Then the tennis ball transformed into a streak of golden light and shot toward Tezuka with a roar.
"What kind of technique is that?" Kawamura asked, his face blank with shock.
"It's not in my data yet! Could it be Wave Ball?" Inui's hand trembled slightly as he held his notebook.
"Tezuka, can you return that shot?" Oishi asked, watching Tezuka with concern.
"No, that isn't Wave Ball!" Fuji said, his tone grave.
Watching the golden tennis ball roar toward him, Tezuka chose not to back down.
Tezuka took a small step back and crouched slightly, gripping his racket with both hands. White light radiated from his body. He was going to use Limit of Thousand Forgings to return Chiba Yun Chuan's Light Bullet!
The ball had now reached Tezuka.
He could already feel its power, but his resolve remained firm!
Tezuka gripped his racket with both hands and swung with all his strength at the incoming ball.
The golden beam collided violently with the white racket, and Tezuka immediately felt immense force surge through his arms!
"You're going to become Seigaku's pillar, Tezuka. Are you really willing to waste a year like this?"
The words flashed through Tezuka's mind, and his resolve grew even stronger.
At the same time, he tightened his grip on the racket. He was already nearing his limit!
Without the spray Chiba Yun Chuan had given him, Tezuka might have already been unable to hold on!
The Light Bullet's power was simply too great—and this was still a weakened version of it.
Hisssss!
The racket and ball ground fiercely against each other, the sound ringing without pause!
Even the strings of Tezuka's racket began to slowly smoke.
After they remained locked in a struggle for a second—
Snap!
The sound of the racket strings breaking rang out.
The ball punched straight through Tezuka's racket and slammed into the ground behind him on the left with a tremendous bang.
The ground shook slightly!
Then the ball shot away at high speed!
Whir, whir, whir!
The ball spun rapidly against the wire fence behind Tezuka, then flew straight through it and away!
Tezuka stared in shock at the racket in his hand, pierced through by the ball, then at the slightly cracked ground behind him.
His gaze could no longer remain calm; it was filled with astonishment!
Such terrifying power from a single shot!
Everyone around them was stunned!
"It went right through the racket!"
"Look at the ball—it's smoking!"
"Yagami!"
Chiba Yun Chuan's Light Bullet had not only set the whole crowd abuzz, it had also claimed the final point of the first game.
He had broken Tezuka's serve.
"Point to Hyotei. The score is 1–0.
The players will change ends."
The umpire's voice brought everyone back from their shock.
It also meant the first game was over. Tezuka's serve had been broken!
And he had lost his serve without winning a single point!
"Tezuka's serve was broken!" Oishi couldn't believe it. Even Tezuka, using Limit of Thousand Forgings, had lost!
Was Chiba Yun Chuan really that strong?
"It's not Tezuka's fault. Chiba Yun Chuan is just too strong," Ryuzaki Sumire said gravely, watching Chiba Yun Chuan stand proudly with his racket in hand.
"With Tezuka's ability, he didn't even get a single point." Fuji was probably the person at Seigaku who knew Tezuka's strength best, but even he hadn't expected things to turn out like this.
How much did this resemble his own match against Atobe? In both cases, victory had seemed completely out of reach!
At that thought, he looked toward Atobe. Atobe stood with his arms folded, his gaze utterly calm, as if he had known all along that Chiba Yun Chuan would win.
"Seigaku's captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu, lost the first game without getting a single point!"
"Hyotei's captain is really strong!"
"Was that really the end of the first game? I hadn't seen enough!"
"Looks like Hyotei is bound to win the championship this year!"
The first game was declared over as the crowd's chatter rose around them!
At the side of the court, Tachibana An watched Chiba Yun Chuan, her eyes filled with his image.
Her gaze never left him.
"Shiba Saori, take more pictures," Inoue Mamoru said. He had lost count of how many times he'd said that.
"Got it, senpai!"
"This Hyotei captain, Chiba Yun Chuan—
"His ability might be even greater than that of Rikkai Dai's Big Three. Even they couldn't suppress Tezuka like this! A true hero, even at such a young age!
"Could he be another Echizen Nanjirou?"
The thought suddenly occurred to Inoue Mamoru. A moment later, he shook his head with a wry smile.
Had Echizen Nanjirou really been this strong at Chiba Yun Chuan's age?
Chiba Yun Chuan must have surpassed him!
When they saw Chiba Yun Chuan take the first game,
the Hyotei team naturally erupted in cheers.
"As expected of our captain. He didn't lose a single point!" Mukahi Gakuto felt keenly aware of the gap between himself and national-level players like Chiba Yun Chuan.
Whether it was Chiba Yun Chuan, Atobe Keigo, Tezuka Kunimitsu, Akutsu, or even Fuji Syusuke—
he couldn't compare with any of them!
Atobe had finished his match against Fuji with a seemingly effortless 6–0,
but Mukahi Gakuto knew that if he'd played instead, he would have had no chance against Fuji Syusuke!
He had no way to counter Fuji's techniques.
"There's no need to say anything about the captain's ability," Chotaro said happily.
"Chiba should win this match 6–0 too! From what I know about him, he's an extremely proud person.
"He definitely won't give up a single point," Atobe said slowly, a smile at the corner of his mouth.
"That's right."
The Hyotei players smiled and agreed with Atobe.
By then, both sides had changed ends!
Chiba Yun Chuan and Tezuka were ready.
"The match begins. Hyotei to serve!"
The umpire's announcement signaled the resumption of the match!
Chiba Yun Chuan stood at the baseline and slowly took a tennis ball from his pocket. He bounced it on the ground again and again, letting it spring back up.
Thump, thump, thump!
The rhythmic sound rang out again and again.
The spectators around them held their breath, waiting for Chiba Yun Chuan to serve.
They all wanted to see what his serve would be like!
On the court, Chiba Yun Chuan seemed like an ancient behemoth about to awaken. A tremendous aura slowly began to emanate from him.
It spread outward in waves.
The spectators around the court instinctively fell silent, not even daring to breathe loudly.
Across from him, Tezuka had also brought himself to full strength. White light from Limit of Thousand Forgings flickered incessantly around him.
His grip tightened around his racket, and his entire focus was on Chiba Yun Chuan.
"Tezuka, watch closely!"
With that, Chiba Yun Chuan tossed the ball into the air, then swung his right-handed racket in a blur.
Bang!
A thunderous impact rang out.
The moment the ball touched the racket, it disappeared!
No one could see its path or trajectory!
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