Preparing for the National Tournament

"Alright, the friendly match is over. Now our task is to work hard for the National Tournament. I hope everyone will give it their all."

At the Seigaku tennis club's training ground, Tezuka, dressed in his uniform, gave his usual pre-training speech.

"The Coach needs to rest in the hospital for a while and will not appear until the start of the school term."

During this period, I hope everyone can be self-disciplined and complete their training tasks on time and in the required quantity.

In addition to completing the basic exercises like everyone else, the starting players also need to undergo extra individual training.

Because Coach Ryuzaki has not yet recovered, the Seigaku tennis club has been temporarily handed over to Tezuka.

However, Tezuka, whose arm was still in the recovery period, could not participate in training like the others, and the doctor's repeated instructions made him dare not take any chances.

"Alright, if everyone has understood, let's begin today's practice. Dismissed!"

With Tezuka's departure from the team, the members of the tennis club began basic training.

Compared to before, even the basic training has changed.

In addition to daily swing practice, strength training, serve practice, and running, shuttle runs were added for the non-regular players after discussions with Coach Gan and Coach Ryuzaki.

Furthermore, based on the average data of these individuals, an equal weight of lead was added to each person.

According to Coach Ryuzaki, we can't just focus on intensive training for the regular players.

Seigaku can't rely on its current regulars forever. If they wait until the third-year students graduate, all that will be left are Momoshiro, Kaitou, Horio, and Ryoma.

If we expect these four people to lead Seigaku further next year, it's possible, but it will be extremely difficult.

Therefore, we need to start preparing now to cultivate the main force for next year's school team.

Coach Ryuzaki even called in Horio specifically for this, because he was the one who basically came up with the training plan for the starters.

However, Horio did not agree to Coach Ryuzaki's request. There were only a few starters, and the number of non-starters was countless.

If we were to create training plans for each player individually, given Horio's lazy personality, next year's school team would be ruined.

So Coach Ryuzaki had no choice but to let Miki do the job alone, and even Miki couldn't do it perfectly.

So they simply integrated everyone's data and developed a plan that suited the vast majority of people.

However, although Horio didn't help Coach Ryuzaki with that favor, he did offer his own idea.

This means removing the rule that first-year students can only retrieve balls, allowing anyone with the ability to compete for a starting spot.

Coach Ryuzaki was also deep in thought when he heard it, considering the possibility of this suggestion.

When the decision was made to implement this rule, the intention was to ensure a clear division of labor.

This allows second and third graders to train better, while first graders who have just joined have a year to accumulate experience and build up their strength.

This not only allows experienced and skilled senior students to achieve good results, but also provides a continuous stream of talent for the school team.

This method did work initially, so Coach Ryuzaki believed it was the right thing to do.

So it has been used for many years, but Coach Ryuzaki seriously considered it when Horio brought it up.

This is something she needs to think about; she probably wouldn't have done it this way before.

Because two extraordinary individuals have emerged from this year's first-year Seigaku at Seigaku.

This made her reflect on herself. If she had insisted on those rules this year, Seigaku might not have even made it to the semifinals of the Kanto Tournament.

"Horio, I have the latest information on the others. Based on the training plans we developed for them, they have made significant progress in all aspects."

After the basic training ended, Horio had nothing to do, and that's when Miki found him.

"But recently the results seem less noticeable, and they haven't met the standards you initially set for them, so I wanted to discuss it with you to see what the reasons might be."

"Really, Senior Senpai? Could it be because you've been using them to test your new inventions lately that this is the result?"

Upon hearing that everyone's progress had been slow lately, Horio mercilessly exposed his usual tricks.

Thinking about how, before, during, and after training each day, Gan would seize any opportunity to find a reason to make others drink different colored Gan juice.

Horio felt a chill run down his spine at the sight of everyone's miserable state after drinking it.

Even Tezuka fell for it once, being tricked and coaxed into drinking that green beverage.

He, who usually kept an eye on everyone's training, surprisingly found an excuse to leave. No one else noticed when he left, but Horio saw that his hands were trembling incessantly in his pockets.

The important thing is that Tezuka was completely unaffected after drinking it, as if his competitive spirit had been ignited.

Then different drinks would appear every day, each one more terrifying than the last.

Having already been tricked, Tezuka naturally wouldn't drink anymore, but the others had to train every day, so they always found an excuse.

Ultimately, the regular players began a hellish existence, and even Fuji, who used to enjoy drinking dry juice, withered away on the tennis court after one such attempt.

From then on, every time there was training, everyone wore a death-defying expression.

Upon hearing Ryoma's words, the usually expressionless Gan blushed.

"According to my information, these only account for a portion, but I don't know the real reason."

"Senior Senpai, it seems like we've been training every day lately. Shouldn't we take a break?"

"You mean... because the team members are all too nervous? But with the National Tournament approaching, we can't afford to relax any longer."

While this might increase the team's efficiency, it would also significantly diminish the results of their previous training.

"Senpai, you're really stubborn. You want everyone to relax while still keeping up with the training."

Let's find a campsite and train there for a week.

Anyway, all three members of our school team contributed to the friendly match, and the school benefited from it, so they'll definitely be willing to pay for it.

Horio also having a bit of a headache dealing with this guy who was too principled.

"What you said makes sense. I'll talk to the Coach and ask her to report it to the school."

"If we can get closer to nature, our training will be much more effective, which will give us a better chance of winning the National Tournament."

"Okay, okay, stop nagging me, Senpai. Getting this sorted out is the most important thing."

Horio noticed that the two bespectacled Seigaku were two extremes: Tezuka was so cold he was practically speechless, while Miki was so talkative that it gave people a headache.

"Okay, thank you so much Horio. If you hadn't come up with this idea, I really wouldn't have known..."

Seeing that Kane was completely ignoring his words, Horio chose to leave on his own; a tree dies if it's moved, but a person thrives if they move.