Hm, on the other hand, Oni might not need to break the zone completely in order to score?
We've only seen it work horizontally except for Mouri's weak ZSS return and a lob in a chapter I cannot remember (besides anime filler). Never anything like a flat. In fact, Sanada outpowered the zone just using good old Fire back in the Nationals, which forced Tezuka to abandon his strategy and use Hyakuren (only to be struck by Lightning). Oni with his 10 Power in Kijin is much stronger than that, and if Tezuka brings back Hyakuren (which he shouldn't, as he'd lose the Zone) then Oni has the SSS himself in the GJK.
After 20 days in the camp, Sanada got to a 5, only 1 more point than Tezuka... and his Nationals self got that feat with Fire. Now imagine how well a 10 would fare. Granted, this is before the Phantom entered the picture, but it does show Power can bruteforce Tezuka's spin (and it makes sense? Also, the closer you are to the net the wider your hitting angle).
There's a lot to digest here.
If his final point against QP is any indication, Oni can possibly stack his 10 in power with his TnK aura. I reckon his starting stats are stronger, too.
Oni needs to work on his horizontal speed, not towards the net. It should be a factor on his rallying but not for returning the ZSS. The spread we see in chapter 356 shows that he has
at least a 5 in speed, leveled with Mouri who could return the ZSS and needs to work on the complete opposite, and you have to add TnK's buff on top of it. Surely faster than Yukimura, too. At worst for Oni, him and Tezuka are even in speed, if we are thinking of someone getting an edge in this stat to capitalise and win a point.
Tezuka's been training a lot yes but there's a limit to what you can gain in a week and he was a 4 when he left. Meanwhile Oni has " an inexhaustible supply of stamina... result of steady and honest training." The same spread I mentioned shows he has a 5.5 or a 6, leaning on the latter based on the description.
I reckon Oni beats him in Mental, too. His description talks about it reaching its limit thanks to Ki Jin, it's surely around a 6 (or better) whereas Tezuka sits at 5.
Technique goes to Tezuka, though. Him getting a 7 sounds reasonable enough imo.
So I'm estimating.
TNK + 5/10/6/6/5 (32, 29 without the 10 which puts him only 1 point above Tanegashima)).
TNK + 5/4/5/5/7 (increased his total by 2.5 points and reached 26, same total as Ohmagari and Kaji).
And I think I'm being rather generous with Tezuka, before even thinking about diminishing returns and all.
Tezuka in Day 6 of the camp (the camp itself
started in November):
Total: 19
Speed: 3
Power: 3.5
Stamina: 3
Mental: 4.5
Technique: 5
Tezuka in 10.5 (Day 20, having trained with Volk for 2 weeks-ish):
Total: 23.5 (+4.5)
Speed: 4.5
Power: 4
Stamina: 4
Mental: 5
Technique: 6
Current Tezuka (December 1st or earlier, a week later?):
Total: 26 (+2.5)
Speed: 5
Power: 4
Stamina: 5
Mental: 5
Technique: 7
At best he may get an extra point in Mental when he played Yukimura, maybe, but even then he's still looking up to Oni in total. I'm more inclined to believe he's at 4.5 in Stamina, even. Going from less than 3 in Speed and Stamina and jumping to 5 in both 4 weeks later is pretty insane.
I think the combo of TnK serve + ZSS does get Tezuka a good bunch of games, but he ultimately falls short just because Oni is a tier or two above him. His odds only get worse if the match is a 3 setter.
