Even though Tanegashima and Omagari had lost two straight games, the First Unit members in the stands didn't care, their expressions unchanged. They knew neither Tanegashima nor Omagari had shown their true strength yet. They were still testing Fuji and Niō's current level.
In the third game, it was Fuji's turn to serve. At the baseline, he raised his concentration and perception sharply. Within seconds, he entered Light Wind, freezing time around him.
He tossed the ball and unleashed an ultra-fast serve. The instant the ball left his racket, time resumed. To Tanegashima, it looked like Fuji had skipped frames, suddenly appearing in a hitting motion, and then the ball appeared behind him.
"Ace! 15-0!"
"Ultra-fast dimension again? Luckily I've already seen the weakness of this move~" Tanegashima grinned slyly, unconcerned about the point he had just lost.
Fuji didn't hesitate. He reentered Light Wind, froze time briefly, and served again. But this time, as time returned to normal, Tanegashima flashed to the landing point.
"Ultra-fast dimension boosts your own speed, but it doesn't really make your serve faster! So as long as I don't focus on your movements, I can deal with it!" Tanegashima laughed, pointing out Fuji's Light Wind serve's flaw.
Of course, that only applied to players at Tanegashima's level. Most players had to watch their opponent's motions to guess the ball's direction. Very few could rely on feel alone to judge the landing spot.
After speaking, Tanegashima swung at the bouncing ball, using Halt Destruction Nothingness. The ball vanished instantly. But when Fuji saw him appear at the landing point, he decisively activated Light Wind again.
Fuji's figure suddenly appeared at the net, raising his racket high and swinging hard at empty air. At that moment, Niō's figure as Yagyū Hiroshi flickered briefly over Fuji's body.
The ball turned into a beam of light, shooting toward the frontcourt. Omagari stepped in its path, but when it landed it shot off to the right at high speed, flying out of court.
"Reflect Laser Beam!"
"30-0!"
Only then did Omagari realize the player before him was Niō's phantom, not the real Fuji. But how had Niō broken Halt Destruction Nothingness? He shouldn't be able to copy Fuji's Light Wind yet.
"Synchronization, huh? First they used Light Wind to read the path of my Halt Destruction Nothingness, then with Synchronization, Fuji passed his judgment to Niō. And because of Light Wind, we couldn't tell which Fuji was real, so Omagari misread the shot. A perfect doubles tactic!" Tanegashima instantly saw through their strategy.
"Oi, oi~ I can't Synchronize. I've no idea what's going on in your head! At times like this, it all comes down to stamina!" Omagari muttered, turning to Tanegashima.
"Don't say that~ I'm easy to understand, Omagari!" Tanegashima teased with a laugh, then switched positions with him.
"That guy Omagari isn't showing any real effort yet," Oni Juujirō frowned in the stands.
"In the first three games, the probability that Omagari Ryuji is holding back is 96%," Mitsuya Akuto said calmly.
"Quite like Atobe-kun. Always dragging matches into drawn-out battles to maximize his stamina advantage~" Irie Kanata smiled.
Facing Omagari now as the receiver, Fuji once again served with Light Wind. But the flaw had already been exposed by Tanegashima. Omagari's skill wasn't below Tanegashima's.
The moment Fuji hit, Omagari sprinted to the left baseline corner. Both rackets swung together, dazzling the eye. No one could tell which hand had returned the shot. The ball blurred past the frontcourt Fuji, flying toward the baseline.
Fuji slid across the court and met it with a high lob. Tanegashima looked at the soaring ball and leapt without hesitation. But instead of smashing, he erased all its energy with Nothingness. Then, with a light tap, he sent it drifting toward the frontcourt. As it skimmed the net, the ball clipped the top tape, sharply changing its flight path.
The next second, 'Kite' suddenly appeared at the net and sliced the ball with a backhand. At the same time, 'Tezuka' flashed past, and the ball, spinning violently, crossed the net, dropped to the ground, then slowly rolled back a few times until it bumped into the net.
"Zero Shiki Drop!"
"40-0!"
Tanegashima, who had just landed, glanced with interest at Niō now disguised as Fuji. For him, this might be the best kind of opponent. He wanted Niō to show as many techniques as possible, so he could nullify them all with Nothingness. That would be fun.
"Looks like Niō has already found a way to solve the problem of mental energy overuse and has perfected Infinite Phantom~" Yukimura said happily. Back at the Nationals, Niō could never manage it so easily.
Fuji frowned slightly when his Light Wind serve was cracked so easily, but he didn't mind. Light Wind wasn't meant for serving anyway. Its real purpose was something only Fuji knew.
Omagari wasn't watching Fuji's movements now—his focus was on guarding against Light Wind. But this time Fuji didn't use Light Wind. Instead, he struck with an underhand serve.
"Disappearing Serve!"
Even if Omagari hadn't been paying attention before, he noticed Fuji's unusual motion now. Confused, he still dashed to the landing spot and swung. But the next moment, his racket hit nothing! He recovered instantly, turned, and with his other racket whipped a backhand, returning the ball successfully.
That showed Omagari's weakness. He always looked lazy and unmotivated, but deep down he was very confident in himself. Even knowing Fuji and Niō were strong, he subconsciously underestimated them and hadn't bothered to study Fuji's techniques.
Last year at the training camp, the middle schoolers had focused on improving their five attributes and gaining match experience. When they played practice matches against the First Unit, neither side had gone all out. Except for a few, most First Unit members only had a rough idea of the middle schoolers' strength.
After serving, Fuji had already expected Omagari to return. He rushed to the net and sliced across the incoming ball, flipping his racket quickly and giving it immense spin from both sides.
"Hecatoncheires no Monban!"
"Too bad! That move won't work on me, Fuji!" Tanegashima laughed, stepping to the net and intercepting the spinning ball.
A special ripple spread from his racket, erasing all spin. Hecatoncheires no Monban was nullified. Then he unleashed Halt Destruction Nothingness, and the ball vanished right before Fuji's eyes.
But Fuji's Light Wind had already cracked Halt Destruction Nothingness. He didn't move, though. Instead, the other 'Fuji' ran to the baseline. There, the figure blurred and shifted into 'Kite'.
'Kite' swung hard at the air, twisting his wrist sharply. The ball slowly reappeared, spinning violently as it flew back toward the opposite court.
Tanegashima rushed to intercept, but the ball twisted strangely, as if alive, slipping past his racket and curving toward the baseline.
Omagari also tried with both rackets, but the ball circled around him a few times, avoiding his reach before smashing onto the baseline and bouncing out of court.
"Big Habu!"
"Game! Second String Selection! 3-0!"
"Omagari~ don't you think it's about time you got a little serious?" Tanegashima chuckled, teasing as he looked back at him.
"Spare me~ These kids really are monsters. One after another, all of them so strong! Well then… I guess warm-up is over!" Omagari sighed helplessly, then in the next instant his aura changed completely.