Volley? Why is it so weak?

In the court, the Seigaku and Fudomine teams were in position, and the finals of the district preliminaries were about to begin.

The players for Doubles 2 were preparing to take the court. Fudomine's Sakurai Masaya and Ishida Tetsu were already warming up by the sidelines.

On the other hand, Seigaku's Horio, whom Fudomine's Doubles 2 pair didn't think much of, sat leisurely on a chair. Kawamura Takashi, sitting beside him, also appeared a bit nervous.

"Senior Kawamura, you don't need to be nervous. I hope we can play a good match."

"Ah... Oh, okay. Please guide me."

Horio looked at the somewhat endearingly simple Kawamura Takashi and thought to himself, Do people with great natural strength always seem a bit slow?

"Doubles 2 match is about to begin. Please have both teams take the court."

"The match begins. Fudomine serves."

Ishida Tetsu, wearing a white headband, tensed the muscles in his arm and hit the ball towards Kawamura's baseline. A match without suspense began.

Kawamura Takashi and Ishida Tetsu were both heavy-gravity type tennis players, so Horio basically tried to let balls slip through to Kawamura Takashi.

Heavy-gravity players always got excited when they met other heavy-gravity players. So, he decided to let Kawamura Takashi enjoy himself. Perhaps it could even help him develop new skills.

As Kawamura and Ishida continued their heavy-gravity clash, the score reached 2:3, with Fudomine temporarily in the lead.

After five games of heavy-gravity exchanges, both players seemed rather fatigued. Thus, Horio took over the ball.

"Senior Kawamura, you should rest for a bit. I'll help share the load. From now on, we need to catch up."

Horio then walked to the baseline, switching positions with Kawamura.

The crowd off the court...

Seeing Horio move to the baseline, the Seigaku members all smiled.

Their dedicated cheer squad also knew that Horio had started to get serious, and their cheers grew louder.

Meanwhile, on Fudomine's side, seeing this first-year student Horio swap out the powerful Kawamura for a position at the net, they couldn't help but wonder. Is Seigaku giving up?

Only the captain, Tachibana Kippei, frowned.

"Who is this person? He gives me an incredibly dangerous feeling. Ishida and the others are in trouble this match."

Horio, at the baseline, looked at the two opponents.

"Heh, I don't even need to use my Wave Ball yet. Looks like I'll just have to force you."

Then Horio tossed the ball and hit a powerful serve towards the other side.

Bang...

"Ah! He... What kind of serve was that just now? Did you guys even see the ball!?"

"I couldn't see it at all... That first-year... how could he have such a fast serve? It's simply unbelievable."

"What the heck, I thought that first-year was just there for show. Turns out he's the strongest one?"

Just Horio's serve astonished the Fudomine players, while for the Seigaku members, it was just a normal occurrence.

"That kid really isn't holding back. The power of that serve just now was probably even greater than during the school ranking matches before."

"It looks like Horio wants to end this quickly. But that's fine too. If it ends early, we can rest sooner."

Bang...

"Kawamura Horio scores. 30:0"

Another powerful serve. The opposing Ishida and Sakurai pair didn't react at all.

Bang...

"Kawamura Horio scores. 40:0"

Bang...

"Kawamura Horio scores. Score is 3:3."

Horio cleanly took a game. It was Fudomine's serve again, and Horio remained at the baseline.

Ishida Tetsu on the other side saw Horio staying at the baseline, clenched the tennis ball in his hand, and swung his racket with force.

He hit the tennis ball he tossed into the air. Just as Ishida and Sakurai finished their serve, they heard another "bang."

"Kawamura Horio scores. 15:0"

Ishida, whose serving posture hadn't even changed, saw the ball he had just served immediately returned at an imperceptible speed. His eyes changed instantly.

"I can't see it... The speed of that return. Could it be that his serve isn't the only fast thing about him?"

"Hey Ishida, don't get distracted. Try again."

Ishida, reminded by Sakurai, adjusted his state and served a ball with increased force.

Bang...

"Kawamura Horio scores, 30:0."

As expected, just like the previous point, Horio returned the serve with absolute speed.

Under Horio's absolute dominance, Seigaku took another game, bringing the score to 4:3. Seigaku had caught up by two games, taking the lead.

Then, during Seigaku's serve, Horio scored another point with a powerful serve, making the score 5:3. Seigaku was just one game away from victory.

"That first-year from Seigaku, you really can't underestimate him. He's won three points in a row by himself..."

Ishida, seeing that he had lost three consecutive points, seemed to make up his mind and suddenly looked at Tachibana Kippei on the sidelines, striking a special pose.

Tachibana Kippei, seeing Ishida's gaze from the sidelines, immediately understood what he meant. Horio, on the other side, also understood.

"Come on, come on, you don't need to ask your captain's opinion. Just use it."

Tachibana Kippei, seemingly aware of Ishida's intention, raised a finger.

Seeing Tachibana Kippei's gesture, Ishida acted as if he had received instructions.

"Kawamura-senpai, let's switch positions. I think something I've been looking forward to is about to happen."

"Oh, okay. You must be tired too. Get some rest."

The simple-minded Kawamura Takashi returned to the baseline once again. Ishida, seeing Kawamura Takashi back at the baseline, smiled.

"Just when I was allowed to use that move, you guys switch back. It's like heaven doesn't want you to win."

Then Ishida served the ball. After Kawamura returned it, the ball flew towards Ishida.

Ishida's right hand suddenly bulged with veins, and he swung the racket he held tightly with force.

The already heavy ball became even heavier. It was the Wave Ball that Horio had been anticipating.

"Kawamura-senpai, I'll take that one. I've been waiting for a long time."

Horio immediately ran ahead into the trajectory of the Wave Ball. Seeing Horio about to receive Ishida's Wave Ball, everyone from Fudomine, including Tachibana Kippei, changed their expressions.

They all knew the power of Ishida's Wave Ball, which was not something an ordinary person could handle. Ishida, however, couldn't afford to hold back and forcefully hit the Wave Ball.

"Heh heh, Fudomine, don't be too surprised."

Horio swung his racket with a smile, a seemingly ordinary shot.

Seeing Horio prepare to return the Wave Ball with a normal swing, even the members of Seigaku became nervous.

Even from the sidelines, they could sense that this ball was unusual. Although they knew that Horio's skill was enough to handle it, such a simple swing made them worried.

The Fudomine members, who seemed to have already seen the racket being knocked flying, watched as the ball got closer and closer to the racket. The moment the ball and racket collided, the anticipated scene did not occur.

To their even greater astonishment, the powerful Wave Ball was hit back by Horio's ordinary swing, catching even the confident Ishida off guard.

After returning the ball, Horio felt the force transmitted through the racket from the Wave Ball and frowned.

"Is this the Wave Ball? Why does it feel... so weak..."