Boom!
"Game, Kamikawa, 5-0!"
"Change sides!" the umpire on the high chair called out.
"Huff... huff..." Akutsu sat on the bench, breathing heavily.
In just fifteen minutes, his own service games felt incredibly taxing, while Kamikawa's service games were ruthlessly taken with his "Golden Snake Coiling."
"What was that, anyway...?" Akutsu gritted his teeth. More than physical exhaustion, the mental fatigue was deeper.
Someone like that! Could he really win against him?! Could he really do it?
Akutsu, who had always had absolute confidence in his own abilities, began to doubt his talent, to doubt all his efforts during this time. He trained to exhaustion every single day, treating every day like his last...
"Akutsu!" Bantada's voice reached Akutsu's ears.
"What do you want, old man?" Akutsu's thoughts were interrupted. He looked up at the smiling elderly man.
"Don't bother me, or I'll cut you down!" Akutsu said bluntly, his gaze instinctively sweeping over the scoreboard not far away.
He hadn't scored a single point against that man; it was an almost complete (overwhelming defeat).
"Kamikawa is very strong, isn't he?" Bantada said quietly, turning to look at Kamikawa resting in the coach's chair. Kamikawa was only slightly sweating. His long-term training gave him superior endurance, strength, and speed compared to Akutsu right now.
Not to mention Kamikawa's astonishing ball control; almost every shot landed in a position Akutsu could barely reach, yet Akutsu's returns were very rough, completely lacking control.
"Old man, what exactly do you want to say?!" Akutsu was getting impatient. Did he not know how strong that guy was?!
"Akutsu!" Bantada put his hands behind his back, turned, and looked at Akutsu sitting in the coach's chair, saying with a smile, "To defeat him, you must understand the principle of that serve."
"Old man, I don't want to hear your riddles!" Akutsu raised an eyebrow, speaking coldly.
"The moment the serve lands, the instant it bounces, that's your perfect return point. Try to use a half-volley to return that serve."
"Just like I told you before." Bantada's heart was as calm as ever. He had trained Akutsu in some basic techniques more than once, including half-volleys and reverse cross-court shots.
During Akutsu and Kamikawa's last match, Bantada had already noticed that serve. He had been practicing half-volleys repeatedly precisely for this moment, to return it perfectly.
The tennis ball's bounce angle was very low, almost sliding along the ground, but that didn't mean there was no bounce at all. As long as he caught the instant it bounced upon landing, Akutsu still had hope of breaking it.
"Players, please take the court."
As the umpire's words fell, Akutsu, sitting in the coach's chair, picked up his racket and stood up, ready to walk towards the court.
"Who do you think you are, old man!" Akutsu waved his hand, looking at Bantada with annoyance.
"Hehe... Akutsu! Let me see your tennis, the tennis unique to Jin Akutsu." Bantada didn't take Akutsu's words to heart. He cupped his chin with his clasped hands, looking kindly at Akutsu walking onto the court.
---
On the court.
Kamikawa pulled a tennis ball from his pocket and glanced at Akutsu standing opposite him.
"Come on, Akutsu!" Kamikawa tossed the tennis ball high, performed the same motion, then bent his knees, leaped lightly, and slammed down on the ball.
Almost instantly, Akutsu stepped forward. Without any hesitation, he charged straight ahead. The moment the ball landed, he seemed to catch it, raising his racket and swinging.
The tennis ball bounced up, spinning off the outside of Akutsu's racket.
"15-0!"
"That guy, has he adapted already?!" The Hyotei team outside the court frowned deeply.
The curve of the Golden Snake Coiling was so difficult that most people struggled just to move, let alone return it.
Under that powerful mental pressure, Akutsu actually charged forward.
Atobe narrowed his eyes, saying, "He's only barely moving. That guy's mental strength is steadily improving during this match."
"Really?!" Mukahi, standing nearby, widened his eyes in disbelief.
Before they could even think, Kamikawa raised his hand again, hitting another high-quality Golden Snake Coiling.
Swoosh!
A glowing yellow streak of light instantly appeared on Akutsu's side of the court.
"Thump... thump-thump..." Akutsu's movements were even faster. Like a cheetah, he instantly sprang forward and swung his racket again.
Bang!
A crisp sound rang out.
The edge of Akutsu's racket seemed to have touched that tennis ball. The ball's curve changed; its originally extremely low bounce angle, due to a tiny deviation, shot directly out of bounds.
"30-0!"
"He... he touched it." This scene directly stunned everyone outside the court.
Even the Seigaku team, who had come to watch, showed expressions of disbelief.
He actually managed to track the trajectory of that tennis ball.
"Eiji, if it were you, could you return it?" Fuji instinctively looked at Kikumaru.
Kikumaru's dynamic vision was arguably the best among these younger players. Often, Kikumaru could see tennis balls that many others couldn't, thanks to his exceptional dynamic vision.
Kikumaru rubbed his eyes and said with a troubled expression, "I think... I wouldn't even have time to react. That serve is just too fast. If it were doubles, there might be some room to return it."
Aside from anything else, just based on the level of tennis these two were displaying, Kikumaru didn't have the qualifications to be on the court. Right now, he hadn't even made it onto Seigaku's regular team.
"It's terrifying! That guy's reflexes are frighteningly high, and his body's flexibility... it's hard to believe all these talents could converge in one person."
Inui took a deep breath, his gaze very serious: "Furthermore, that guy's talent as a tennis player is probably no less than yours, Fuji!"
Inui's statement was still somewhat conservative. Based on the strength currently displayed, Akutsu might even surpass Fuji, unless Fuji had the ability to deal with Akutsu's monstrous strength.
"Re... returned!"
A sudden exclamation instantly caught the attention of the young Seigaku team members.
Boom!
Akutsu gripped the racket in his hand tightly, a slight smirk playing on his lips. He suddenly raised his racket, pointed it towards Kamikawa, and said calmly, "From now on, you won't be able to take another point from me."
Upon hearing this, Kamikawa looked at the tennis ball that had landed on Akutsu's side of the court.
40-0, Kamikawa's match point.
In that instant, Akutsu did indeed return the Golden Snake Coiling, but it was just a return. The ball's intense spin made it difficult to control. Akutsu hit a net-cord shot, and the ball struck the center net squarely.
He thought of using a half-volley to return his serve, and the half-volley motion was very standard, clearly having undergone systematic training. The one capable of this was naturally Yamabuki Middle School's coach, Mikiya Bantada.
"Akutsu!" Kamikawa took the tennis ball handed to him by the ball boy, glanced at Bantada in the coach's box, and smiled as he looked at the heavily panting Akutsu on the opposite side of the court: "Your mental strength can't keep up with this match anymore."
Akutsu suddenly looked up, staring at Kamikawa.
"You might be able to touch the Golden Snake Coiling, or even return it." Kamikawa continued, "But your returns will never get past this center net!"
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