Let's End This Match Early

Horio tossed the ball into the air and casually hit a standard cross-court shot. This was the most he could hold back.

On the other side, Izumi powerfully returned the ball, and Ryoma, at the net, immediately moved.

He exerted force with his left foot, sending his body to the right, and then with a backhand from his left hand, he hit the ball to the right frontcourt, Echizen's blind spot.

Scoring a point from Ryoma's attack, the "non-mainstream duo" felt a bit embarrassed.

They exchanged glances, seeing the intention in each other's eyes: they were going to adopt a double-net strategy.

So, after Horio held back on another serve, the duo directly came to the net after returning the ball.

This reduced their defensive area and allowed for quicker counterattacks.

Conversely, Ryoma's path for returning the ball was cut off by the opponents' double-net approach.

Except for lob shots, all other ball paths were easily returned directly by the opponents. With no time to think, Ryoma directly hit a drive shot towards them.

As expected, the non-mainstream duo, spotting Ryoma moving to the right and Horio, who hadn't moved since serving, aimed the ball towards the left open space at the baseline.

"As expected, both of them are half-baked. That first-year newcomer is even worse than the one from yesterday."

The duo, who were feeling smug, suddenly saw a dark shadow flash in the direction the ball was flying. It was Horio, who had been at the right baseline all along.

"Ah! How is that possible? How could he have moved to the left so quickly!"

A slightly disdainful smile on Horio's face, he hit a slice shot with strong spin.

It strongly resembled Oishi's "Climbing Moon Interception," but the spin force was on a completely different level.

Thump...

"Horio and Echizen score, 30:0."

"I told you, with me here, your balls will never fly behind me."

Under Horio's impenetrable defense, Ryoma focused on dealing with the duo.

Even for balls he couldn't reach, Horio could return them with an Inch Step and score.

After a few rounds, even when Ryoma made a mistake, the non-mainstream duo didn't dare to attack.

They could only hit the ball towards Ryoma; scoring points from Ryoma was better than definitely losing points from Horio.

The spectators outside saw a match that seemed like a two-on-two, but was actually a difficult one-on-two for Ryoma.

Bang...

"Match over, Horio and Echizen score, the score is 6:2, Horio and Echizen win."

As the referee announced the end of the match, Seigaku's cheerleading squad's spirit instantly surged.

Ryoma, who was exhausted from the one-on-two and gasping for breath, finally couldn't hold on and collapsed.

Horio quickly came to Ryoma's side and pulled him up. After shaking hands with the non-mainstream duo, he directly left the court.

There was no more suspense in the subsequent matches. Horio and Ryoma had already dealt with Tamarin's strongest doubles pair, and the other four matches all ended with a score of 6:0.

With the match against Tamarin concluded, Seigaku's next match was in the afternoon.

They would play against whoever won between Kakimotogakuen and Fudomine, so the Seigaku members could rest for quite a while.

Outside a certain court, Tezuka and Fuji were watching other schools' matches while chatting casually.

At this moment, Kuki Kiichi, the main player and captain of Kakimotogakuen, jumped out. Because Tezuka didn't play in the first match, he was very curious about Tezuka's injured hand from last year.

So, he specifically came to test him. If Tezuka was indeed injured, then Kakimotogakuen's chances of winning the district preliminaries this year would greatly increase.

However, the result disappointed him. Tezuka's powerful left hand directly flung away his unwanted advance.

At this time, Horio, Katsuro, and Katsuo, bored, found a less crowded spot to steal a moment of leisure, while also listening to the two discuss the afternoon finals.

"This afternoon is our Seigaku's match against Kakimotogakuen. We will definitely be the champions of the district preliminaries again this year."

"That's for sure. Kakimotogakuen only seems to have their captain, Kuki Kiichi, as a strong player. He won't pose any threat to our Seigaku."

Hearing them hand over the championship to Seigaku after just a few words, Horio interjected appropriately.

"We might not be playing against Kakimotogakuen this afternoon. This year might have a more interesting match. Of course, you're right about one thing: the district preliminary championship will definitely go to Seigaku."

"Horio, what do you know? If it's not Kakimotogakuen, could it be that Fudomine? I've never heard of this school before."

Katsuro, confused, tried hard to recall for a long time but couldn't remember what kind of school Fudomine was, his mind full of doubts.

"It is indeed an obscure school, but an interesting person came last year. It wouldn't be bad to have a match with him."

Horio recalled the violent Mighty Lion with golden hair from the original work, and a smile appeared on his lips.

As expected, the news came that Fudomine had defeated Kakimotogakuen.

The captain of Kakimotogakuen was even beaten 6:2 by a second-year student from Fudomine. A nameless school became Seigaku's opponent in the finals.

"I just watched Fudomine's match. It's completely different from the Fudomine of the past. All the players have been replaced, and their strength has improved significantly. The most mysterious one should be Tachibana Kippei, who serves as both coach and captain. I don't have any information about him yet."

Inui Sadaharu returned with his notebook as usual to report the news to everyone.

Following him was Tachibana Kippei, dressed in a black uniform with a black buzz cut, leading several teammates also in black uniforms toward the Seigaku group.

"You're Tezuka, right? Let's have a good match."

Tachibana Kippei said with a serious expression as he extended his hand toward Tezuka.

"It would be my pleasure."

Tezuka also extended his hand.

Seeing their actions, Horio couldn't help but laugh.

"I never thought one of the Kyushu Twin Stars, Tachibana Kippei, would be so polite these days. Truly a sight to behold."

Hearing that someone in the Tokyo region recognized him, Tachibana Kippei, who had already changed his hairstyle and hair color, widened his eyes. The Seigaku members and the Fudomine members couldn't help but become curious upon hearing Horio's words.

Let alone the Seigaku members, even the Fudomine members didn't know their captain's background. Now, someone from another school seemed to know something.

Tachibana Kippei frowned slightly in surprise and stared directly at Horio, but Horio acted as if he didn't see it.

"No need to look at me like that. The only thing I'm interested in about the Kyushu Twin Stars is whether we can have a good match."

Afterward, Tachibana Kippei led his team away. Watching Fudomine leave.

The gazes of the Seigaku members all turned to Horio. Horio instantly understood their meaning.

"Alright, alright. Tachibana Kippei is one of the famous Kyushu Twin Stars.

His more formidable tennis techniques are likely Explosive Ball Dance and Beast's Aura. He's a calm player off the court but violent on it.

But it's okay, I'm quite looking forward to playing against him.

It's a shame Fudomine won't last until singles one. Oh, right, Coach, for the match against Fudomine, I hope I can be included in the doubles two lineup, please, Coach.

Since I can't play against Tachibana Kippei, let's finish the match quickly."