The Others Were Attacked

"You seem to know quite a lot. Looks like I'll have to deal with you today."

Keith was somewhat surprised by Horio's words, but he quickly masked his surprise.

Another tennis ball appeared in his hand, which he tossed into the air and hit at Horio.

"It seems that you've forgotten to respect others because you frequently do things that hurt them."

After Horio finished speaking, he stepped on the tennis ball on the ground with his left foot, and then rolled it upwards with his toes.

Horio caught the ball with his left hand, and then the tennis ball glowed purple.

Horio released his grip and swung his racket to hit the tennis ball after it fell.

Horio unleashed Light Ball Shot, a purple beam piercing the darkness.

The ball collided with Keith's ball in mid-air, crushing it and sending the Keith ball hurtling towards Keith.

Bang!

The tennis ball hit the wall, leaving a slight dent.

Although Keith wasn't knocked away by the force of the Light Ball Shot, cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Is this the level of the Clark Tennis Club leader?"

Horio's mocking voice reached the ears of the Clark Tennis Club members present, and Peter, standing to the side, was horrified.

"Atao! Kaitou!"

Just then, the voices of Oishi and others came from not far from the stadium, which startled Keith out of his reverie.

As if afraid of being discovered, upon hearing that more people were rushing over, Keith quickly gave a signal, and all members of the Clark Tennis Club retreated.

Before long, the stadium and its surroundings returned to silence.

Even the man Keith called a traitor disappeared after Clark Tennis Club left.

The next day, at a hospital not far from the stadium.

Momoshiro from Seigaku, Kirihara from Rikkai Dai, and Meido from Hyotei —three people injured in last night's sneak attack by the Clark Tennis Club— are lying in hospital beds.

"Fortunately, it's just a minor injury; he can be discharged after a day of rest."

Coach Ryuzaki stayed by Momoshiro's bedside the whole time.

Behind Coach Ryuzaki stood Oishi Tezuka, who was supposed to be training in Germany.

Back at Hyotei, Coach Sakaki and Atobe were also concerned about Meido's situation.

Only Rikkai Dai's Kirihara knelt on the bed as if apologizing to Sanada.

"This is terrible. The competition starts tomorrow, and it's unlikely to proceed as scheduled under these circumstances."

"At least it will be difficult for the players who are going to compete to get a chance to participate."

"After all, it wasn't just us; athletes from other countries were also attacked."

Meanwhile, in the rest pavilion not far from the stadium, people from the other four schools gathered together to discuss what happened last night.

"Who did all this...?"

"All we know so far is that they are about our age... and they are both wearing the same silver rings."

"In short, since someone got injured, this is no longer a simple prank."

"The Captain Vice President have already reported to the competition organizers along with the teachers, and they will decide whether or not to deploy the police based on the situation."

"It's useless."

As the group was discussing, Horio appeared and refuted their ideas.

"Those guys have been causing trouble here for a long time. If the police had caught them, last night's incident wouldn't have happened."

"Horio? What do you know?"

Fuji grasped the key point in Horio's words, and everyone's eyes turned to him.

"The group of people last night is called Clark Tennis Club, a local street tennis club."

However, they only use tennis to harm people of similar age, and some local school students have been poisoned by them.

Moreover, the balls they used were banned Real Tennis balls, which can kill people.

Horio's words made the atmosphere even more tense, but how could these teenagers tolerate their teammates being attacked?

"Damn it! How could we possibly hand these things over to the police! I'm going to catch these guys and teach them a lesson!"

"Don't get excited, everyone. As long as we can find someone to lead the way, we'll have a chance, right, you behind the tree?"

Kaitou was clearly furious about what happened last night, but after Horio offered a word of comfort, he turned to look at a tree not far away.

While everyone was wondering what was going on, a person actually walked out from behind the tree that Horio was staring at.

"Want to avenge your comrades? How wonderful."

That courage is commendable, but those people are not opponents you are capable of dealing with.

Don't get involved, or your lives will be in danger.

"Weren't you the one who almost got hit by a car? And weren't you the one called a traitor last night?"

Horio was taken aback when he saw the figure appear.

"Who are you! You suddenly appear out of nowhere and say things like that!"

"You must be a member of Clark Tennis Club, or rather, you used to be."

"I hope you will focus on practicing for the competition and not get involved in this."

The man ignored Horio's words and continued to advise everyone not to interfere in what happened last night.

"Impossible, we've been provoked."

"Looks like you wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you. You're all just hot-blooded brutes."

Kaitou could never accept that person's advice.

To be more convincing, the man brought Kaitou directly to the stadium.

"If you want to avenge your teammates, you'll at least have to defeat me first. If you can't do that, you'd better focus on practicing and preparing for the match."

"I'll sew that arrogant mouth shut right now."

On the court, Kaitou heard the same advice from that figure again, which fueled her fighting spirit even more.

He tossed the tennis ball into the air, swung his racket, and hit it back easily.

Kaitou changed her strategy, returning the ball again and immediately moving to the net.

At that moment, the figure opposite suddenly blurred for a moment with his left hand, and then hit the tennis ball with his right backhand. This move attracted the attention of Horio on the sidelines.

Kaitou had already reached the frontcourt and, just after the tennis ball bounced off the ground, hit a Half Volley.

"Beautiful! That was Half Volley that was just as good as Meido's. The outcome is already decided."

Off the field, Hiyoshi, a teammate of Mido, was very confident about Kaido's shot.

But just as the racket was about to hit the tennis ball, it seemed to hit something, affecting the swing trajectory.

Although the ball was eventually hit, it flew out of bounds and became a ball in bounds.

"What happened? Why did the racket seem to freeze just now?"

"He should have been able to catch that ball easily."

The changes in the racket's trajectory and the appearance of balls out of bounds also aroused the doubts of the people watching from the sidelines.

Although everyone knew there was something strange about the ball just now, no one could pinpoint the exact reason.

Horio, standing to the side, stared at the person with curiosity, as if he had discovered tennis, something he had never encountered before.