Team Practice Match

"Finally, it's here. I've been waiting so anxiously."

"But are you sure you want to use a custom racket now? Even the strings have to be custom-made, and this tension is pretty high."

"It's fine. My current racket already feels a bit inadequate. I need to switch to something sturdier. Thanks. I'm not practicing today—I'm taking the day off."

"That's fine. It's not good to keep training at full intensity all the time. Take some time to relax."

"Everyone from Seigaku, gather up. We're going over today's training schedule."

At the Seigaku courts, Oishi gathered everyone together.

"Today, all the regulars will practice against each other. The non-regulars and first-years will do basic training. Once we're dismissed, start training right away."

"Yes!"

Everyone dispersed, and the regulars each found a practice partner.

Horio went to find Fuji, who had been thinking of asking Horio himself.

The two of them found a court and prepared to begin their practice match.

"Senpai, don't hold back. Otherwise, you'll lose pretty badly."

"All right. I was planning to do just that, even without you telling me."

The tension was already palpable before the match had even begun. Ryoma and several regulars who hadn't started their matches yet watched the court intently.

"Senpai, you serve first. I want to see that serve of yours that disappears."

Hearing Horio's request, Fuji changed his serving stance, abandoning the ordinary serve he had been about to hit.

He let his racket hang naturally, spun the ball in his hand, then released it. Just before it hit the ground, he struck it.

The ball flying toward him looked perfectly ordinary, so Horio swung his new racket.

When he saw the ball touch the racket but pass straight through without bouncing back, Horio reacted instantly and used his Inch Step to move back again.

He swung his racket once more and hit the ball back. The sound of it striking his new racket was rather dull, clearly showing how much force was behind it.

Fuji's eyes widened in shock as his Disappearing Serve was countered so easily. He quickly reacted to the returned ball.

He swung his racket at it, but when the ball made contact, its tremendous force caught him off guard.

Feeling that one hand wasn't strong enough, he gripped the racket with both hands and hit the ball back.

"That's not enough, Senpai. Let's see if you can handle this next shot."

Horio said this as he tensed the muscles in his arm and swung again.

The ball came even faster. Seeing a shot more terrifying than the last, Fuji gripped his racket with both hands.

His arm muscles tensed as he swung at the incoming ball, but the result was different.

The racket was knocked right out of Fuji's hands, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

"Senpai, I told you that if you don't take this seriously, you'll lose pretty badly. Your Disappearing Serve doesn't work on me anymore. I've figured it out."

As he spoke, Horio pointed to his eyes. Fuji no longer wore his usual smile, and the regulars watching from the sidelines were stunned by Horio, too.

"I didn't expect Horio to improve so much after training away for a while. It looks like Fuji's finally found a real opponent."

"But why does Fuji look like he's struggling from the very start, while the kid seems so relaxed?"

"Exactly. At this point, maybe only Tezuka, if he weren't injured, could compete with him..."

"Maybe we really can go for the national championship this year."

Fuji looked down at the racket he had just picked up. He admitted that Horio was strong, but he hadn't expected him to be stronger than he had imagined.

Looking at Horio again, Fuji realized that if he didn't give it his all, he really might lose badly.

He hit another Disappearing Serve, this time with more power. But Horio had already figured out its key.

This time, he didn't even need to use his Inch Step. He hit it straight back.

Seeing his serve returned so effortlessly, Fuji wasn't surprised anymore. He simply focused on returning each ball.

Under Horio's overwhelming power, Horio took the first game with ease.

"Senpai, I didn't get to see your three counterattacks in our last match. Let me see them now."

With that, he hit a Bullet Serve that sped toward Fuji.

This time, Horio held back, making sure it wouldn't be too difficult to return.

When Fuji hit the ball back, Horio deliberately sent him a topspin shot.

Sure enough, when Fuji saw the ball coming back with topspin, he took up a special stance.

As the ball drew close, Fuji's racket swept down from above, slicing it.

His racket traced a semicircle forward, and then the ball flew toward Horio's side with fierce spin.

After it landed, it didn't bounce at all. It simply skidded along the ground.

Horio made no move, only watching the ball.

To maximize the power of Swallow Returns to Nest, he had deliberately added a great deal of spin to the topspin shot he had just returned.

"It's a very imaginative technique. The more topspin the ball has, the harder it is for the opponent to hit it.

"But if you make sure the ball you hit isn't topspin—or has no spin at all—then the technique is useless. But... if I'm going to break it, I might as well do it head-on."

"Senpai, here I come again."

Seeing that his Swallow Returns to Nest hadn't fazed Horio, Fuji had a bad feeling. Still, he calmed himself and prepared for the next ball.

Horio hit another Bullet Serve, and after a rally, sent Fuji another heavily spun topspin shot.

Fuji saw it and went for Swallow Returns to Nest again.

The ball flew toward Horio with fierce spin. In an instant, Horio used his Inch Step to reach the net.

As the ball passed over the net and began to descend, Horio immediately gripped his racket and hit an upward topspin shot.

The spin on Swallow Returns to Nest weakened as the ball descended. That was the moment to use topspin and forcibly reverse its spin. The angle, power, and timing of the swing had to be absolutely perfect.

Horio had spotted that moment and hit the topspin shot.

He sent the ball back, but it went out of bounds.

Watching the ball go out, Fuji was starting to feel numb.

Fuji now knew he had no chance of winning, and everyone watching was astonished by the out-of-bounds shot.

It had gone out, but he had still managed to hit it back.

"Looks like I really do need to get used to the new racket ahead of time."

"Senpai, the next one won't go out. How about another shot?"

Fuji looked at Horio's relaxed expression and made up his mind.

If he couldn't win, then he'd let Horio achieve what he wanted.

Sure enough, the next Swallow Returns to Nest was returned perfectly by Horio.

"Senpai, the wind's picked up. Let's finish this quickly."

Hearing the meaning behind Horio's words, Fuji stopped holding back.

Taking advantage of the wind, Fuji hit a White Whale.

But it didn't last even one shot. Horio quickly moved to the net and easily countered it by adjusting the angle of his racket before the ball could return to Fuji's side.