“Arrogant?”
Atobe scoffed at the remark.
“That word doesn’t exist in my dictionary.”
A year ago, he had joined Hyotei as a first-year middle school student, immediately become captain, and led the team all the way to the Nationals.
As far as he was concerned, a team of Yamabuki’s caliber wasn’t worth his attention.
Even talking to their captain would be a waste of his time.
“Is that so?”
However, one of Yamabuki’s third-year regulars immediately replied in an odd tone, “If I remember correctly, didn’t Hyotei only make it to the quarterfinals?
Against Rikkai, you couldn’t even win a single match!”
“Exactly.”
Another player sneered.
“What good is having so many people?
You’re nothing more than the king of a mountain full of monkeys.”
“What did you say?!”
Atobe’s gaze instantly turned cold.
The Hyotei regulars and ordinary club members behind him also fixed dangerous looks on the Yamabuki regular who had spoken.
“What?
Did I hit a sore spot?”
The Yamabuki third-year wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.
They were at the venue of the National Tournament, after all, so he wasn’t worried about anyone from Hyotei actually laying a hand on him.
If someone from Hyotei really did beat up a Yamabuki player, Yamabuki wouldn’t be the ones humiliated once word got out.
An off-court incident where a large group ganged up on a smaller one would be a serious matter.
Sure enough.
Atobe quickly calmed down.
He turned his head, locking his gaze on Uesugi.
“It might be a bit of a waste of time, but I think it’s still necessary to teach you people how to show others some respect.”
“Hm?”
Uesugi’s expression changed slightly.
The other side was directly challenging him.
And as Yamabuki’s captain, there was no way he could back down.
“Fine.”
After barely a moment’s hesitation, Uesugi nodded.
“Then let me see just how strong Hyotei’s captain really is.”
Afterward.
The two sides made their way to a nearby vacant court and took their places on opposite sides.
At once, the impact of Hyotei’s contingent of more than 150 people became apparent.
‘This pressure…’
Nitobe, Higashikata, and the others from Yamabuki felt their hearts sink.
Faced with the dense ranks of Hyotei members, their group of only six or seven looked painfully outnumbered.
Before anything had even happened, they were already being overwhelmed by the other side’s sheer presence.
“Hyotei!”
“Hyotei!”
“Hyotei!”
Just then.
Chants began rising one after another from Hyotei’s ranks.
At first they were scattered, but soon they merged into a single unified roar.
With more than a hundred people shouting in unison, the sound surged forward like a tidal wave, crashing down on them with overwhelming force.
The Yamabuki players, already under considerable pressure, broke out in cold sweat.
‘These guys are practically cheating.’
‘Hyotei…
really is terrifying!’
The Yamabuki players were shaken.
They were all regulars with experience playing in official matches.
They knew perfectly well just how much psychological pressure an atmosphere on this scale could exert on the players on court.
Immediately afterward.
The Yamabuki players all turned toward their captain.
Fortunately, even under the pressure exerted by Hyotei’s overwhelming presence, there wasn’t the slightest change in Uesugi’s expression.
“Let’s begin.”
Uesugi raised his head and calmly looked at his opponent.
In his view, Hyotei had managed to reach the National Tournament, so they undoubtedly had genuine strength.
But tactics like this had probably contributed quite a bit as well.
Overwhelm the opponent with sheer pressure before the match even began.
Unfortunately for them, as Yamabuki’s captain, Uesugi’s match experience and ability to withstand psychological pressure were both far beyond those of an ordinary regular.
Of course.
He wasn’t underestimating his opponent either.
Hyotei had reached the quarterfinals, so Atobe, as their captain, obviously couldn’t be weak.
But Uesugi Kenichi was equally confident in his own strength and didn’t believe he would lose to him.
That was his pride as a third-year.
As Uesugi saw it, this match would most likely turn into a prolonged battle.
Once that happened, the advantage of so-called talent would be greatly diminished, and match experience and the ability to perform under pressure would become the true deciding factors.
And those were precisely Uesugi’s strengths.
Whoosh!
As those thoughts flashed through his mind.
Uesugi spread his feet apart, gripped his racket with both hands, leaned forward, and lowered his center of gravity, assuming a stance that showed he was fully prepared for what was coming.
His opponent was a fellow captain.
He deserved to be taken this seriously.
Uesugi even began to think that he could take advantage of Atobe’s youth and hot-blooded nature.
There was a very real chance that Atobe would become overconfident and underestimate him, allowing Uesugi to seize the initiative with an aggressive opening attack.
‘Once I seize the initiative, I’ll be able to control the rhythm of the match.’
‘Then he’ll inevitably lose his composure and expose even more openings.’
‘As long as I defeat Atobe, it’ll prove that Yamabuki is no weaker than Hyotei.
Even if we didn’t make it to the National Tournament, the other teams won’t dare look down on us anymore.’
Bang!
However…
Just as countless thoughts raced through Uesugi’s mind and he became convinced that he had more than a seventy-percent chance of defeating his opponent, a pale yellow streak of light suddenly burst across the service line in front of him without warning.
Whoosh!
In that instant.
Time seemed to freeze.
The shocked expressions of the Yamabuki players froze on their faces.
Uesugi himself was equally stunned.
His face was filled with disbelief as he stared at the distinct mark imprinted on the service line before him.
Tap…
tap…
tap…
At that moment.
The sound of the tennis ball rolling back after striking the wall came from behind Uesugi.
Only then did he snap back to his senses. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
He instinctively wiped his forehead, only to find his hand covered in cold sweat.
‘This guy…’
Uesugi took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
He knew he had underestimated his opponent.
Atobe was far stronger than he had imagined.
But the more that was true, the more important it was for him to remain calm.
Otherwise, the situation would only get worse.
‘This time, there’s no way I’ll let you score off your serve.’
Uesugi gathered himself and locked his gaze on Atobe.
He watched as Atobe tossed the ball into the air, bent his knees and lowered his torso in textbook form, then rapidly extended upward, rising as he swung his racket and struck the ball.
The entire motion flowed seamlessly from beginning to end, a pleasure to watch.
Bang!
Immediately afterward.
A crisp impact rang out.
Now completely focused, Uesugi drew on his previous match experience to predict the ball’s trajectory and where it would land.
And indeed, he proved himself worthy of being Yamabuki’s captain—a player of Kanto-level strength.
Once he adjusted his state of mind, he immediately picked up the trajectory of Atobe’s serve and even accurately predicted its landing point.
Thump!
However.
The moment the ball hit the ground and Uesugi tried to react and return it, his pupils suddenly contracted beyond his control.
‘I-I can’t move?!’
As he watched the ball rebound sharply off the court and shoot past his side, a storm of disbelief erupted inside him.
A bead of cold sweat slid down Uesugi’s forehead.
When he raised his head again, the way he looked at Atobe had completely changed, filled with intense wariness and…
fear!
…
Thud!
In the blink of an eye.
Ten minutes had passed.
“Huff…
huff…”
On one side of the court.
A brown-haired boy in a white-and-green short-sleeved shirt knelt on the ground, drenched in sweat and gasping heavily for breath.
“Yamabuki’s tennis is nothing special.”
Across from him, the handsome boy in a light-gray short-sleeved shirt gave a disdainful sneer before turning and walking away.
“That bastard…”
The other Yamabuki players were furious, but when they thought of how effortlessly Atobe had crushed their captain, they were overcome by a profound sense of helplessness.
Nitobe sighed.
“There’s nothing we can do.
The gap between National-level and Kanto-level is just too big.
Captain, he…”
“National-level?
What a joke.”
But just then, among the Hyotei players, a boy with short burgundy hair happened to pass by them and let out a derisive chuckle.
“That guy Atobe didn’t even use sixty percent of his strength.”
The moment those words left his mouth.
The expressions of the Yamabuki players froze once again.