APTnovel Chapter 199 This is a losing proposition no matter how you look at it; the spirit of Bushido
Chapter 199 This is a losing proposition no matter how you look at it; the spirit of Bushido
When the whistle blew again, the ninth inning officially began.
Kawamura stood behind the baseline and took a deep breath. His chest burned, and even the air he inhaled felt hot. He gripped his racket tightly, the tendons in his right hand throbbing with pain, like a rubber band stretched to its limit, ready to snap at any moment.
Grit your teeth, toss the ball, and swing the racket.
"Burning serve!"
The ball hurtled towards the opposite side of the court with a whooshing sound, but with less power than in the previous games, and the trajectory was also a bit off.
Kabaji stood still, shifted his feet half a step to the side, and caught the ball steadily with his racket. The same power motion, the same swing trajectory, almost exactly the same burning serve, returned exactly as it was. The ball was faster and more powerful, hitting the baseline in Seigaku's half of the court and bouncing high into the air.
It went back and forth three times.
Kawamura took two steps forward and swung his racket with his arm out in a wide arc.
"Wave Ball!"
The yellow ball crashed back with a dull thud. The spectators in the stands held their breath, and those in the front rows even instinctively shrank back.
The birch forest did not recede.
I just promised the minister I wouldn't catch dangerous balls, but this ball isn't dangerous.
Its speed and power are not perfect, but it's a ball that can be caught.
He pushed off the ground with both feet, lowering his center of gravity considerably, and held his racket horizontally in front of him, precisely catching the powerful shot. The racket frame vibrated, and although his wrist swayed slightly, he steadily pushed the ball back. The exact same undulating shot, carrying even more force, headed straight for Kawamura's forehand.
"Bang."
Kawamura lunged to receive the ball, and the moment his racket struck the shuttlecock, the immense recoil sent a surge of energy up his arm. A sharp, piercing pain shot through the inside of his forearm, as if a needle were piercing his bone.
He gritted his teeth and loosened his grip slightly, causing the racket to tilt and the ball to graz the frame and fly out.
"15-0".
Kawamura stood there catching his breath, his right hand unconsciously loosening and then tightening its grip on the racket. He glanced down at his wrist; the skin there was an unnatural red, stretching from the wrist bone all the way to the middle of his forearm.
On the sidelines of the Rikkai Grandstand, Liu's pen never stopped. The paper was covered with numbers and arrows as he calculated the frequency, interval, and cumulative wrist wear curve of the two players' back-and-forth rallies in the final few games.
"In the first eight games, Kawamura hit eleven fluctuating shots, and Kabaji replicated them six times. Kawamura's swing speed decreased by 18% compared to the eighth game, his wrist angle shifted significantly, and his grip strength decreased by 23%."
He spoke calmly, as if reading a professional medical report: "When he finished his shot just now, the frequency of muscle tremors on the inside of his forearm was more than twice as high as normal, indicating that the tendons could no longer stably control the racket face."
"The forearm tendons are severely overloaded."
"At this rate of decay, if the use of the wave ball continues, the probability of tendon injury in his right arm will increase from the current 63% to..."
"Over 90%." Liu Sheng, whose family works in the medical industry, took over the conversation, adjusted his glasses, and looked at Kawamura's taut right arm, his tone carrying the rigor unique to a family of doctors.
"The tendons and ligaments of my right wrist have endured repeated impacts far exceeding the safety threshold in such a short period of time, which is no longer just a matter of overuse. The explosive power of the 'Wave Ball' move puts a lot of pressure on the extensor tendons and wrist joint. Without systematic power-protection training, relying solely on endurance will multiply the damage."
After several high-frequency rallies, his knuckles trembled when he gripped the racket, indicating that even the superficial flexor muscles in his forearm were starting to spasm.
He's currently using his thumb and forearm to compensate for the force when he grips the racket, and the pain will double once the match ends and he cools down.
From a medical perspective, the impact Kawamura's arm suffered in those rounds was enough to cause minor structural damage. If the load continues, this minor damage will quickly accumulate and turn into a substantial tear.
"To put it simply," Niou said, turning his head to look at him.
Liu Sheng paused for a second: "What I mean is, if he hits a few more full-power swing balls, it won't just be a matter of whether his arm hurts or not, it will be a matter of whether he can exert force normally in the future. Even if he recovers, habitual pain and limited power will be almost inevitable."
Kabaji is in much better shape. His movements are more precise, and his arm strength is solidly developed through weight training, but if he doesn't stop the damage in time, his injury won't be much better than Kawamura's.
"Is it that serious?" Marui, chewing gum in his mouth, stared wide-eyed. "I thought it would just hurt for a couple of days... but now the score is 5-3, and he's in the lead."
After he finished speaking, he added with a hint of admiration, "Pretty impressive."
"Leading is one thing." Liu flipped to the latest page of his notebook, his pen hovering above the paper, his voice calm and unhurried. "We need to break down the scoring structure of the first eight games. Kawamura used four different special techniques, including the wave ball, in the first five games to win five games."
But after Kabaji started replicating his wavy shot in the sixth game, his scoring efficiency plummeted. If you look closely, you'll see that he scored points much slower in each of the last two games than in the previous one.
The pen finally touched the paper, drawing a line:
"Moreover, the extent of Kawamura's arm injury is not on the same level as the extent of Kabaji's arm injury."
As Yagyu just mentioned, Kawamura's shot relies on explosive power, but his technique has flaws, leading to significant wear and tear over time. Kabaji's power generation, on the other hand, is systematically corrected; using the same technique, Kawamura's arm suffers more than 2.7 times the damage of Kabaji.
He closed the notebook very gently, but the sound of the paper rubbing together was clearly audible in the quiet air.
"This estimate is based on the data from Kawamura's first eight games. If there are more high-intensity, fluctuating rallies later on... the proportion will only continue to increase."
Upon hearing this, Niou clicked his tongue softly, put the lollipop in his mouth, twirling the wrapper between his fingers, and glanced at Seigaku coach Kawamura's slightly hunched right shoulder, giving a slight smirk.
"So if he goes on the court now, it's like trading his right hand for points. I really don't understand, are all these Seigaku guys so stubborn?"
He mumbled something, the lollipop shifting to the other corner of his mouth, "Trading the rest of my life's hand for a single point in the Kanto Tournament, whether I'll even be able to hold a racket again is a question mark. Puri~ No matter how you look at it, it's a loss."
"That's not how you say it."
Sanada took a half step forward, his back ramrod straight. He stared intently at Kawamura's gritting-teeth return of the ball on the field, his expression solemn.
"This is the will of the players. Standing on the court, facing a match point, knowing that continuing to play will cause more serious injuries, they still fight to the end. This kind of determination... is what competition should be like, and it is the admirable spirit of Bushido."
Niou raised an eyebrow but didn't reply. He knew Sanada was susceptible to this kind of talk, so there was no point in saying anything.
"That's right! The vice minister is absolutely right!" Kirihara nodded repeatedly as he moved closer to Sanada, his curly hair sticking up like seaweed, his eyes shining brightly.
"At this point, backing down is tantamount to surrendering victory. A real man fights to the last second! Only cowards back down! Forget about using your hands, win first! If you lose, you lose everything! I'd rather... I'd rather... what was it again?"
He stopped mid-sentence, scratching his head, unable to recall that famous Chinese saying.
Hiyoshi Wakasa walked over from Hyotei and stood beside Kirihara. Arms crossed, he took over the conversation, his voice cold and hard, carrying the stubbornness characteristic of ancient martial arts families: "Better to shatter like jade than to survive like a broken tile. Ancient martial arts also have this principle."
"The essence of overcoming superiors lies in doing what you know is impossible. Retreating means losing; not retreating at least gives you a chance. What kind of player gives up easily?"
"That's right!" Kirihara turned around and gave Okichi a thumbs up. "You understand too!"
The three men stood in a row, speaking eloquently and passionately, each one adding their own words, getting more and more excited as they talked, their tone becoming more and more determined.
Kirihara waved his hand and gestured, while Hiyoshi nodded in agreement. Sanada analyzed in a deep voice, as if he had forgotten that he was in the stands and not on the battlefield.
Sanada and the other two were engrossed in their conversation, completely unaware that the air behind them was unusually quiet.
Those around them had already sensed something was wrong and, in unison, took a half-step back.
Niou raised an eyebrow, then shrank behind Yagyu to make room for him. The lollipop on his lips almost fell off with a laugh, his fox-like eyes crinkling as he watched the spectacle. Marui covered his mouth, his shoulders shaking from trying to suppress his laughter. Yagyu adjusted his glasses, a faint smile curving his lips, and also took a small step back.
Kuwabara had already quietly moved half a body away, leaving only Jiro squatting next to Kirihara, nodding along, looking like he thought, "You're all right."
The three of them were still unaware and continued chatting.
"Giving it your all is the only way to show respect to your opponent," Sanada said in a deep voice.
"Yes! It doesn't matter if I get hurt!" Kirihara clenched his fist.
"Giving up easily is a disgrace." Hiyoshi nodded.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over me.
Wang Yueling had somehow appeared on the steps behind them, her azure eyes half-closed, and a faint, chilling smile playing on her lips.
He didn't say anything, but just listened quietly as they finished speaking.
A cunning little lamb, seeing that things were not going well, scrambled away.
Immediately afterwards, three crisp "thump" sounds landed on the back of the three people's heads in turn.
The force wasn't heavy, but it was clear enough, and it hurt terribly.