Chapter 496 - 175: Taking the Upper Hand?

Chapter 496: Chapter 175: Taking the Upper Hand?

"Tsukimitsu-san, just now that was..." Mōri didn’t even see how Bertie returned the ball, so he looked at Ochi with uncertainty.

"It was just one point taken by them. Don’t overthink it. Just do your job," Ochi didn’t answer Mōri’s question, but his tone carried a seriousness he’d never shown before.

Seeing that, Mōri stopped thinking about it and walked straight to the baseline. He tossed the ball high, and with a sharp hit, the ball tore through the air and flew straight into the German Team’s court.

Bertie slid sideways several steps and intercepted the ball with extreme precision. His right hand drove the racket upward in a lifting swing, sending the ball high into the Japan Team’s court. This return was clearly provocative.

When Ochi saw Bertie’s shot, his gaze grew colder. A massive wave of mental force surged out, and the full moon phantom in his pupils was almost solid. At the same time, the crescent moon phantom in Bertie’s eyes also became more distinct.

Ochi then leapt high, his right hand swinging the racket down without hesitation in a fierce smash. The ball vanished from sight, and when the sound of impact rang out, it had already landed beyond the German Team’s baseline.

"Sorry~ I’ve already seen through your Mach Smash, and Mental Assassination doesn’t work on me anymore," Bertie’s voice suddenly came from beyond the baseline. When everyone looked over, Bertie was already by the fence, holding his follow-through pose.

"No way!!!" Mōri felt a chill run down his spine. He hurriedly turned his head and saw a tennis ball slowly drop from the air onto the baseline, then stop completely.

"0-30!"

"He actually used Ochi-senpai’s Mental Assassination data to massively modify his own behavior patterns, letting a return that should’ve been a mistake pass the net normally!" By the court, Mitsuya showed disbelief for the first time. As a data tennis player himself, he knew how insanely hard that was.

"Impossible! Humans absolutely can’t have that level of calculation power!" Inui Sadaharu immediately blurted out, no longer caring about seniority.

"But the facts are right in front of us. Akuto-senpai’s data won’t be wrong," Yanagi Renji replied with a frown. "Just because we can’t do it doesn’t mean others can’t. Bertie’s IQ is as high as 300. He’s a true super genius. You have to admit that, Hakase."

"Who cares if he’s a genius or not? If Mental Assassination doesn’t work on Bertie, then just switch targets and go after that giant," Kirihara said casually.

"No," Akashi Seijurō replied coldly, glancing at Kirihara. "Ochi-senpai’s Mental Assassination only works on Bertie. Even if Dankmar makes mistakes, the impact won’t be big. The core of that doubles pair is Bertie."

While they were talking, Mōri had already fired his third high-speed serve. Unfortunately, the huge Dankmar easily sent it back, though he didn’t return it with another lob.

Mōri and Ochi quickly switched between front and back court. During the exchange, Mōri also returned Dankmar’s drive, but the sheer power made him stagger, nearly falling over.

Bertie rushed to the net. Just as he was about to intercept the ball, he sharply noticed that Mōri across from him had already closed his eyes, clearly entering sleep mode. Data flashed through Bertie’s eyes, and he instantly changed his action, dropping a short ball instead.

Relying on instinct, Mōri flashed to where the ball was about to land and prepared to return it, but Ochi’s figure suddenly appeared at the net out of nowhere and saved the ball first.

The instant the ball left the racket, a collision sound came from behind Bertie and Dankmar. They didn’t even need to turn around to know it was the ball hitting the ground. This was Mōri and Ochi’s ability synchronization—Teleportation.

"15-30!"

"Interesting. I think I just saw something different..." Bertie didn’t care about losing that point and muttered softly.

In the following points, Ochi kept scoring by using Teleportation, completely ignoring Mōri, as if all their coordination had suddenly vanished. Yet none of the Japan Team members were surprised by this.

"GAME! Japan leads! 3-0!"

When Mōri and Ochi returned to the bench, everyone cheered for them. However, Akashi noticed something off about Ochi. Through the Emperor Eye’s insight, he could clearly see Ochi’s current condition.

’I didn’t expect ability synchronization to drain stamina this much... the rest of the match is going to be rough...’ Akashi frowned as he watched Ochi constantly replenishing fluids.

On the other side, at the German Team’s bench, Ken looked at Bertie and Dankmar. He didn’t say anything, just gave them a thumbs-up, signaling them to keep playing their own way, even though the situation was very unfavorable for Germany.

Bertie and Dankmar nodded back. In their view, all preparations for this match were already complete, and the Japan Team no longer had any chance to win. Bertie then leaned over and whispered a few words into Dankmar’s ear.

The timeout quickly ended. When the four players returned to the court, Ochi suddenly focused his gaze on Dankmar. The massive mental energy drain made his face look a bit pale, but Ochi didn’t have the luxury to care about that anymore.

Just as Dankmar was about to serve, his body suddenly trembled, and a huge, inexplicable pressure began to grow in his heart. He immediately realized it was Ochi Tsukimitsu’s Mental Assassination, but Dankmar didn’t hesitate and directly tossed the massive tennis ball upward.

"Height 6.4 meters... angle 27 degrees... power 81.3 percent... distance 16.4 meters! Mm... ready!" At the instant Dankmar swung his racket, he softly muttered a string of data.

With a thunderous impact, the ball turned into a massive yellow shockwave and shot straight over the net without any sign of touching it. Mōri, who had been keeping his eyes closed, suddenly opened them, revealing his purple pupils.

Next, a faint "click" sounded from Mōri’s wrist, and an unbelievable scene followed. Mōri easily intercepted the ball, and the terrifying impact force on it was completely erased the moment it touched his racket, canceled out by another strange wave.

"Halt Destruction Nothingness?!" By the court, Irie cried out in disbelief.

"There are slight differences, but it can indeed be called Halt Destruction Nothingness... Mōri-senpai has probably entered sleepwalking mode now. By using that free, unrestrained state, he greatly boosts his neural reflex speed, and at the same time he actively dislocates his right wrist, allowing a much wider range of rotation. Replicating Halt Destruction Nothingness isn’t that hard," Akashi said calmly, though his expression was clearly unpleasant.

Even if Mōri could voluntarily dislocate his joints, the pain wouldn’t lessen. Even in sleepwalking mode, the body’s instinctive reactions couldn’t be avoided. In Akashi’s eyes, Mōri was clearly betting everything on this one fight.

Mōri’s return wasn’t over yet. After fully erasing the ball’s power, there was another "click," and his wrist miraculously reset on its own. Then Mōri swung his right hand upward in a lifting shot, sending the ball straight into the sky.

Bertie frowned slightly, because this move was completely outside his predictions. Still, he quickly turned and ran toward the backcourt, while Dankmar began locking onto the ball’s trajectory.

What shocked Dankmar was that even with his wide field of vision, he couldn’t see the ball right away. Left with no choice, he slowly raised his head, and the entire satellite perspective shifted upward.

The next instant, what filled Bertie’s and Dankmar’s vision was a burst of brilliant fireworks. While they were momentarily stunned, the ball began to plummet rapidly, finally smashing precisely onto the baseline and bouncing out.

"0-15!"

"So it’s Hoshi Hanabi? Looks like Mōri-senpai is dreaming about me right now~" On the Japan Team’s bench, Fuji chuckled softly.

After Mōri entered sleepwalking mode, his shots became bizarre and unpredictable. Even Bertie couldn’t precisely forecast his ball paths. What surprised him even more was that Mōri’s defensive range seemed to have expanded by a huge margin.

"0-30!"

"15-30!"

"15-40!"

"GAME! Japan leads! 4-0!"

"To think he still had a hidden trump card at this point... guess that really is the Japan Team for you," Bertie said, finally showing a serious expression as he looked at Mōri.

However, just as the Japan Team was cheering for Mōri, his pupils suddenly returned to their normal color, and large beads of cold sweat poured down his forehead. Seeing this, Ochi immediately understood that Mōri had reached his limit. If he forced more dislocations, it would likely shorten his professional career.

"Mōri! Don’t keep forcing yourself. You’ve done more than enough! Leave the rest to this senpai~" Ochi walked up behind Mōri and gently tapped his back with his racket, his voice unusually gentle.

"I know~ Tsukimitsu-san, aren’t you forcing yourself too right now? Don’t forget, we’re a doubles pair. How could we leave the whole match to just one person?" Mōri stuck out his tongue playfully, then closed his eyes and entered sleep mode again.

Ochi looked at Mōri and hesitated, as if wanting to say something, but in the end he stayed silent. His eyes, however, became razor-sharp, and his already formidable mental force surged up another level.