The singles match officially began, and unsurprisingly, the serve went to Fuji.
"Damn it! How does Yamabuki always win the coin toss? They've won three straight rounds now!"
Watching Fuji claim the serve, Marui Bunta's resentment continued building as he cursed under his breath.
"Coin tosses do require some skill. You can calculate probability based on the referee's gestures and tossing angles, but predicting heads or tails happens before the coin is even thrown. That's difficult to calculate mathematically and depends more on luck."
"Yamabuki's Sengoku has always been incredibly fortunate. I'm sure you've heard his nickname 'Lucky Sengoku.' With his blessing, something as metaphysical as luck will naturally favor Yamabuki's players."
Even Yanagi Renji, master of data tennis, had no solution for the coin toss element and could only attribute it to Sengoku's luck and metaphysics.
"Then why do we even bother with coin tosses against Yamabuki? Why not just hand them the serve automatically?"
After hearing Yanagi's analysis, Marui burst his bubble with obvious irritation.
"Be quiet and focus on watching Mori-senpai's match!"
The moment Sanada spoke, the complaining Marui immediately fell silent, while only Niō continued snickering.
Fuji opened with his Disappearing Serve. Having never faced Fuji before, Mori completely missed the shot.
"What excellent tennis technique!"
Mori made no attempt to hide his admiration for Fuji, wearing a faint smile as if he'd encountered a truly fascinating opponent.
The second ball was another Disappearing Serve. Just as Shiraishi had needed only one ball to crack it, Mori achieved the same feat - returning the vanishing serve directly on his second attempt.
"This is worthy of the national tournament - a gathering of true experts!"
Having seen Shiraishi's example previously, Fuji wasn't surprised that Mori quickly solved his trick. He'd already prepared his counterattack.
"It's the Swallow Returning to its Nest!"
From Yamabuki's rest area, Kawamura exclaimed immediately upon seeing Fuji's response.
Because of his match with Shiraishi, Fuji had realized he could no longer take things step by step. There was no point holding back now. He'd already revealed everything he should have since the Kanto Tournament, and his opponents knew his playing style completely. In other words, against Rikkaidai, he was playing with his cards face up.
Since it was an open hand, there was no need to hide anything. He'd play every technique he possessed and display his full strength as quickly as possible - perhaps he could catch his opponent off guard.
Obviously, Mori hadn't anticipated Fuji's current mindset. Facing the powerful offense Fuji displayed from the match's opening, Mori seemed somewhat uncomfortable and failed to handle the Swallow Returning to its Nest, which should have been easily manageable.
For the third point, since the Disappearing Serve had been cracked, Fuji tried an invisible serve instead. As expected, Mori couldn't return it.
With Fuji launching his full offensive, the first game ended quickly with Fuji taking a 1-0 lead.
"Ah, you've already started your all-out attack? This is quite troublesome for me - I'm completely unprepared."
Seeing how quickly he'd lost the first game, Mori looked helpless and genuinely distressed.
"Since you've decided to go full strength, looks like I'll have to match your intensity!"
But it took only a moment for Mori to reach his decision.
"Mori-senpai, please give it everything you have!"
Hearing these words, Tezuka was momentarily stunned. Wasn't that his own signature phrase?
At the second game's start, Mori completely transformed from his previous lethargic state. His eyes were bright and his body radiated energy as he bounced in place, seemingly trying to activate every muscle.
"Fighting a strong opponent like you is genuinely exciting!"
With those words, Mori delivered a powerful serve.
The tennis ball spun at tremendous velocity, appearing to create whirlwinds wherever it passed.
Faced with such heavy rotation, Fuji directly employed his Mayfly Shroud to intercept and neutralize all the spin before returning it cleanly.
"As expected from the genius who defeated Sanada in the Kanto Tournament! You completely eliminated all the spin I put on that ball and sent it right back!"
Mori was genuinely thrilled, continuing to bounce on his feet as he sliced down hard, countering the spin Fuji had applied to the tennis ball.
"You're quite impressive yourself, Mori-senpai!"
Fuji returned the compliment as he hit the ball back.
"What are those two doing on the court? Playing tennis and chatting at the same time - did they come here for a picnic?"
Seeing Mori and Fuji actually conversing during their match, Atobe immediately felt irritated. After all, there had been no such "relaxed" atmosphere when he'd fought Mori.
"Atobe, please tone it down."
At this point, Oshitari Yuushi was regretting sitting next to Atobe. The other Hyotei members lacked the courage to rein in their captain, leaving him to shoulder this responsibility alone.
"Huh? What did you just say?"
Atobe fixed Oshitari with a hostile glare. Whose side was this guy on anyway? Not only had he failed to support him, but now he was telling him to keep quiet?
"Fine, pretend I said nothing."
Oshitari slapped his forehead and decided to just let Atobe vent. After all, he had suffered a crushing defeat against Mori. If he couldn't curse a little after such a loss, what could he do?
Seeing that Oshitari would no longer interfere, Atobe continued his complaints.
Gustave looked at Atobe with surprise. What had happened today? Why was Atobe's character suddenly collapsing like this? This seemed completely out of character.
Anya studied Gustave with curiosity. She hated that there were so many people at the venue - otherwise she could use her telepathic powers to listen to Gustave's thoughts and simply enjoy the drama in silence.
Back on the court, Fuji and Mori were battling at full intensity, creating an incredibly exciting exchange.
Compared to the blitzkrieg pace of the first game, the second game was far more grueling. Fuji had already rallied with Mori for over a dozen shots on just the first point, with no winner yet determined.
Suddenly, Mori found his opening. When Fuji moved to the net, he followed suit.
Fuji noticed Mori's intention but it was too late - his racket had already made contact with the tennis ball. Though he tried to reduce the force, inertia carried the ball forward anyway, sending it directly toward the advancing Mori.
"This one's mine!"
Mori grinned and swung his racket swiftly, delivering a beautiful return shot with laser-like precision, similar to Eiji's style.
The tennis ball flew past Fuji's ear, ruffling his hair with its passage.
"Excellent tactic, Mori-senpai!"
After the ball landed, Fuji offered his praise.
"There'll be plenty more beautiful tactics like that, Little Fuji."
With that comment, Mori returned to the backcourt with his racket.
"Little Fuji?"
Hearing this nickname, Fuji's face twitched slightly. This was the first time anyone had called him that.
After more than ten minutes of fierce battle, the second game finally went to Mori thanks to his serving advantage, tying the match at 1-1.
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