Even the hair on top of his head began to flutter in the airflow.
He looked as if he were bathing in the wind!
The same thing happened again!
The tennis ball seemed to be drawn to his racket, flying straight toward it!
Thwack!
After the crisp sound of the hit rang out, the spin on the ball became incredibly powerful!
Its speed didn't seem to decrease—in fact, it seemed to increase!
The sound of a sonic boom rang out continuously as the ball flew toward Tezuka's side of the court!
"Tezuka Domain?"
Tezuka had only murmured the words, but Chiba Yun Chuan heard him.
Tezuka took two more steps toward his front left, but he was still a step away from the ball!
He was trying to draw it toward himself with his domain!
But the ball didn't fly toward him as he'd expected. Instead, it landed directly behind him, then bounced out of bounds!
"Heavy's point. 15–0."
Just a moment ago, Tezuka had shown off his domain, leaving the spectators around them amazed!
But they hadn't expected Chiba Yun Chuan to have a domain too!
And it was clearly stronger than Tezuka's!
Now both Tezuka's and Chiba Yun Chuan's domains were fully active on the court, their auras pushing against each other. But it was obvious that the airflow around Tezuka was already beginning to falter.
"Is there really no way? Chiba Yun Chuan, the captain of Hyotei, is only a first-year!"
Ryuzaki Sumire murmured.
"Tezuka just made the ball change course, and that Chiba Yun Chuan can do it too! How?" Kikumaru asked, his voice full of shock.
Inui was quickly writing notes in his notebook again.
"If the information in my notes is correct, what they just used was the domain! It takes extremely precise ball control to pull that off!
"The technique involves putting spin on the ball so that it returns to the player.
"But it takes a lot of practice—and, more importantly, talent!
"Talent like that is one in a million.
"Clearly, both Chiba Yun Chuan and Tezuka have it!
"But from what I can see, Chiba Yun Chuan's domain is far stronger than Tezuka's.
"Tezuka used his domain first, then Chiba Yun Chuan used his too, but Tezuka still lost the point.
"If my guess is right, Tezuka used his domain again at the end, but Chiba Yun Chuan may have used some kind of counter to nullify it! That's incredible!
"To put it simply, Tezuka's domain was broken!"
When Inui finished speaking, he had finished his notes too. He was pretty quick.
After hearing him, Seigaku's players fell silent.
The score on the court was changing quickly too!
"Heavy's point. 30–0."
"Game, Hyotei. 3–0!"
The referee's voice rang out. The third game was over, and Tezuka still hadn't scored a single point. His serve had been broken!
"Just like that. Chiba really isn't giving Tezuka a chance," Atobe said, looking at the score.
The score was now three to nothing. Tezuka hadn't scored a single point from the start. Even his domain, Hundred Refinements, and Zero Style Serve had been ineffective. It seemed there wasn't a single shot Chiba Yun Chuan couldn't return!
None of Tezuka's tricks worked against Chiba Yun Chuan!
He'd been driven into a corner!
"So that guy still had all those tricks up his sleeve. Was he looking down on me? Damn brat," Akutsu said irritably, watching Chiba Yun Chuan look completely at ease on the court.
"Akutsu, do you think this is all Chiba can do? It isn't. Tezuka's been able to keep playing this long because Chiba wanted to see what he could do. Even so, what he's shown so far is already terrifying!
"And Tezuka Kunimitsu isn't weak either!"
After speaking, Atobe looked toward Tezuka. Sweat was already starting to bead on his face.
"I'll catch up to him and surpass him someday. Whether it's you, that Tezuka, or Chiba in the end, I'll beat every one of you!" A glint of red flashed in Akutsu's eyes as he spoke, then vanished.
Atobe happened to see it.
That guy's no ordinary player either, Atobe thought as he watched.
The other Hyotei players fell silent. Their skill was nowhere near Chiba Yun Chuan's, Atobe's, or Akutsu's.
It was enough to leave them almost in despair!
As time passed, the score on the court kept changing.
"Game, Hyotei. 4–0!"
"Game, Hyotei. 5–0!"
The referee's voice rang out. They had reached the final game.
The spectators watched what was happening on the court, their astonished exclamations ringing out one after another.
"I never thought Tezuka would be completely helpless!"
"It's not that Tezuka's too weak. Yagami's just too strong."
"This is so thrilling! Especially the State of Selflessness—the glowing tennis ball, the ball that doesn't bounce. They're all amazing!"
"Tezuka's completely suppressed. Is Hyotei's captain really only a first-year?"
The spectators had been discussing the match nonstop since the third game.
Over these three games, Tezuka had tried all kinds of playing styles, but Chiba Yun Chuan had easily returned every shot. Now they had reached the final game!
Even Tezuka had begun to give up. Chiba Yun Chuan was simply in a different league!
There was no way he could win now.
Seigaku was going to lose! They'd known defeat was coming, but now that it was almost here, they still couldn't accept it.
Still, Seigaku had made it to the Kanto Tournament. As long as they didn't run into Hyotei too early there, they still had a chance to reach the National Tournament!
The match was still going.
But it was moving quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was almost over.
"Heavy's point. 40–0!"
It was match point.
Chiba Yun Chuan needed just one more point to win. Once he claimed victory in this second singles match, Hyotei would defeat Seigaku 3–1 and advance to the Metropolitan Tournament final.
Tezuka's face was drenched in sweat. It dripped from his chin onto the ground, drop by drop, with a steady patter.
Entering the State of Selflessness took a tremendous amount of stamina!
That was true of Hundred Refinements and the other two gates as well.
Tezuka still couldn't keep it up for long, mainly because his domain hadn't worked. That had kept Hundred Refinements from reaching its full power!
With Tezuka's domain combined with Hundred Refinements, Tezuka became a cannon, able to aim and fire wherever he wanted!
But even with both his domain and Hundred Refinements helping him, Tezuka had still lost!
Activating the State of Selflessness had cost Tezuka a great deal of stamina, but if he hadn't activated Hundred Refinements—
He wouldn't have had even the slightest chance of winning against Chiba Yun Chuan!
Though Tezuka was drenched in sweat, he still wanted to play that last point well!
Because he still hadn't scored a single point!
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