Kamikawa: Tezuka, You Were Too Kind to Atobe, Let Me Bring You Back to Reality!

Don't give Atobe any more time to think.

BANG!

BANG!

"Bring out any tricks you have!"

Atobe dismissed the thought, tossed the ball, and delivered a high-quality serve cleanly and decisively.

BOOM!!

This serve was even more accurate than the previous one, landing precisely within the small triangle at the edge of the service line.

"Nervous, are we..."

Kamikawa's gaze fell upon the serve.

A topspin serve, interesting... I can try that move.

Screeeech~

A sharp friction sound came from the racket.

BOOM!!

A muffled thud, and the tennis ball shot out rapidly.

The tennis ball was sliced quickly across the racket face, as swift as drawing a sword. Atobe didn't even see the moment of impact.

"What was that?!"

He only saw a sharp blade slice into his court. The tennis ball bounced, instantly shot past him, and hit the wall, still spinning rapidly!

"What was that!"

Shishido blinked repeatedly.

In that instant, he thought he saw a hurricane-like blade cut into Atobe's court.

This shot was astonishing.

For a moment, even Tezuka was distracted. He hadn't expected Kamikawa to still have a move like this. The hurricane dissipated, and the rapidly spinning tennis ball left a shallow black mark on the wall.

Not only that, but the ground also bore a shallow mark, as if cut by a blade – flat and smooth...

This tennis skill seemed to require certain conditions to be formed.

Tezuka saw clearly that, in that instant, Kamikawa's action was a slice.

Slice shots are divided into three types: pressure slice, flat slice, and cut slice. The pressure slice is usually used to deal with opponents' high-bouncing topspin balls.

A pressure slice causes the tennis ball to have backspin, and its bounce angle after landing is lower. It's often used for defense. At the baseline, besides groundstrokes, the most frequently used shot is the pressure slice.

Tezuka's Zero-style Slice and Kamikawa's previous Maple Leaf Slice are actually variations of the flat slice. The racket is held at waist level, and the slice is executed slightly forward.

The flat slice is an offensive slice, used to disrupt the opponent through specific spin, thereby scoring points. An advanced version of the flat slice, like the Zero-style Slice, causes the ball to roll backward after landing, making it impossible for the opponent to return.

Kamikawa relied on the spin effect of the opponent's topspin serve to create a visual impact. Of course, this was also related to Kamikawa using his mental energy.

The principle is similar to the Swallow Return, but the power is entirely different. This move is a fast cut slice, emphasizing one word: "speed," extraordinarily fast!

"Truly astonishing speed, and that bizarre bounce angle."

A familiar figure appeared from behind Shishido.

Oshitari, sweating, walked over with his racket. Judging by his demeanor, he had already finished his match against Jiro, and Oshitari had won.

"Oshitari, you're done over there?"

Shishido was surprised. He knew Oshitari was up against Jiro.

The number one of Hyotei Elementary School's Three Musketeers, finished so easily.

"Jiro excels at net volleys, and coincidentally..."

Oshitari replied calmly, "I excel at defense, and his smashes were suppressed by my Giant Bear Return. Most importantly, that guy's stamina is terrible!"

Jiro, who loves to sleep all day, despite his high tennis talent, has a fundamental weakness in stamina. Whether it's him, or Hiyoshi, who just entered sixth grade, or Mukahi.

These net players lack stamina the most.

Without extraordinary endurance, once a match exceeds thirty minutes, they face a slow death, with no room for resistance.

"Jiro is like that..."

Shishido nodded slightly.

The Three Musketeers share a common flaw: their stamina isn't great.

Shishido is relatively better, able to last past thirty minutes.

As for Mukahi and Jiro, anything over twenty-five minutes and they're like they've collapsed, completely unable to resist.

At this moment, everyone was still immersed in the previous move, the wind blade.

BOOM!!

Then, with a crisp sound, everyone snapped back to attention.

"0-30!"

"That same return again..."

Mukahi tugged on Shishido's sleeve and said, "That move is seriously insane. I felt like a wind blade was coming at me, and my body couldn't react in time."

However, upon remembering it was Kamikawa who hit it, Mukahi quickly let go of the thought.

To be able to hit such an exaggerated serve and a tennis skill that doesn't bounce back, it was within a reasonable range.

"Using the opponent's topspin, a rapid slice is required, demanding near-perfect power and speed in the swing to unleash this technique. Even if you understand the principle, that wind blade..."

Oshitari's mental fortitude was decent; he roughly understood the principle of the wind blade's release in that instant. But simply knowing the principle of a tennis skill wasn't enough; the body had to react the moment the tennis ball landed.

Even with his insight, returning that wind blade through normal means would be incredibly difficult, even for Atobe!

In Oshitari's opinion, as long as a topspin return wasn't used, the wind blade would be difficult to form.

Of course, this was theoretically speaking. Whether it could actually form or not remained to be seen. It was possible Kamikawa could achieve instant slicing without relying on even a slight topspin.

Could Atobe on the court truly know this?

It was probably a bit difficult...

The scene off the court was completely different from the one on it. From Atobe's perspective, he clearly saw a wind blade slice across his court, and he couldn't react at all, his body feeling as if it were fixed in place.

He couldn't even take half a step.

Bang!

Bang!!

On the court, the successive wind blades left Atobe bewildered for a moment.

The rapid offense had broken Atobe's service game.

The score quickly became 3-2, with Kamikawa in the lead.

"Using my topspin serve, a rapid slice to unleash this tennis skill?!"

"No, it's more than that. What is that exaggerated visual impact..."

The effect of the wind blade was shocking, but Atobe's perception was also top-notch.

He managed to analyze the principle behind the wind blade strike, but his body still couldn't move an inch.

"Hoo... hoo hoo..."

Atobe, having recovered his senses, found himself gasping for air.

He hadn't moved an inch just now, except for serving.

So why did his body feel so exhausted? What about the wind blade strike had he not seen through?

"You should have seen through the essence of this return by now."

Kamikawa walked past Atobe and said softly, "The wind blade strike is just as you thought. I used your topspin serve for a rapid slice, creating a visual impact."

"Atobe, if you can't break through this move and take that step, you will never surpass me, never surpass Tezuka!"

Atobe's pupils contracted. He turned to look at Kamikawa, wondering what he meant by that.

The only response he received was Kamikawa's retreating back. Perhaps he would only understand the meaning of those words after the match.

"Atobe!"

Kamikawa, holding a tennis ball, looked straight ahead at Atobe, who was adjusting his state. "Tezuka was too lenient with you. I will show you what a gap truly is!"

"What?!"

Atobe frowned, his pupils contracting. He seemed to have guessed something.

This guy...

Could it be that he wasn't going all out in the previous match?

That made sense. He still had that insane serve!

Whoosh~

The next moment, Kamikawa tossed the tennis ball high into the air, bent over, crouched, and then leaped up in one fluid motion. Only when the ball began to descend did he swing his arm, forearm, and racket forward fiercely.

Vvvvmmm!!

A sharp sound erupted.

Everyone's ears rang with that piercing sound.

For a moment, everyone couldn't help but cover their ears, their eyes fixed on the tennis ball on the court.