Shatter Returns

"It looks Higa Junior High is going to suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of Seigaku."

On the other side, Atobe appeared with Hyotei and his group.

Looking at the scoreboard, Atobe quipped confidently.

"It seems Seigaku's strength has increased again; Higa Junior High is quite the dark horse this year."

"Who cares? I'll make them pay for the loss we suffered at Seigaku's hands in the Kanto Tournament next time."

Oshitari didn't care about Atobe's words at all, because Seigaku had been eliminated by Seigaku in the first round of the Kanto Tournament, and the entire Hyotei Atobe, had been practicing hard.

Furthermore, Hyotei's match has ended, and they have already secured their place in the quarterfinals.

The scoreboard now shows that Seigaku has advanced to the quarterfinals, so the next match will be a showdown between Seigaku and Hyotei, their old rivals.

Atobe's words undoubtedly reflected the thoughts of the other members of Hyotei. They hadn't been idle for a moment in their quest for revenge.

"Looks like we have another opponent."

"I just didn't expect that the First Singles wouldn't be Tezuka."

In a corner outside the stadium, a man with a bandage wrapped around his left hand and a dark-skinned man with slightly curly hair were also watching the situation on the field.

"That first-year Seigaku is named Horio Satoshi, right? I wonder who's better, him or Kogane?"

"You mean Kintaro? That's intriguing. But Kintaro is the strongest at Shitenhoji, and he's also the one with the best chance of opening the final door. I think Kintaro is stronger."

"That's what they say, but we'll only know for sure after Seigaku beats Hyotei. Speaking of which, hasn't Kogane arrived yet? He should have been here long ago."

"Who knows? With his playful nature, he's probably off having fun somewhere."

Don't worry, he'll definitely come. There's someone here he's always wanted to challenge.

The curly-haired man spoke while keeping his eyes fixed on Horio on the field.

Inside the stadium, thanks to the encouragement and support from the students of Higa Junior High, Kite has reached an unprecedented level of performance.

At the start of the seventh round, the Kite once again unleashed Big Bang.

However, the power of this Big Bang was greater than before, both in terms of force and speed.

"It actually broke through the limit? Just what I wanted."

Feeling the immense destructive power imparted to the tennis ball by the Big Bang, Horio got into position and swung his racket.

A loud crash was heard, and the shockwave from the tennis ball hitting the racket even kicked up dust from the ground.

Horio's expression remained unchanged; he increased the force of his arm and successfully retaliated.

The tennis ball, undeterred, flew towards the Kite.

The Kite, already caught up in the excitement, showed no fear whatsoever, Ground Shrinking Technique to move.

Appearing on the right side of the ball, then return it with the same force using a forehand.

Bang...

A loud explosion was heard; it was Big Bang.

The Kite, having broken through its limits, unleashed Big Bang during its counterattack, surprising even Horio.

But his feet didn't stop moving; he took another step.

He moved Inch Step to the ball's landing point, and a purple aura appeared on his arm.

"What!? That's... Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired!?"

The curly-haired man outside the arena looked at the purple aura surrounding Horio's hands and said incredulously.

However, Horio did not activate the Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired, but instead planned to use Shatter.

The Big Bang return of the Kite flew back again, the racket following Horio's arm swing.

The ball hit the racket with the tip of the racket already touching the frame.

"Did you make a mistake? That position wasn't a perfect hitting spot at all."

"Can't that first-year student master the Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired?!"

"Hmph... looks like he's going to use that trick again."

The students from various schools watching from the sidelines had different opinions when they saw Horio catch the ball.

Just when everyone except those who knew what Horio was going to do thought that Horio's racket would be knocked away.

Horio's purple aura converged entirely into the tennis ball, and as the ball was completely enveloped in the purple aura, Horio swung his racket to return the ball.

"They actually fought back!"

"For a place like that to withstand such terrifying force, it seems Seigaku is the biggest dark horse this year..."

The tennis ball that flew back undoubtedly silenced all the doubters off the court, while the Kite on the court remained fearless.

Facing the tennis ball that streaked through the air with a purple light, I activated the Ground Shrinking Technique and moved to the right again.

They were preparing to unleash another Big Bang, but this time the tennis was completely different.

When the tennis ball struck the Kite racket, the purple aura burst forth.

The explosion created a purple vortex.

Then the purple aura covering the Kite racket climbed up the Kite arm along the racket.

In an instant, the purple aura swirled around the Kite's arm, and a sharp pain shot through the Kite's brain.

Unable to bear it any longer, the Kite was forced to let go, and the tennis ball broke through the resistance, knocking the Kite's racket away.

"Seigaku Horio scores, 15:0"

"Horio's Shatter has become even more terrifying!"

"I haven't seen him hit that shot in ages, it's even more terrifying now!"

"And I feel that the purple aura has become deeper and richer than before..."

The Shatter that had just been unleashed was enough to frighten even teammates like Oishi, let alone the others.

"Before we face Seigaku, everyone should practice at the club during their free time. This will begin from now on."

"Looks like we need to step up our game, otherwise Seigaku will get away with it again in the next match."

"Your Chitose, what did you just say about 'Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired'?"

"No... that's not it, but if I'm not mistaken, Horio has most likely already reached that level."

Yukimura's words put everyone else at Rikkai Dai on edge, while Atobe put away his carefree smile.

Meanwhile, the person in the corner called "Chitose" was now covered in a cold sweat.

"What just happened!? Why did that strange purple aura tug at the muscles in my arm!?"

On the court, Kite was clutching his arm, clearly still affected by the impact of catching the ball.

"I didn't expect you to achieve this. If we're only talking about ability, you are indeed a strong player, but unfortunately, this victory belongs to Seigaku."

Horio then spoke up, saying that being able to break through one's limits in a competition is something only a strong person can do, and that deserves respect.

"Tch, let's see how capable you are."

Hearing Horio's words, Kite picked up the racket from the ground.

After reaching the baseline, Kite looked at the tennis ball in his hand. The cheers from the Higa Junior High students on the sidelines did not stop after the previous loss.

"Even if we lose, the men of Okinawa will lose gracefully!"