Prince of Tennis: Shocking! Hyotei's Demon King is a Yukimura fangirl!

Yukimura cradled Luna's soft little body in his arms with both hands, gently pressing his palms against the kitten's round belly and rubbing it in circles.

The kitten had been drinking milk too quickly and playing around with Atobe for a while, so its tummy was bloated and it was very uncomfortable. At this moment, the cat was so comfortable that it squinted its heterochromatic eyes, its little head resting against Yukimura's wrist, its pink tongue occasionally licking his skin, and a soft purring sound coming from its throat.

Hearing Sanada's question, Yukimura lifted his gaze from the kitten in his arms and looked down at the basketball court. His gaze briefly swept over the composed Oshitari, then glanced at the calm Mochizuki Ryo on the coaching bench, before finally drifting towards Atobe.

Atobe remained calm, clearly aware of the whole story, but showed no intention of revealing it.

"It has nothing to do with the venue." Yukimura said, a faint smile playing on his lips. His voice was clear enough for the Rikkai and Hyotei players beside him to hear clearly.

"The foreshadowing of that ball was probably laid by Shinobu during his serve. He most likely added a special strong sidespin to his return shot beforehand, gradually building it up and passing it along the ball's trajectory, interfering with the transmission of power when Fuji chopped the ball. Even if Fuji's swing was flawless, he couldn't generate the backspin effect that the Swallow Return should have."

He turned his head to look at Atobe, a faint smile on his face: "Atobe-kun, am I right?"

Hearing her father Yukimura speak, Luna tilted her fluffy little head, her round heterochromatic eyes looking in Atobe's direction, and let out a soft "meow" in her little voice, as if agreeing with Yukimura's point of view.

"Seiichi makes a lot of sense."

Liu quickly scribbled down Yukimura's thoughts on his notebook, while simultaneously flipping through the previously recorded round data. "Looking back at Shinobu's return records before this point, there were indeed a few deviations in the spin parameters. The deviation was so subtle that I didn't pay any attention to it at the time."

"If you add extra sidespin during the serve, the 'Flying Swallow Returns to the Nest' ball relies on the opponent's topspin to generate power. Once the spin is interfered with, the flight trajectory will deviate and it will indeed go directly out of bounds."

"I see." Niou straightened up from leaning on Yagyu's shoulder, looking at Yukimura with admiration and a sly smile. "He paves the way first, then lets his opponent fall into the trap. Yuushi is getting more and more cunning."

After listening to Yukimura and Renji Yanagi's analysis, Kirihara's mouth slightly opened, the potato chip bag in his hand hovering in mid-air, his starry eyes filled with admiration for Yukimura. Marui, Kuwabara, and the others all fell silent, looking proudly at their captain.

Atobe ran his fingertips along the edge of the fairy light in his pocket, and after listening to Yukimura's analysis, he sighed inwardly.

Yukimura, as expected of the "Child of God," saw through Oshitari's meticulous calculations hidden deep within the details after only watching one round.

A pang of regret swept through his heart at the same time.

The preliminary rounds of the Kanto Tournament divided Hyotei and Rikkai into different groups. To have them face off on the court, they would have to wait until the semifinals or even the finals.

I really want to fight right now...

The thought only flashed through his mind, and Atobe quickly dismissed it.

Forget it... Yukimura was only recently discharged from the hospital and is still recovering. If I dare to propose a fight in public, that "mad dog" Mochizuki Ryo will inevitably nag and cause trouble endlessly.

Atobe inexplicably felt a sense of dread.

He pulled himself out of his reverie, gave a soft hum, and responded. His tone was matter-of-fact, tinged with an undisguised pride.

"Ah, yes. The title of 'genius' at Hyotei isn't something you can easily obtain. Moreover, he's a player personally trained by Mochizuki Ryo, so his methods are naturally extraordinary."

Upon hearing this, Renji Yanagi's pen moved again, and he added, "That's right. According to the training records from the previous training camp, Shinobu's serve spin has as many as seventeen variations, specifically designed to counter different return techniques. Each one has been repeatedly calculated, with an error of no more than two degrees."

Kirihara's eyes widened, filled with admiration.

"Wow... Oshitari-senpai is amazing!"

Niou smiled, raised an eyebrow, and reached out to ruffle his curly hair: "Oh, you've become so respectful again so quickly? Didn't you say you wanted to challenge him and take the title of genius?"

Kirihara blushed, stiffening his neck, "I...I'll surpass him sooner or later!"

"Alright, alright, I'll be waiting for you to surpass me." Niou laughed even harder.

On the east side of the stands, Kanata Irie held sunglasses in his hand, his elbow resting on the railing, with Kazuya Tokugawa standing beside him. The two U-17 high school students had been quietly observing the entire match from beginning to end.

Irie rested his chin on his hand, his gaze fixed on Oshitari, and whispered to Tokugawa beside him, "Oshitari's tennis is quite interesting. He sets up the net from the very first serve, and Fuji follows along completely."

Tokugawa nodded slightly, a fierce fighting spirit hidden in his cold eyes: "Hmm. Very skillful control of the rhythm."

Under the stadium.

Shinobu stood back at the baseline, hefting the tennis ball in his hand between his fingertips.

With a flick of his wrist, the tennis ball was tossed high into the air; he channeled all his strength into his arm and swung the racket down. He served the final point of the second game.

"Bang!"

A dull thud rang out, and the tennis ball, spinning wildly, flew towards the opposite half of the court.

Fuji quickly stepped up to receive the serve, and the two immediately engaged in a high-intensity, multi-shot rally.

One beat, five beats, ten beats, fifteen beats, twenty beats...

The yellow tennis ball flew back and forth, the continuous thuds of rackets striking the ball echoing through the air. Dozens of rallies flew by, the two players running back and forth across a wide area without stopping, their shoes screeching softly against the hot rubber surface.

The audience in the stands breathed softly, and many unconsciously leaned forward, their palms glistening with sweat.

Wang Yueling sat on the coach's bench, pausing the wiping of the crystal trophy in his hand. He leaned forward slightly, elbows resting on his knees, his azure eyes fixed intently on every detail on the field.

He clearly captured every step and subtle change in wrist angle between the two players on the field, mentally reviewing every move in the game.

On the field, a very faint smile appeared on Shinobu's lips.

With a slight increase in wrist strength, he deliberately hit a high-arc lob, sending the tennis ball soaring high into the air before it fell towards the back of Fuji's half of the court.

Fuji's eyes sharpened, and he immediately retreated quickly, leaping into the air with both feet off the ground. He then unleashed a powerful overhead smash. He had already anticipated that Shinobu's high lob was likely a bait, and that Shinobu would inevitably use the same "Brown Bear in the Net" move as him to finish the game.

as predicted.

Renji seized the opportunity, quickly adjusted his stance, leaned to the side, and pressed down with his back to the basket, trapping the bear in the net once again. The movement was clean and crisp, without any unnecessary sustaining motions. The ball, after losing power, carried a strange spin and headed straight for the opponent's most vulnerable corner.

This version of the brown bear's fall was achieved with the angle of force that Mochizuki Ryo had repeatedly adjusted with him. Over the past two months, he had practiced Atobe's ever-changing powerful smashes countless times.

The timing of receiving the ball, the efficiency of unloading force, and the control of the landing point have all been refined to the extreme.

The moment the racket made contact with the smashing tennis ball, Shinobu skillfully deflected most of the impact force, then applied a special lateral spin. After leaving the racket face, the tennis ball flew towards the most difficult corner of Fuji's half of the court.

Its landing point is extremely tricky, its spin is unpredictable, and its margin for error is much higher than the original version, making it almost unsolvable.

After completing the return shot, Shinobu quickly retracted his stance, his gaze across the net as he looked with interest at Fuji Syusuke standing on the opposite side of the court. His deep voice traveled through the wind on the court to his opponent's ears.

"I can catch your brown bear falling into the net, but can you catch mine, Fuji-kun?"

His words were filled with the confidence and arrogance of a victor.

Fuji concentrated all his attention, his brown pupils closely tracking the trajectory of the incoming tennis ball. But the ball's unpredictable sidespin was too tricky, and its landing point was close to the sideline. No matter how hard he tried to adjust his body position, he still couldn't predict the ball's bounce after landing.

The tennis ball slammed into the sideline and bounced out of bounds.

The referee's loudspeaker blared again, its sound clearly echoing throughout the stadium.

"Game, Hyotei, 2-0."

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

Seigaku's genius has been suppressed so terribly.

Shinobu stood on the court, gently shaking his wrist. There was only a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, and his breathing was barely erratic. He looked up towards the coaching bench.

Just as Wang Yueling put away her handkerchief, she looked up and met his gaze.

Her azure eyes were expressionless; she merely nodded slightly, a very small gesture, almost imperceptible.

Shinobu understood.

Not bad, the training wasn't in vain.

He was about to smile, but he quickly suppressed it.

The people of Seigaku all possess a peculiar ability to "make a comeback from a desperate situation." The truly troublesome part, perhaps... is yet to come.