Atobe said nothing more. He simply walked to the baseline, ready to serve!
"Bask in the glory of my dazzling tennis!"
He tossed the ball, leaped, and swung his racket. As the fluid motion came to an end, the tennis ball flew toward Chiba Yun Chuan's side of the court.
"Captain Atobe's serve has gotten even faster. That's terrifying!" Ootori Choutarou exclaimed.
"Definitely. The captain's serve is probably around 180 km/h now. I wonder how Captain Chiba—" Shishido Ryo added from behind.
But before he could finish, he was struck speechless!
Chiba Yun Chuan seemed to vanish from the court, then suddenly appeared where the tennis ball was about to land. As it bounced, he swung his racket!
Thwack!
The ball flew back much faster than Atobe's serve!
Before Atobe could react, it landed to his left. Then, right before his stunned eyes, it bounced out of the court!
"What?" Atobe's eyes widened.
"Fifteen-love!" the umpire called, his face full of astonishment.
"How is that possible? His return was even faster than Atobe's serve! Atobe's serve may not be as powerful as Chotaro's cannonball serve, but it's not far off!
"And Captain Chiba returned it so easily? And even faster, at that. Just how strong is he?"
Shishido Ryo exclaimed. Then he added, "That's unbelievable. His return was almost as fast as Taro's serve, wasn't it?!"
"And the captain's movement speed is incredible, too!"
Shishido Ryo and the others watched Chiba Yun Chuan in shock. His return had left them completely stunned!
Chiba Yun Chuan held his racket and looked across the court at Atobe, who was still standing there in a daze.
"Hey, Atobe, did you forget to eat? Why was that serve so slow? I barely tapped it, and you couldn't even return it?
"But then again, your skills were never anything special."
Atobe immediately shot back, "Don't get cocky. I was just careless! I'll show you what I can do!"
After speaking, he took a tennis ball from his pocket. Focusing his eyes, he began searching for Chiba Yun Chuan's weaknesses.
His eyesight!
One of Atobe's specialties was using his exceptional vision to discern his opponent's weaknesses and blind spots, allowing him to hit shots that were impossible to defend against!
At this point, Atobe hadn't yet developed the ability to make weaknesses and blind spots physically manifest, as he did with Atobe Kingdom. Still, his eyesight was formidable!
It was already an impressive ability for a middle schooler.
But this move clearly wasn't going to work. In Atobe's eyes, Chiba Yun Chuan was full of openings and blind spots!
That wasn't normal. Atobe couldn't believe Chiba Yun Chuan would have so many weaknesses and blind spots!
"If that's the case, then take a look at this move! Don't let my dazzling skills scare you!"
With that, Atobe tossed the ball into the air, then arched his body backward until he looked as though he were about to fall over!
He spread his arms, and when the ball reached its highest point, he swung at it with all his strength, his body bent like a bow!
At the same time, Atobe's eyes changed color in turn: red, yellow, blue, then green!
The tennis ball, glowing with a faint red light, shot over the net toward Chiba Yun Chuan's left!
But after hitting the ground, it didn't bounce up right away. Instead, it skimmed along the surface, flying in one direction!
"What? What kind of serve is this? It doesn't bounce?"
"What is that serve? I've never seen anything like it!"
"Is he about to score?"
Chiba Yun Chuan was immediately taken aback by Atobe's serve!
Wasn't that the Donnerwelle Serve? He couldn't believe Atobe had learned to hit a serve like that in just one night!
His talent was truly terrifying!
But this alone was still far from enough!
Chiba Yun Chuan pushed off with his calf and instantly vanished from where he stood. When he appeared again, he was already in front of the tennis ball skimming along the ground!
He held his racket vertically against the ground, then swung his arm and dragged the racket along the surface. It scraped against the ground with a hissing sound!
"What are you doing?" Atobe was secretly shocked as he watched Chiba Yun Chuan's movements!
Chiba Yun Chuan was simply too fast. In the blink of an eye, he was already in front of the ball!
"Wood Entanglement!"
As Chiba Yun Chuan's racket met the tennis ball, both were lifted into the air as if he were scooping something up! The ball seemed to be stuck to the racket.
It didn't bounce away.
Instead, the ball and racket moved together as Chiba Yun Chuan drew an arc with his swing. When they reached a certain height, the ball shot away and flew toward Atobe!
"Atobe, is that what you call dazzling tennis? It's still nowhere near enough!"
When they saw Chiba Yun Chuan return the ball, the crowd erupted!
"So there's a serve that doesn't bounce forward! What kind of serve is that?"
"You can return a serve like that?"
"As expected of Captain Chiba! He can even return that!"
"I think Captain Chiba just said four words. What was it, something about wood?"
While the spectators watched Atobe's serve and Chiba Yun Chuan's return in astonishment,
Atobe had no time to think. He focused all his attention and pushed his eyesight to its limits.
He tracked the incoming ball, reached its landing point ahead of time, then swung with all his strength and hit it back!
Watching the ball fly back, Chiba Yun Chuan shouted,
"Gold Overpowering Strength!"
Before the tennis ball had even touched the ground, Chiba Yun Chuan had already reached its landing point!
He tightened his grip on the racket, then brought it down on the ball.
Boom!
The sound was completely different this time. Only Chiba Yun Chuan's racket could withstand it!
Otherwise, the racket strings of any other racket would probably have started to loosen by now.
The ball shot away from the racket and flew back at once,
bringing a gust of wind and a burst of flames as it headed for the left side of Atobe's court!
"I see it—the left!"
After saying that, Atobe took off running and raced to the left side of the court!
Then he swung at the incoming ball.
But the moment his racket met the ball, the powerful spin sent a tremendous impact through the racket and into his arm!
Atobe immediately gripped the racket with his left hand as well, trying to hit the ball back!
"How can it be this powerful? Aah!"
Atobe let out a beastlike growl. It was the first time he had ever made a sound like that on the court!
"What's wrong with Atobe? Could it be—" Shishido Ryo noticed the bulging veins in Atobe's arm and the way he was gripping the racket with all his strength. He knew the ball was no ordinary shot!
"Looks like Atobe's using all his strength! How is that possible?" Mukahi Gakuto looked just as shocked.
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