Classroom of the Elite, Kusuo Saiki

"Although this line is cliché, when you're prepared to use unsportsmanlike methods to compete, you've already lost."

Kusuo Saiki answered in his mind.

If Kusuo Saiki hadn't intervened, the Red Team would likely have not only lost, but also suffered numerous injuries.

No, no, no, there's absolutely no way I could lose...

'Even though I'm prepared to use underhanded tactics in the match, I can't guarantee I'll win 100%, so why does Ryuen look so surprised?'

[I had our wooden poles secretly reinforced yesterday! Even Albert couldn't have knocked them down! That guy named Qi Mu looks so thin, yet he knocked them down so easily?! How is that possible?!]

'? ? ? '

Numerous question marks flooded Kusuo Saiki's mind. He immediately turned his gaze to the wooden pole, and sure enough, there were signs that it had been reinforced.

'Damn it, you actually resorted to such methods?'

'Oh no! If others find out I knocked down those reinforced wooden poles, I'm definitely going to get into a lot of trouble!'

Kusuo Saiki's mind raced as he considered ways to break the deadlock, while Ryuen Sho walked briskly toward the wooden pole with a puzzled expression.

At the critical moment, Kusuo Saiki immediately used his restoration ability to restore the wooden pole to its state as it was a day ago, with all traces on it completely gone.

A few seconds later, Long Yuanxiang had arrived in front of the wooden pole, but his face showed an expression of utter surprise—

The signs of reinforcement are gone?! How is that possible?!

I saw this wooden pole being reinforced with my own eyes yesterday!

Could it be... that they've figured out my plan and rearranged our group's wooden poles?!

Ryuen Sho seemed to realize something, which was the only explanation, and then angrily turned his gaze to Saiki Kusuo—Yamachi Haruki in the cheering crowd next to him.

"You tricked me again..."

Veins bulged on Long Yuanxiang's forehead, and his eyes were filled with rage.

"I will definitely destroy you, Haruki Yamauchi."

At this moment, Haruki Yamauchi was completely unaware of Ryuen Sho's murderous intent.

[Damn it, Qi Mu got the lucky break! If it were me, I would have been the one in the limelight! Qi Mu, what kind of luck do you have? It's infuriating!]

In a sense, they deserved it.

Saiki Kusuo thought to himself.

"Sorry....My fault..."

Albert slowly approached Long Yuanxiang's side, his face filled with immense guilt—and a hint of fear.

He knew very well that his failure would make Long Yuanxiang extremely angry, and he would definitely be punished.

If we only consider fighting ability, Albert would definitely be ahead of Ryuuen Sho, but Ryuuen Sho's terrifying offensive made Albert feel fear.

Albert sensed that even if he defeated Long Yuanxiang, the other party would get up again and again, and he would gradually devour him.

"What exactly happened, Albert?"

Long Yuanxiang immediately questioned him, his voice carrying a hint of murderous intent.

Albert easily scored a point at the start, but why couldn't he win the game in the end?

"I don't know why... I just can't push that wooden pole..."

"what?"

Long Yuanxiang's brow twitched, as if he realized something, and he quickly raised his hand, signaling the teacher acting as the referee to come over.

"Teacher, I need to check if the red team's wooden pole is working properly!"

Long Yuanxiang wondered if the Red Team had used the same method as him to tamper with the wooden pole, which was why Albert had failed.

The referee arrived quickly and gave the wooden pole a slight push, causing the tall pole to fall down immediately. The process went very smoothly.

"There is no problem."

"Really? I see..."

Long Yuanxiang nodded, feeling somewhat helpless, but he could only accept this reality.

"No one did anything wrong... how could that be...?"

How could Albert not be able to push that wooden pole...? Could it be that Albert betrayed us too? No, impossible...

Or perhaps the Class A team responsible for defense successfully contained Albert this time? Why is that...?

Long Yuanxiang simply couldn't understand it.

Among the crowd surrounding Kusuo Saiki, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji was observing him.

[I've been observing Saiki the whole time. He hasn't moved an inch. While everyone else's attention was drawn to Sudo, Saiki's position was the perfect attack point. Was that what he thought of, which is why he didn't move?]

'I didn't think that much about it at all...'

[Theoretically, the Red Team should have suffered a crushing defeat in this match, but the result was completely different. Sudo even displayed potential beyond my expectations—Saiki chose to let the Red Team win. What was his plan?]

'I simply had no choice, and I didn't want Longyuan to win.'

Saiki Kusuo answered in his heart with a hint of helplessness.

Meanwhile, outside the venue, a boy was watching all of this from a distance.

Horikita Manabu.

As a student in Class 3-A, he and Kusuo Saiki were in the same group during this sports festival.

"Did this guy see through both sides' tactics, which is why he deliberately stood in the middle without moving? The other attackers all went to support Sudo, but this guy just stood there. It seems like he was just lucky, but in reality, he probably already anticipated how the situation would develop—I remember that guy's name, isn't it Saiki Kusuo?"

Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses, his gaze fixed on Saiki Kusuo, and slowly spoke.

"interesting."

Chapter 95: Provoking Superpowered Individuals Will Lead to No Good Endings

After finishing the pole vaulting competition, Kusuo Saiki has no other events planned and can take a short break.

However, even during his break, Kusuo Saiki was surrounded by a lot of 'trouble'.

"Qi Mu, you did a great job on the end!"

"What great luck! I never expected to see you here, Qi Mu!"

"Thanks to you, Qi Mu! Our Red Team was able to win."

Because of his outstanding performance in the competition, Kusuo Saiki has received a lot of attention in his class and even in the whole school. Many girls surround him and ask him all sorts of questions.

I was just lucky.

Chapter 96: The Tug-of-War Competition - Full of Unexpected Mishaps!

"Horikita, it's impressive that you can compete with the track and field club members."

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji walked up to Suzune Horikita, who had just crossed the finish line, and spoke to her expressionlessly while handing her a bottle of water.

"This is not something to brag about. On the one hand, a student from Class D was injured unexpectedly, and on the other hand, I was ultimately unable to take first place, only managing second place."

As Horikita Suzune spoke, she took the water handed to her and drank several mouthfuls. The activity she had just participated in had indeed taken a toll on her energy.

However, Horikita Suzune didn't seem too bothered by the result.

Chapter 97: Kusuo Saiki, You Are My Next Prey

"what?"

At that moment, the sumo wrestler watching from the sidelines instantly showed a look of horror on his face.

Because in that instant, she saw the look of death on the faces of all the students who participated in the tug-of-war—except for Kusuo Saiki.

Fortunately, the deathly appearance only lasted for a moment before disappearing.

Did I see it wrong? Or what happened?

'Oops.....'

Kusuo Saiki's face was expressionless until now his eyes widened suddenly, a hint of fear in them.

Distracted by the effectiveness of the divination, Kusuo Saiki lost full control of his body, and the force of his hands actually snapped the rope.

Fortunately, no one present noticed this!

'Oh dear, that was close...'

At this moment, Kusuo Saiki pressed his two hands together, which were holding the rope, and exerted slight force in two opposite directions to hide the broken part of the rope between his hands!

'Luckily, it seems the others haven't noticed yet... If the rope had broken where I am, it would have been a real problem... This thickness isn't something an ordinary person could break with their strength...'

Sweat was beading on Kusuo Saiki's forehead; he had almost gotten himself into even bigger trouble.

If Kusuo Saiki hadn't managed to regain his senses and control his strength in time, he might have flung both of them away like snot stuck to his hands—fortunately, that didn't happen.

"What's wrong? Why can't I move?"

The same question arose simultaneously in the minds of both tug-of-war competitors.

Because they are essentially fighting against Saiki Kusuo all at the same time—even if the number of them were increased tenfold, they would still not be able to defeat him.

【Um? 】

Further away, Horikita Manabu watched the tug-of-war match intently.

The white team was initially in the lead, and at this rate, the red team was destined to lose—but now the situation has suddenly become deadlocked.

[Perhaps no one has figured out why, but I have. It was because of the previous pole vaulting competition that I noticed your existence, Kusuo Saiki.]

[You weren't putting in any effort at first, I could tell from your expression. And I noticed the change in your expression just now; you're only getting a little serious now. And after you started putting in the effort, the whole tug-of-war shifted—you weren't putting in any effort at first, and now you are. Is it possible for you to easily control the outcome of this match? Interesting. I've got you covered, Qi Mu.]

Horikita Manabu maintained a smile, pushed up his glasses, and his sharp gaze pierced through the lenses, remaining fixed on Saiki Kusuo.

At this very moment, Kusuo Saiki, who was in the center of the tug-of-war, had no time to pay attention to the situation on Manabu Horikita's side, as he focused all his attention on the rope in his hands.

'The rope broke, I need to use my recovery ability... But since the rope is broken now, I need to bring both ends completely together...'