Whew! I know what you're thinking, 'It's been soooooo long since the last chapter!' My bad. Had a tough problem with typing this chapter, but worry no more! Sorry if there's some stuff here that doesn't make sense.

Also the New Prince of Tennis anime is awesome.

Seriously, you POT fans HAVE to check it out. It's awesome to hear the good old voice seiyuus playing as their Seigaku characters again.

BUT before you begin reading this, I'd like to announce and recommend you readers to go back and reread chapter 9. Why? Because I had an idea that just popped into my head recently and rewrote chapter 9 to add something to your liking. If you've been reading this fanfic so far and read this chapter without revisiting chapter 9, there'll be things in here that won't make sense.

Last time on Team Seigaku...

Previously, Team Seigaku is pushed to a corner when Kaidoh frightens the team with his mysterious yet deadly Snake Shot. The game becomes difficult when the team receives a message from a mysterious caller who advises them strictly not to play full out against Kaidoh's dangerous shot, in order to avoid their lives killed.

After several failures against Higa and Kaidoh's Death Snake Shot, Momoshiro has made the ultimate sacrifice and went head on with the dangerous Snake Shot, only to be critically hurt and resulted in his death. However, the ultimate man made a last attempt and gave what's left of his ultimate tennis abilities to Kachiro Kato so he can play in his place. Will Team Seigaku be able to pull through their loss with this sudden change?

Chapter 10 - A Comeback! Countering the Snake Shot

Things took a worse turn and became difficult now that Seigaku has suffered a tragic event. Takeshi Momoshiro, an Ultimate Man till the end, was gone. His teammates are left, grieving and in pain for this loss. The whole stadium became quiet and sullen.

In Nanjiro Echizen's secret office, Yamato felt pain at the sight of seeing one of his boys killed by the hands of Kaidoh so quickly. He was looking through a folder filled with data and information about Momoshiro. After reading it, Yamato gave a sullen sigh as he closed the folder and stared at the front that has Momoshiro's name labeled on it.

"Nanjiro-sensei...it's such a shame to see one of your own being taken away so soon..." he said sadly.

While he was grieving silently, Yamato's time has been interrupted when his cell phone then rang a text alert. The man took out his cell phone and viewed the screen. "'Unknown Sender'?" he read in curiosity. Even without the person's name or number, Yamato opened the text message and read it.

"'If you wish to find a way to defeat Kaoru Kaidoh, then you must know his background that connects to his hatred for tennis. I am sending you a very important secret that should help you find the rest.'"

Yamato finished the rest of the message and the secret that was sent by reading with his eyes. But once he did, his eyes widened in astonishment. "Really...?" he said in curiosity.

The message was sent by a person who calls him or herself, 'A Friend' at the bottom of the text.

Now of course Yamato is wondering who sent this, or why the person's willing to help. But right now, he was more concerned about the information the unknown sender had texted and plans to take the sender's advice.

He then got to his feet and went to a bookshelf and scanned each book until he found the one he's looking for. He opened the book then flipped through the pages filled with records of tennis teams that were established during the years way before the ultimate men were even born.

Finally Yamato found the page he was looking for and that was when he made a startling discovery when he saw the picture of a certain tennis team of the past. To be specific, Yamato's attention was focused on one certain player whose name is listed in the roster list that seemed interesting.

"Kaoru Kaidoh's father...was a former tennis player of Saotome's former team?" he said in bewilderment.

Back at the stadium, the game was put to a long halt due to the recent tragedy, as Seigaku needed the time to recover from their grieving. All of its members were scattered in their bunker with depressed emotions as a sullen silence loomed over them.

As for Momoshiro's body, for now the team had brought it inside and laid it on the bench in the locker room and covered his head and upper body with his Seigaku jacket, planning to give him a proper burial the moment the game is over.

The sports commentator spoke to the audience around Japan, "It's a harsh time for Team Seigaku at this time. One of their own, Takeshi Momoshiro, has been taken out of the game due to a major head injury that resulted in his death after being defeated by Higa's Kaoru Kaidoh, otherwise known as the Viper. It is now the 6th to last game of the match and Seigaku hasn't chosen their next player for this game yet. Will they bring up their score? We will find out in a few minutes."

An hour and a half passed by and nobody said anything for a long time and Kachiro sat in his seat clutching onto Momoshiro's racket that was now passed onto him and still traumatized by what just happened.

But he wasn't the only person. One of them finally spoke to break the sullen silence. "Guys...for the first time...I'm scared..." said Eiji quietly, bringing his knees close to his chest like a child, "I mean...can we still continue to play this game...even after what happened to Momo?"

It was not a surprise to everyone else that Eiji is frightened as they are. If this game was dangerous enough to take the life of a fellow player, then what could be awaiting them next? Will they take the risk to continue?

None of them knew or had the right words to say that'll make them feel better as they looked at each other with grimaces. But that changed when someone from the side spoke up.

"We're not going to give up yet."

Everyone's heads was turned to the entrance to the lockers and they gasped.

Fuji and Inui have stepped out of the stadium during the break to do something. When they returned, everyone was surprised to see Fuji leaning against Inui with an arm draped over the data man's neck. Fuji was also covered in bruises, cuts and dirt that stained his uniform and looked exhausted.

"Shusuke, Sadaharu, where in the world were you guys? And Shusuke, what happened to you?" asked Kikumaru with concern.

Instead of answering Eiji's question properly, Fuji boldly announced, "We...finally figured out how to beat that Snake Shot."

The rest of them team gave surprised expressions and were on their feet.

"Huh? How?" Kachiro was the first to ask.

"They did it with assistance from myself and your team's will", a different voice answered. The rest of the team realized that it came from the white laptop that the mysterious caller is now speaking through. "Right now, just be assured that your teammates have come up with a strategy that'll save you all from the Snake Death Shot."

"What?" a stunned Oishi said, "But how-?"

"It's a long story", Inui then interrupted, "But there's no time to explain it later. Like our mystery person said, we have a plan. Now we shall put it to the test."

"Right", Fuji spoke as he decided to walk on his own without Inui's assistance, "Just leave it to me..."

But after taking one step, Shusuke staggered and almost fell hadn't it been for Kawamura arriving there to catch him by the arms. "What are you thinking Shusuke?" Oishi said, urging the prodigy to reconsider, "We've just lost a friend...I can't allow our team to lose another one!" After Momo's death, Oishi has become more protective of his friends than ever.

Nevertheless, Fuji is more persistent. "I know that", he said, "But we can't let Takeshi's sacrifice be for nothing.

"But Shusuke you can't!" Eiji said desperately.

Now here, Inui stepped up from behind Fuji and placed a hand on the tensai's shoulder to usher him back.

"Leave it to me", he assured, pushing his cracked glasses up his nose, "My data shall assist me once more." However Fuji was still persistent in going and tried to stand on his own seeing that Inui looked a little tired himself.

"Sadaharu, I can handle it-"

"It's alright. You've helped me a lot already through the training", said the data man, "I was able to collect helpful data from watching you. Now, it's my turn to do the rest."

Finally, after seeing Inui and everyone else's eager faces that tells him to listen, Fuji gave in and allowed himself to sit on the bench as Oishi and Eiji came over to help treat Fuji's bruises with the first aid kit.

Before he departed the bunker, Inui had a one last word with Ryoma. "Echizen, we shall continue holding out this game for the while. In the meantime, it's highly recommendable that you finish achieving that Samurai Drive. We will need it before the final game", he strongly advised.

"But senpai-"

"Echizen", the voice from the white laptop spoke to halt him, "your team is right. From here until the final game, you must find a way to perfect that new technique. Don't forget, while your team may be captain-less, you are their pillar of support. You cannot let them fall here. Do you understand?"

Reluctant but understood his teammates and the caller's words, Ryoma nodded.

"I don't know who you are or why you want to help us", he then spoke to the mysterious caller, "but I'll trust your advice. But would it help if we could see you in person after this game so we can thank you properly?"

Some silence came from the laptop.

"...That I cannot promise at the moment." he said in regret, "But we will meet one day."

With the decision made, Ryoma then held up Inui's dark green racket and handed it to his senior. Inui took his racket and stepped out onto the court as his friends hoped for the best and that they wouldn't lose another player. As for Ryoma, he had his job to do. He turned to Kachiro, who is now a new member to the team and said, "Kachiro, let's go."

And he led the new boy out of the bunker and to the underground training court to finish his training.

Determined to get rid of the remaining Seigaku players, Kaidoh returned to the court for another round. He watched and awaited for his new prey to come forward to taste his Snake Shot until finally, someone walked onto the court.

After arriving on his spot, Inui stared at Kaidoh for a long while through his cracked glasses silently as Momo did when he last confronted the Viper.

"So after seeing me get rid of your friend, you still insist to continue playing?" Kaidoh spoke with the intent to make Inui regret his decision, "You all are really anxious to die aren't you?"

"A little word of warning to you Kaoru Kaidoh", Inui spoke, "I have examined and collected your data very carefully. It was difficult, but I somehow managed to obtain it. And with the data I've collected...I'll use it to defeat you."

Kaidoh only scoffed and clicked his tongue. "Tch...what idiots...Maybe I need to break those glasses of yours to pieces so you can see the truth clearly."

Inui now decided that the time to act is now. With that, he slowly reached up to touch his right wristband and slip it off his wrist and tossed it aside. What none of the other players had expected was that hidden in the wrist band was 2 bars of thin weights.

Now Inui's teammates were rather surprised that Inui had carried weights on his wrist all this time without them noticing.

"Was he wearing that power weight in his wristband from the beginning?" Oishi asked in astonishment.

"...To take them off now, Sadaharu must be getting serious", Fuji presumed.

Now that he got some limits lifted off of his dominant arm, Inui calculated, "The percentage of difference in power...15% higher." With his minimal limit removed, Inui now bounced the first ball in his hand a few times. He then thought back carefully at what he learned during the break.

-Flashback-

Earlier, During the Break

During the long break, Fuji noticed that Inui has become serious after the death of Momoshiro and is determined to figure out how to stop Kaidoh's deadly shot. However it was right at that moment that Inui heard ringing from the white laptop that was left to them by the mysterious caller from before, signalling that a phone link is being made again.

His screen again had the label, 'Unknown Caller', meaning that it could be the same caller who warned them before. Inui answered the call and the screen showed the same silhouetted figure from before.

"Hello?"

"What were you all thinking?", the same mysterious caller spoke with disappointment, "I specifically told all of you to avoid that shot by all means necessary."

Inui figured that the caller must've obviously seen the tragic event that had happened in the previous game. "...I'm sorry. We tried to warn him not to do it, but...he was putting the team's victory first", said Inui on Momo's behalf, "There wasn't anything we could've done."

Inui heard the caller give a sigh.

"Well...there's no point in changing what's past. But I won't say that Momoshiro's death was for nothing, because now...he has uncovered a way for your team's victory indeed. Now...you are able to find a way to counter the Death Snake Shot."

This was an interesting fact to Inui. "Is it really possible?" he asked the caller.

"It is thanks to your teammate's sacrifice that he managed to give your team a clue. I shall be sending you a recording of Kaidoh's technique. You'll see what I mean."

"I'll do my best, but I can't thank you enough, whoever you are", said Inui gratefully.

"Then I wish you luck", the mystery person said before the monotone is heard, signalling that he had hung up and the video phone box closed to show the desktop again.

Thanks to the sacrifice Momo gave to the team, Inui has gotten the data he needs and is ready to start inventing a new strategy. Fuji was the only other person who overheard the conversation, and is now eager to contribute in some way to ensure their team victory. So he requested Inui that he'd come along as well.

Now, the two had gone to the underground courts and commenced training separately. On one court, Inui remembered the words that the mysterious caller had told him before and first took time to view the video that was sent by their mystery person and played it several times until his mind memorized each little detail.

He watched a recording of Kaidoh beating their team from the previous games many times and replayed it in slow motion. Here, Inui can finally see that ball's movement as it is launched from Kaidoh towards their side. He then watched the ball, still in slow motion, making contact with Momoshiro's racket and here, found out the secret behind the deathly shot.

"I see now...Kaidoh's Snake Shots have some kind of additional gyro spin. However...it's still incomplete. Therefore, our only way to beat it is if I can conjure up a straight serve that can pass his field of reach before he can hit it...Then it'll win us a game. Chance of success...48%."

It was a hard gamble as Inui knows, but he's willing to give it a shot. He turned his attention to a target post set on the other end of his court. With a basket of balls by his side, Inui took one ball in his hand and gripped it for a while with his eyes on the target. Then with a toss of the ball, he waited for the ball to come down before swinging his racket upon the ball and sent it flying into the target post at a normal serve speed.

But this wasn't enough to convince Inui that'll it'll beat Kaidoh. "Not good. It has to be faster." With that, he picked up another ball and commenced his training.

...

On another court, Fuji commenced a different training of his own. Here, Fuji had a hard and heavy sack that's the size of a punching bag, hanging by a rope that's attached to the ceiling in the middle of the court he's standing on. At the moment, the sack was tied off to the side with a rope that leads to Fuji's hand. The moment he tugs on this rope, Fuji will release the sack from its hanging spot and it will swing back and forth towards him.

Now for this training, Fuji has made a difficult limit. He stood on the court, racket in hand, and had tied blindfold on his head that covered his eyes. "It's risky. But with the blindfold, I can focus using my other senses to target the ball better", he said to himself, "Well...here we go."

With the rope that's connected to the sack in his hand ready, Fuji took a moment before he tugged on it and released the sack. The swinging obstacle then came swooping down towards Fuji and the tensai had his racket up. He heard the sound of the sack moving through the air and tried to track it down. He swung in order to counter it but missed by a foot and instead, the sack collided into his back unexpectedly.

Fuji nearly stumbled over but kept his stance, however now he his back felt sore from that impact. Nevertheless, he continued with his training. Unfortunately as minutes passed, it was entirely difficult for Fuji to not use his eyes as he endured pain from the hard sack whacking into different parts of his body countless of times and all he can do is swing his racket at random directions but hasn't hit the sack even once.

A Half Hour Later

A half hour later, the training still continued but Inui and Fuji still had no luck in discovering a solution to counter the Death Shot. Fuji had already gotten several bruises from the sack ramming into him and continued to wear the blindfold. His jersey was also covered in dirt from being knocked to the ground several times before.

On Inui's end, the data man had served many balls that the basket beside him was now more than half empty. Balls were scattered around the target post that Inui was aiming for but none of them were successful in getting to the speed that satisfies Inui. He went on his knees to catch his breath as his right arm hung down his side. "No luck..." he panted, "...That last shot must've been no close to 150 km/hr..."

On the other court, Fuji tried avoiding the sack now if he can't hit it. But just when Fuji let his guard down for one second, the sack collided into him and knocked him off his feet and he fell on his back. Inui heard the sound of Fuji crashing to the floor and looked to the side. He got startled when he saw Fuji down that he ran over to his court and halted the sack so it would hang still and stop swinging.

"Are you sure about this Shusuke? It is difficult to not use your eyes. Maybe you should halt the training and leave this to me", Inui suggested. But Fuji slowly got back to his feet, shaking his head, despite his bruises stinging all over.

"No…We have to do this…Our team's victory rests on me", he stated, "Or Momo's effort would be in waste...Continue pushing the sack towards me." With Fuji's wish, Inui had no choice but do as he requests. With that, Inui dragged the sack so that it will hang from over his head in order to build up a swing. Then he released the sack and continued Fuji's training.

Another 30 minutes passed and two had finally come to a breaking climax.

Fuji had finally gotten success in his training. Eventually, his other senses was able to adapt well without his eyesight that he soon was able to detect the moving sack and figure out it's direction now. Using his ears to listen, he waited until he heard the sack move across the air and coming closer and closer. Finally when it was close enough Fuji went into position for the Tsubame Gaeshi. And at the right timing, Fuji swung his racket and countered the sack with a strong swing upward that the effect of his ultimate man strength kicked in and created a force that sent the sack in the opposite direction and even got its rope snapped as it crashed several feet away from Fuji. Due to the great swing, Fuji had even made a rip in the sack and sand had poured out of the hole.

Meanwhile, after about 50 or more attempts, Inui finally came to a sparking conclusion in his training when his next and final ball shot straight at the target in a speed that Inui has never done before in his life and hit the target with a loud and swift finish.

"That's it...192 km/hr..."

Satisfied with his new technique, Inui wanted to give it one more try and picked up a ball that had rolled near to him. Again, he tossed it up, waited for it to come down, and whacked it so hard and sent it flying across the court at the same speed. But unfortunately Inui had gotten a little exhausted that the ball he had just hit got a little off route and missed the target post. Instead, the ball hit the concrete wall just behind the post and bounced right off the surface. Following the ricochet, the ball went in another direction. Inui tried to track the ball's direction and got a scare when he saw that it was heading to Fuji's court...right towards the tensai.

"Fuji, look out!" he warned suddenly.

Fuji still had the blindfold on so he couldn't see what Inui was alert about. But...thanks to the training, his instincts picked up an object that's spinning and shooting towards him. Using this chance to test his new skill, Fuji amazingly caught the ball with his racket and had it spinning rapidly against the net. But then in one movement, he swiftly turned and went down on a knee and flung the ball back in the opposite direction. Inui got stunned as he saw the returned ball soaring up and traveling in an arc and landed right on the baseline of his court.

"Amazing...He had come up with a counter like that in just seconds..." the data man remarked, frozen in his place.

But suddenly Fuji lost all the strength in his legs and laid flat on his back and regained his energy. Inui snapped out of his thoughts and ran over to his side in worry and pulled the blindfold off of Fuji's eyes. "Shusuke! Are you alright?" he called out, shaking Fuji by the shoulder.

Instead of worrying about himself, all Fuji did was nod. "...I got my new technique ready...Did...Did you get it too...?"

To his relief, Inui smiled and nodded. "100% fool proof", he confirmed.

-End of Flashback-

Back in the game at present time, Inui was still at ready to make a serve.

"Takeshi...it was thanks to your sacrifice, we were able to conjure this technique. Thank you", he said in his head gratefully, "This serve will beat that Viper."

With that, Inui finally tossed the ball up over his head and swung his racket back. In a few seconds, Inui watched the ball hover in the air for a second before it came back down. Right when it got to his point of view, Inui's now lightened arm moved in one swift motion and whacked on the ball. Following the impact, Viper was on his guard, ready to return it. But a second later, without realizing it, the ball Inui had served instantly flew past him like a flash and landed on his side of the court.

The referee announced that Seigaku got a point, much to Higa's dismay.

"Impossible..." said a stunned Kaidoh, "...There was no way a person can serve a ball that fast."

But Inui in return had the proud face of accomplishment and gave a chuckle. "Au contraire...data never lies", he stated (A/N: I couldn't resist but add that quote in cause it's SO like Inui. XD), "That serve you just witnessed happens to be traveling at 192 km...per hour. In other words, it may just be a new record in the history of tennis."

Kaidoh's eyes widened in reaction to this fact. "1...192 km/hr?"

A frustrated Kaidoh hissed under his breath as he turned sharply and walked to the bunker in an upset fit. "Those losers...How did they come up with something like that in a short time?"

Saotome went up to Kaidoh to give him a new piece of advice.

"Hey kid, drop the Death Shot for this next round. Use this chance to trick them from behind", he suggested. Now at first, Kaidoh is upset to drop his successful Death Shot, but eventually, he figured out the trick in Saotome's advice. He is now positively sure that he'll get back at them in the next round.

While that's happening, Ryoma resumed to his previous training to master the Muga no Kyochi and the Samurai Drive that he learned from his father's ghost.

This time there was a slight change in the procedure. Kachiro now took Momoshiro's place and became Ryoma's training partner to serve the balls. Now that Kachiro's dominant hand has been restored thanks to Momoshiro's ultimate man powers being passed on to him, he can now grip a racket and use it to its fullest as Ryoma and the others can.

Even Ryoma still has his shoulder injury, it was thanks to practicing the Muga no Kyochi that he's able to channel energy into the arm for a short while in order to use it to play and at the moment, reduced the injury that he only feels a sore and stinging pain.

After several attempts to create the Samurai Drive, Ryoma paused for a moment to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his brow. Kachiro, who hasn't played tennis in such a long time due to his disability, was also shaky and struggled at first as he served Ryoma the tennis balls.

While Ryoma took a quick breather, Kachiro wanted to say something that's been bugging him. "Ryoma...maybe...maybe this isn't a good idea for me to play", he said with doubt in himself, "Look at me. I'm not cut out to be an ultimate man."

But Ryoma spoke, "Kachiro...don't forget, Momo-senpai chose you to take his ultimate powers in his final moments. He and I want you to put all of your effort into this game. Make it so that Momo-senpai would feel envious and jealous so that he regretted for putting you in his place."

His words brought encouragement to Kachiro as he gazed down at Momoshiro's racket in his hand which he plans to use throughout this game. With his confidence brought back, Kachiro now gave a nod and said eagerly, "Right! Let's continue then, Ryoma-kun!"

Glad that Kachiro's now full of confidence again, Ryoma got to his feet and prepared himself to receive the next serve. On the other side, in his best positive attitude, Kachiro then began spoke loudly to pick up the mood.

"Come on come on! It's not enough!" he quoted.

When he heard this, Ryoma paused for a moment and recognized this nostalgic moment. In his head, he can imagine Momoshiro standing in Kachiro's spot, saying the same thing. The 8th grader was showing his cocky smile with his racket slung over his shoulder. It's as if he never left at all.

"...Momo-senpai..." Ryoma whispered.

If only, Ryoma wished, the illusion of Momoshiro would actually be real. But after a few seconds, the image faded and Kachiro stood in his place once again. Knowing that this isn't the time to fall back, Ryoma grinned and nodded.

"Right. Let's continue!"

Back to the game, Fuji was now well enough to get back on the court and walked to his spot, racket in hand. "Momo...it's time I do my share to avenge your sacrifice", he said mentally.

As he planned, Kaidoh returned after the reluctant idea of skipping out during Inui's game so he can finish the job.

"You again pretty boy?" the Viper said with annoyance, "And I thought you were too scared to come out after I beat you with my Snake Death Shot." He recalled the shocked and trembling state Fuji was in after first experiencing the Death Shot earlier. But this time, Fuji was prepared and determined to play.

"I wouldn't want to disappoint you if I quit now and ended the game like that would I?" the tensai inquired smiling playfully. But don't let this smile fool you. In his mind, he has every mind to get back at Kaidoh for killing Momoshiro, no matter what.

To begin, Fuji did a risky move and closed his eyes shut completely so he can enter the Closed Eye state. This was a state he was practicing with during his training. He learned that by using Closed Eye, he can enhance his instincts besides his eyes. Now from this, Kaidoh thought that he has gone nuts.

"What an idiot...You're already admitting defeat."

He then began a serve and once he whack and sent the ball to Fuji's side, Fuji easily ran over and countered the ball with a simple forehand. After a not so long rally, Kaidoh remembered that Saotome told him before in the previous game and decided to take that advice.

"Try this! Reverse Snake!"

This time when he received the ball, Kaidoh changed its direction at the last moment. Now the ball went to the opposite direction than the Snake Shot would usually go so he'd catch Fuji off guard when he's expecting him to use his Death Shot.

The minute Kaidoh used Reverse Snake, the rest of Seigaku got startled. "He used a different technique to trick Shusuke!" said Eiji in panic, "What's he going to do?"

Kaidoh could only think of victory in his hands...but he didn't notice that Fuji had a hidden smirk on the corner of his mouth. Thanks to the Closed Eye state, Fuji's ears located the ball's direction for him as it flew across the air while spinning.

"...I had a feeling you were going to do that."

And to Kaidoh's surprise, Fuji stretched out to the side and received the ball openly with his racket and held it at such a position so that the ball is picking up more spin and speed against his net. He then quickly spun around, crouching to one knee and released the ball with his back facing Kaidoh. The ball traveled in an arc and landed smack on his opponent's side while Kaidoh was stuck in stunned state and earning Fuji another point.

"Triple Counter number 2...Higuma Otoshi", said Fuji.

Kaidoh grew more frustrated that this trick didn't work. "Fshhu...darn that tensai..."

...

From that point on, Seigaku's luck may just rise up again as Fuji continued the game. Thanks to Closed Eye, Fuji has bypassed Kaidoh's Snake Shots and Reverse Snake by instinct and earned more points. Eventually the game was at 5 to 2 with Fuji in the lead.

During this possible last round, Kaidoh was getting disturbed to focus and think of what move to use next. So far, Fuji has read and countered each of his shots. That is, until he remembered, he hasn't used the Snake Death Shot on Fuji yet. And there was no better time to use it than now.

"I won't lose to this guy!" Kaidoh proclaimed. In a last and desperate attempt, Kaidoh took a familiar stance.

"That stance!" Oishi recognized, "He's going to use the Snake Death Shot!"

Unfortunately his warning wasn't going to reach Fuji's ears from where he's standing. It'll be all up to him to make it through the dangerous technique.

When the ball is now coming towards him, Kaidoh swung back and swung forward with great strength. "Snake Death Shot!"

Again, Fuji used Closed Eye to track down the ball and it worked once again. This time, he noticed the difference and realized that Kaidoh is using the Death Snake Shot, which was exactly what Fuji has been preparing for.

To Kaidoh's surprise, Fuji placed himself in the ball's way and hit it full on his his racket. But instead of using Tsubame Gaeshi or even Higuma Otoshi, Fuji used a super slice that sent the ball flying to Kaidoh's side. This ball used a strong backspin that it created a huge gust of wind as it shot past his head by a few inches and landed on the rear of his court right behind where he's standing. But the ball still had such spin that it bounced off from where it landed and catching Kaidoh off guard, collided right into the back of his head and sent him forward. When Kaidoh's head was flung forward due to the painful collision of the ball, the ball zoomed right back into Fuji's open hand and he caught it.

"Game and match to Seigaku! 6 games to 2!"

Provoked and upset that his head now has a sore bump from the Triple Counter, Kaidoh hissed angrily, "Fshuu...You freak...what the heck was that?"

"That was my 3rd counter...Hakugei", Fuji answered, "Originally I don't intend to use my Triple Counters in this kind of manner. However..." Here his eyes opened in a narrow glare, "After what you did to our friend, I will use them in any way to get revenge."

Kaidoh can just feel it, this Fuji standing in front of him right now was definitely much more different than the Fuji who trembled in fear from his Snake Shot. Just by looking at the tensai's eyes did he get a strange chill up his spine.

After what happened, the Higa players got concerned about Kaidoh and began suggesting that he take a break.

"Hey Kaidoh, you okay?"

"That looked like it hurt. Maybe you should fall back and get that treated."

"Quiet!" Kaidoh shouted harshly, spooking his teammates, "This is nothing to be freaked out by. Just shut up and let me do my work, got it?"

Not wanting to get on his bad side, the Higa players backed away and returned to their benches as Kaidoh demanded.

Back in the underground training courts, the court was littered with tennis balls. Some of them remained whole while others were split equally or non-equally. Kachiro at this point was on his knees catching his breath. As for Ryoma, he was standing on his side, exhausted and has dirt covering his jersey.

After a long while, Ryoma finally got the Samurai Drive exactly how he wants it.

"...It's finally ready", he stated in satisfaction.

At this news, Kachiro's face lit up with excitement. "Really? That's good", he said with relief.

Now that that's done, Ryoma got to his feet and picked up his racket. He then made the big announcement, "Kachiro...get yourself ready. We're going up next."

It is now time for Ryoma to reveal his brand new technique that could win them the match and avenge for Momoshiro's death. Will it be able to work?

To Be Continued...

A/N: As expected of the data man and genius of Team Seigaku. Now that Seigaku is starting to kick things up, will Ryoma's new techniques be completed in time? And how will Kachiro do in his first ever match? And what is up with Kaidoh's past?

Also, I know there are some Tezuka fans out there that are wondering when he's going to appear. Well, I can't spoil too much for future chapters, but I regret to say that Tezuka won't be appearing until many chapters later. Sorry!

However...

Read carefully in the next future chapters. Who knows that there might be some kind of reference to him somewhere between the lines...

Trivia: See if you can guess who the mysterious caller is who keeps offering advice to the team! He may or may not be somewhat revealed in a future chapter! The first to respond will receive a special hint concerning this person.