Chapter 22: Fuji's Special Move

Tachibana Kippei was not the least bit worried about the match against Seigaku the next day.

Seigaku's antiquated system forced all first-years to spend their time picking up balls and doing basic drills, forbidding them from even touching a tennis racket.

This didn't just waste a year of time; it wasted one-third of their entire middle school career.

The Seigaku Tennis Club was slowly declining, not due to external forces, but because of internal disintegration.

If they persisted with this system for a few more years, the school would likely cease to exist in the middle school tennis world.

Other tennis clubs were shocked by this Seigaku system and took it as a warning.

Before Tachibana Kippei transferred to Fudomine, it might have been difficult for the Fudomine Tennis Club to deal with the increasingly declining Seigaku.

After all, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse.

But now, Fudomine had undergone his reforms, and its overall strength had reached a new level.

Aside from Captain Tezuka Kunimitsu, who required attention, he believed the rest of Seigaku was nothing to fear.

Even under Tezuka's leadership, Seigaku's best result in recent years had only been stopping at the Kanto Tournament; they simply could not make it to the National Tournament.

He, however, had great confidence in his own team members.

……

The next day.

Seigaku versus Fudomine.

"The Fudomine Tennis Club is like a violently shaken soda. Although no changes are visible from the outside, a massive amount of energy is gathered within. Once opened, it will all erupt."

Tachibana An was speaking to a middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man was wearing a pale yellow T-shirt; he was Inoue Mamoru, a reporter for Tennis Monthly.

After violently shaking the soda in her hand, Tachibana An handed it to Inoue Mamoru while saying the words above.

Here we go again!

Takahashi couldn't help but cover his forehead; it was truly the case that every time he saw her, she was putting on an act!

And she even handed a shaken soda to someone else.

This character was something else!

"I advise you not to open that soda right away!"

After Tachibana An left, Takahashi spoke up, stopping Inoue Mamoru from the dangerous act of twisting off the cap.

"Are you here to participate in the tournament?"

"Which... team are you from?"

Inoue Mamoru was very interested in Takahashi's arrival.

He looked Takahashi up and down, checking his attire.

He couldn't tell which team he belonged to.

"I am a tennis enthusiast and do not belong to any team here!"

Takahashi replied.

Inoue Mamoru clearly didn't believe him.

He looked at Takahashi's tall stature, his sturdy and powerful muscles, and his calm, unhurried demeanor.

He couldn't believe for a second that this was just an ordinary tennis enthusiast.

Thanks to his many years of dealing with tennis players, his eye was very sharp, and he could see at a glance that Takahashi was extraordinary.

"Do you have time? Shall we chat?" Inoue Mamoru asked.

"No time, I'm off to watch the match!"

Takahashi turned and left, leaving him with nothing but a dashing back view.

The middle school tennis world is truly full of talent!

He hadn't expected to see so many formidable figures in just the Regional Preliminaries.

In addition to the dark horse Fudomine, the Takahashi who had just appeared also piqued Inoue Mamoru's interest.

……

Inside the match venue.

The Doubles 2 match was underway.

Seigaku's Fuji Shusuke and Kawamura Takashi versus Fudomine's Sakurai Masaya and Ishida Tetsu.

"Bang!"

……

"Bang!"

The momentum of both sides was evenly matched, and they rallied for several rounds.

……

"15-0!"

"Fudomine scores!"

……

"30-0!"

"Fudomine scores!"

"It's actually an ace!"

"I never expected them to be this strong!"

Everyone from Seigaku looked at each other, unable to believe this was the level of a non-seeded team!

Whether in terms of momentum or willpower, both players from Fudomine were performing very strongly.

Fuji Shusuke, known as a "genius," opened his eyes at this moment.

Usually, he kept his eyes narrowed with a smile on his face, maintaining a gentle and refined demeanor.

Now that his eyes were open, revealing his azure-blue irises, his entire aura had changed.

It became incomparably serious! Incomparably powerful!

He was seen twisting his wrist, turning his tennis racket to change the angle, and swinging it with force.

The tennis ball drew a yellow arc in the air, heading straight for the middle ground between Sakurai and Shitian.

The tennis ball landed, spun in place for a few moments, and then moved straight forward.

Flying along the ground!

It did not bounce!

Both Sakurai and Shitian widened their eyes and couldn't help but gape in astonishment.

They watched the trajectory of the tennis ball after it landed in disbelief.

Takahashi, who was watching from the sidelines, also withdrew the smile from the corners of his mouth.

A ball that doesn't bounce is just like sliding straight along the ground!

This is one of Fuji Shusuke's three types of Return, the "Swallow Return."

He clearly saw that Fuji was utilizing the spin of the ball hit over by the opponent.

At the same time, his own racket also rotated, following the direction of the spin on the tennis ball, cutting the ball from high to low!

The spin of the tennis ball itself, added to the spin after the ball contacted the racket, combined together.

This made the rotational force on the tennis ball astonishingly strong, causing it to fly along the ground after landing!

It was indeed a very clever idea!

But this shot was not impossible to crack.

The Idle Character in Takahashi's mind began to experiment.

First, the simplest method was to not hit a ball with spin.

Second, when Fuji twisted his wrist, one should start to be vigilant, preferably intercepting the ball before it landed.

"Bang!"

Following Takahashi's thoughts, the Idle Character in his mind successfully returned this shot.

Because of the focus on the spin of the tennis ball, the speed of the ball was not strong, so it was not difficult to return it before the ball landed.

This move was somewhat similar to his Phantom Serve; both used spin to cause the tennis ball's trajectory to undergo astonishing changes after landing.

It was just that Takahashi's Phantom Serve possessed power, speed, and spin simultaneously, causing the tennis ball to produce multiple phantoms after landing.

The requirements for ball control for this were only higher, not lower.

Although strong spin was applied, Takahashi's serve speed was also nearly 190km/h.

If it were an ordinary ball without spin, Takahashi had tested his current maximum serve speed at 210km/h.

The Phantom Serve focused on spin, so it was inevitable that speed would be sacrificed.

Even if one wanted to return the ball before it landed, facing a speed of 190km/h, most people still could not reach it at all.

Yet, this shot of Fuji's did not keep up in speed!

It looked very spectacular, but for a top-tier expert, it was still a move short!

However, the appearance of this scene at the Regional Preliminaries still shocked the others outside the court deeply.

……

Relying on Fuji's powerful bursts and the repeated use of Swallow Return, Seigaku gradually began to score and regained their advantage.

……

"How can we lose in a place like this? We are determined to advance to the National Tournament."

Facing Seigaku's offensive, both Sakurai and Shitian were filled with unwillingness.

"Sakurai, move aside!" Shitian's gaze was very firm, as if he had made some kind of resolution, his eyes looking toward the captain, Tachibana Kippei, who was sitting inside the court.

He saw Tachibana Kippei slowly extend one finger.

Shitian injected all his strength into his right arm; the muscles on his arm bulged, and his veins stood out.

He shouted with force: "Ah!"

The tennis ball charged toward Fuji with an unimaginably heavy weight.

Just as Fuji was hesitating whether to receive this ball.

After all, Fuji was not a power-type player; if he forced himself to receive this ball, it would cause great damage to his arm!