NaBloPoMo 2013 / Day 9
Chapters 346-353: Tezuka vs Sanada, Nationals final. These old men two are my favorites in the entire series. Tezuka inches out Sanada by the mere fact that I've loved him longer.
Anyway, this match was amazing. Sanada purposefully sealed off his, arguably, best two moves (In and Rai) just so he could use them against Tezuka and Tezuka created Tezuka Phantom, the opposite of the Zone, knowing full well what it would do to him. Both them are stubborn assholes completely and utterly willing to destroy themselves for victory. Sanada's knees get damages using Rai and the Phantom reinjures Tezuka's elbow.
In the end, Sanada has made a determined pledge never to play Tezuka again because he's a demon on the court and they share one of the best post-game handshakes in the series.
(I originally posted this at http://fulminata.dreamwidth.org/281658.html.)