The Prince of Tennis: The Quincy of Rikkai University

Chapter 57: The Tenacious Golden Combination

The players from both sides changed sides and after a break the third game began.

After taking a deep breath, Shuichiro Oishi tossed the tennis ball with a determined look in his eyes, and then swung it down heavily.

However, the tennis balls served by Oishi Shuichiro, who did not have a powerful serve, posed no threat to Yanagi Renji.

He casually swung the ball, and the tennis ball, which was not very fast to begin with, was instantly hit back at a faster speed, flying diagonally towards Qingxue's front court.

The sudden change in speed startled Kikumaru Eiji, who had not yet fully settled into his position. He took a deep breath and accelerated, leaping forward two steps, and in a rather awkward position caught the tennis ball before it bounced off.

"You're too careless, Bounce Boy."

Just as Kikumaru Eiji had not yet adjusted his posture, Marui Bunta's figure appeared in front of Rikkai University's net, on the path of the return ball.

Facing the flying tennis ball, Marui Bunta adjusted the angle and lightly cut it with his backhand, instantly reducing the spin on the tennis ball to almost nothing.

The tennis ball, which had lost most of its spin, slowly brushed past the edge of the net and slowly fell to the ground just a few steps away from Kikumaru Eiji.

However, these few short steps were like a chasm for Kikumaru Eiji at that moment. He had no way to twist his unstable body to catch up with the ball.

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

The tennis ball touched the ground lightly a few times and then lay there quietly without moving.

15-0
With just a simple variation of the rhythm, Rikkai scored the first point.

"What an amazing ability to seize opportunities. That guy named Marui Bunta has a sense of smell at the net that can only be described as terrifying."

Fuji Shusuke recalled the ball in shock. From the beginning of this year to now, he had never seen such a powerful frontcourt player in all the doubles combinations he had met.

When the second ball was served, Kikumaru Eiji, who was on guard, immediately ran quickly to the front court, fearing that he would repeat the same mistake.

砰

砰

...

Kikumaru Eiji moved sideways in a large range. Facing the various tricky frontcourt balls continuously played by Yanagi Renji, he used his special skills to intercept the balls at all costs, not giving the opponent any chance to score easily.

His strenuous rescue efforts also helped Qingxue to keep the score close.

15-15
15-30
30-30
30-40
In the third game, the scores of both sides climbed alternately. Oishi Shuichiro and Kikumaru Eiji curbed Rikkai University's attack at all costs.

At this moment, seeing the ball flying towards the corner of the backcourt at a high speed, Oishi Shuichiro gritted his teeth and ran hard, holding the racket tightly with both hands and swinging hard at the bouncing tennis ball.

With his broad vision, he saw an unguarded area not far behind Marui Bunta.

The tennis ball flew high into the air, spinning at high speed over Marui Bunta's head, and then fell rapidly in a curve.

Did you succeed?

After hitting the return ball, Shuichiro Oishi stared at that direction. However, the next moment, the figure he didn't want to see appeared near the tennis ball.

Yanagi Renji in the backcourt did not react slowly because his vision was blocked by Marui Bunta. While Oishi was swinging the racket, his body was already moving towards the open space over there.

At the same time, he was muttering, "For this ball, the opponent has an 87% chance of hitting a topspin high ball and a 13% chance of hitting a diagonal through ball."

Yanagi Renji caught up with the tennis ball, and with his sharp eyes, he saw the defensive gap of Seigaku at this time. He swung his backhand with one arm, and hit a high-speed flat shot that instantly penetrated half of the court and flew to the boundary of the opponent's half of the court. "Oh no, I can't catch up." Oishi Shuichiro looked at the tennis ball with horror as it fell to the ground and flew up along the sideline, and was about to fly out of bounds.

"Look at me!"

A blue and white afterimage entered Oishi Shuichiro's sight and quickly caught up with the tennis ball that was still in the air.

Kikumaru Eiji, who was about to catch up, stomped his right foot on the ground, bent his knee instantly to accumulate strength, and then leaped diagonally.

He stretched out his racket straight, and with extreme ease, he reached the tennis ball in mid-air, then adjusted the angle and hooked it.

The tennis ball was hooked back and shot out from mid-air outside the court like a sharp arrow along the outside of the tennis post and toward the bottom corner of Rikkai's half court.

This unexpected ball was not received by either Marui Bunta in the frontcourt or Yanagi Renji in the other corner of the backcourt.

The dull sound of the ball hitting the ground was heard in the Qingxue half of the court. Kikumaru Eiji, who had intercepted the tennis ball, fell heavily from mid-air. At the same time, the referee's voice sounded at the right time: "1 to 2, Qingxue scores."

Kikumaru Eiji's thrilling save allowed Seigaku to win the game with difficulty, avoiding the unfavorable situation of being led by Rikkai University by 3 points.

"Seniors Kikumaru and Oishi did a great job. They were able to get a point even in such an unfavorable situation." Momoshiro Takeshi's face lit up with joy outside the court. After watching the first two games, he thought this game was a sure loss.

"Idiot, are you blind?" Kaidou Xun on the side sneered coldly.

"What do you mean, you stinky snake." After being attacked inexplicably, Momoshiro Takeshi said dissatisfiedly.

"Hiss, I don't want to explain to an idiot." Kaidou Xun looked at the other party coldly and ignored him.

At the Qingxue preparation seat, Inui Sadaharu said with a serious expression, "Fuji, the amount of sweating of Kikumaru and Oishi is very abnormal."

"Well, yes. I'm afraid Oishi and Kikumaru themselves haven't noticed it." Fuji Shusuke stared at the two people on the field with his eyes open.

More than something was wrong, the two students from Qingxue now had beads of sweat on their faces that kept sliding down their cheeks and dripping down their chins.

There was a large wet spot on the back of the two men's uniforms, and there was a puddle of water on the ground beneath their feet.

In contrast, Marui Bunta and Yanagi Renji had only a thin layer of sweat on their faces, while their clothes were still dry.

Anyone with a bit of vision can immediately notice this contrast.

On the Rikkai University side, Marui Bunta suddenly turned his head and looked at Sanada Genichirō in the coaching booth outside the court. He raised one arm and pointed the wrist guard at the other party.

Genichirō Sanada seemed to understand, but did not express it immediately. Instead, he turned his gaze to the preparation area.

Seeing this, Marui Bunta understood what he meant and turned to look at the preparation area behind him, his eyes looking in the direction of Yuuki Maya.

After Yuuki Maya's eyes met with Marui Bunta's, she smiled slightly and then shook her head.

After seeing this action, Marui Bunta's face darkened, he sighed exaggeratedly, then shrugged his shoulders and looked back with a helpless expression.

"Liu, they don't agree." Marui Fumita complained depressedly.

"Well, it's just as I expected, so let's use plan B first." Yanagi Renji seemed to have guessed this situation a long time ago, and his tone was calm.

"It's the only way. It's not a big deal, but I just feel a little uncomfortable." Marui Bunta moved his arm and looked at the wrist guard on his hand and sighed.

He was not used to the feeling of not being able to perform at half his strength.

(End of this chapter)