The Return of Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired

"It was really agonizing... Even though I only finished two games, it felt like an eternity."

"The main problem is that the two of them were playing too closely..."

"The next game is Horio's serve again. Is he going to use someone else's serve again...?"

"Oh dear, kid, why waste time with an opponent like Kabaji? What if something goes wrong if we don't finish this off quickly?"

"Don't worry, Eiji. I think Horio has his own plans. In that last game, Kabaji imitated Horio's Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired, but there was a clear difference."

Furthermore, after Horio used his Double Strike with Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired, Kabaji's subsequent counterattack should have been a significant burden for Kabaji.

I think Horio knew that too, but he only used the Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired once. I think he must have been absolutely certain of victory, right, Tezuka?"

"That's what I think too, at the moment."

Fuji's words calmed the others' anxious hearts, and Tezuka nodded in agreement with Fuji's guess.

"For something a bit more technical... then this one will do."

On the court, Horio stood at the baseline, dribbling the ball, thinking about which serve to use.

After some thought, Horio caught the ball in his hand, flipped it over, and tossed it into the air.

Bang...

"Seigaku Horio scores, 15:0"

"This time it was Sanada's invisible swing."

"So this kid secretly learned so many people's ball skills."

"That's right, who knows how many people's moves he's stolen."

"It's less about stealing and more about enhancement. Although Horio uses other people's techniques, if you look closely, you can see that each technique he uses is much stronger than the original."

"But did Horio's Viper's Spinning Snake Shot just now not have the same effect as Viper's?"

Momoshiro was very skeptical of what Gan said. Gan pushed up his glasses and turned to look at Momoshiro.

"If you had the same physical attributes as Horio, could you achieve that kind of effect? I doubt even you could do it now."

Gan's words made Momoshiro blush, because Gan was right; even he himself couldn't do what Horio did.

Bang...

"Seigaku Horio scored, 30:0"

As the Seigaku members were talking, Horio made another invisible swing and served the ball to score.

"It's even faster than Sanada was during the training camp competition..."

Having competed against Sanada, Atobe understands the unseen power of a swing.

As one of the three elements of Sanada's Furin Kazan style, the wind element, with its unseen swing, makes it inherently difficult for players to predict the trajectory of the ball.

When Horio hits the ball, it's further enhanced by his Elevate Might, making it even harder for the opponent to receive it successfully.

Bang...

"Seigaku Horio scored, 40:0"

Bang...

"Seigaku Horio scored, score 3:0"

Four consecutive balls hit Kabaji couldn't catch Horio's swing.

In the third game, Kabaji didn't even swing his racket before Horio won.

At this moment, Kabaji's mind kept replaying the image of Horio's serve, but no matter how hard he tried to recall it, he couldn't absorb it.

"What's Kabaji, Kabaji? What are you standing there for? It's your serve."

Atobe was off the field, also noticed that Kabaji acting strangely and quickly spoke up to warn him.

"I... couldn't see his swing just now."

Hearing Atobe's words, Kabaji finally spoke.

Upon hearing Kabaji admit that he couldn't absorb Horio's ball skills, Atobe frowned once again.

"As expected, no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't figure out Horio's movements. It must be a bit difficult for Kabaji too."

Atobe was also carefully observing Horio.

However, no matter how you analyze it, you can't keep up with Horio's swing speed.

"Since we can't see through it, let's use something else."

Knowing he couldn't force Kabaji, Atobe had no choice but to let Kabaji give up.

Once he reached the baseline, after being told off by Atobe Kabaji stopped thinking about the unseen swing.

After weighing the options in my mind, I decided to use the Waterfall Pouring Down.

Although the Waterfall Pouring Down is no longer effective for Horio, it is his most effective serve so far.

"Can't you learn just because you can't see? It seems that anything beyond the limits of your eyes can seal you away."

Everyone present heard the conversation between Kabaji and Atobe, not to mention Horio was closer to Kabaji.

As for Kabaji's talent for absorbing opponents' skills, besides the one given to Horio by the system, there's also the ability to prevent absorption as long as it exceeds the limit of Kabaji's eye ability.

"After resting for so long, your arm should be almost healed by now."

As this thought flashed through his mind, Horio's right arm was once again enveloped in purple energy.

"He's Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired until he's satisfied again. Is he deliberately waiting for the strain on Kabaji's arm to lessen...?"

Atobe, watching from the sidelines, noticed that Horio, after a few balls of rest, had somehow regained his composure and was now playing with Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired, which made him suspicious.

Is he practicing?

"I think so. He used Kabaji's imitation of the 'Mastery of Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired, and after the tennis ball was given double the power twice, he used the unfinished move to return it, thus practicing as a method."

On Seigaku's side, Tezuka had one hand in his pocket, observing the situation on the field.

Upon hearing Tezuka's words, Fuji immediately understood what he meant.

In fact, when Horio activated the Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired for the second time, Fuji also had this thought in his mind.

"Captain, Fuji- Senpai, are you saying that Horio deliberately let Kabaji imitate the 'Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired?!"

"That must be it. It's probably because they needed a more powerful ball, so Horio made an attempt, but he didn't expect Kabaji to actually be able to imitate it."

As he spoke, he wrote an even higher evaluation for Kabaji in his notebook.

"But if the kid wanted to do that, why did he keep doing it the first time instead of waiting for another round?"

"It's probably because of Kabaji's arm. Kabaji's Waterfall Pouring Down Strike was already incredibly fast, so you can imagine how powerful it was."

But Horio used his Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired return the ball to its original position, making the tennis ball, now imbued with double the power, incredibly terrifying.

Even if Kabaji uses his Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired retaliate, I think his own arm will definitely feel some discomfort.

Horio has always been strongly opposed to using tennis to hurt people. If he were to hurt others in order to master a certain technique, wouldn't that contradict his principles?

Fuji heard Kikumaru's question, he gave the only explanation he could think of.

"That does sound like something a kid would do. So he figured out that Kabaji's arm couldn't use Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired continuously, which is why he deliberately only used it once before resting."