To Win

"Horio can even Special Skill Shot?"

"But why did he suddenly do that? He could have easily hit the ball back with a normal motion."

"And just before he changed his movements, his eyes suddenly widened, as if he had discovered something."

Horio's change in return posture struck a chord with the Seigaku on the sidelines, but only Kikumaru noticed the problem.

"Just now, when the Captain from Higa Junior High was returning the ball, he deliberately scraped his racket against the ground, kicking up small pebbles."

"Huh? Really? I didn't see it."

"That only happened for a split second; I barely saw it either."

"No wonder Horio suddenly changed his posture; he was trying to avoid the distractions."

"That Captain from Higa Junior High seems to be more ruthless than the others."

"I understand the desire to win, but behaving this way is really unsportsmanlike."

Kite's actions undoubtedly aroused resentment among the Seigaku, while the students from Higa Junior High and others on the other side thought it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"As expected, Eishiro is different from us."

"His complete obsession with victory is definitely his style."

"But that first-grader actually managed to dodge it; his reaction time is pretty good."

Attributing this behavior to an obsession with victory is how the people of Higa Junior High explain the Kite's ruthless methods.

On the field, Horio dodged a sneak attack from a small pebble.

However, the return shot did not score, and was caught by the Kite using Ground Shrinking Technique.

Horio was a little angry; Hirakoba's behavior had already gone too far from the start.

But he managed to stop it himself, and Coach Ryuzaki wasn't actually hurt.

After Saotome Harumi gave another instruction, Hirakoba did not carry it out, so Horio didn't pursue the matter any further.

However, the actions of the Kite were even worse than those of the Hirakoba, if those pebbles had actually hit someone.

It could potentially cause unimaginable damage to the eyes, and even directly affect a person's athletic career.

Horio then stopped wasting time with Kite and used 70% of his strength again, making Kite's Ground Shrinking Technique unsustainable once more.

After several diagonal shots, Horio scored after Kite's diving save attempt failed.

"Seigaku Horio scores, 15:0"

"Asshole!"

Suddenly, the Kite, who was lying on the ground, roared and stood up, staring at Horio with eyes that looked like he wanted to devour him.

Because of the impact of his diving save, the Kite, grazed his left eye, and when he stood up, blood was already streaming down his face.

Horio ignored his gaze and returned to the baseline to serve again.

But the Kite was still not giving up and hit a short ball again.

"A short ball!"

"He's preparing to strike again!"

Seeing this, how could the students of Higa Junior High not understand?

Seeing Kite do this again, Horio didn't tolerate it.

In coordination with the Kite, who returned the ball with a short ball, the Kite, while still using the Ground Shrinking Technique, had already begun to build up power.

But this time he was holding the racket with both hands, and the racket was moving much more widely across the ground.

"Is that all? Now you're going to die, Horio!"

With a roar from the Kite, the racket was swung out.

The racket kicked up a large cloud of dust the moment it left the ground.

The cloud of dust completely enveloped Horio in front of the net, making it impossible for others to see what had happened to Horio.

But just as everyone was worried, a tennis ball flew out from the hole that had just been swung by the Kite.

A gap was created in the smoke and dust, with the tennis ball followed by small pebbles kicked up by the Kite.

Bang... Zzz... Zzz

There was the sound of a tennis ball bouncing on the ground, and also the sound of something breaking.

As the smoke cleared, Horio's figure came into view.

Horio stood unharmed in the same spot, while the Kite in front of him had blood streaming from its eyes and its left eyeglass lens was shattered.

Standing there blankly, Horio said something upon seeing this.

"Is this the kind of victory your club members truly want to see?"

Upon hearing Horio's words, Kite looked at Kai and the others behind Horio.

"Don't joke around, that's how we got to this point."

We'll do anything to win! We'll endure even the most grueling training just to win!

Horio's words seemed to remind Kite of something, and his previously weakened spirits surged again.

However, all of this was in vain; the Ground Shrinking Technique was no longer effective.

The reason we're still wasting time with Kite is because he still has something he hasn't used yet.

Bang...

"Seigaku Horio scored, 40:0"

Bang...

"Seigaku Horio scores, score 2:0"

"Damn it, since the Ground Shrinking Technique doesn't work on you anymore, then let me show you something else."

At the start of the third game, the Kite changed its serving posture from the beginning.

"Ah! That's..."

"Big Bang!? The Kite can actually Big Bang?"

"Tch, my Big Bang technique was taught to me by the Captain."

To Momoshiro and Kikumaru's surprise, Kite used Big Bang.

But Tadashi smiled dismissively and proudly said that he was taught the Big Bang by Kite.

"Great timing! Let me experience the power of the Big Bang firsthand."

"Hmph, don't compare me to Tadashi. My Big Bang is far more powerful than his. Just wait to be blasted away."

When Kite saw that Horio was about to take the Big Bang, he immediately became disdainful, clearly not believing that Horio could handle Big Bang.

But reality once again slapped Kite in the face, as Horio stood on the path of the Big Bang ball.

Faced with the massive Big Bang, Horio swung his racket.

At the moment the racket and the ball made contact, a gust of air appeared, blowing Horio's clothes and hair.

This shows how terrifying the power of that ball was, but Horio showed no discomfort on his face.

After receiving the ball, he pushed his arm forward, and the Big Bang was returned.

Unexpectedly, his Big Bang was met with a counterattack, and even though the Kite reacted quickly, it was too late to catch the ball.

Bang...

"Seigaku Horio scores, 15:0"

The tennis ball created a whirlwind, bounced off the ground, and even took the Kite's racket with it.

Kite stood frozen in place, his face blank, while Kai and the others on the sidelines didn't look much better.

"Eishiro! Cheer up!"

"Don't let him get too arrogant!"

After a while, the still-dazed Kite suddenly heard cheers coming from the sidelines.

It turned out to be Kai and the others. As their companions along the way, only they knew how much effort Kite had put in to become stronger.

Although they had no hope of winning the National Tournament, they didn't want their Captain to fail like this.

"You guys... Fine! Then let me show you the strength of Higa Junior High Higa Junior High!"

With encouragement from his teammates, Kite's condition improved again.

He picked up the racket that had fallen to the ground and walked back to the baseline.

He tossed the tennis ball into the air and swung his racket forward with force.