Dormitory Scramble

Upon hearing Horio's words, the high school students instinctively tensed up.

"Please pair me up in groups of two, it doesn't matter who you choose."

Horio's words completely baffled the high school students; he asked them to form teams without giving any reason.

The high school students were unsure whether Horio wanted to team up with them as partners or opponents, and for a moment they hesitated.

"What, didn't you hear me? You have one minute. If you don't team up and finish, you can forget about dinner tonight."

Horio's words were like a bomb; the high school students dared not think any further and immediately pulled over whoever was nearby.

In the end, it didn't even take fifteen seconds; dozens of people had already been divided into groups.

"Each group will play singles matches. You will have three points. After each point, you will switch sides."

Whoever scores two goals first wins; the loser's training load will be doubled tomorrow.

As for choosing which side to serve from, you can decide that by spinning your rackets yourselves. Training will now begin.

Upon hearing Horio mention the punishment for losers, the high school student felt a chill run down his spine.

Everyone is adjusting their mindset and striving for victory.

"Oh, by the way, you need to use special rackets. Put down the regular rackets."

Just as the high school students were getting ready to take their rackets and go onto the court, Horio's words made the practice even more difficult.

Frustrated, the high school student had no choice but to put down the ordinary racket he had picked up and head towards the specially made racket.

Fortunately, having eaten lunch, they were no longer as exhausted as they were the night before, and they were still able to use their specially made rackets to compete.

"Let's begin, one group at a time, from left to right."

The group of high school students whose names were called gritted their teeth and walked onto the court. When they spun their rackets to decide which side to serve, the rackets were so heavy that they kicked up some dust when they fell.

The high school students who got the advantage were overjoyed, because having the right to choose which side to serve was equivalent to winning half the battle.

As a result, almost every group of high school students who chose the flat ground won, until the last group Sasabe and Matsudaira.

When Sasabe was spinning the racket, he guessed wrong, Matsudaira unceremoniously gave Sasabe the half of the court with the hole in it.

Sasabe could only swallow his pride, but the thought of the punishment for the loser rekindled his unwavering belief in victory.

"Come on, Matsudaira, even if the situation is unfavorable to me, I will not give up easily."

"Sasabe, victory will surely be mine! Flame Bullet!"

Matsudaira assumed his familiar stance, aiming Flame Bullet at a crater in Sasabe's half of the field.

With the ball's extremely high speed and the bounce from the pit, even with his attention focused, Sasabe couldn't fully see the ball's trajectory.

Finally, under the onslaught of Flame Bullet, Matsudaira scored with his serve.

After the change of ends, Sasabe also demonstrated the results of his training over the past few days.

Even with just a regular serve, the tennis ball is already very fast.

Moreover, Sasabe's unexpected shot, which didn't aim at the hole, caught Matsudaira guard, who was focused on defending against it. In the end Sasabe also scored with his serve.

After the change of ends, Sasabe returned to his original half of the court.

"Sasabe, it may sound cruel, but I can't lose."

"Tch, stop talking nonsense, Matsudaira. It's not over yet; the outcome is still uncertain."

Sasabe gripped his racket tightly, awaiting Matsudaira's attack.

"Flame Bullet!"

Matsudaira tossed the ball into the air, gritted his teeth, and swung his racket.

However, the weight of the racket caused his arm to momentarily break, and the power of the Flame Bullet was greatly reduced.

This gave Sasabe a chance to counterattack; Sasabe caught the trajectory of the bouncing tennis ball.

When the ball is hit with both hands, its speed increases.

Matsudaira moved quickly, swinging his racket with difficulty, but his strength was no longer enough to return the ball perfectly.

Although Sasabe's ball was returned, it wasn't high enough when it approached the net, and the tennis ball eventually touched the net.

"Alright, everyone, come here."

The match between Sasabe and Matsudaira has ended, and everyone has finished their matches.

The high school students quickly gathered on the court, Horio, seeing their expressions, truly exemplified what it meant to be bittersweet.

Half of the team that won the game were beaming with joy, while the other half who lost were worried about doubling their training load for tomorrow.

"Don't make that face. It's only the first time. You'll have other chances to get revenge later."

You have ten minutes to rest, then we'll continue with regular training. We'll meet at the court after dinner.

After offering a few words of comfort to the high school students, Horio dismissed the group.

"Alright, it's getting dark soon, let's summarize today's training."

The accommodation for the night will be determined based on the results of the investigation. The cabins on the mountain are only big enough for either high school students or junior high school students.

"You two have a contest. The winner gets to live in the cabin, and the loser has to live in the cave."

As dusk fell, high school and junior high school students gathered at the sports field.

With the arrival of junior high school students, the original wooden dormitory was no longer sufficient, so Mifune decided to let them decide who would live in the dormitory.

"Let's begin! A battle for dorm rooms between high school and middle school students. The rules are simple: whoever doesn't catch the ball leaves the court, and the last one standing wins."

After a brief explanation of the rules, both sides picked up their rackets and took to the court.

"Want to play a match? I've arrived just in time."

Listen up, high school students: If you win, the punishment of doubling your training tomorrow will be waived; if you lose, all of you will double your training.

Just as the match was about to begin, Horio appeared on the field.

Mifune didn't say anything about the additional conditions Horio imposed on the high school students; he simply sat aside and waited for the match to begin.

"Whether you double the training tomorrow or keep it the same is up to you. Alright, let's begin the competition."

Upon hearing Horio's words, half of the high school students who were supposed to have double the training tomorrow immediately perked up.

The other half, upon hearing that they would have to train twice as hard even if they lost, immediately felt just as eager to win.

"Wait a minute! This doesn't look fair at all!"

"That's right! There are clearly more high school students than us!"

We were at a disadvantage from the start.

Compared to the twenty-five junior high school students, the number of high school students was almost double.

"Since you all feel it's unfair, I'll take the place of the high school students. Twenty-five of you against one of me, I think that's fair enough, right?"

Looking at the excited middle school students, Horio smiled at them.

The high school students were overjoyed by Horio's intervention, but the junior high school students found it hard to accept.

In their minds, Horio's strength was unmatched by this group of high school students.

"Since you're scared, just accept your fate and start the competition. If we drag this out any longer, it'll be dark soon."

Seeing that the middle school students had stopped talking, Mifune announced the start of the match.

A black-haired high school student is serving the ball. After several days of grueling training, the high school students as a whole have made progress.

The tennis ball was moving very fast, and Kaitou was closest to the landing point, immediately stepped forward.

After anticipating the trajectory of the tennis ball, he immediately assumed a return stance.

But just as the tennis ball was about to bounce after hitting the ground, its trajectory changed.

The tennis ball, which was supposed to bounce backward, bounced forward instead, and Kaitou completely missed her chance.

"This is... an irregularly shaped site..."

Realizing something was wrong, everyone immediately looked down at the ground and discovered the numerous pits and holes there.

"You're out. Go to the sidelines."

Just as Kaitou made her mistake, Mifune's voice rang out.

Kaitou's departure made those still on the field more cautious, but the irregular terrain had too many potholes, making it impossible for them to adapt in a short time.

Bang...

"Out of the game."

Bang...

You're out.

Bang...

"Leave the field."

For every point the high school students hit, one junior high student is eliminated.

The number of junior high school students, which used to be quite large, gradually dwindled.

"This venue is really tough to play on..."

"It's impossible to predict where the ball will fly..."

Bang...

Bang...

Bang...

"Out!"

"This is bad. The high school students know the ins and outs of this court like the back of their hand."

"Yes, no matter how you look at it, it's not in our best interest."

After several more people were eliminated, even Gan and Liu, who were good at Information Tennis, found the situation tricky.

"Everyone, gather around, I have an idea."

Suddenly, Sanada called over all the remaining players. After discussing it, the middle school students who were rejoining the game changed their positions.

Except for a few people who stayed behind, everyone else stood near the baseline.

Looking at the middle school students' strategies, Horio simply smiled and shook his head.

Reducing the crowd density could improve the chances of returning the ball, although it might alleviate the current situation where you can't catch the ball at all. But the opponents are a group of high school students.

"Kids, you think you can see the ball's trajectory by creating a larger playing area? Stop dreaming."

"That's right, this isn't the way you can beat us."

High school students know what junior high school students want to do, but they are not worried at all.

After saying that, Matsudaira didn't even fire Flame Bullet; he just served a regular ball.

The player who chose to receive the ball was Oshitari Kenya of Shitenhoji. As a speed-type player, he had an advantage in this situation.

"Don't underestimate my Naniwa Tennis!"

The tennis ball bounced irregularly after landing, Oshitari Kenya started moving.

He lunged forward and hit the ball back, but fell to the ground in the process.

"It's useless! You're just hitting the ball back; you can't beat us!"

At that moment, Sasabe rushed out, leaping into the air and smashing the Smash Shot.

Bang...

"You, get out."

Mifune's ruthless voice rang out, Oshitari Kenya gritted his teeth, feeling extremely unwilling to accept this.

"Damn it! They're so cunning!"

"There are already so many people, and they even get to serve the ball. This is so unfair."

"Also, whether it's Matsudaira's serve or Sasabe's smash, their power and ball control are completely different compared to before."