153. Kunimitsu Tezuka VS. Reijiro Kamio (Illusion)

Reiji Kamishiro pulled a second tennis ball from his shorts pocket, tossed it up, swung his racket, and bent his body down in one fluid motion. Outside the court, Shinya Yanagisawa remarked, "No matter how I look at it, his serve doesn't look any different from the first game, dana..."

"Yeah, and it's just a very ordinary fast ball. Why is Captain Tezuka having such a hard time returning it?"

Akazawa Yoshirō also nodded.

Whoosh.

Tezuka took a step forward and extended his arm. The tennis ball reached his racket in an instant, and just as he prepared to return it, he immediately sensed something was wrong. Why was the force behind the ball so immense?

Years of tennis practice had given Tezuka plenty of on-court experience, allowing him to stalemate with Kamishiro's serve. Yet, despite the excessive power, Tezuka didn't lose his grip on the racket. Watching closely from nearby, Fuji's eyes flashed with a hint of astonishment. "Just like that last ball, it's so hard to return!"

Thwack!

Finally, Tezuka adjusted the point of force in his arm and hit the ball back. The moment the tennis ball left the racket, the strings appeared to be deeply indented, but the ball only managed to fly a short distance before crashing directly into the net!

Plop.

Pitter-patter...

"Fault! 30–0!"

The umpire called out loudly upon seeing Tezuka hit the ball into the net.

"He didn't manage to return it... What a pity."

Akazawa Yoshirō winced.

"I think there really is something wrong with that guy's ball, dana..."

Sensing that Tezuka's skill level meant he shouldn't be making such low-level mistakes, Shinya Yanagisawa changed his initial opinion.

"His serve is much more powerful than it looks. I wonder what's going on."

Shishido Ryō narrowed his eyes.

"Didn't you and Akutsu notice anything unusual?"

Shibayama Kumakiri figured that since both of them possessed excellent dynamic vision, they should have been able to spot some clues during Kamishiro's serve.

"Didn't notice anything unusual at all. However, judging by the receiver's movements, he definitely received a heavy ball," said Akutsu quietly, having felt that something was off all along without speaking up.

"So he's a power-type player after all..."

Oda Fuyuka murmured, stunned.

"Speaking of which... Matsubara and the others seem to dread running into power-type players the most. They always end up in grueling battles against them," Iwamura Yuna said blankly, tapping her chin with her finger.

"It's strange... That guy makes you feel like something is just not right."

Kitaura Kaede grabbed the wire fence and said in a deep voice.

"Did Kitaura-kun notice something?"

Inoue Satoru asked.

"I didn't notice anything specific, but it just feels wrong."

Kitaura shook his head.

"This is the first time I've seen Tezuka hit a shot that failed to clear the net. Logically speaking, while his skill isn't at the absolute pinnacle, among average first-years he is well on his way to mastery. This doesn't look like him at all..."

Shiba Saori snapped a few photos and commented.

"It's not just about raw power. There must be some secret behind it that we don't know yet," Fuji thought to himself, watching Kamishiro Reiji.

"That ball should have been just a regular serve. It shouldn't carry that much weight."

A thought flashed through Tezuka's mind as he gripped his racket with both hands. "Yet the weight of the ball is completely real. A normal serve has produced a weight far exceeding what a normal serve should have."

Kamishiro Reiji served again. Tezuka's gaze hardened as he forcefully returned the ball, but the instant he struck it, an empty sensation suddenly struck his heart!

Whoosh!

The tennis ball traced a beautiful arc through the air, then smashed directly into the highest part of the wire mesh fence.

"Fault! 40–0!"

"What on earth is going on, Tezuka? This time you hit it out of bounds!"

"It was clearly just an ordinary serve!"

Several senior students from Chōsei murmured reprovingly upon seeing Tezuka commit frequent errors.

"I see. He uses the exact same form, but he can hit balls with completely varying degrees of force—whether it's a serve or a return shot."

A flash of insight crossed Fuji's mind, and he seemed to understand something.

"I've figured it out. He truly uses the exact same form to serve and hit, but when he swings, he can make the ball's weight lighter or heavier."

Kaidō Sadaharu muttered to himself as he recorded Kamishiro's latest data in his notebook.

"You mean that guy can choose what percentage of his strength to use when striking the ball?"

Shishido Ryō asked in astonishment.

"No, from the moment he starts his motion, he has already decided what weight the ball will have. Yet to us, his form remains completely singular—it's a standard, ordinary posture that gives no reason for suspicion."

Kaidō Sadaharu drew his conclusion through analysis.

"...“

Tezuka's gaze darkened slightly. He too had figured out the reason behind the varying weights of Kamishiro's shots: using the identical form to hit tennis balls with different forces. A truly interesting fellow.

"Kaede, what did you mean earlier about the same form?"

Kitaura Sara didn't understand what he meant.

"It means Kamishiro can freely hit heavy and light balls using the exact same posture. To us, it looks like a routine serve, but when Tezuka receives it, he discovers it's a serve packed with explosive power,"

Kitaura Kaede explained.

"I see. That's why Tezuka has been making mistakes this whole time. Just like us, he thought it was a completely normal serve, but in reality, it was a heavy ball..."

Shiba Saori came to a realization.

"A formidable guy. Is this the masterpiece of Wakimura's ultimate creation...?"

Inoue Satoru murmured as he looked toward Wakimura Aoi.

Bang!

After receiving the ball, Tezuka realized that this time it wasn't the light ball from before, but a heavy one once again. Because he had been unprepared prior to receiving it, the heavy ball still placed a massive burden on him. Feeling the heavy impact transmitting from his wrist up his arm, Tezuka suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm at a certain moment, and the five fingers gripping the handle instinctively let go!

"!"

Clatter!

Following the trajectory of the flying racket with his eyes, Tezuka bit his lip lightly.

"2–1! Chōsei's Tezuka to serve! Switch sides!"

"This is getting tricky. Being able to freely manipulate the weight of the tennis ball upon impact while using the exact same form makes it impossible for Tezuka to distinguish the force behind the shot. Changing the serve's power through subtle bodily shifts—truly an exquisite technique."

Kaidō Sadaharu resumed scribbling furiously in his notebook.

"Whether it's flat shots or spin shots, there are usually corresponding postural changes in the body when executing them. Yet Kamishiro accomplishes this directly without any of those obvious shifts. Well, Tezuka, do you have a way to crack this boy's Mirage?"

Wakimura Aoi crossed her arms, her tone filled with absolute confidence in Kamishiro Reiji.

"Kamishiro's Mirage completely bewilders his opponents, leading to their defeat through mental confusion. As the idiom suggests, it signifies illusion. Even the first two games he lost to Tezuka were meant to serve as a distraction. Kamishiro doesn't just exert overwhelming physical pressure on his opponent; his psychological pressure is equally formidable,"

said Kajimoto Takahisa.

"The Mirage..."

Over on the Chōsei side, Shishido Ryō and the others listened intently to Kajimoto Takahisa's explanation, murmuring quietly to themselves.