The Prince of Tennis: My tennis skills come from Naruto

Chapter 149 The cannonball leaves the barrel

Jin Akutsu instantly concentrated all his strength, like a compressed spring being suddenly released, and then focused it all on the tennis ball.

"Bang!"

With a powerful, cannon-like roar, the tennis ball was slammed into the racket and shot off like an arrow, hurtling towards the opposing court with unstoppable force!

As Dongfang Yamei felt the strong wind, his pupils suddenly contracted. Although he had anticipated that the ball would be fast and heavy after seeing Akutsu's hitting motion and hearing the sound of the ball hitting, the overwhelming sense of pressure when it actually came was still far beyond his imagination.

He quickly stepped back to the right with his left foot, desperately lowering his center of gravity, and gripped the racket with his left hand, preparing to block with both hands.

But before his racket had even traveled halfway, the "fluorescent yellow arrow" crashed to the ground with a loud "bang!"

The ball slams into the hard ground, leaving a clearly visible dent, and even after a bounce, the tennis ball's speed and force remain undiminished.

It passed by, two palms' width away from the racket face of Dongfang Yamei, with a sharp whooshing sound.

"Crunch"

The tennis ball bounced off the wire mesh, sending sparks flying.

Dongfang Yamei stood frozen in place, still in the position of having failed to receive the serve, while in his ears came the announcement, "Akuzu Jin & Sengoku Kiyosumi score! 15-0!"

"Oh! Akutsu! Akutsu! Akutsu!"

"That's incredible! Ace! One-hit kill!"

"Did you see that, Yamabuki! This is the power of Hyotei!"

Inside the arena, Dongfang Yamei remained frozen in place, like an ice sculpture that had suddenly been solidified.

Kentaro Minami quickly walked to his side, patted him hard on the shoulder, pulling him back to reality. In a serious tone, Minami comforted him, "Touhou, stay calm! Don't let the first ball stun you! Although Akutsu is strong, we're not without a chance."

Dongfang Yamei took a deep breath and slowly, with a slight, almost imperceptible tremor, retracted her stiff racket.

He shook his slightly numb wrist. "Yeah, of course, I won't let him get it so easily next time."

Meanwhile, on the Yamabuki Junior High coaching bench, Banta Mikiya squinted at Akutsu Jin's figure, thinking to himself:

Akutsu has shown that he is stronger than he was when he played singles third a week ago.

This speed of progress—

Sure enough, he wasn't wrong. This boy's potential was far more than just ranking 7 at Hyotei. While the top two at Hyotei were uncertain, if it was Mori Jusaburo, Hyotei's 3, Banta Mikiya had a strange feeling that Akutsu wasn't invincible against him either.

Over there on the court, Jin Akutsu strode to change his service area, then wildly caught the second tennis ball tossed to him by the caddie with a "thud," and continued to serve!

This time, his entire routine was even wilder, especially his swing—no, it wasn't a swing anymore, it was a full-on slam!

"Bang!"

The second "cannonball" was fired from his "cannon"! The sound was more muffled and more explosive than the first ball!

If the first shot was a precise sniper strike, then this shot is a high-yield cannonball!

"Bang!"

The tennis ball slammed into the ground and bounced back up with undiminished momentum.

Meanwhile, Kentaro Minami, who was standing near the baseline, quickly moved to the right, gripped his racket with both hands, and prepared to slice to neutralize Jin Akutsu's serve.

However, when the net surface of his racket collides with the incoming ball after it bounces, a tremendous force spreads rapidly from the racket to the palms of his hands and even his wrists.

not good!

Kentaro Minami sensed something was wrong. He gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his neck, as he tried to steady his paddle and launch a counterattack.

But the force was too overwhelming. His wrist twisted outward uncontrollably under the enormous impact, and the entire racket face was instantly tilted and twisted outward by the force. Then the racket flew out of his hand. Without the racket's restraint, the tennis ball flew away gracefully in an upward-left arc.

"Clatter"

The racket fell to the ground and then shook violently twice. "Akuzu Jin & Sengoku Kiyosumi score! 30-0!" The referee's announcement rang out as Minami Kentaro was still in a daze.

"That's incredible! Akutsu is too strong!"

"A perfect counterattack!"

The average viewer was astonished, exclaiming, "He actually knocked his opponent's racket away! What kind of power is that?!"

Kentaro Minami, whose racket had been knocked away, exhaled a breath of stale air. He slowly squatted down, picked up the racket, and looked at the somewhat distorted net surface. He felt a mix of emotions, even a little embarrassed.

He had just comforted Dongfang, saying they still had a chance against Akutsu, when Akutsu beat him so badly his racket was ruined—

Kentaro Minami sighed, then raised his hand to signal the referee to change the racket. Although the net of this racket was only slightly twisted at the point where it received Jin Akutsu's serve, the rest of the racket was intact. But as the saying goes, a small mistake can lead to a huge error.

If you use that part of the racket again in the next game, that twist will seriously affect your ball control, and consequently, the quality of your serve or return.

Anyway, Kentaro Minami said that he doesn't have the ability to play tennis regularly with a worn-out tennis ball.

Meanwhile, after Kentaro Minami returned to his position, Jin Akutsu kicked off again. The next two shots were not in any suspense. Although Masami Higashikata and Kentaro Minami were both steady and determined not to let Jin Akutsu easily retaliate, determination obviously cannot put food on the table. If you don't have the strength, you won't succeed.

So very quickly, "Akuzu Jin & Sengoku Kiyosumi score!"

"Game! Jin Akutsu & Kiyosumi Sengoku! 1-0! Hyotei Academy takes the lead! Switch fields!"

As soon as the referee's voice faded, shouts erupted from the sidelines: "Fantastic! They won the service game straight away!!"

"A great start!"

"So cool! Akutsu, so cool!"

Amidst the clamorous cheers for Hyotei, Kentaro Minami and Masami Higashikata walked silently and somewhat heavily toward the benches on the sidelines.

After walking to the bench, Dongfang Yamei picked up a bottle of mineral water, twisted it open, and gulped down several mouthfuls. Then he put the water bottle aside, sat down, and vigorously pressed and rubbed his wrists, trying to relieve the throbbing numbness. His thoughts were churning:

When Inui said they had a 10% chance of winning, he didn't object, but he felt that the two from Hyotei wouldn't be that risky. However, after the actual match, he felt that the probability had to be reduced even further.

Hey--

Then he heard a stomping sound, turned his head slightly, and saw that Minami Kentaro had also sat down, and was doing the same thing as him, massaging his wrist.