The Devil's Training

At this point, Horio was undoubtedly seen as a devil by others, and even Tezuka felt that such a training method might be too much for him.

"Seriously... what do you mean by 'the two of them practice first'? It's clearly everyone practicing together."

"It seems that if I want to meet the target, I need to gather their information and launch the attack within three minutes."

"That sounds really interesting! I'm looking forward to it too."

"Honestly, whenever Horio helps with training, it's never anything good."

Horio heard everyone's murmurs and complaints clearly, but he didn't care about them.

"Alright, everyone understands the rules, let's begin training. Each round will be timed at three minutes, starting with a distance of fifteen meters in radius."

Fifteen meters is roughly the distance from the baseline to the service area, which also allows everyone to familiarize themselves with the distance first.

As Horio took out his timer, Katsuro Katsuo also focused their attention on their respective targets.

After a whistle blew, everyone sprang into action.

Kaitou frantically threw the ball at the two people in the middle, and Kawamura was not initially restrained by the weight of the wristband.

Fuji and Ryoma, like two assassins, would throw out a ball intermittently, while Kaneko kept a close eye on the two in the middle.

Time passed second by second, and three minutes seemed very short... and indeed it was.

Another whistle blew, signaling that the three minutes were up.

"Time's up. Everyone in charge, please report your scores."

"Kawamura Senpai has reached the milestone, throwing fifty-eight balls."

"Senpai Kaitou achieved the target, hitting it 37 times in total."

"Agan Dabiao threw 23 balls and hit 21."

"Okay, Fuji and Senpai have also met the standard, hitting the target 25 and 29 times respectively. "Ryoma

As for Oishi- Senpai and Kikumaru- Senpai... you guys... must be in a lot of pain."

"Of course it hurts! So many balls hitting you, do you think it doesn't hurt!"

Kikumaru was initially feeling somewhat disillusioned after being hit by the ball, immediately broke down upon hearing Horio's mocking words, still immersed in the pain.

"That's right. Remember this feeling of pain. If you don't take it seriously, you'll be in pain all day long."

Without a trace of pity, Horio's devilish smile was chilling.

Although everyone else had met the requirements in the previous round, they still felt a chill when they saw that smile.

Compared to Horio's training, the training plan that Inui used to set up for everyone was not hard at all, and even Inui's juice didn't taste so bad anymore.

"Alright, everyone, take a five-minute break and pack up the balls for the next round."

Upon hearing Horio say it was time to rest, everyone prepared to sit down.

But Horio's supposed rest was just picking up balls, which made him incredibly upset.

Because everyone was focused on reaching the target in the previous round of ball throwing, many of the balls that were thrown ended up scattered in the bushes.

Therefore, the process of retrieving the ball was not like that at school, where they had to search carefully.

However, Horio only gave them five minutes, and no matter how many balls they picked up within those five minutes, they had to come back and continue training.

This also leads to each person having fewer and fewer balls in each round, which in another sense forces everyone to control their strength.

Theories and assumptions are always wonderful, but the reality is another matter entirely.

After the first round, in the following rounds, no one realized that there wouldn't be enough balls.

Because the manor provided the Seigaku team with more than ten boxes of balls, they could squander them at the beginning.

With another whistle, the tenth round of the morning session came to an end.

"Agan didn't meet the standard; although he hit 21 shots, he threw a total of 33 balls."

"Senpai Kaitou achieved her goal, hitting the target 30 times."

"Kawamura -Senpai didn't meet the standard, only managing forty-two throws."

"Alright, that concludes the tenth round. Only Senpai Kaitou has qualified."

Senpai paused Fuji, Ryoma paused three times.

Tezuka, Katsuro, and Katsuo submitted their results again, combining them with Horio's results.

Currently, Oishi and Kikumaru, who are the central figures, have never met the standard, while Jurin Satoshi has met the standard seven times, Kaitou has met the standard seven times, and Kawamura has met the standard six times.

Then, Fuji met the standard seven times, Ryoma met the standard seven times.

"Let's stop here for this morning. Everyone can relax and stretch on their own. We'll continue practicing this afternoon."

Hearing Horio say that the morning training session was over, everyone's tense nerves finally relaxed.

They completely ignored the statement that they were free to move around, because they were too exhausted to move at all.

After ten rounds, everyone was fatigued to varying degrees. Those who needed to concentrate on observation not only had to stay alert at all times but also had to ensure their accuracy, which left them mentally exhausted.

Wearing a training wristband, Kawamura had five lead weights, each weighing one kilogram, and ten kilograms in each hand. The fatigue in his muscles from constantly throwing the ball gradually accumulated, and he could no longer throw.

Kaitou seemed alright; although she missed three rounds, she didn't appear particularly tired.

Fuji and Ryoma had to run and throw the ball constantly, so they were arguably the most exhausted. They were already panting heavily, their hands on their knees.

As for the main characters, Oishi and Kikumaru, their bodies were covered in dense red welts, which looked like they had been hit by countless balls.

Even Katsuro and Katsuo, who were assisting with the training, were so nervous that they collapsed to the ground. Only Horio and Tezuka looked normal.

"Katsuro, Katsuo, once you've rested, please take out the bento boxes you prepared. Everyone must be very tired this morning."

Seeing that everyone was exhausted, some lying down and some sitting, Horio didn't disturb them.

It's only the first day, so we can't train too hard.

After giving the two a few instructions, Horio left alone; he had only managed to find his way to this area yesterday.

So today, since I had some time, I thought I'd check out some places I didn't get to visit yesterday.

"Um?"

Horio, walking through the woods, suddenly heard a sound and immediately followed it.

There's even a small waterfall here!

After clearing away one of the openings, Horio saw a waterfall over ten meters high appear before him.

The trees upstream of the waterfall are quite dense, and the area where Horio is located has wide open spaces on both sides of the waterfall, as if someone had been there before.

"This place is perfect for camping and picnicking. We could come here to celebrate the night the special training ends."

The waterfall crashes against the rocks, and the gurgling sound of the flowing water, along with the rustling of leaves in the wind, brings a sense of tranquility to the mind and body.

"It's a pity I still have to train, otherwise it would be nice to come here for a vacation."

Satisfied with his newfound location, Horio, remembering he still had other things to do, could only regretfully return the way he came.

"Everyone should have recovered a bit by now. After lunch, let's rest for an hour and then begin the afternoon training."