My Prince of Tennis has a high proficiency level.

Page 16

Muromachi, sprinting forward, was also keeping an eye on his opponent. When he saw that Shibukawa's movements were noticeably a half-beat slower, he completely relaxed.

"That's true."

"He has never played against any strong players. The ones he played against before were all mediocre."

Muromachi saw that Shibukawa's slower movement significantly reduced the threat of his shots. This allowed Muromachi to become more composed and even consider how to launch a decisive attack and score in one fell swoop.

Swish!

however.

In the split second everyone was thinking, Shibukawa's racket suddenly increased in speed. With a thud, the tennis ball bounced off the ground and was quickly struck.

Snapped!

From the audience's perspective, before they could even react, they saw a pale yellow light explode behind Muromachi.

The latter's pupils suddenly contracted, and his head involuntarily turned to look behind him. When he saw the tennis ball rolling outside the baseline, his body instantly stiffened.

"0-15!"

The referee spoke.

The stadium, which had fallen silent due to the shock, was suddenly filled with a noisy discussion.

"what happened?"

"What...what just happened?"

"Yeah, what exactly did Shibukawa do to suddenly score a point?!"

Everyone is puzzled.

Even though Muromachi had the advantage just a second ago by serving and netting, once he controlled the advantageous position, he could easily dominate the course of the ball.

result.

However, it was Shibukawa, who was a beat slow to react, who unexpectedly scored the point.

"This kid... he's got some skills."

Among the crowd, Uesugi looked at Shibukawa with a hint of surprise.

"really."

At this moment, Sengoku, the biggest favorite to advance from Group A, also appeared on the side, smiling and saying, "First, he deliberately slowed down to make Muromachi underestimate him. Then, when the opponent crossed the middle position and thought victory was in his grasp, he suddenly made his move."

"No, it's not..."

Honda Ryuichi, who was also in Group A but was easily defeated by Sengoku, looked on in astonishment: "It's that simple?"

"of course not."

Uesugi shook his head and said, "This tactic seems simple, but in reality, it requires a good understanding of the opponent's mentality, and you yourself must be bold and decisive."

"More importantly..."

At this point, Uesugi said in a deep voice, "The swing speed must be fast enough. Otherwise, the tennis ball will have already flown past before the racket even moves, and you won't even be able to touch it."

"Swing the racket?"

Unlike the astonished crowd, Vice Minister Nan took a deep look in the direction of Shechuan.

If he remembered correctly, about a month ago, his opponent's swing practice started to change a bit. At first, Kentaro Minami didn't pay much attention, until Banta asked him about Shibukawa's situation, and he realized that his classmate seemed to have changed.

But he couldn't say exactly what the changes were.

Only now, after Shibukawa unleashed that decisive and swift swing, Nan finally saw the true sharpness hidden beneath his unassuming exterior.

Only Banta looked at Shibukawa with a gaze full of satisfaction and admiration.

At this moment, the figure who had been practicing his racket swings tirelessly for the past month, rain or shine, gradually overlapped with the boy in front of him.

Unbeknownst to them, the other party had grown to such an extent!

Chapter 21 Practical Improvement: Overcoming Weaknesses!

"damn it!"

On one side of the court, Muromachi stiffly turned and walked towards the baseline. Hearing the surrounding chatter, especially the praise for Shibukawa, made him feel as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly.

It was a brilliant start, with him serving and volleying to quickly score. However, his opponent turned the tables on him, leaving him in an embarrassing situation.

but.

Muromachi was not a character like Honda Ryuichi after all. Although he felt very uncomfortable, during the time he returned to the bottom line, he kept replaying the process of Shibukawa's attack in his mind.

Just as Sengoku and Uesugi said.

Shibukawa appeared rigid, but he actually launched a counterattack. Muromachi, on the other hand, was indeed caught off guard by the incredibly fast swing of his racket due to his underestimation of his opponent.

"So, it's not that he's too strong."

After analyzing the reasons for his loss, Muromachi's eyes, hidden behind his white-rimmed sunglasses, regained their confident sparkle: "As long as I can play to my full potential, I... can win this match!"

Bang!

With renewed confidence, Muromachi served quickly.

Tap tap!

He then went online again, and his sprint speed was even faster than before.

"Again?"

"Has he forgotten how he lost points just now?"

"Don't be so absolute. Muromachi did underestimate his opponent just now. But he has learned his lesson this time, so things should be different."

The crowd outside the venue was buzzing with discussion.

Shibukawa looked up and saw Muromachi's determined gaze. He knew his previous trick had failed. With just one glance, his mental strength of 3 points allowed him to see through his opponent's trajectory.

Yes.

For a competition at this level, 3 points in the five dimensions is already quite formidable. After all, even at the U17 level, this level of mental strength is enough to eliminate about half of the junior high school students.

Using this against Muromachi, who lived 10 months before the events of the original story, would undoubtedly be a devastating blow.

at the same time.

Shechuan launched his attack, and with his ability to predict the ball's trajectory and his speed of 1.5, he quickly appeared in front of the serve's landing point.

Then, the instant the tennis ball hit the ground, he swung his racket quickly and delivered another clean and powerful smash.

Bang!

A crisp sound of the ball hitting the ground rang out.

Before anyone could even see the tennis ball land, it was struck back by Shibukawa.

"What a sharp mid-volley!"

Outside the stadium, the gazes of the South, East, and other starting players shifted slightly.

Putting everything else aside, this half-hit style of play alone greatly enhances Shibukawa's counter-attacking ability. Many offensive players need to be careful not to be counter-killed by him.

but.

Having learned his lesson before, Muromachi was now on guard and immediately stepped sideways to intercept.

With a snap, the tennis ball hit him, heading towards Shibukawa's backhand side. The landing point wasn't particularly tricky, so Shibukawa immediately changed direction and chased after it, still arriving nearby before the ball bounced off the ground.

He attempted a backhand smash, trying to hit the ball to the other side of Muromachi. However, because he primarily practices his forehand swing, the quality of this return was significantly lower.

Muromachi's eyes lit up at the sight.

He then swung his racket again, moving the ball to the right. After the opponent successfully returned to defend, he hit the ball to the left.

Bang!

then.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Shibukawa was forced to run left and right, clearly appearing to be at a disadvantage.

"That Muromachi guy, he reacted pretty quickly."

Uesugi nodded approvingly.

Honda, who had previously lost to Shibukawa, raised an eyebrow and said thoughtfully, "Shibukawa's weakness... is his backhand?"

"Yes."

Uesugi nodded and said, "He's always practiced his forehand. While he can use his backhand smash, it's clearly not up to par. Muromachi saw this and wanted to use Shibukawa's backhand as a breakthrough point!"

A third-year regular student remarked, "Indeed, geniuses have keen observation skills."

The others nodded in agreement.

Although Muromachi is not as good as last year's 1000 koku, the title of Yamabuki genius is not just for show.

Sengoku stroked his chin and said curiously, "I just don't know how Shibukawa will respond."

Should we respond?

Uesugi's expression shifted slightly.

In his view, Muromachi should be able to hold his serve in the first game, barring any unforeseen circumstances. However, Shibukawa is no ordinary player; during his service games, he can usually play to his strengths and minimize the number of times his opponent can hit the backhand side.

Bang!

however.

As time went on, everyone gradually realized that something was wrong.

That's right.

Muromachi did indeed suppress Shibukawa to some extent through his fast-paced attacking style. His focus on exploiting Shibukawa's backhand weakness further weakened the latter's position.

As expected, Muromachi won his service game with overwhelming momentum, but that didn't happen. Instead, he was dragged into a tug-of-war, especially after Muromachi extended his lead to 40-15 and reached game point. The fifth point was even more intense.

"Damn it, why?"

On the court, Muromachi, who was on the offensive, looked rather grim. He had clearly seized several opportunities to attack his opponent's backhand, but those shots, which he thought would definitely score, were repeatedly countered back by Shibukawa.

"That's interesting."

At that moment, Sengoku seemed to have noticed something, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

"what happened?"

The others all looked at him.

Uesugi, on the other hand, looked thoughtful, with a slight frown, as if he had also noticed something.

"Muromachi's attack was indeed of a high standard, but Shibukawa's reaction speed was also impressive."

Sengoku said with a smile, "Almost at the same time as Muromachi's attack, Shibukawa also moved. It's obvious that he saw through Muromachi's trajectory immediately."

"Is there... a problem?"

Ryuichi Honda, Yuji Maeda, and others all looked puzzled.

"This is a big problem."

Deputy Minister Minami shook his head and said, "This means that Shibukawa can react in the shortest amount of time, which weakens Muromachi's advantage against backhand and ambidextrous attacks."

"Yes."

Sengoku smiled and nodded: "That's why Shibukawa was able to drag Muromachi into a protracted war despite being at a disadvantage. But that's not the most important thing..."

As he said this, he looked up at the black-haired boy running left and right on the court, his eyes filled with surprise.

Bang!