-276- Full strength?

"Boom——!"

The sound of a powerful attack echoed once again, for an unknown number of times.

"Thud——!"

The sound of the attack being countered echoed again, for an unknown number of times.

"Splash!"

Water kept splashing continuously.

"Huff... Huff... Huff... Huff..."

Heavy breathing gradually became audible.

In the swimming pool, the battle between Nanaya Hori and Nagumo Miyabi was maintaining a deadlock.

Nagumo Miyabi kept attacking.

Hori kept receiving the attacks.

The volleyball in Nagumo Miyabi's hands was like a fired bullet, coming with immense force and power.

But in Hori's hands, no matter how forceful or powerful the volleyball was, it was always steadily received, sent flying into the air, and slowly descending towards the spot furthest from Nagumo Miyabi.

To prevent Hori from scoring, Nagumo Miyabi had to keep running across the court.

This stalemate had been going on for ten minutes.

Neither side had scored even a single point.

No one could have imagined that the match between Hori and Nagumo Miyabi would turn out like this.

Some thought Nagumo Miyabi would dominate Hori and win easily.

Some thought Hori would suppress Nagumo Miyabi and crush his provocation.

Some also thought the two top students would have a fierce, evenly matched battle.

But now, everyone realized they were wrong, very wrong.

The match was in a surprisingly deadlocked situation.

But no one thought the two couldn't determine a winner.

Because anyone with eyes could see that Nagumo Miyabi was not only being played by Hori but was also becoming increasingly exhausted, breathing heavily.

On the other hand, Hori remained calm and relaxed throughout, never running around like Nagumo Miyabi, not even making any noticeable splashes, just moving leisurely and receiving the incoming volleyball, sending it high into the air, and letting it descend into Nagumo Miyabi's court. He didn't even break a sweat, nor did his expression change.

This left many people shocked and looking at each other in disbelief.

"No way?"

"Is Nagumo really being played by a first-year student like this?"

"Is that Nanaya really as terrifying as the rumors say?"

"This must be intentional, right?"

The students watching began to chatter noisily.

And many started to recall.

"This is just like when Nanaya first entered the school and raced against the student council president and the track club members."

"Yeah..."

Such words started appearing among the crowd.

It was remembered that, at the beginning of the school year, Hori had run an evenly matched race against Horikita Manabu, who was regarded as the most outstanding student council president in the history of the school.

Then, when challenged by members of the track club, Hori accepted one race after another, yet no matter who his opponent was, he always finished the race evenly matched, with neither being faster.

At that time, everyone realized.

Hori wasn't showing his full strength.

In other words, he was competing evenly with everyone while still holding back and staying relaxed.

At that time, some people wondered.

What would Hori's full strength look like?

Did he not even show his full strength when racing against Horikita Manabu?

For a while, this matter sparked a lot of discussions.

And now, seeing this volleyball match again strangely maintaining an evenly matched deadlock, who wouldn't understand that Hori wasn't serious yet?

Even others could understand, and Nagumo Miyabi knew this even more clearly.

Seeing Hori still looking so composed, the panting Nagumo Miyabi felt a surge of emotion.

His limbs were already losing strength.

His stamina was gradually depleting.

Everyone could see that Nagumo Miyabi had reached his limit.

But Nagumo Miyabi clenched his teeth, veins bulging on his temples, and shouted.

"Show me your full strength!"

With a low growl, Nagumo Miyabi seemed to have a final burst of energy, speeding up suddenly, dashing towards the slowly descending volleyball, and as he jumped, he unleashed his most powerful strike yet, putting all his remaining strength into it.

"Bang——!"

An unprecedentedly loud hitting sound rang out, as the volleyball seemed to compress flat, shooting out with astonishing speed.

The target was Hori.

It wasn't aimed at a corner.

It wasn't aimed at a spot.

Nagumo Miyabi seemed to be forcing Hori to use his full strength, directly sending the ball towards Hori.

"Ah!"

Outside the court, many people cried out in shock.

"Nanaya-kun...!?"

"Nanaya...!?"

Ichinose Honami, Horikita Suzune, Kushida Kikyou, Sakura Airi, as well as Ike Kanji, Yamauchi Haruki, and Sudou Ken were all alarmed.

If Hori didn't dodge, he would be hit directly by the incredibly fast volleyball.

This was no longer a joking matter.

Even the referee was startled, quickly raising the whistle, ready to blow it.

No one noticed.

At this moment, Hori's eyes finally flashed with a sharp gleam.

Then...

"Bang——!"

With a terrifying impact sound, the volleyball, which had shot towards Hori like a bullet, disappeared.

No, it didn't disappear but was deflected back along its original path at an even more astonishing speed, shooting towards Nagumo Miyabi.

No one knew what had happened.

No one reacted to the situation.

Everyone only saw the volleyball, which had been heading towards Hori, get intercepted by his hand and then sent flying back like a blur.

If Nagumo Miyabi's attack was like a bullet, Hori's counterattack was like a cannonball.

Immediately, the volleyball, transformed into a cannonball, passed by Nagumo Miyabi's face and landed on the water behind him.

"Boom——!"

Water splashed like an explosion.

"Woah!"

"W-What...!?"

The students on the shore were splashed by the water and started panicking.

"————!"

Nagumo Miyabi maintained his attacking posture, his whole body drenched in water, his pupils shrinking, and a stunned expression on his face.

When the water splashes dissipated, the whole scene fell silent.

Everyone stared blankly at Hori.

Hori just looked at the shocked Nagumo Miyabi opposite him, smirking.

"As you wish."

After saying that, Hori glanced at the referee.

The referee jolted awake.

"—!"

The whistle sounded.

This signaled that Hori had scored a point.

"Let's continue."

Hori took the volleyball and showed Nagumo Miyabi the cold smile that he had been wearing.

Nagumo Miyabi's expression immediately turned extremely grim.