An Uninvited Guest

"I've been training in your footsteps all this time, and I never understood why. Now I finally know—it's to surpass you! Meido, let's have a good fight."

Feng was very excited. Looking at Meido opposite her, she finally expressed her determination.

"My God, has Feng finally come to his senses?"

"But it's still too difficult to reverse this now."

Phoenix's awakening led to Kikumaru's condition improving as well.

The two players were also working on improving their teamwork, and their score gradually improved.

Meanwhile, Hyotei, on the other side, also received an uninvited guest.

"Hello."

In the Hyotei Tennis Club, Hiyoshi Wakashi, a reserve member for the starting lineup, leads the other members in their daily practice.

A blond-haired figure appeared, interrupting the orderly training session.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

Hiyoshi Wakashi saw this uninvited guest, his tone remained polite.

"I want to play a match against the best player here."

"Stop fooling around, we don't have time to play these kinds of games with a brat like you."

"Hmph, you'll find out if you're a brat or not once you try."

The figure wasn't angry at Hiyoshi Wakashi's refusal; instead, he took out his racket and served a shot onto the tennis court.

"You rude brat."

Seeing that the other party had provoked them to this extent, Hiyoshi Wakashi finally couldn't take it anymore.

And so, a match that should never have happened took place on the tennis courts of Hyotei.

Inside the Training Base, two doubles matches are still underway.

"Kikumaru scores, 5:5"

"They actually caught up with us!"

"Those two are really impressive..."

"Yay, keep it up! That One Ball, One Soul!"

"I'm serving now, Kikumaru."

At the start of the eleventh inning, Ootori and Kikumaru surprisingly adopted the Australian Formation.

Seeing Kikumaru's unwavering faith in him, Feng even made his serves more powerful.

Meido was originally capable of successfully returning Scud Serve, failed to clear the net on this particular shot.

The same thing happened with the next few balls, and Feng finally managed to score a point with her signature move.

By this time, both sides were already exhausted, and the hot weather made their physical exertion even more severe than usual.

"Now it's a battle of wills to see who can hold out the longest."

"Even if Ootori and Kikumaru lost, they should still be proud enough."

"To come back from a five-set deficit to win six consecutive sets is truly impressive."

The Ryuzaki team members, who had been watching the match from beginning to end, were all taken aback by the incredible comeback of Ootori and Kikumaru.

"Meido of Oishi scores, 15:0"

"Kikumaru scores, 30:15"

"Meido of Oishi scores, 30:30"

"Kikumaru scores, score 7:5"

After persistent efforts from both sides, the eventual victory was won by the latecomer, Feng and Kikumaru.

"Kikumaru, we... we won."

Feng, who was kneeling on the ground, said happily to Kikumaru, who was sitting on the ground exhausted.

At this moment, Kikumaru was so exhausted that he couldn't hear Feng's voice, and Meido on the other side was just as exhausted.

Of the four players on the field, the only one in relatively good condition is probably Oishi, who is slightly out of breath.

"Hey, stop right there! You're the one who injured someone from the Seigaku tennis club, aren't you?"

As dusk fell, Horio called out to a figure not far away.

Upon hearing Horio's voice, the figure turned around.

Upon seeing Horio's appearance, his eyes suddenly widened in shock.

"So you're Horio Satoshi from Seigaku?"

Hearing that the other person even knew his name, Horio felt something was amiss.

Horio, who was taking a break at the Training Base, was suddenly asked by Tezuka to go back to school to get some documents.

Thinking I'd take this opportunity to check on the others' training, I arrived at the tennis court to find Arai being helped to the infirmary by the others.

Horio, puzzled, quickly learned what had happened: a stranger had suddenly appeared, claiming he was looking for Ryoma.

After learning that Ryoma was not there, he asked to fight the strongest person present. The arrogant Arai saw that his opponent was just a small person and immediately said that he was the strongest here.

As you can imagine, Arai ended up getting a lesson from this little guy with a tennis ball.

Horio is actually quite accepting of minor injuries while playing, as long as they don't involve actions that damage the athlete's physical foundation.

However, Arai was already in so much pain that she was bent over, clearly indicating that her organs had been damaged.

After asking the others about the short man's physical characteristics, Horio left.

After Horio left, he kept thinking about it.

Blonde hair, a foreigner, looking for Echizen Ryoma, and even Echizen Ryoma's soccer skills.

Considering that a Japan-US goodwill competition was about to begin, Horio came to a conclusion without much thought.

So Horio went to Hyotei, and after arriving at Fudomine, he finally encountered this person on the way.

"You must be Kevin Smith, the one who will be participating in the Japan-US Goodwill Competition."

"I'm truly honored that Horio Satoshi knows my name."

"You should indeed feel honored. I know what your purpose is. While it's understandable that you want to defeat Echizen Ryoma, you shouldn't have used such force against the Seigaku members."

"I don't care about the feelings of the weak; only the strong have a voice in this world."

"That's no excuse for you to take your anger out on tennis. If that's all you do, you're no different from your father."

Upon hearing Horio mention his father, Kevin Smith's expression immediately changed.

He then drew his racket and hit a powerful serve at Horio's face. Horio calmly stretched out his hand, and the powerful tennis ball was easily caught by Horio with one hand.

"I should have punished you properly for manipulating hatred through tennis, but there's no need for someone like you who only imitates."

Horio stared coldly at Kevin Smith, his anger burning uncontrollably. He tossed the tennis ball to Kevin Smith and then continued speaking.

"Have you ever heard the saying that to defeat someone, you must be strong enough to be their equal? If you just follow in their footsteps, you will never surpass them?"

You've learned all of Echizen Ryoma's techniques, and you're even left-handed. Do you really think you can beat him?

After saying that, Horio glanced at Kevin Smith with disdain, then turned and left without saying another word.

First, he was told that his father was just like him, and then he was mocked for only being able to imitate others and that he would never be able to beat Echizen Ryoma.

Kevin Smith could no longer contain his violent rage and served an even more terrifying ball at Horio.