The Prince of Tennis: From Data-Driven Tennis to the Pinnacle of His Career

"The fourth match begins. Please bring out Yamabuki for the second singles match and St. Rudolf for the second singles match."

"Phew...it's finally my turn."

Shinto Miyazaki picked up his racket, took a deep breath, and tried to calm his nervousness.

He glanced at the person opposite him; the opponent who was walking up was Yoshiro Akazawa of St. Rudolf.

"One game to decide the winner, Niito serves."

Nitobe Inakichi stands on the baseline, tosses the ball high into the air, and then quickly swings his racket.

"Bang!"

The ball speed was average.

A confident smile played on Akazawa Yoshiro's lips as he quickly ran to the landing spot, flicked his wrist, and forcefully swung his racket to return the ball.

"what?"

Shinto Yoneji stared at the tennis ball flying back, his pupils suddenly contracting.

That ball... appeared in several double images!

Like an illusion, the tennis ball swayed in the air, creating several afterimages.

He couldn't tell which ball was real; he could only swing based on intuition.

"call!"

The racket swung through the air, creating a whooshing sound.

"Smack."

The real tennis ball grazed the edge of his racket and landed inside the baseline.

"0-15!"

"What did you just do?"

Shintobe Inayoshi looked at Akazawa Yoshiro with a serious expression, a layer of cold sweat seeping from his forehead.

He had never heard of such a bizarre ball trajectory before.

"you guess."

Akazawa Yoshiro smiled slightly, without giving a direct answer, and simply retreated to the baseline at a leisurely pace, assuming a defensive stance.

That calm and unhurried attitude put immense psychological pressure on Niitobe Inakichi.

"Hmph! Stop playing tricks!"

Shintobe Inakichi gritted his teeth, tossed the ball higher, and swung it with all his might to serve.

"That kind of serve doesn't work on me."

Akazawa Yoshiro casually swung his racket and once again hit that return shot with an afterimage.

"hateful!"

Seeing the swaying double image in front of him, Shintobe Inakichi could only blindly swing his racket again.

The results are obvious.

"0-30!"

……

"0-40!"

……

"Game, Nitobe Inakichi, 0-1!"

……

"Game, Nitobe Inakichi, 0-2!"

On the coach's bench, Kagura Ichijin watched the situation on the field with a furrowed brow.

"This is troublesome."

He saw through Akazawa Yoshiro's trick at a glance.

The so-called afterimage ball is actually created by applying a special vibration to the tennis ball when it is hit, using the visual persistence effect of the human eye to create an illusion.

To crack this ball, one must either possess extremely strong dynamic vision, allowing them to see right through its true form.

Either rely on a superb ball sense to predict the ball's trajectory.

Or simply return all the afterimage balls.

Unfortunately, Nitobe Inakichi failed to achieve any of these three things.

After silently reciting the system's name again, Kagura Ichijin carefully examined the five dimensions of the two individuals.

Akazawa Yoshiro (First year of junior high school)

Speed: 2

Power: 2

Stamina: 2

Spirit: 2

Technology: 3

Total: 11

Shintobe Inakichi (Grade 1 Junior High)

Speed: 2.5

Power: 2

Stamina: 2

Spirit: 1.5

Technology: 2

Total: 10

With a huge technical gap and Yoshiro Akazawa being the future minister of St. Rudolf, the outcome of the match was never in doubt from the start.

"Game, Nitobe Inakichi, 0-3!"

……

"Game, Nitobe Inakichi, 0-4!"

……

"Game, Nitobe Inakichi, 0-5!"

"Aren't you going to give up? You can't beat me."

Akazawa Yoshiro shook his head as he looked at Shintobe Inakichi, who was panting heavily but still desperately chasing the ball.

He didn't understand why his opponent would persist in such a desperate situation.

"..."

Shintobe Inakichi didn't say anything, he just gripped his racket tightly.

He hasn't scored a single point yet, and that feeling of powerlessness is overwhelming him like a tidal wave.

But he didn't want to give up so easily; he had to hit that damn afterimage ball back!

"Bang!"

Akazawa Yoshiro stopped talking and tossed the ball, then swung his racket.

"Bang!"

……

"Bang!"

Shinto Miyazaki stared at the swaying shadow, his mind blank, but his body instinctively swung his racket.

"Snapped!"

A crisp sound of the ball being struck rang out.

Shintobe Inakichi froze, staring blankly at his right hand. He... hit it?

The tennis ball flew over the net and landed at Yoshiro Akazawa's feet.

"So lucky?"

Akazawa Yoshiro was also taken aback.

This is the first time someone has ever managed to hit his afterimage ball back purely by luck.

However, that's all.

"Bang!"

"15-0!"

In the following goals, Yoshiro Akazawa gave Inaki Niito no further chances.

"30-0!"

……

"40-0!"

……

"Game, Nitobe Inakichi, 0-6!"

……

"Match 4 is over, 6-0, Yoshiro Akazawa wins!"

Kagura Ichijin sighed inwardly as he watched Shintobe Inakichi walk off the stage dejectedly.

"Singles is definitely Yamabuki's weakness."

Apart from him, Jin Akutsu, and Kiyosumi Sengoku, the other players' singles skills are indeed not up to par.

St. Rudolph won two singles matches in his first year alone.

If they encounter a school with a strong singles lineup, Yamabuki will be in a very dangerous situation.

"Kagura, I'm sorry... I lost terribly."

Nitobe Inakichi walked up to Kagura, too ashamed to look up.

"It's alright, the opponent does have some tricks up their sleeve."

Kagura Ichijin handed Shinto Mi Inagi a bottle of water in a gentle tone.

"This kind of special tennis technique is difficult to deal with the first time you encounter it, so get some rest."

After saying that, he took out his racket from his tennis bag and began his final warm-up.

"The fifth match begins. Please welcome Yamabuki and St. Rudolf for their first singles matches."

Kagura Ichijin walked to the net and looked at the opposite side, where there was a curly-haired man named Kanzuki with shrewd eyes.

"You're the first-year club president from Yamabuki, right?"

Guan Yuechu gently curled her bangs with one hand, a playful smile playing on her lips.

"That's right."

Kagura Ichijin remained calm.

Since the regional qualifiers, he has become a key target of study for various schools, and the one in front of us is good at data tennis.

"I will beat you."

Guan Yuechu's smile vanished, replaced by a serious expression.

The score between St. Rudolf and Yamabuki is now 2-2, and this match will determine who advances.

"It's good to be confident, but you also need to face reality: you are no match for me."

Kagura Ichijin shook his head slightly.

Many so-called child prodigies grow up in a greenhouse, are used to praise, and think they are invincible. Little do they know that the real arena is cruel.

"Oh? That's not necessarily true."

Hearing such dismissive words, Guan Yuechu was not angry at all; instead, a hint of barely perceptible joy flashed in his eyes.

That's exactly the effect he wanted! As long as Kagura Ikjin underestimates his opponent and becomes careless, his chances of winning will increase significantly.

"Really? I hope you don't break down later."

Kagura Ichijin caught the fleeting slyness in Kanzuki's eyes, and a meaningful smile curved his lips.

Trying to play psychological warfare with him is like showing off your skills in front of Guan Yu (a legendary Chinese swordsman).

Guan Yuechu probably never dreamed that he was also good at data tennis.

"Don't worry, I'm not that fragile."

Guan Yuechu smiled confidently and turned to walk towards the bottom line.