"Holy shit!"
At this moment, Albert was filled with confusion. Earlier, he had effortlessly toppled a pole, but now he couldn't seem to budge the second one.
The pole seemed welded to the ground, unmovable.
In reality, it was Saiki using his telekinesis to keep the pole in place.
Meanwhile, Katsuragi Kohei and the other members of Class A were clinging to Albert's body, doing their best to push him back and keep him away from the pole.
Their efforts were somewhat effective. Despite Albert's terrifying strength, he was gradually being pushed back.
[Albert's strength... isn't enough?]
Ryuen Kakeru's face showed a hint of surprise. He hadn't expected Albert to be at a disadvantage, especially since Albert had easily toppled the first pole earlier.
[But Katsuragi's side must be reaching their limit too. If we can just hold our defense and take out Sudo Ken, the biggest threat, victory will still be ours!]
Ryuen Kakeru thought to himself, then immediately shouted for the others to follow him and focus on guarding Sudo Ken. Within seconds, more than a dozen people had blocked Sudo Ken's path.
"You're not getting past me!"
Ryuen Kakeru wore a provocative smile, his gaze locked on Sudo Ken.
"I'm in the best shape of my life right now!"
Sudo Ken also smiled back at Ryuen Kakeru.
"Right now, I feel like I'm in the ZOOM or FLOW state!"
'Are you in the wrong genre or something?'
Saiki complained in his mind, his eyes still focused on Sudo Ken.
He had been using his psychic abilities to assist Sudo Ken, which required a lot of his attention. If he wasn't careful, someone could get blown away or Sudo Ken himself might be sent flying.
Now that Ryuen Kakeru and his group had surrounded them, Saiki needed to be even more precise with his control.
"We have to take this point!"
Sudo Ken suddenly accelerated, charging toward another pole. The combined forces of Class D and Class C rushed toward him.
'Let me give you a little help.'
Saiki muttered to himself, using his telekinesis to subtly guide Sudo Ken's movements.
"This feeling... it's like a god is helping me!"
Sudo Ken felt in top form, making quick stops and starts, nearly breaking free from Ryuen Kakeru's encirclement.
[This guy... his physical abilities are impressive, but are they really at this level?]
Ryuen Kakeru was already out of breath, and he was thoroughly angered by Sudo Ken.
In his eyes, Sudo Ken was no different from an idiot—
Yet, he still couldn't take him down, which infuriated Ryuen Kakeru. He desperately wanted to crush Sudo Ken completely.
Sudo Ken sped up, with Ryuen Kakeru and his group chasing closely behind. During this time, Sudo Ken agilely dodged their attacks.
"Go support Sudo-kun!"
Hirata Yosuke shouted, and the other boys from Class B rushed forward to help.
The spectators on the sidelines were also cheering loudly.
"This is amazing! I've never seen a match like this before!"
"I didn't expect that Sudo guy to be so agile. He's incredible!"
"He's really impressive... but isn't this supposed to be a pole-toppling competition? Why does it feel like a game of tag?"
After someone said this, the crowd fell silent for a moment.
"Damn it, is this guy a monkey or something?!"
Ryuen Kakeru was now completely out of breath, his face showing clear exhaustion.
'Good, just keep this up. Use Sudo to win the match. That way...'
"Saiki, now's your chance! Go!"
At that moment, Sudo Ken shouted to Saiki.
'Huh?'
Saiki was momentarily stunned, then looked around and realized he was completely alone.
The field had been divided into two parts: one was the battle between Albert and Katsuragi Kohei, and the other was the chase between Sudo Ken and Ryuen Kakeru's group.
At this moment, no one had noticed Saiki. He had been so focused on controlling his psychic abilities that he had forgotten about his surroundings.
Sudo Ken's chase had completely drawn the opponent's defense, giving Saiki the perfect opportunity to topple the pole.
With Sudo Ken's shout, everyone's attention instantly shifted to Saiki.
'Damn it! Why did things turn out like this? I was planning to let the Red Team win, but I was supposed to be an insignificant part of it. Now everyone's attention is on me. What should I do...? Damn it, I got so caught up in controlling Sudo like a remote-controlled car that I forgot about my own situation.'
'Should I pretend to trip? No, if I suddenly fall over for no reason, my classmates' dislike for me might surpass even The Professor and Koenji. It might even reach the level of getting bullied. My desk could end up filled with trash, and Ryuen would get the satisfaction.'
At this point, it seems I have no other choice...'
Saiki knew that if he didn't successfully topple the pole, his high school life would be over.
[We have to win!]
[Saiki, it's all up to you!]
[Wait, there's someone else there?]
Isn't this the most cliché sports anime trope?
Saiki's lips curled into a slight smile as he quickly walked up to the pole.
'Yare yare, everyone in the class is giving it their all. I guess I have no choice but to help them win this match.'
Saiki reached out with both hands, pretending to struggle, and pushed over the White Team's pole!
Red Team victory!
"Great job, Saiki!"
The Red Team members swarmed around Saiki, surrounding him.
"Kusuo-kun... you're amazing..."
Sakura Airi, who had been watching from the sidelines, clasped her hands together and smiled.
"Not bad at all, Kusuo!"
Karuizawa Kei also smiled and praised him.
At this moment, Saiki's face showed no joy.
'Even though we won, I can't feel happy about it. I've risked drawing even more attention to myself.'
Saiki thought to himself, his gaze shifting to Ryuen Kakeru.
[Damn it, damn it, how could we lose?!]
Ryuen Kakeru knelt on the ground, pounding the floor in frustration.
Even though this line is just as cliché, you lost the moment you decided to use underhanded tactics.
Saiki responded in his mind.
If Saiki hadn't intervened, not only would the Red Team have lost, but many people would have been injured.
[No, no, there's no way I could have lost...]
'Even if you use dirty tricks, you can't guarantee a 100% win. Why is Ryuen so shocked?'
[I had someone secretly reinforce our poles yesterday! Even Albert shouldn't have been able to topple them! That Saiki guy looks so skinny, yet he pushed it over so easily?! How is that possible?!]
???
Countless question marks filled Saiki's mind. He immediately turned his gaze to the pole and, sure enough, saw signs that it had been reinforced.
'Damn it, you actually used such a method?'
'Crap, if anyone finds out I toppled a reinforced pole, I'll be in even more trouble!'
Saiki's mind raced as he tried to figure out a way out of this situation. Meanwhile, Ryuen Kakeru, looking puzzled, quickly walked over to the pole.
In the nick of time, Saiki used his restoration ability to return the pole to its state from a day ago, erasing all traces of reinforcement.
A few seconds later, Ryuen Kakeru reached the pole, but his face showed utter shock—
[The reinforcement marks are gone?! How is that possible?!]
[I saw the pole being reinforced with my own eyes yesterday!]
[Could it be... they saw through my plan and replaced our pole?!]
Ryuen Kakeru seemed to realize something, as this was the only explanation. He then turned his furious gaze toward Saiki or rather, toward Yamauchi Haruki, who was celebrating in the crowd.
"You... you've outsmarted me again..."
Ryuen Kakeru's veins bulged on his forehead, his eyes filled with rage.
"I will destroy you, Yamauchi Haruki."
At this moment, Yamauchi Haruki was completely unaware of Ryuen Kakeru's murderous intent.
[Damn it, Saiki stole the spotlight! If only it were me! I could've been the one to shine! Damn you, Saiki! What kind of luck do you have? It's so infuriating.]
In a way, you deserve this.
Saiki thought to himself.
"Sorry... My fault..."
Albert slowly approached Ryuen Kakeru, his face filled with guilt and a hint of fear.
He knew very well that his failure would make Ryuen Kakeru furious, and he would surely be punished.
In terms of combat ability, Albert was undoubtedly stronger than Ryuen Kakeru, but Ryuen's terrifying demeanor filled Albert with fear.
Albert felt that even if he defeated Ryuen Kakeru, the latter would keep getting back up, slowly wearing him down.
"What happened, Albert?"
Ryuen Kakeru immediately demanded, his voice carrying a hint of menace.
Albert had easily scored a point at the start, so why couldn't he finish the match?
"I don't know... I just couldn't push the pole..."
"What?"
Ryuen Kakeru's eyebrow twitched, as if he had realized something. He quickly raised his hand, signaling for the referee to come over.
"Teacher, I want to check if the Red Team's pole is normal!"
Ryuen Kakeru suspected that the Red Team might have tampered with their pole, just as he had done, which was why Albert couldn't topple it.
The referee quickly arrived and gave the pole a slight push. The tall pole fell over easily.
"There's no issue."
"Is that so? I see..."
Ryuen Kakeru nodded, though reluctantly, and had no choice but to accept the reality.
[No tampering... how is that possible...]
[How could Albert not push that pole...? Did Albert betray me too? No, impossible...]
[Or did the Class A members successfully restrain Albert this time? What's going on...]
Ryuen Kakeru couldn't figure it out.
Meanwhile, among the crowd surrounding Saiki, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was observing him.
[I've been watching Saiki the whole time. He didn't move from his spot at all. When everyone's attention was drawn to Sudo, Saiki's position was the perfect place to strike. Did he plan this from the start?]
'I didn't think that far ahead...'
[This match should have been a crushing defeat for the Red Team, but the result was completely different. Sudo even displayed potential beyond my expectations—Saiki chose to let the Red Team win. What is he planning?]
'I just didn't have a choice, and I didn't want Ryuen to win.'
Saiki responded helplessly in his mind.
Meanwhile, outside the field, a boy was watching everything from a distance.
Horikita Manabu.
As a student of Class 3-A, he was on the same team as Saiki for this sports festival.
"This guy... did he see through both sides' strategies and deliberately stay in the middle without moving? While the other attackers went to support Sudo, he stayed put. It might look like luck, but he probably anticipated how the situation would unfold—I think his name is Saiki, right?"
Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses, his gaze fixed on Saiki as he spoke slowly.
"Interesting."