada's image as a big devil in Kirihara Akaya's mind was also renewed.
Marui Bunta received his new training chart. His emotion towards Kirihara Akaya faded, and his eyes widened. "Military Advisor, isn't this a lot of updates?"
"This is the latest version of the recent summary. I believe you can do it." Yanagi Renji ignored his teammates' protests and asked Sanada. "Does that serve just now have a name?"
"Iai." Sanada answered concisely, took the training form and started to act.
The amount of training that Yanagi Renji arranged this time was indeed more, but it was still quite different from the U-17 training that Sanada had seen. Many professional trainings could not be done here at Rikkai University Tennis Club.
With Sanada taking the lead, the teammates complained verbally, but actually left only after completing the new training menu in the evening.
Kirihara Akaya, who consumed the most physical energy, also completed all the training programs by walking.
Yanagi Renji calculated the data with satisfaction. Sanada's moves were just as dignified as his peers'. Besides adapting to the invisible backswing and swing through vision, one could also decipher the moves by understanding their principles through their names.
Sanada's hand speed hasn't improved much over the years, so it's easier to guess based on the names of the moves. For Iai, serve and backhand are prioritized...
Satisfied with the new information collected, Yanagi Renji and Sanada confirmed the next steps of the tennis club.
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