Chapter 49: Intense Match Conditions

Yukimura always wears his jacket draped over his shoulders, and that jacket, moving with the wind, seems to have become synonymous with Yukimura.

At this moment, however, the jacket has been knocked to the ground by a tennis ball hit by Takahashi.

More than the jacket, everyone is worried about Yukimura.

If that ball had been slightly off-course, and had struck Yukimura's body, then...

But Sanada understands.

The trajectory of the tennis ball after it bounced was meticulously controlled by Takahashi.

It would only knock off the clothing, not injure the person.

Such terrifying ball control!

It is even stronger than when he played against him last time!

What puzzles Sanada the most is this.

In the first game, Takahashi did not dare to return Yukimura's serve at all.

Even though the speed, power, spin, and angle of the tennis ball were all very ordinary, visibly ordinary.

For some reason, Takahashi would rather dodge than return it head-on.

But in this game, facing Yukimura's serve, except for the first ball, Takahashi has begun to counterattack.

Something must have happened!

Something that made Takahashi feel there is no longer a crisis!

What exactly is this crisis?

Why has Takahashi's expression suddenly started to improve?

He is no longer nervous, but instead wears a smile, calm and confident!

It is as if even if Mount Tai were to collapse before him, Takahashi's expression would not change.

"Bang!"

"15-40!"

"Bang!"

"Takahashi scores, score 1-2!"

Sanada, standing to the side, frowned.

The third game was Yukimura's service game; he had assumed Yukimura would be able to hold his serve.

Yet he did not expect that he would actually fail.

The next game is Takahashi's service game; if he uses the Zero-Style Serve as he did in the second game.

Then the next game will also be taken by Takahashi.

The score would then reach 1-3.

Yukimura Seiichi, as the Captain of the Rikkaidai Tennis Club, has never been pushed to such an extent, even in the National Tournament.

This Takahashi is truly too formidable!

But why doesn't Yukimura use his ultimate move?

The fourth game is Takahashi's service game.

Just as Sanada expected, Takahashi used the Zero-Style Serve again.

"Bang!"

"15-0!"

"Bang!"

"30-0!"

"Bang!"

"40-0!"

"It doesn't bounce after landing; this ball is simply unsolvable. If this continues, Captain Yukimura will be at a disadvantage."

Kirihara said, feeling somewhat anxious.

"Yukimura has already been at a disadvantage; from the moment he failed to hold his service game in the previous set, his disadvantage has been obvious."

Yanagi Renji, standing to the side, spoke up.

On the other side of the tennis court.

The regular members are also discussing it.

"No way, is the Captain going to lose this game too!"

"Takahashi is leading in the score now."

"If he takes this game as well, it will be very hard for the Captain to turn things around; after all, facing this kind of serve, there is simply no way to return it!"

"I knew Takahashi was strong, but I didn't expect him to be this strong; he can even gain the upper hand while playing against the Captain."

"So, in the first game, why did he dodge when he saw the tennis ball? Since he has such strong ability, he could have just returned it."

"I don't understand the mental world of experts."

"Perhaps it's some kind of special prayer ritual, just like burning incense and praying to Buddha before an exam; this might be the secret to his victory."

"However, I feel that Captain Yukimura is only temporarily at a disadvantage, and the final victory still belongs to the Captain."

Although Takahashi is powerful, that move of the Captain's can be called a divine skill, truly miraculous.

Even if Takahashi were to worship every god in the East and West, he wouldn't be able to deal with it."

"Are you talking about that move?"

"Yes, that's the move!"

"What kind of riddle are you two speaking in? What 'this move' and 'that move'?"

"You didn't go to the National Tournament last year, did you? If you had gone, you would have realized the terror of that move; it is enough to destroy the opponent's entire spirit."

……

Takahashi held the tennis ball in his hand and pondered for a moment.

"Bang!"

The little yellow ball shot toward Yukimura at a speed like a stream of light in an instant.

"Such a fast Serve!" Yanagi Renji was startled!

Yukimura's reaction was also quite fast!

In an instant, his figure moved to the baseline on the right side, his arm raised, swinging the tennis racket.

"Bang!"

The tennis ball flew toward Takahashi.

"It actually wasn't a Zero-Style Serve, why? He could have clearly scored with a Serve, why did he choose another path?"

Marui was very surprised.

Yanagi Renji spoke up: "Takahashi still underestimated Yukimura's strength; no matter how fast the speed is, for Yukimura, it is not a problem."

"Only with a Zero-Style Serve would Yukimura be at a loss!"

"Rashly giving up his own advantage, does Takahashi think victory is already in his grasp, has he gotten cocky?"

"Although the Secondary Acceleration tennis ball is very brilliant, this move cannot completely defeat Yukimura."

"Yukimura's strength is there; after watching it a few more times, it is not impossible to return it."

Sanada nodded, agreeing with Yanagi Renji's speculation.

Because of these nearly half a month of getting along, he understood Takahashi's personality very well.

Doing things without rigor, not serious.

Anything is good enough as long as it's close enough.

You must know, a miss by an inch leads to a loss of a thousand miles!

Until the very last moment, one must absolutely not relax!

Before the match has officially ended, Takahashi giving up his own advantage is a very unwise approach!

……

"Bang!"

……

The little yellow ball's speed of ejection in the air became faster and faster.

As far as the eye could see, only a yellow stream of light could be seen.

……

The eyes of all the members on the side of the Court lit up, staring fixedly at the situation on the tennis court.

"This is the true battle between strong players!"

"So satisfying, so spectacular!"

"My eyes can barely keep up!"

"The first game we played at the start, if you didn't know better, you would have thought it was two noobs pecking at each other."

"Yeah, I really don't understand what these strong players are thinking."

"It would have been better if it were like this earlier; the beginning was really a waste of our time!"

……

"Bang!"

Takahashi leaped high, aimed at the incoming tennis ball, and swung his racket with force!

The tennis ball, carrying even more violent power and speed, flew toward Yukimura.

Yukimura held his tennis racket, waiting for the moment the tennis ball crossed the net.

A sudden change occurred.

The tennis ball in the air suddenly changed direction, moving 90 degrees to the left, away from Yukimura.

The entire trajectory of the tennis ball resembled the Arabic numeral "7".

"Thud!"

"Takahashi scores, score 1-3!"

……

Sanada's expression gradually turned gloomy.

This was the "7"-shaped return used when he played against him last time.

It was this move that made his "Aggressive as Fire" ineffective.

Seeing this move again now, Sanada felt as if he were seeing an enemy, filled with bitter hatred!

However, Sanada had to admit that these few moves of Takahashi were indeed truly exquisite and peerless; the speed at which the tennis ball's trajectory changed left one completely defenseless!

Even Yukimura could not successfully return it.

However, Sanada understood Yukimura's strength.

He believed that after experiencing it personally a few more times, Yukimura would be able to successfully return it.

After all, Yukimura's foundational strength, looking across the entire country, was also among the very best!