The Prince of Tennis: The Quincy of Rikkai University

Chapter 227: Niou's "Sense of Protagonism", a Crisis Situation

"It's not good news that Sanada and his team are unable to finish the game." In the second army formation, Yanagi Renji said in a deep voice with a serious expression.

And Yukimura Seiichi, who was standing next to him, never took his eyes off Nioh on the field.

"The key to this tiebreak lies in Niou. Can he break free from the mental pressure imposed on him by his opponent?"

Yukimura Seiichi saw it very clearly. Whether the second army could successfully win this game depended entirely on Nioh's performance.

If it takes too long to end, the situation will only become increasingly unfavorable for Sanada and his team.

"The first army scored, 32-32."

While the two were talking, the two sides ended another goal match on the field, and Maori and Ochi tied the score again.

The duo of the Second Army were now sweating profusely, their physical strength being put to the test.

"I can't be so passive anymore..."

After releasing the illusion, Niou analyzed the situation silently while taking a breath.

In terms of physical strength, they were definitely no match for their opponents, and now, Sanada's physical strength had been consumed more than expected in this tiebreak.

Even if they win in the end, I'm afraid the pressure they will face in the next two games will be even greater.

If it were Yuki and the others, what would they do...

After thinking for a moment, Niou Masaharu gave a bitter smile.

He found that he seemed unable to be like them and overcome any difficulties with tenaciousness.

Looking back on his three years at Rikkai University, he found that he seemed to have become accustomed to being a supporting role.

The Big Four have always faced powerful enemies, and he only needs to crush opponents weaker than him.

Until this moment, a powerful enemy appeared, and he seemed unable to break through. He could only watch Sanada take on everything alone.

"If it were just me in the past, I wouldn't mind admitting defeat..."

"But why do I not want to lose this game at all?"

Another ball flew past Niou Masaharu, but he seemed to stand there, indifferent.

Sanada chased the tennis ball from the backcourt and hit back the ball with lightning. He thought that Niou was hit by the opponent's mental attack again, and asked anxiously: "Niou, what's wrong with you?"

Facing Sanada's question, Niou, who had been standing there motionless, suddenly raised his head slightly, and said with his signature fox smile: "If Yuki and Yukimura were in this situation, they would definitely not be as embarrassed as I am."

"What are you talking about all of a sudden--" Sanada wanted to ask back in confusion, but the latter turned around at this time, and their eyes met. Sanada immediately swallowed the rest of the question.

He saw a fighting spirit in Niou's eyes that he had never seen before.

"Sanada, let me be the protagonist this time..."

As Ren Wang finished speaking, his figure began to blur and change.

"This is!?"

Sanada's pupils fluttered, and in his sight, the person standing in front of him had become "Yuuki Maya".

At this moment, the return ball from the opposite side flew over again quickly, and was about to land on the baseline and fly out of bounds.

A dark figure appeared behind the tennis ball at some point, and when I looked closely, it turned out to be "Yuuki Maya"

As he assumed a posture to receive the ball, brilliant white light emanated from his body.

咚

Three silver light arrows fell around Ochi Yueguang like silver thunderbolts in an instant, and the latter didn't even have time to swing his racket to meet the attack.

"The second team scores, 33 to 32!"

The moment the referee announced the score, there was a burst of enthusiastic exclamations among the second team.

"Niou can even create an illusion of the flawless structure of the castle. It's amazing!"

"As expected of a trickster!"

"Come on! One more goal will decide the outcome!"

Whether it was Yukimura, Yanagi Renji, or the other junior high school students, they were all excited by Niou's performance.

Maya Yuuki, who was sitting in the first army camp, was also deeply surprised when she saw this scene.

He was not surprised that Niwang could transform into himself, after all, this had happened before.
What really surprised him was that Niou was actually able to create a perfect phantom to break the mental pressure exerted on him, and the strength of Niou's phantom at this moment had reached 55% of his level without fully opening the holy body.

What does this mean? If we take 20 points as a reference, the average levels of the top five and bottom five in the same team are roughly 16 points and 8 points respectively. As for the bottom ten in the team, there are only points.

And in this state, Nioh is an existence that even the last five in the first army have to deal with seriously.

However, compared to this matter, what is more important is that Yuuki Maya saw the awareness expressed in Nioh's expression, which is a sense of being the protagonist called "Tear up the script, I also want to be the protagonist of the story."

With a relieved smile, the fifth giant hidden in Rikkai University has finally awakened.

However, when some people are happy, others will naturally be sad.

At one end of the court, Mao Li couldn't help but complain: "Hey, hey, hey, it's really giving me a headache when you transform into this!"

He could clearly sense that the "Yuuki Maya" on the field was not just an illusion in appearance, but was very threatening.

"I didn't expect that he would overcome the mental pressure I put on him so quickly."

Ochi's expression was hidden by his bangs, and there was a hint of wariness in his cold tone.

However, there was no time for the two to think too much, as "Yuuki Maya" was already standing at the baseline ready to serve.

"Come on, let me see how much strength you have of my true self."

Maori lowered his center of gravity and looked much more serious than before.

Throw the tennis ball high up and slam the racket down gracefully.

咻

Countless silver arrows of light fell rapidly around Maori like flying feathers in the sky.

"this?!"

Cold sweat immediately flowed down Mao Li's face, and for a moment he couldn't tell which was the real path of the ball.

blah blah blah...

The sound of a tennis ball bouncing repeatedly reached Maori's ears from behind him. He looked back resignedly and saw that a tennis ball had appeared silently behind him.

"The tie-break ends with the score 34-32."

"The score of the first set is 7 to 6, the winners are the second team Niou & Sanada!"

The referee's announcement was very decisive. After a hard fight, the second team finally had the last laugh.

"Oh! The second team actually won the first game. These junior high school students are incredible!"

The high school students who were not selected and were watching nearby all felt incredible, because the team they defeated was a team that had experienced many battles overseas!

Before the start of the second set, both sides took a short break in their respective rest areas to replenish water and recover some strength.

Sanada looked at Niou, who was sweating profusely after the illusion was lifted, and said sternly: "Save your energy and don't push yourself too hard. The next game will be the real test."

"Pfft, of course I know. If we want to beat them, the next game is crucial."

Of course, Nioh is also aware of the current situation. Even though they won the first game with difficulty, they cannot relax.

In the second set, they will definitely face a fierce counterattack from the opponent.

"The second set of the game begins. Both players are invited to enter the venue."

The break was fleeting, and the players on both sides returned to the court to continue the game. This time, the second team was the first to serve, and Niou Masaharu was already standing at the baseline ready.

In an instant, the figure of "Yuuki Maya" appeared on the court again, and white light emanated from her body.

咻

Multiple sacred arrows of destruction were launched again, like flowers scattering from the sky.

15 is better than 0
30 is better than 0
40 is better than 0
……

"Game, the second team scored, the score is 1 to 0."

Four aces quickly ended the first game, and the second team's strong performance continued.

However, they did not give the opponent a chance to stand out. When the serve came to the first team, they immediately launched a head-on counterattack.

Ochi Gekko coldly served the Mach serve, the speed of the ball was even faster than the previous set, so fast that even Nioh, who had transformed into Yuki, couldn't react.

"Game, the first team scored, the score is 1 to 1."

Just like in the first game, Ochi Gekko ended the second game with four aces.

"Ochi seems angry." In the first army camp, Omagari Ryuji, who was familiar with his character, said slowly.

"Now it's not as simple as 60% of my strength. This ball is not much different from the real Mach serve." Kimijima Ikuto adjusted his glasses and smiled.

"This group of junior high school students are really amazing. I am even more looking forward to today's game." Duke Watanabe said with a smile.

"Haha, the game is starting to get interesting." Toono Atsushi sneered. He was happy to see other people having bad luck.

While several soldiers in the army were talking to each other, the Byodoin Phoenix finally took the game seriously.

There is no other reason. As the ace doubles team in the army, the fact that Ochi and others started to take it seriously showed that the two junior high school students on the opposite side really put a lot of pressure on them.

"Your fellow students are all very impressive, Maori."

Before the third game started, Ochi spoke first, which was rare.

"Haha, after all, Rikkai University is a famous tennis school." Maori laughed, but then he restrained most of his smile and said seriously: "But the only thing I don't want to lose to them..."

"Just think it through." Ochi Yueguang naturally heard the other party's hidden meaning and responded immediately.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, a soft white light emanated from the bodies of both Mori and Ochi at the same time, and a long ray of light connected the two of them.

"This is——synchronization!"

"The First Army is finally going to show its true strength to stand in the world!"

"These junior high school kids are finished."

When the high school students in the audience saw the light of synchronization appear on Mori and Ochi, they immediately pronounced the death sentence for their opponents.

However, the next second, they were slapped in the face.

The same light emanated from Niou Masaharu's body, and one of the rays of light shot towards Sanada's body like an electric current. After being hit, the latter's body immediately and involuntarily emitted the same light.

"Niou, what is this!?"

Sanada felt the changes brought about by the light and looked surprised.

"Sanada, let's decide the outcome with this one game."

Without explaining the principle of forced synchronization, Nioh's eyes never left his opponent.

"it is good!"

Sanada was full of fighting spirit and stood at the baseline ready to serve.

The showdown between the synchronized ones is about to break out under the watchful eyes of everyone.

bang bang bang...

The rapid and violent sound of hitting the ball immediately exploded throughout the entire court the second after Sanada served the ball.

The two parties who were in sync abandoned the inefficient transmission of words and instead used the efficient use of thoughts to transmit the instantaneous information.

0 is better than 15
0 is better than 30
15 is better than 30
30 is better than 30
……

1 is better than 2
1 is better than 3
2 is better than 3
……

As the number of innings continued to increase, the situation on the field began to become clear.

The First Army gained the upper hand and suppressed the attacks of Niou and Sanada.

"How could this happen? Both sides are clearly in sync..."

The middle school students in the second army, who had also seen the situation clearly, did not expect the situation to be like this after the third game started. It was completely different from what they had originally imagined.

"I'm afraid it's because Niou and Sanada's control over Synchro is far inferior to that of their opponents." Kikumaru Eiji, the first person in this class of junior high school students to activate Synchro Synchro, expressed his guess about the current scene.

Even if they are all in tune, there are still differences between them.

And his words were also affirmed by the junior high school students present.

"Game, the first team scored, the score is 6 to 5."

Just then, the eleventh round ended, and Nioh and Sanada, who had finally tied the score in the previous round, were once again widened in the score.

"Huhu, it's really hard to beat them."

At this point in the game, even Mao Li, who had originally had plenty of energy, was sweating profusely.

The people in the first army were like this, and Nioh, who was in the second army, was even worse.

His chest was rising and falling violently, and the phantom on his body began to blur from time to time. At this moment, his physical strength would reach the limit at any time.

"That's enough Nioh, leave the rest to me."

The evil spirit instantly emerged from behind Sanada, and Sanada signaled Niou to stand in the front court to reduce the frequency of receiving the ball.

"Pfft, so it's so hard to be the protagonist for once, it seems I can only leave it to you for the time being."

As if accepting his fate, Niou Masaharu reluctantly dispelled the illusion, leaving only the synchronization intact.

"Oh? I didn't expect that a junior high school student would embark on this path. It's really unexpected."

The eyes of the Byodoin Phoenix flickered, and it seemed that it had some interest in the ghost shadow behind Sanada.

"This way, it won't be so easy for Ochi and Maori to end this game."

Kijujiro's expression was also surprised, but when he thought that the other party was Yuki's companion, he thought there seemed to be no problem.

The twelfth round followed immediately. Sanada, who had activated the Shura Shinto, burst out with strength beyond his own limits. He miraculously won the round by almost fighting one against two.

Shrouded in the chaotic black aura, Sanada's appearance at the moment, combined with the phantom of ghosts and gods behind him, made him look like a devil or Buddha.

After the score reached 6-6, the second set entered the tie-break again.

According to the serving order in the first game, the first ball of the tie-break was given to the second team.

Genichirō Sanada stood at the baseline and immediately kicked the ball.

He repeated his old tricks and prepared to make the same move as in the previous round.

However, just as he was about to take a step forward to chase the ball back, he took the first step when a sharp pain in his knee made him subconsciously stop.

Looking down, Sanada realized only now that his knees had already turned red and swollen to purple, with large bruises covering the entire knees.

The aftereffects of his unlimited use of thunder in the previous game to chase the ball also broke out at the beginning of the seventh game.

At this moment, both men from the two armies were caught in crisis, and the unfavorable situation seemed to have become difficult to reverse.

(End of this chapter)