The Match on Court No. 1

"They... they actually hit ten balls at the same time!?"

"Hey kid, where are you looking? Being surprised won't help. If you can't even do ten balls, you have absolutely no chance of beating him."

Horio's simultaneous attack on ten balls caused Kintaro, who had been watching closely, to change his expression. Seeing that Kintaro was distracted during his match, the demon immediately opened his mouth and roared.

"Tch, come on then, you old ghost, I'll definitely defeat you."

Horio, once again shocked by Horio's strength, adjusted his mindset, tossed a ball into the air, and swung his racket to hit it.

"Fighting against an opponent you know well with your back to the wall seems to be quite effective."

However, the rule that the loser must be eliminated cannot be changed.

The Head Coach must be getting impatient; let's send the losers there today.

"And it seems like it's not just the Head Coach and those high school students there; Horio arrived around the same time as them."

"Really? It seems the training in the Loser Group will be tougher than in the winners' bracket. Hopefully, they'll give us a surprise when they return."

Inside the control room, Kurobe and Saito looked at the teams that had already determined the winner and the loser, and discussed the next steps.

Bang... bang... bang...

Inside Court No. 1, after Horio and Tokugawa had exchanged more than ten rallies, Horio did not return the ten balls that Tokugawa hit back.

"That's enough for the warm-up. We can begin formally now."

It seemed Tokugawa was getting into the zone, Horio pulled out a ball.

At this moment, Tokugawa's forehead was already covered in fine beads of sweat. Seeing that Horio had only taken out one ball, he focused his attention even more intently.

Horio tossed the ball up and served a standard serve.

At the level of players like Horio and Tokugawa, ordinary serving techniques are no longer very effective.

Moreover, Horio's original intention was to temper Tokugawa, so he did not intend to completely suppress Tokugawa.

But even with just a simple serve, Horio's skill was undeniable, and Tokugawa dared not be careless.

He has to take this seriously to have any chance of competing with Horio.

After moving quickly, Tokugawa hit a cross-court shot with a backhand.

The tennis ball had just been returned when Horio instantly appeared in front of the net.

Both players use a backhand to hit a short ball back, but Horio uses the Zero-style Drop Shot.

Having never witnessed this move before, Tokugawa was unaware of its intricacies and intended to wait for the tennis ball to bounce before returning the attack.

However, the tennis ball didn't bounce at all upon landing; it suddenly started spinning in the opposite direction the instant it hit the net and didn't stop until it did.

"You have to return every ball as early as possible. If you think it's okay to miss one opportunity, then you've already lost."

You won't have that many chances. You had a chance to get revenge on Byodoin the first time you lost, but that doesn't mean you'll have a second chance if you lose to him again.

As if seeing right through Tokugawa's thoughts, Horio's words directly exposed his intentions.

After being alerted by Horio, Tokugawa glanced at Horio and then returned to the back of the field.

Sensing the change in Tokugawa's gaze, Horio said nothing more.

He served again, Tokugawa was in top form.

Tokugawa returned Horio's serve, and a purple aura appeared in Horio's left hand, forming a virtual sphere.

The tennis ball came in front of him, and he threw the virtual ball out, Horio to return it.

Horio hit the Gemini, and the tennis ball flew towards Tokugawa with a faint purple hue.

After the ball bounced off the ground, Tokugawa, though unsure of the faint purple mark on the tennis ball, still swung his racket.

Then a familiar scene unfolded, just like when Lin Xiu and Kaitou were competing.

Tokugawa's racket was affected by the virtual ball, and the timing and point of contact of his return shot were completely disrupted, ultimately turning it into a net ball.

"What's going on... why does it feel like I hit the ball?"

Tokugawa recalled the ball he had just hit, and apart from the faint purple tinge on the tennis ball, he couldn't find anything else amiss.

"It seems there's something fishy about that purple thing..."

Unable to come up with a solution for the time being, Tokugawa could only choose to wait and see.

Seeing Tokugawa's bewildered expression, Horio couldn't help but chuckle.

"Is it strange? Then let me show you again."

After saying that, a purple aura flashed in Horio's left hand holding the ball, and then he tossed the ball out.

The reappearance of purple on the tennis ball roused Tokugawa, who stared intently at the ball flying towards him.

As the tennis ball bounced off the ground, Tokugawa finally noticed the change that had occurred in that instant.

Just as the rebounded tennis ball entered the hitting zone, the purple streak on the ball suddenly separated from it.

Upon noticing this change, Tokugawa swung his racket.

The virtual ball hit the racket again, and Tokugawa, affected by the impact, made another mistake.

"Is that... gas? A gaseous virtual sphere is actually condensing in front of the tennis ball."

When Horio hit the second Gemini, Tokugawa successfully discovered the virtual ball.

"Not bad, you found it so quickly. But even if you did find it, how would you solve it?"

Knowing that Tokugawa had discovered the mystery surrounding the Gemini, Horio became even more curious about how he would respond.

Horio simply focused on this, and as a result, Tokugawa was greeted with even more Gemini and even more formidable opponents.

While Horio and Tokugawa were sparring, Oni and Kintaro were also engaged in a fierce battle.

Faced with an opponent like an oni, Kintaro, who wasn't initially very interested, began to enjoy the match.

Compared to Oni's steady and methodical approach, Kintaro fully utilized his wild and unrestrained tennis style.

No matter where the ball is hit, Kintaro always returns it with the most casual movements, without considering the problem of increasing physical exertion due to unnecessary movements.

Under Kintaro's all-out counterattack, Oni was repeatedly scored on by Kintaro.

"Hey, old man, don't hold back!"

"Enough talk, just bring it on."

Kintaro was already caught up in the excitement, and Oni was playing along, making himself appear as if his competitive spirit had been ignited.

"In that case, I won't stand on ceremony!"

"What?"

After rushing forward a few steps, Kintaro used the momentum to spin in place, creating a small tornado on the court.

The airflow throughout the stadium was affected, and even the ghost was startled.

"Invincible, Absolutely Delicious, Big Wheel Mountain Storm!"

Within a small tornado, Kintaro suddenly appeared from the sky with several somersaults, then used the powerful momentum to return the tennis ball.

The ghost didn't try to retaliate, but Kintaro had already aimed at his racket.

The powerful force sent him flying, and just like in the match against Momoshiro, the two strings on his racket were broken.

Even the force transmitted along the strings causes deformation of the racket frame.

"Oh... that's interesting."

Seeing the racket that had been smashed to pieces, Gui finally got serious and took out a normal racket.