Classroom of the Elite, Kusuo Saiki

As Kusuo Saiki thought to himself, because the rope had broken, there was a small gap between the two ends of the rope in his hands.

'Just apply a little force to press the two ends together; this will make it easier to use the recovery function.'

While thinking this, Kusuo Saiki was controlling the amount of power he was using.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the rope, Long Yuanxiang had a puzzled expression on his face.

What happened? I even switched sides and verbally 'motivated' them, but we still couldn't win?

Didn't we just gain the upper hand? Why couldn't we capitalize on that momentum and win the game?

Could it be... that the opponent is also holding back? Then we can't afford to expend too much energy at this point. Perhaps we should give up this round, since tug-of-war is a best-of-three format.

Before the competition began, Long Yuanxiang had already devised a strategy for his class. If necessary, he would order the students in his class to suddenly let go.

In the heat of a tug-of-war, if their class suddenly lets go, the red team, who are giving it their all, will likely lose their balance and fall to the ground instantly—not only will their energy be depleted, but it might also provoke the opposing team's emotions.

If it were someone like Takeru Sudo, they might get carried away by anger and start a fight, which would result in them being penalized and losing the game.

This is Long Yuanxiang's strategy; no matter what the project is, he has already come up with a corresponding strategy.

That's all.

With this thought in mind, Long Yuanxiang prepared to give the signal to the others to defend—

But at that very moment, the rope in his hand suddenly burst forth with a terrifying force, dragging him forward.

Not only Long Yuanxiang, but the entire white team was instantly dragged forward.

This is exactly what Kusuo Saiki did.

Although it only lasted for a moment, it successfully disrupted the rhythm of the white team, causing many people to lose their balance and fall to the ground—including Long Yuanxiang.

The balance between the two teams was broken in an instant.

"Red Team wins the first round!"

The referee blew his whistle, signaling the end of the first round of the competition.

"Tch, is that all there is to it?"

"Wow, we're really that amazing!"

"It seems there's a huge gap between us!"

The students on the red team cheered, and Kusuo Saiki put down the rope with a sigh of relief—the broken part had been completely restored and looked exactly the same.

'Oh dear, this is dangerous...'

Kusuo Saiki finally breathed a sigh of relief.

'Although I didn't control my strength well at the last moment, it was a team event after all, so probably not many people noticed anything unusual.'

Kusuo Saiki looked around and made a quick assessment of their thoughts. Almost no one noticed anything unusual—except for Ryuen Sho.

[How is this possible...? Why did the Red Team just unleash such tremendous power?]

'Oh no... Could it be that Longyuan has noticed something's wrong? He shouldn't suspect me, right?'

Could it be that...?

Although Kusuo Saiki thought the other party wouldn't suspect him, he was still a little nervous.

[Could it be that... the Red Team has already seen through our tactics and has been hiding their true strength? Their overall strength was originally superior to ours, but they deliberately pretended to be at a stalemate with us in order to accelerate our exhaustion!]

'Good, as expected of you.'

Hearing Long Yuanxiang's thoughts, Qi Mukuro breathed a sigh of relief. His dislike for Long Yuanxiang lessened considerably, and he could even say he felt a bit more favorably towards him.

Thanks to Ryuen Sho, Saiki Kusuo was spared a lot of trouble.

"We forfeit this round of the competition."

During the short break, Long Yuanxiang addressed his students.

"Huh? Why?"

Ishizaki Daichi, one of Ryuen Sho's most loyal subordinates, looked puzzled. He believed that they had just narrowly lost and almost won.

"Fool, haven't you realized yet? We've fallen into the Red Team's trap."

Long Yuanxiang frowned as he spoke.

"what?"

Ishizaki Daichi looked confused.

"Their strength far surpasses ours. Their initial even match, or even their feigned weakness, was just an act. Their goal was to give us the illusion that we could win, to wear us down, and to make it even harder for us to win in the second round. Not only that, some of us still have matches to play, and we absolutely cannot afford to lose too much energy!"

Long Yuanxiang answered in a very serious manner.

"I see! No wonder it's Dragon Garden! They saw through such a scheme!"

Ishizaki Daichi responded with utter surprise.

"I underestimated our opponents... I'm afraid we're going to fail at this sports festival..."

Long Yuanxiang shook his head and then told the referee that Class D would forfeit the second round of the tug-of-war.

"Abstain? What are you doing!"

Ryuji Kanzaki from Class C couldn't understand Ryuen Sho's unilateral withdrawal. If Class D withdrew, then Class C naturally couldn't fight against the two classes alone, which was equivalent to handing over the victory to others.

Everyone in Classes A and B looked puzzled.

"Longyuan and Class D forfeited. What exactly are they trying to do?"

"Does that mean they've given up?"

"I have a feeling that Longyuan is planning something."

Ignoring Class C's dissatisfaction, Ryu Yuanxiang walked straight out.

But just as he was fighting back, his phone vibrated slightly. Ryuen Sho had received a message from Kushida Kikyo.

Kikyo Kushida: Haruki Yamauchi is indeed very likely the one who orchestrated everything behind the scenes.

Kikyo Kushida: Right after I met you, I ran into him at the door.

Kikyo Kushida: Although he used going to the toilet as an excuse, that location was definitely not in the direction of the restroom. He was probably following me.

"Sure enough."

Long Yuanxiang's lips curled up slightly.

"But overall, we've gained something from this sports festival. We can settle this score later. First, I need to confirm one thing."

Ryuen Sho quickly led Ishizaki Daichi to the girls' lounge in the class. At that moment, Manabe Shiho was warming up; she had a project to participate in later.

"Longyuan...what are you doing here?"

Shiho Manabe frowned, staring intently at Sho Ryuen.

Although Ryuen Sho controlled Class D, there were many people in the class who were dissatisfied with him, and Manabe Shiho was one of them.

"Manabe, you're hiding something from me, aren't you?"

Long Yuanxiang grinned, revealing a wolf-like smile.

"whats the matter?"

Shiho Manabe tried to pretend she knew nothing, but the fleeting panic on her face betrayed her true thoughts.

"There's a traitor in our class, isn't there? I think it might be you, so I want to check your phone to confirm."

Long Yuanxiang narrowed his eyes slightly.

"If you confess, I can forgive you."

Long Yuanxiang maintained a smile, but his words carried a hint of murderous intent.

He wanted to know the reason for Shiho Manabe's betrayal.

"I....."

Shiho Manabe hesitated for a moment, but seeing that Daichi Ishizaki and the others were also following behind Sho Ryuen, she had no choice but to hand over her phone.

She knew very well that lying at this point would be pointless.

Ryuen Sho browsed Manabe Shiho's messages and noticed an unknown contact named X. However, what puzzled Ryuen Sho was that the other party seemed to have used two different anonymous accounts.

The first account sent Manabe Shiho a video from the cruise ship, in which Manabe Shiho was about to bully Karuizawa Megumi, but at the end of the video, Saiki Kusuo appeared on the screen and stopped the assault.

[Is this why Manabe was threatened? If this video gets to the teacher, it will be a very serious matter—but this also proves that Kusuo Saiki is not X after all, otherwise he wouldn't have appeared in the video.]

The second account was used to have Shiho Manabe do various things, one of which was to buy pudding—and another was to follow Ryuen Sho around and find opportunities to record audio.

However, Ryuen Sho had already noticed Manabe Shiho's unusual behavior, so he was on guard and did not give her a chance to record the conversation.

[So, they were using Manabe to spy on us?]

But something's strange, why would he use two different anonymous accounts to send messages...?

[Could it be that X is actually two people? No... is he showing off his abilities? Judging from his various actions, this guy is arrogant and conceited. Perhaps he's just demonstrating his capabilities, telling us that he can easily conceal his true nature.]

【But it was precisely your arrogance that led to your downfall. I've already caught a glimpse of your weakness, Haruki Yamauchi!】

Long Yuanxiang's gaze gradually sharpened.

I already know your identity.

To be able to disguise yourself to this extent, you're quite impressive. But too bad, your opponent is me. I will definitely tear you apart completely—

[However, before that, I need more information about Yamanouchi—for example, by investigating those close to him.]

Ryuen Sho's gaze was fixed on Manabe Shiho's phone screen, which was replaying the video from earlier.

Kusuo Saiki makes his appearance at the end of the video.

[Given that Saiki Kusuo appeared at the very end, and considering his previous actions, he's probably just a pawn you're using to cover your tracks. I might be able to use him to gather more information about you.]

At this moment, Ryuen Sho, like a hunter who has spotted his prey, turned to Ishizaki Daichi and said:

"Let's meet up with this guy after the sports festival."

Chapter 98: Kusuo Saiki, I've discovered your true colors.