Randomized Match

"This is really interesting. It seems I'd better speed things up, otherwise it'll be really annoying to let that brat keep being so arrogant."

At this moment, Atobe suddenly covered his face and burst into laughter, clearly having been given a good jolt by Horio.

"It seems there are quite a few monsters here than expected."

"Who cares? Even if this is hell, I'll fight to the end and defeat all those monsters."

Following Atobe, the students from other schools also prepared themselves mentally.

Among the middle school students, besides Atobe, several other eyes were fixed on Horio's departing figure.

"So, did you say hello to your friends?"

"What greeting? I was just reminding them."

After leaving the stadium, Horio saw Oni and the others waiting for him not far away.

"These junior high school students are indeed impressive. Although those high school students aren't particularly strong, it's not easy for them to defeat them so easily."

"This generation is indeed the most promising to rise; perhaps tennis will once again reach the top of the world after Echizen Nanjirou."

Although Oni wasn't very friendly to the junior high students on the court, he still agreed with what Irie.

"It's just hope. Look at those people, they don't have enough talent, so they can only train hard, but they still can't reach a very high level."

However, if someone only has talent but neglects practice, in my opinion, they are not as good as these high school students.

Hearing what Oni and Irie said, Horio pointed at a group of high school students who were running.

They gritted their teeth and persevered under the scorching sun, all in order to become stronger and stay in the training camp to pursue higher goals.

Horio was worried that the junior high school students might think this was just a regular training camp and therefore have an improper attitude.

"Don't worry, there will definitely be middle school students selected for tomorrow's random rounds. They'll realize the importance of practice."

Seeing that Horio's brows were furrowed, Irie quickly offered a word of comfort.

The very next day, some junior high school students were indeed drawn into the random round-robin tournament.

The random round matches for today are out! Go check the list!

Standing in front of the bulletin board, the junior high school students were still very curious about the random round-robin tournament.

As soon as the match roster for today was announced, everyone crowded around it.

"Look, Atao's name is on it!"

The roster for the round of matches is filled with the names of high school students, as each player has their own assigned court.

Kikumaru noticed it immediately, as only Momoshiro's name was listed with "middle school student" written below it.

"Awesome! The competition is finally about to start, my hands are itching!"

Upon hearing that he had a match, Momoshiro became excited without even looking at who his opponent was.

"Today, only Atao was selected as a junior high school student..."

"And his opponent is Oni Jujiro from Court No. 5, the one from yesterday."

Unlike Momoshiro, Oishi and Fuji were not excited, partly because they hadn't been selected themselves, and partly because they were speculating about Oni Jujiro's strength.

Meanwhile, Gui also knew who his opponent was, but at his level, it was difficult for him to care about a middle school student.

"What bad luck, Momoshiro Senpai. He's run into an opponent he can't possibly beat in his very first random round."

Looking at the list on the bulletin board, Horio couldn't help but feel sorry for Momoshiro's bad luck.

"Out of so many people, only this guy named Momoshiro was selected. Maybe it was the Coach staff doing it on purpose."

"Whether it was intentional or unintentional, the outcome of the match between Oni and that Momoshiro was already known before the fight even began."

As quick-witted as Irie, he immediately realized that something was wrong.

Tokugawa, however, had no time to concern himself with these matters, as he also had his own competitions to attend, even if they were merely formalities.

"Let's go. I reckon Oni will have finished the battle before the Tokugawa tournament is even over. Let's go see how Oni is torturing my Seigaku teammate."

After saying that Horio and the other two walked towards the Center Court.

"What's wrong with that racket? It only has two strings."

"He wouldn't be thinking of using that competition, would he?"

The Center Court, the stadium where Oni and Momoshiro played their match.

Momoshiro looked at the man in front of him with excitement, while Oni still had that fierce and menacing face.

The other Seigaku who came specifically to watch from the sidelines looked at the racket in Oni's hand as if they had seen something new and exciting.

"Your racket is indeed empty. I am Momoshiro Takeshi, a second-year student at Seishun Gakuen Seigaku Academy."

If I win this random round, I'll be on Court No. 5.

Momoshiro noticed the strangeness of the ghost racket, but this did not affect his attitude. Instead, he extended his hand in a friendly manner.

"No need for a handshake; you can't win this match anyway."

Momoshiro did not accept the handshake from the ghost, said something indifferently, and turned to walk backstage.

By this time, all the invited junior high school students had gathered outside the venue. The Momoshiro competition would undoubtedly provide them with valuable experience.

"Go for it, Tao! Let's show these high school kids what we're made of!"

The match begins with Momoshiro serving.

As Momoshiro reached the finish line, Kikumaru's cheers erupted.

"Hey, aren't you guys being way too unrealistic?"

"Honestly, you guys really don't know anything about ghosts."

The two high school students who had previously tried to make things difficult for the Seigaku group scoffed at Kikumaru's encouragement.

"Agan, what kind of player is that?"

"Oni Jujiro, the leader of the Court No. 5, defeated everyone who came up from the lower courts."

That's why he had a nickname: the Hell Gatekeeper.

Hearing the high school student speak so highly of the demons, Fuji couldn't help but turn to look at Inui.

Gan is quite impressive; he managed to gather some information about the demons in such a short time since arriving at the training camp.

Upon hearing the nickname "ghost," the others' faces immediately turned grim.

"The Hell Gatekeeper... seems to be no ordinary person."

"Other high school students say he seems to be a strongman who can lift a ton of rock."

"It looks like this will be a duel between power-type fighters."

If the title of the Hell Gatekeeper could only cause some concern, a ton of rock completely shook their confidence.

"Then, let me exorcise the ghost now."

On the court, Momoshiro cheered himself on before using Bullet Serve.

With his strength greatly increased, even his Bullet Serve became more powerful.

The tennis ball flew towards the ghost's half of the court with powerful spin and speed the moment it was hit.

"Let me see what Court No. 5 is capable of."

The tennis ball landed near the center line, but the ghost was positioned closer to the sideline.

Momoshiro deliberately hit the ball to this position to test the Oni's strength.