Chapter 110: Takahashi VS Oni

In the Monitoring Room.

"This Takahashi is truly lazy! Aside from the necessary training on the training list, he refuses to do even a bit more."

"Tanegashima also ran off to Court 16; the two of them actually played games there for an entire afternoon."

"I just feel that ever since Takahashi arrived, he seems to have brought a very idle atmosphere."

Saito saw the full view of Court 16 through another camera and sighed speechlessly.

"I have already spoken to Mifune General Coach about Takahashi, and the General Coach is very interested in him. But he is staying in the Back Mountain and refuses to come out, telling us to send Takahashi to the Back Mountain."

Kurobe said while holding a cup of coffee.

"That makes no sense! In our Training Camp, it has always been the worst players on Court 16 who go to the Back Mountain, or those who go voluntarily."

"But with Takahashi's personality, it is impossible for him to go voluntarily."

Saito said.

"No, perhaps after experiencing a major defeat, he will be willing to go voluntarily, just like Byodoin Houou and Tokugawa Kazuya did back then."

Kurobe replied.

"Then who are you planning to have Takahashi play against tomorrow?"

Saito asked.

Kurobe picked up his coffee cup, took a sip, smiled, and said: "Oni Jujiro!"

It was a new day again.

The air was fresh and the sun was bright.

Sure enough, just as Takahashi had guessed, he was included in today's random round-robin match.

His opponent was Oni Jujiro from Court 5!

After leisurely finishing the meat bun in his hand, Takahashi carried his tennis racket and walked toward the Main Court.

As soon as he entered the court, Takahashi heard the whispering discussions of the people nearby.

"That Oni from Court 5 is actually not using his usual racket with only two strings, but is using a normal racket instead."

"Although Takahashi is just an ordinary middle school student, he shut out Tokugawa yesterday! Even Oni cannot underestimate such a person!"

"It's rare to see Oni use a normal tennis racket; I just feel this middle school student is a bit pitiful!"

"Yeah, once he switches to a normal racket, Oni's strength is far beyond what Tokugawa can compare to."

Listening to the discussions of those around him, Takahashi shifted his gaze to Oni's hand.

It was indeed a normal tennis racket covered with strings.

In fact, Oni was also forced to use a normal tennis racket.

Usually, in order to practice the Super Sweet Spot technique, Oni always used a special racket with only two strings.

These two strings were in a cross shape, which Oni also called the Cross Racket.

But in yesterday's match between Takahashi and Tokugawa, Tokugawa was actually shut out and didn't score a single point.

Especially when Oni saw that after watching only a few balls, Takahashi could hit Tokugawa's signature move—the Phantom Color Serve.

Oni understood that Takahashi's strength absolutely could not be viewed as that of an ordinary middle school student.

With the strength Takahashi displayed yesterday, even if he were placed in the U17 1st String, he would be at an upper-middle level.

After all, if last year's Tokugawa hadn't been too arrogant and gotten handled by Byodoin, Tokugawa would also be a member of the 1st String now.

Therefore, Takahashi, who could defeat Tokugawa, was also an opponent who absolutely could not be underestimated.

Even as the No. 5 of the 1st String, Oni understood that if he were too careless, he might not win steadily.

So for this match, he abandoned the Cross Racket he used during practice and switched to using a normal racket.

After the toss, it was Takahashi's serve.

Takahashi took a tennis ball out of his pocket, bounced it a few times casually, tossed the ball upward, and when the ball reached the right position, he swung his racket with force.

It was a high-speed ball with no spin.

Through the events of these past two days, Takahashi also understood that the U17 coaches wanted to use matches to motivate him to be proactive and not just lie flat.

Since that was the case, it was necessary to show them his true strength.

Blindly avoiding things was not advisable.

On the contrary, only after truly demonstrating powerful strength would he have the qualifications to lie flat!

"Bang!"

Accompanied by a crisp sound of hitting the ball.

Oni only felt a gust of Wind pass by his ear, and the corner of his eye could only slightly catch a yellow shadow of the ball before he heard a "thud" sound.

It was the sound of the tennis ball landing.

"15-0!"

"Takahashi wins the point!"

Irie, Tanegashima, and Tokugawa were standing by the court watching the match.

Seeing this serve from Takahashi, Tokugawa couldn't help but widen his eyes.

This swing, this ball speed...

It was actually even faster than when he played against him yesterday!

Yesterday, did Takahashi not exert his full strength?

Irie pushed up his glasses and said: "According to my visual estimation, although this ball from Takahashi is slower than Ochi Tsukimitsu's Mach Serve, it is not far off."

……

Inside the Monitoring Room.

"What is the ball speed?"

Kurobe asked the staff member.

The staff member gasped, looked at the numbers on the computer, and said tremblingly, "250 km/h."

"What?"

Kurobe had anticipated that this serve would be fast, but when he actually heard the staff member's report, he was still shocked.

Takahashi is only a middle school student.

And a first-year student at that.

To think he could hit a tennis ball at 250 km/h!

Currently, the fastest serve in the Training Camp is Ochi Tsukimitsu's Mach Serve, reaching speeds of up to 260 km/h.

But that is due to Ochi Tsukimitsu's natural height, a unique advantage brought about by his height of nearly 2.26 meters.

Yet what about the middle school student before his eyes?

At only about 1.7 meters tall, he is actually able to hit a serve with a speed as high as 250 km/h.

Moreover, he is only 12 years old; if he were to reach Ochi Tsukimitsu's age, what would his ball speed be then?

Furthermore, a ball speed of 250 km/h is already causing trouble for many high school students.

Even if it were the original First String No. 5, Oni Jujiro, standing on the Court, he would have to bring out his true strength to deal with a serve of such speed; he could no longer hold anything back.

……

On the Court.

Seeing this serve from Takahashi, the weathered face of Oni turned very serious.

"You are good; you have stirred up my fighting spirit."

A low voice emanated from Oni's mouth.

Originally, Oni had been very approving of the strength and talent Takahashi displayed yesterday.

At the same time, he also felt that the Coach team's training method was a bit too radical.

After all, not everyone is as arrogant and conceited as Tokugawa was back then.

Takahashi arrived at the Training Camp without causing such a stir, which shows that he is relatively low-key in his conduct and actions.

Therefore, the Coach team should have chosen a different method to train him than they did for Tokugawa.

Making Takahashi compete directly against him sets the difficulty too high; it is practically hell-mode difficulty.

Although Tokugawa is on Court 1 and Oni is on Court 5, the difference in their levels is truly worlds apart and cannot be mentioned in the same breath.

So, although Oni switched to a regular racket, he was not particularly serious about this match.

He thought that using 60% to 70% of his strength to let Takahashi experience the strength of a high school student would be enough.

However, he did not expect that Takahashi would try to intimidate him right from the start, immediately delivering a serve that even he could not react to in time.

A serve even faster than the one during the match against Tokugawa yesterday.

While speaking, changes began to appear on Oni's body.

Layers of white aura gradually emerged from Oni's body.

Specks of starlight enveloped Oni's entire body.

"Peerless Perfection!"

Irie, who was watching the match from the sidelines, blurted out.