Seigaku Wins

"I understand. The Outer Spin Rotation Ball, if used too frequently on Fuji Yuta, whose body is still growing, could cause irreversible damage to his bones.

So that's what Horio meant by parts breaking down someday... a trained robot... In that case, Mizuki knew about the dangers of this kind of ball."

Inui Sadaharu also understood Horio's words and gained a new understanding of Mizuki's unscrupulous methods.

Fuji Syusuke's expression remained serious. Horio could already imagine how Fuji would crush Mizuki, but he still regretted not being able to teach the guy a lesson himself.

On the court, Fuji Yuta continued to use the Outer Spin Rotation Ball, while Ryoma kept trying to break through it.

After hitting Fuji Yuta's Super Half Volley several times in a row, the effect improved with each attempt.

However, he still hadn't scored a point. So, at the start of a new game, Fuji Yuta hit another Outer Spin Rotation Ball.

Ryoma rushed to the net again. Everyone thought he was going to attempt another Super Half Volley, and even Fuji Yuta found it unbelievable.

When they looked again, Ryoma had vanished from the net.

"Damn, he can actually slide? That's too fake."

The moment Ryoma disappeared, Horio knew. The B-stiched shot was about to appear, but seeing him slide on the ground still felt unreal.

"His butt must hurt from sliding like that... Flashy moves aren't good..."

Ryoma, who had slid under the ball, jumped up and swung his racket with his left hand, hitting a shot.

The ball, which was expected to go out of bounds, suddenly changed its spin speed and dropped downwards, drawing a B on the ground.

"Good angle. There's no suspense now. Fuji Senpai, I think you can start warming up."

Horio said to Fuji Syusuke beside him, then thought of something else.

"Or perhaps you're planning to have that guy warm you up?"

"Now that you mention it, I was thinking the same thing."

"Then please give that guy a good lesson for me. I'm so hungry, I'm going to get something to eat."

After speaking, Horio left the court.

...An hour later

"Horio, over here."

Just as Horio, who had just woken up, was about to return to the court, he heard Katsuro's call. He turned around and saw everyone from Seigaku walking towards him.

"You little brat, you ditched us at a crucial moment of the match. You're singles one!"

"Yeah, what if your match had started?"

Seeing Kikumaru and Momoshiro, the two optimists, complaining to him, Horio just smiled.

"I have complete faith in Fuji Senpai. After all, even Inui Senpai doesn't have detailed information on Fuji Senpai, and he couldn't win even after smashing Mizuki's racket."

Although everyone was still a bit angry, they felt Horio's words made sense.

"Forget it, we won anyway. The next match isn't until next week, so everyone can rest well tomorrow and resume training as usual."

After Oishi finished giving instructions, he dismissed everyone and sent them home. Everyone was a bit tired from the day's matches.

Horio, however, declined the invitations from Katsuro and Katsuo and went to a tennis training facility alone.

Looking at the dozen or so ball machines placed around him, Horio, holding a purple racket, nodded to the owner in the distance.

The owner understood and activated all the ball machines at once.

The dozen or so ball machines fired tennis balls non-stop. Horio, standing in the center, returned them with ease.

After about ten minutes like this, all the balls from the ball machines were gone.

"Boss, what was the speed just now?"

"Two hundred kilometers."

"Do it again, increase it to two hundred and twenty."

"Are... are you sure? Don't you need a break?"

"It's fine, go ahead. Two hundred and twenty might even be too slow."

...Ten minutes later

The owner in the distance looked at Horio with disbelief. Although Horio had a few beads of sweat on his face, he showed no signs of fatigue.

"As expected, my body is still a limitation. No matter how much I train, my muscle strength can't keep up. Even with a perfect body, I have to develop according to my age. It seems I can only perfect my technique for now."

After the ball machine test, Horio had a rough idea of his power limit, around two hundred and forty kilometers per hour.

This was more than enough to deal with these middle schoolers, but it would be a bit tight if he encountered high school students later.

"Just give me a year. In another year, my physical limitations will change significantly, and I'll be able to fully master world-class tennis skills. It's good to be able to get started now."

After comforting himself, Horio left the ball machine training room. What he needed now was to constantly compete against experts to hone and perfect his technique.

The next morning

Horio, who had left early, thought about asking Katsuro and Katsuo to come out and help them practice, so he decided to meet at a park.

As Horio was getting close, he heard Katsuro and Katsuo talking to someone. When he walked closer, he saw that besides Katsuro and Katsuo, there was also a boy wearing a hat and two other girls.

"What are you guys doing here too?"

Hearing Horio's voice, everyone turned around.

"Hello, Horio-kun. Tomoka and I originally asked Ryoma to teach us tennis. We happened to run into Katsuro and Katsuo, so we decided to practice together. You don't mind, do you?"

Horio was confused by her words. What would I mind? This isn't my place.

"It's fine, it's good for everyone to practice together. Katsuro, Katsuo, remember your prescribed swing training. Practice hard."

He then sat down next to Ryoma and watched the four of them swing their rackets like children.

"Want to play a match? You didn't play in the match against St. Rudolph, and I'm curious how much stronger you've gotten."

"That might not be a good idea... You lose every day at home, and if you lose again when you finally come out to play, won't that be a bit embarrassing..."

Hearing Ryoma's proactive invitation to a match, Horio knew that Ryoma hadn't grown much yet, so he wasn't in the mood to play.

"I've gotten stronger too. Are you afraid of losing and don't want to play me?"

"Yes, yes, yes, I'm afraid of losing, so I won't play."

"..."

"Ah, what do I do? I hit the ball too far..."

While Horio was giving Ryoma a perfunctory response, the swing-training quartet ran into trouble. Sakuno, due to a mistake, hit the ball into the woods.

She immediately prepared to go retrieve it, and Tomoka said she would go with her.

Sakuno said she could handle it alone and, ignoring what Tomoka said, ran directly into the woods.

After a while, seeing that Sakuno, who had gone to get the ball, hadn't returned, Tomoka couldn't help but worry and went into the woods to find her.

A few minutes later, they heard Tomoka's scream. It turned out that Sakuno, while looking for the ball, had encountered another school's tennis club practicing.

Because she took too long to find the ball, she was constantly being yelled at by the members of the tennis club. Seeing Sakuno being bullied, Tomoka quickly ran back to get Ryoma.

Katsuro and Katsuo, who were nearby, heard this and wanted to go along. Horio initially didn't want to go, but then he suddenly thought of something.

According to the original plot, there should be an opportunity to encounter that person around this time, so he followed them.