The match began with Sengoku and Sanada taking their positions on opposite sides of the court.
The first game was Sengoku's serve. He bounced lightly on his feet, and facing such a formidable opponent as Sanada, he decided to go all out from the very beginning.
"What's that guy doing? Why is he bouncing around like that before serving?"
Although Rikkaidai knew Sengoku incorporated boxing techniques into his tennis, they'd usually seen this during rallies. Why was he using boxing footwork before even serving?
Yukimura noticed Sanada's focused intensity, just as Tezuka had observed Sengoku's determination. During the period after the Kanto Tournament, besides his own training, Tezuka had mostly served as a sparring partner for Sengoku and Fuji. Sengoku especially had been the last to leave every single practice session.
This duel between Sanada and Sengoku was perfectly timed - a clash between two of the hardest working players in the tournament.
Sengoku continued his light bouncing, and suddenly, he seemed to find his perfect balance point. He tossed the tennis ball high, his entire body launching upward, stretching to his absolute limit and revealing the powerful muscles beneath his uniform.
The normally round tennis ball compressed into an oval shape the instant it made contact with his racket. The sheer force of Sengoku's strike was incredible.
"Ha!"
With a sharp exhale from Sengoku, the tennis ball rocketed toward Sanada's side of the court at nearly invisible speed.
"Here it comes!"
Sanada tensed his muscles, gripping his racket with both hands as he charged forward.
Sengoku's serve came at blistering speed - most people couldn't even track the ball's path. Though Sanada lacked the exceptional dynamic vision of his opponent, he still managed to read the tennis ball's trajectory and swung his racket to meet it.
"What incredible power!"
That was Sanada's first reaction upon receiving Sengoku's serve. He'd never expected the lean Sengoku to possess such raw strength.
"Ahhh!"
Sanada roared as he powered the ball back with tremendous force.
Relying on his boxing footwork's flexibility, Sengoku quickly moved into position, bent his legs slightly, then exploded upward with powerful leg drive. When both he and the ball reached their highest point simultaneously, he hammered it down with devastating force!
"It's a Tiger Cannon! But the speed is at least fifteen to twenty percent faster than usual."
Inui adjusted his glasses, roughly calculating the enhanced Tiger Cannon's power.
The supercharged Tiger Cannon moved so fast that although Sanada's mind had processed it, his body couldn't respond in time. He could only watch as Sengoku scored.
"That guy is much stronger than when I played him in the Kanto Tournament!"
Mori Jusaburo opened his sleepy eyes, abandoning his usual laziness to speak with rare seriousness.
"Stronger than when he faced Mori-senpai? It seems Sanada isn't the only one who's been improving. His opponent has been growing too."
Yukimura crossed his arms as he observed from his seat.
Looking back at the court, facing Sengoku's aggressive play, Sanada showed no emotional fluctuation. He simply turned and returned to his starting position.
The opponent is giving everything he has. Sanada, are you going to begin as well?
Yukimura studied Sanada's determined profile with that thought.
On the second serve, Sengoku delivered another ball with speed and power equal to his first. This time, Sanada was fully prepared. He increased the angle of his return and hit a slice shot, determined not to give Sengoku another smashing opportunity.
Sengoku's lips curved into a slight smile.
"As expected of Rikkaidai's vice-captain. Your tennis technique is superb!"
Then Sengoku quickly rushed to where the tennis ball would land, aimed for the right corner of Sanada's court, and fired it back.
The two began a brief rally, with Sengoku ultimately winning thanks to a net cord shot that carried just a touch of luck.
"Lucky!"
Sengoku's previous shot had actually been a gamble - a bet on his legendary fortune. And as always, whenever such moments arose, the god of luck stood firmly on Sengoku's side.
But luck wasn't everything. For the third point, Sanada had no intention of competing with Sengoku's fortune. When he struck back, Sanada unleashed one of his signature techniques:
"Swift as the Wind!"
The return shot blazed toward Sengoku with incredible velocity.
As expected, Sengoku was momentarily stunned, allowing the tennis ball to fly directly past him.
"Interesting!"
Sengoku suddenly laughed and gripped his racket even tighter. This was exactly what he'd wanted - this was the kind of opponent he needed!
Sengoku and Sanada shared one thing in common: despite their lean builds, both possessed tremendous strength. This allowed them to consistently deliver the kind of ultra-high-speed shots rarely seen in normal play.
So from the very beginning of the first game, both players unleashed their full arsenals of super-speed techniques without any reservation.
If not for modern technology capturing Sengoku and Sanada's ball paths through high-speed cameras, the spectators would have been completely overwhelmed trying to follow the action.
Of course, not everyone with poor eyesight knew to watch the big screen - such as Anya, who now looked thoroughly confused.
"Anya can't see the ball!"
At first, Anya had watched Sengoku and Sanada battling each other and thought they both looked incredibly powerful. She'd begun imagining how cool she'd look on that court. After Agent Anya, Tennis Player Anya had emerged in her mind.
However, as Sengoku and Sanada's ball speed increased, Anya grew confused. She tugged on Yang Chan's sleeve beside her and whispered:
"Chan'er, Anya can't see the ball."
"Can't see the ball?"
Yang Chan looked at Anya, then at the court. She could see the ball perfectly clearly. Why couldn't Anya see it? Was something wrong again?
The worried Yang Chan immediately told Gustave that Anya couldn't see the ball and shared her concern.
At first, Gustave thought something might be wrong with Anya again, but after observation, he found she was completely normal and healthy.
Suddenly, Gustave realized something important. People couldn't be judged by the same standards. Yang Chan might look like an ordinary child on the surface, but she was actually a second-generation deity - not an artificially created god, but a natural-born divine being. Anya, on the other hand, was just a "normal" child and naturally couldn't be compared to Yang Chan.
Just because Yang Chan could see the ball clearly didn't mean Anya could, so Gustave pointed to the large screen overhead and said:
"Anya, if you can't see the ball, look at the big screen above us. You can see everything clearly there."
Hearing Gustave's suggestion, Anya looked up, and sure enough, the ball's path was displayed clearly on the big screen, with the match visible from various angles.
"Great! Anya can finally see clearly!"
So there was Anya, sitting in the front row like all the spectators behind her, staring up at the broadcast on the big screen.
Gustave shook his head. Why did he get the feeling that Anya wasn't very athletic? After all, Conan and Ai, as ordinary people, could follow the action just fine.