After school started in the fall, Yukimura and Sanada discussed for a long time about the successor of the tennis department.

They were now in the fifth grade, and after the New Year, they would be candidates. According to their results, it would not be a problem for them to be promoted to Junior high, but Yukimura did not plan to use this position.

He had always been a strong person, so he planned to retire early and let the younger generation gain more experience.

The problem now was that the best players in the tennis department were basically in the same year as them.

Lai Chi River, who was firmly in third place, was best at doubles. When Sanada Yukimura and he graduated, who else could carry a winning streak?

Sanada recommended a third-year player to Yukimura. He had a steady and quiet personality, and he had the attributes of a nanny. The juniors in the department all trusted him.

Currently, the third person in the singles was a person with a different personality. Although he could chat with anyone, he was sometimes a little gloomy. In terms of strength, he was second only to Lai Chi River.

If nothing unexpected happened, these two people would be the first and second hands in the future. However, Yukimura was still considering who was more suitable for the department head.

Taking advantage of the fact that there were no matches scheduled, Yukimura arranged a weekly in-school practice match. While maintaining the feel of playing, he also observed the evolution of everyone.

In particular, he arranged many times to observe the matches of two people. Unexpectedly, he found that the two people actually had a good relationship.

So, the nanny attribute had exploded?

This kind of person was more suitable for the deputy position.

As the head of the tennis department, it was best to use his strength to crush others and set an example.

After experiencing the baptism of Valentine's Day once again, Yukimura was facing his last year of primary school in the blink of an eye.

He and Sanada had agreed that he would participate in the Junior Tennis Tournament in the summer of Little Six and dominate the country. He would also enter the Lihai Junior High School Tennis Department with this honor.

For this reason, Sanada trained harder and harder. He had been waiting for a long time to officially compete with Yukimura.

Before that, Lai Chi River found Yukimura and asked for one last serious match with him.

It was not a coaching match, nor was it a seven-ball match. It was a six-game match to determine the winner.

Yukimura had studied Lai Chi River's spiritual power with him many times and had even given him many suggestions. The two of them often had a mutual understanding of each other. However, Lai Chi River had to emigrate overseas after graduating from elementary school due to family reasons.

Although he knew that he couldn't beat Yukimura, he stubbornly wanted to use a crushing defeat to remember this young man who appreciated him.

"Please, you must use your full strength."

"Even if it might break you?"

"Even if it might break me."

Perhaps Sanada, who was watching the match, was the one who truly understood Lai Chi River's feelings. Being able to play against a complete Yukimura was perhaps the most formal and perfect farewell to six years of life in the tennis club for those who loved tennis.

During the Kanagawa Convention in May and June, Yukimura sat in the supervisor's chair for the entire duration.

Sanada took over for the first small singles match, and the players who played in the group stage were all newcomers.

They met the Second Primary School in the finals, and among them, the one who played in the singles match was Ryohei.

Yukimura's eyes widened in surprise. In their email, this was not disclosed at all.

"Liu, I'm surprised you could hold back!"

Yukimura smiled and shook his head, looking at his friend who had a trace of dissatisfaction on his face. "If I had known, I would have played."

Liu shook his racket gloomily. He didn't say it out loud because he wanted to surprise Yukimura, but he didn't expect that even in the finals, the other party wouldn't play.

As for Sanada, he didn't have much data on him.

The match on the court was unexpectedly exciting.

Sanada had never met a player like this. It was as if he was punching cotton, but he could always predict his path.

However, for him, who played with Yukimura all year round, there was nothing scarier than his good friend's tennis. This level was not enough to be a threat.

Yukimura guessed Sanada's plan to only use wind and fire to attack. However, thinking of the doubles match he had seen before, Liu's tennis was not just about data. Aside from that, he was an offensive tennis player through and through!

Sanada, who was caught off guard by a few quick attacks, realized that he had made a mistake in his estimation.

He actually made a mistake that he shouldn't have. On the court, you should never underestimate your opponent at any time, let alone go easy on your opponent. Going all out to defeat your opponent was proper tennis.

Liu suddenly realized that the power of the balls coming from the opposite side had weakened a lot, but it made him feel uncomfortable returning them.

His opponent had switched to defense in such a rhythm. Every ball was in a position where he could receive it, and he couldn't predict how his opponent would score.

In the long seesaw round, Liu was the first to attack. He returned a ball to the net, and then he realized that he had fallen into a trap.

What flew past his ear was the high-speed ball that appeared in the first game, which bounced lightly at the end line.

In the next deciding game, Sanada's variable speed attack completely broke Liu's data.

When they shook hands, Liu was a little sweaty. "You are far stronger than I thought. I underestimated you before. I'm sorry."

Sanada also looked at him seriously. "You also have a very tricky style. As a strong player, you have the qualifications."

Yukimura was amused as he watched his two friends talk.

He knew Shinichiro very well. He had always appreciated serious, strong, and calm people. Liu was also an elegant and knowledgeable friend. Yukimura liked to chat with Liu. Now, his two friends also appreciated each other. This game was really significant.

Yukimura and Sanada did not play against each other again during the summer vacation.

They had a tacit understanding to practice separately in the club. Although they still followed each other like shadows on a daily basis, they were completely in a mental state to face each other.

Looking at her son's rare seriousness and nervousness, Yukimura's mother prepared a sumptuous dinner as if to comfort him.

When Yukimura returned home, he was happy to find that his favorite grilled fish and fried chicken were placed in front of his seat.

Usually, for training, he would sometimes limit his intake of fried food. Today's hospitality really put him in a good mood.

On the child seat beside him, Yuyi, who was about to turn six, was obediently passing a cup of water to her favorite brother. Sitting opposite him, his father also looked at him with a serious face.

He completely felt everyone's feelings, but …

"Dad's expression is really not suitable, haha."

The little brat still liked to bully him as usual. Where was his dignity as a father?

That kind of thing does not exist, father.

Yukimura felt that there was a slight problem with his mentality. It seemed that this kind of battle between the two of them was rare, which made him a little nervous. After discovering this problem, he was very touched by his family's concern. That night, he called Sanada to remind him.

Yukimura did not want to regret the game because of a small problem. Just like how Sanada always wanted to beat him, he had always been looking forward to seeing Shinichiro's transformation.

Although this year's JR Tournament was unusually full of strong players, Yukimura and Sanada still loved each other almost all the way.

Game rushed to the finals.

Unlike Yukimura who did not lose a single game, Sanada played against last year's champion and Kyushu's strong player in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively. The latter even played 7: 5, which surprised Yukimura. He thought that with Shinichiro's strength, even Guo Sansheng was not his opponent.

However, there was always someone stronger. In Kanagawa, there were players like himself and Sanada, and in Tokyo, Osaka, and so on, there were more geniuses.

Unlike participating in the team competition, in order not to affect the performance of the opponent in the next round, Yukimura did not often use the real Five Senses Suppression in the team competition. His opponents were often shocked by his powerful strength and became afraid of hitting the ball, which created mental pressure and caused them to be in a state of panic.

But this time, in the individual competition, he did not hesitate to start from the beginning to the end. He broke the record of the shortest single game in the JR Tournament and reached the finals as the youngest player with a perfect record.

Because of this, he had the opportunity to see the seesaw battle in the semifinals.

But now, Sanada's fighting spirit had risen to the peak. It seemed that for Shinichiro, this was just a warm-up.

In the afternoon, he came to the finals together with Sanada. When they stood on both sides, there was no trace of the usual peace between the two sides.

Shinichiro looked particularly serious.

He adjusted the ball, paused, and took off the jacket on his shoulder with one hand.

"Hey, look, that kid took off his jacket!"

"Is that for real?

It's the first time he took off his jacket! "

"In other words, this time he's finally going to be serious?"

Yukimura and Sanada shook hands in front of the net. He smiled as he looked at his good friend's current opponent. He always gave his all to the people he recognized.

Sanada guessed that he would make the first move. The merciless "fire" rushed toward Yukimura with a molten heat. Although it looked scary to outsiders, Yukimura had already received the ball. He quickly moved to the right baseline, and the path of the ball became clear in his eyes.

"Based on my understanding of you, if you want to beat me, you have to come up with something else, Sanada!"

He easily hit a diagonal shot with a forehand. His calm smile made the audience feel aggrieved for Sanada.

Sanada had long been used to arguing with Yukimura during the game. He did not show any weakness as he fought back. "You can only smile now, Yukimura!"

The two players moved around each other at the baseline. The first ball at the beginning of the game was a match between two kings.

Seeing Sanada's powerful return, Yukimura held the racket with both hands. He aimed at Sanada's backcourt with both hands and made a beautiful pass. Then, he took two steps to the net.

Sanada frowned. Was Yukimura the one who made the first move?

He did not have time to set up a plan. He quickly came to the baseline to save the ball. The ball that flew back to the center net was blocked by Yukimura and gently bounced back to the front of the net. The ball was too far away and too fast to catch up.

Yukimura glanced at Sanada and turned around in dissatisfaction. "Your attack power has weakened, Sanada. Have you run out of strength so quickly?" He returned to the baseline and smiled when he saw that his good friend was angered by him.

"… Are those two really good friends?"

The audience was shocked. They were provoking each other like this. Those who did not know would think that they were mortal enemies!

His consecutive serves were broken. Sanada was completely led by the nose by Yukimura. His serve had never been so bad.

The last ball was even hit at Xing Cun's feet by his own feet. This mistake in movement allowed the opponent to get a counterattack ace.

His serve was broken at the beginning of the game. He even knew that the opponent did not even use 30% of his strength.

Sanada raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead. He stared at the opposite side with a burning gaze.

He gripped his racket and walked to the sidelines.

After the end of the game, they changed courts. The two players did not speak when they passed each other. However, both of them knew that the next game was the key to the rhythm of the game.

With Sanada's understanding of Yukimura, he could almost foresee four aces. If he could receive any one of them, he would have the hope of regaining his momentum.

What would Yukimura use?

At this time, he would definitely like … to hit the ace!

After a quick estimation, Sanada chose the outside corner that Yukimura liked. As he predicted, Yukimura threw the ball high, leaned back, raised the racket, and swung his arm forward. The ball drew a high-speed straight line in the air and hit the left side of his body.

It was an inside corner ace. It was completely different from what Sanada had seen before.

He frowned. Even he could not guess what Yukimura was thinking?

Or rather, he was completely seen through by Yukimura!

For the second ball, he could no longer catch it based on his impression. Standing opposite him was a brand-new opponent, unfathomable and knowing him like the back of his hand … He tried to stand closer to the inside corner, but his opponent hit the outside corner.

The third ball was aimed at his moving feet. Sanada did not even have time to swing his racket. In just three minutes, Yukimura's serve was 40: 0.

The last ball, as if it happened yesterday, he looked at the curve and realized that it was the cut serve from before. However, this time, the range of the rebound was even lower. Sanada's racket completely missed.

The ball bounced back to Sanada's hand again and again, and the right to serve for the third game was back in his hands.

He looked unhappily at Yukimura who was pulling the net. That attitude of his, was he looking down on him?

This time, I'll let you suffer a big loss!

Yukimura raised the corner of his mouth. He looked at his good friend who was eager to try and look forward to his transformation. He had a feeling that today might be the day when the door to Sanada's evolution would be completely opened.

He carefully observed Sanada's movements. He threw the ball, raised his arm, leaned back … Wait, the ball was already coming over?

His eyes flashed, and his right hand reflexively reached to the side. The force from the racket made him understand the mystery of this ball.

"It's really amazing, Sanada!" He could not help but murmur. Even he did not expect this to happen. Did he speed up his serve?

It's really impossible to guard against!

However, it was not that easy to take a point from him.

He seemed to have touched the ball unprepared, but the ball was very tricky to hit the outside corner of the front court's right sideline. It looked like it was going to go out of bounds. Sanada's figure flashed, and he actually firmly returned the ball that was almost given up.

"I won't let my guard down!"

That person roared and struck down heavily. "Invasion, like fire!"

The ball rushed out from the hands of the teenager who did not admit defeat. He was so close to the point that even if Yukimura could receive his serve, he would not be able to predict the layout after that.

Just when he thought that this fire, which was beyond the absolute power of the past, would succeed, Yukimura ran to the corner of the left sideline. With the momentum of running, he nimbly turned around, half of his body was facing the net. He held the racket with both hands and swung it from behind, hitting the fiery ball with great force.

He shouted, and the ball whizzed past the center net. Sanada could not react in disbelief. It landed at the outside corner of the service area on the other end and quickly bounced out of the sideline.

In two rounds, he cracked Sanada's new move and sealed the evolved "fire."

Yukimura, on the other hand, only used his strong tennis skills and excellent physical reaction.

Sanada even had a trace of doubt about himself. Even when he was looking for a breakthrough, could Yukimura predict it?

That was simply, simply a prophet. Only a god could do that …

A trace of hesitation flashed in his eyes. Was it still possible for him to score against Yukimura?

Soon, Yukimura, who discovered the problem, used the Five Senses Annihilation. Everyone saw that the boy, who was still somewhat desperate before, had completely lost the ability to fight back. Yukimura scored one goal after another until the whistle sounded at the end of the game. Sanada woke up from his stupor and heard the conversation around him. "That person broke the record for the shortest time in the final …"

"That's scary. His opponent won't be finished like this, right …"

Compared to losing the game, what scared Sanada more was Yukimura's expression.

He had never seen Yukimura so angry after a game with him. Or rather, he had never even seen Yukimura angry …

"Seiichi …" Sanada mumbled. Was he disappointed in him?

The Five Senses Annihilation, which he had broken free from in the past, had completely defeated him this time.

He had been utterly defeated and had no power to fight back. He didn't even have the courage to fight back.

I really can't beat him.

Sanada even felt a little wronged. Even if he had been using this as motivation, could the gap in strength be made up with willpower?

Yukimura was so angry that he was about to explode.

He simply couldn't believe that Sanada was so ugly.

It wasn't the first time he had lost to him, but as someone he recognized, Sanada Senichiro had actually broken the record in front of everyone. Could it be that others thought that Sanada Senichiro was just so-so and didn't care?

He could accept that Shinichiro couldn't beat him, but Shinichiro was definitely a strong player and couldn't be underestimated by anyone.