"Eiji and Oishi have won two games straight! The situation looks incredibly favorable for us!"
Kawamura was ecstatic seeing Eiji and Oishi dominating Marui Bunta and Yanagi Renji from the start, convinced that Yamabuki might actually take this doubles match.
"Kawamura, don't get overconfident. Right now, Renji is simply collecting data on Eiji and Oishi. Once that data collection is complete, Rikkaidai will launch their real counterattack."
Inui disagreed with Kawamura's assessment. As both a close friend of Yanagi Renji and a fellow data tennis player, he understood better than anyone that Rikkaidai was only lying dormant for now.
Of course, Kawamura wasn't the only one celebrating. In the stands, Conan was equally pleased - his previously clenched fists had relaxed and a faint smile played across his face.
"Didn't someone bet against Eiji? Why are you looking so happy now?"
Ai delivered this sarcastic observation.
"What do you know? Rikkaidai is letting Eiji win two games first to lower his guard, then they'll seize the opportunity to counterattack and crush Eiji's team in one decisive blow. It's called luring the enemy into overconfidence before striking back. Do you understand?"
Conan began lecturing Ai in an incredibly smug tone, acting like he knew everything about tennis strategy.
"Then Conan, would you like to make a bet with me?"
Gustave, overhearing the conversation between Conan and Ai, turned around to look at Conan with interest.
Though Gustave didn't know why the current Rikkaidai had dropped two straight games to Yamabuki, Yanagi Renji - one of Rikkaidai's three pillars in the original story - definitely couldn't have only this level of ability. While Conan's words had sounded like boastful nonsense, they might actually prove prophetic.
"Tsk! I'm not betting with you!"
In Conan's opinion, Gustave was just some cheerful old guy who smiled all day long. How embarrassing would it be to make bets with him?
"Little brat, you should show respect to your elders!"
Seeing Conan's bratty attitude, Gustave felt quite annoyed and reached out his large hand to "affectionately pat" Conan's brilliant head.
"Ahhhh!"
Unable to resist, Conan could only rage helplessly under the assault.
Only Anya watched wide-eyed, silently enjoying the entertainment.
Back on the court, the third game began with Eiji and Oishi serving again.
With a beautiful high toss, Oishi sent the ball cleanly over the net.
Marui Bunta returned it quickly, sending the ball back into play.
Eiji swung his racket with obvious force. Judging from the power and angle at the start of his swing, the ball should have headed for the back corner, and Marui immediately stepped backward in preparation.
Suddenly, Eiji stopped his motion and simply flicked his wrist to drop a short ball. The entire previous movement had been a feint.
"Haha! You totally fell for it!"
Eiji burst into delighted laughter, thrilled that Marui had been completely fooled by his fake swing.
"Damn it!"
Marui was irritated at being deceived by Eiji's feint, but he reacted instantly, lunging forward and supporting himself on the ground with one hand while stretching his racket out with the other to barely reach the drop shot.
The short ball he managed to return drifted slowly toward the net. Suddenly, the tennis ball seemed to dance along the net cord before dropping into Eiji and Oishi's court.
"Secret Technique: Tightrope Walking!"
This was one of Marui Bunta's signature moves. It looked incredibly risky, but it could completely bamboozle opponents.
"Pretty genius, right? A stroke of pure genius, wouldn't you say?"
Marui stood up and flashed Eiji a provocative smile.
"Tch!"
Eiji had originally wanted to show off against Marui, but ended up being the one who got tricked instead. He'd already seen Marui's "Tightrope Walking" technique during their previous match, so falling for it this time was particularly galling.
Watching Eiji and Marui compete at the net, Oishi shook his head helplessly. When paired with Eiji, Oishi always felt like he had to worry about this mischievous child like a concerned mother. Now this troublesome child had met another equally mischievous kid - it was truly concerning.
Oishi served, Marui returned it, and Eiji sprinted hard to his left but seemed to have overrun the ball's position.
Haha! That guy totally overshot it!
Seeing Eiji make such a basic error, Marui laughed internally.
Unexpectedly, Eiji pulled off something incredible. His right hand holding the racket suddenly swung around behind his head, and the distance that had seemed too far was suddenly perfect.
"Check out my Eiji Beam!"
With just a slight adjustment of his hand, Eiji sent the tennis ball blazing past Marui's ear, where it bounced once and flew out of bounds.
After being teased by Marui moments before, how could Eiji let that slide? He immediately fired back with this difficult acrobatic shot, completely turning the tables on Marui.
"Tch!"
Marui wrinkled his nose, seemingly dismissive of Eiji's previous move. He knew how to pull off shots like that too.
While Eiji and Marui battled each other, the real beneficiaries were the spectators. The various acrobatic displays from both players elevated the match's entertainment value to a whole new level.
For ordinary viewers, the presence of Eiji and Marui made this match far more exciting than the previous encounter between Sengoku and Sanada.
"Eiji!"
Oishi called out to his partner, wanting him to stop competing with Marui and focus on playing properly to defeat their opponents quickly.
"Don't worry, don't worry, Oishi! I've got this!"
Eiji didn't take Oishi's words seriously, simply waving his racket to show he'd heard.
On the third rally, after Oishi served, the game seemed to have nothing to do with him. Eiji and Marui kept battling each other head-to-head, neither willing to back down.
Looking across the entire court, the situation was identical on Rikkaidai's side. Yanagi Renji stood in the back doing nothing, just like Oishi. All the balls were being intercepted by Eiji and Marui, making Oishi and Yanagi seem like bystanders as this doubles match turned into a singles contest.
On the surface, both Oishi and Yanagi appeared to have nothing to do, but the reasons behind this were completely different.
While it seemed like Marui was simply having a showdown with Eiji, he was actually helping Yanagi collect data in preparation for their upcoming counterattack. As for Eiji, he was genuinely competing with Marui. Looking at this bubblegum-chewing kid who had a similar style to his own, Eiji felt genuinely irritated.
Fortunately, although Eiji was focused on his rivalry with Marui, Oishi was able to cover every ball that Eiji missed. Meanwhile, Yanagi also seemed to be working hard to cover shots on Rikkaidai's side, but his efforts were always "just a bit short" compared to Oishi's reliability.
The third game went to Eiji and Oishi once again, making the score 3-0. The performance of Marui and Yanagi's new partnership appeared somewhat "disappointing," and Yamabuki seemed poised to easily claim victory in doubles two. This was what ordinary spectators observed.
Before the fourth game began, Yanagi approached Marui:
"Bunta, I've finished collecting data on our opponents."
To update and correct the information on Eiji and Oishi, Yanagi had spent three full games observing, because both players' competitive levels had improved significantly since the Kanto Tournament.
But from this moment forward, after Yanagi's data update was complete, the behavioral models of Eiji and Oishi had been reconstructed in his mind. The counterattack was about to begin.