Chapter 130: The Defeat of Hyotei

Sakaki Taro, standing by the court, watched Yanagi and Kirihara, who had not made any moves, and his expression gradually improved.

This was the ultimate move that Otori Chotaro had improved: the New Style Heavy Cannon Serve.

The top speed could reach nearly 215 km/h, and the success rate was almost one hundred percent.

This was the result of the intensive training Otori had undergone during this period.

Originally, Otori's Heavy Cannon Serve had a speed of around 190 km/h, but it would occasionally have errors; in the Kanto Tournament, he had relied on this serve to win the doubles match against the pair of Kaidoh Kaoru and Inui Sadaharu from Seigaku.

Now, the speed of Otori's serve had increased once again, and its accuracy had also greatly improved.

Just as Sakaki Taro had predicted before the match, facing a ball speed exceeding 210 km/h, even the players from Wangzhe Rikai Da could not return it easily.

Sure enough, Yanagi and Kirihara both stood where they were, not moving at all.

They hadn't reacted at all, had they!

A faint, imperceptible smile appeared at the corner of Sakaki Taro's mouth.

……

Rikkai rest area.

"What a fast serve!"

Sanada said with some surprise.

He had not expected that Hyotei would actually have someone capable of hitting such a fast serve.

"Hmm, but Kirihara should be fine!"

Takahashi said.

……

On the court.

Yanagi Renji said: "How is it, Kirihara?"

Kirihara said confidently: "Hmm, after seeing one ball, there's no problem."

"Bang!"

Facing the tennis ball that shot over at high speed, Kirihara moved his body quickly, swung his racket at the left baseline, and pushed the tennis ball into the air.

The tennis ball headed toward the middle area between Shishido and Otori with even greater speed.

"Thud!"

"15-15!"

"Point to Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School!"

……

"How is this possible?"

"How could Otori's New Style Heavy Cannon Serve be broken so quickly?"

"This second-year from Rikkai is actually this formidable."

Mukahi was very surprised.

Oshitari's expression turned gloomy.

The biggest trump card of the doubles pair formed by Otori and Shishido was Otori's serve.

Relying on this serve with a speed approaching 215 km/h, their doubles pair was able to edge out the pair formed by him and Mukahi to become Hyotei's ace doubles team.

According to the Coach's plan, Otori could score by relying solely on his serve to hold his service games, and for the rest, they only needed to wait for an opportunity to break the opponent's service game to achieve victory.

Yet, he had not expected that the Rikkai player could return it after seeing only one ball, and the angle of the returned tennis ball was particularly tricky, making it very difficult for Shishido and Otori to reach it.

And the one who returned this ball was not one of the Three Giants, Yanagi Renji, but just a second-year, Kirihara Akaya, who had fought to a draw with Hiyoshi Wakashi in the Newcomer Tournament last year.

This speed of improvement is just too fast!

……

"Hahaha! This ball speed poses no threat to me at all."

Kirihara laughed loudly.

This serve only had speed; it had almost no power or spin.

And Takahashi, as Kirihara's master, hit serves that not only had speed but also contained powerful force and complex spin.

At first, Kirihara had absolutely no reaction to Takahashi's serves, but later, after Takahashi appropriately lowered the speed and increased the force, Kirihara gradually became able to react.

If it were a 215 km/h serve like this, Takahashi might have added complex spin and tricky angles; even if Kirihara captured the trajectory of the tennis ball, it would be very difficult for him to react and successfully return it.

But that only applied to Takahashi's serves.

Now, facing Otori's serve which only had speed and no other substance, Kirihara could not only capture the trajectory but also return it with a tricky angle.

This is like a student who studies advanced mathematics every day being suddenly asked to do ordinary math problems; for him, the difficulty has dropped significantly all at once.

Easy, a piece of cake!

"If you have any tricks, use them all!"

Kirihara began to act arrogant.

"Smack!"

Yanagi Renji lightly tapped Kirihara's head with his tennis racket.

"Quiet down!"

……

"Bang!"

……

"15-30!"

"Point to Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School!"

……

"Bang!"

"15-40!"

……

"0-1!"

"Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School scores!"

After Ohtori's Serve was cracked by Kirihara, Hyotei's doubles lost its greatest advantage and began to lose points frequently.

……

Rikkai rest area.

"Kirihara has improved a lot!"

Sanada nodded with satisfaction.

"It's just a small, slightly fast Serve, that's all."

"If he couldn't even do this, he would have wasted the time and energy we spent on him."

Takahashi said.

Sanada did not reply; he thought about how Takahashi had indeed fulfilled his responsibilities as a mentor during this period.

He would set aside time every day to guide Kirihara and would also offer pointers to other team members.

He even brought back the training list from his time at the U17 Training Camp.

Unknowingly, Takahashi had grown into an excellent and reliable Captain.

And the overall strength of Rikkai was also growing rapidly once again under Takahashi's guidance.

……

"Bang!"

……

"Bang!"

……

"2-0!"

"Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School scores!"

After the data collection in the first game, Yanagi Renji's Data Tennis also began to take effect.

Yanagi could always be one step ahead, accurately judging the landing point and trajectory of the tennis ball.

The combination of Shishido and Ohtori had no power to resist in front of Yanagi and Kirihara.

The score began to widen significantly.

"3-0!"

……

"4-0!"

……

"6-0!"

"Match over, Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School wins!"

……

"Next, the Singles No. 2 match begins, between Sanada Genichiro of Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School and Oshitari Yuushi of Hyotei!"

……

Sakaki Taro's eyes narrowed, his expression very serious.

Rikkai had too many strong players; even if the Captain played in the Singles No. 3 position, they could still arrange a strong player for Singles No. 2.

But Hyotei could only rely on Atobe; once Atobe played in the Singles No. 3 position, they could not arrange strong players of similar strength for the other singles positions.

Although Hyotei was a strong school in Kanto, the gap between them and Rikkai was truly too large.

The facts were exactly as Sakaki Taro had predicted, and the match ended without any suspense.

Sanada defeated Oshitari 6-0, ending Hyotei's journey in the National Tournament.

……

A few days later.

National Tournament semifinals.

The scene of Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School versus Shitenhoji.

A group of people wearing yellow-green team uniforms walked into the match venue first.

"Oh my, oh my, I didn't expect us to run into Rikkai in the semifinals of the National Tournament."

"Last year, we met Rikkai in the finals."

"This is really a headache-inducing matter."

Shitenhoji's Coach Watanabe Osamu sighed.

"Osamu says it's a headache; is Rikkai really that hard to deal with?"

A lighthearted voice rang out.

The person who made this sound was a short boy with red hair, Toyama Kintaro.

He was a 1st-year freshman who had just joined Shitenhoji this year, a super rookie in the Kansai region who had been playing tennis for less than half a year and had already defeated many strong players in the Kansai region in succession.

Captain Shiraishi Kuranosuke patted Kintaro's head and said: "Last year we met Rikkai in the finals, and they eliminated us in just 3 matches."

"Last year's match was in the order of doubles first and then singles; they even defeated us without their Singles No. 2 and Singles No. 1 having to play. You tell me if their strength is strong or not."

Kintaro said in surprise, "Hey, hey, hey! Is it that impressive?"