Mifune's Suppression

"Their eyes turn fierce the moment they see an irregularly shaped area."

"We're too passive. Waiting for the ball to bounce back is like being at someone's mercy. In that case, we should hit the ball back before it hits the ground."

Sanada suddenly exploded due to the constant pressure from the high school students.

After Sasabe served, Sanada immediately went to the net and intercepted the ball before it hit the ground.

You're out.

"What!? I clearly hit the ball back, why am I out!"

Sanada successfully returned the ball, but Mifune still declared him out.

How could Sanada accept this? Mifune didn't even glance at him when faced with Sanada's questioning.

"Although it's an irregular court, this is a match. Choosing to return the serve before the ball even bounces—is this your first day playing?"

Seeing that Sanada still looked angry, Horio finally stepped forward.

Hearing Horio's explanation, Sanada realized he had fouled.

Helpless, he could only frown and walk off the field with resentment.

"Have you entered the approximate terrain and bounce angle, Sadaharu?"

"Yes, the data collection is almost complete."

"Excuse me, everyone, could you please leave now?"

After Sanada left the field, Inoue and Yanagi, who had been observing every ball, spoke up.

Hearing the two men's confident words, the others present exchanged glances and then left the field.

"Have the two Information Tennis players gathered any useful information? But like I said, simply hitting the ball back won't win you anything."

Seeing what Kane and Yanagi did, Horio immediately guessed their intentions.

"You two dare to challenge me? You've got guts, but you'll only lose faster this way."

Seeing that only two junior high school students remained on the court, Sasabe increased the power of his serves.

The tennis ball was much faster than before, especially after it bounced off the ground, making it even more unpredictable.

But then, something unexpected happened. After the tennis ball bounced back, the high school student, who was confident of scoring, saw a figure appear.

It was Liu who, as if knowing the tennis ball would bounce in that direction, started moving in advance and successfully returned the ball.

"What!?"

The tennis ball was hit at another high school student, eliminating him instantly.

Sasabe was quite surprised to see the person leaving the venue.

"My data, Yanagi Renji's data, will absolutely not contain any errors."

Liu's serious expression at this moment made the high school students even more cautious.

Seeing that they couldn't target Liu, the high school students turned their attention to Gan.

But the same thing happened again after the high school student hit the ball.

Like Liu, Gan also anticipated the ball's landing point and rebound direction, easily returning the ball to its destination.

"On an irregular surface, the probability of us making a mistake is zero percent."

Gan and Liu's outburst completely disrupted the high school students' rhythm; no matter which hole they hit the ball into, it was always returned.

"What... what's going on? Can those two predict the direction the tennis ball will bounce?!"

Matsudaira watched Kane and Yanagi with ease, and at this moment, he began to feel a little apprehensive.

"Incident angle of 47 degrees, reflection angle of 61 degrees, spatial angle change is completed instantaneously."

"Air pressure, air content, moisture content, the timing of the shot is... now!"

As the power of Information Tennis explodes, the number of high school students is steadily decreasing.

"Those two Senpai are amazing!"

"It's hard to believe that their teamwork is so good, especially considering they're not from the same school."

Outside the stadium, as the number of high school students dwindled, the atmosphere among the junior high students became increasingly enthusiastic.

"What... what's going on?"

After Gan and Liu's relentless counterattacks, only three players remained on the high school students' half of the court.

They are Sasabe, Matsudaira, and a short-haired high school student.

"His talent is clearly a major limitation. He's played so many games and still can't make any changes. He's just too inflexible."

Off the field, Horio, who had been watching the game closely, shook his head helplessly.

Horio was somewhat disappointed by the middle school students' desperate counterattack, which was ineffective in dealing with the high school students.

"That's it! Two junior high students remain, and three senior high students remain. The senior high students win."

Just as the match was about to continue, Mifune stood up from the wooden stump and announced the result of the match.

The high school students cheered upon hearing the results, while the junior high students once again displayed their spirit of resistance.

"What the hell! The high school students already outnumbered us; they should have lost!"

"That's right! You're showing favoritism!"

The middle school students' fear of Mifune lessened at the thought of sleeping in a cave that night.

However, Mifune quickly brought them to their senses.

"Enough with the nagging! I said the high school students won, and that's it! Any objections?"

Mifune suddenly changed his expression and roared, silencing the protesting junior high school students.

Horio was standing to the side, looked at the high school students who were celebrating, and his expression suddenly turned unfriendly.

Are you happy?

"That's right! Coach! We won, so does that mean we're exempt from double the training!?"

"Yes, yes, Coach, you said that yourself!"

Seeing the high school students so overwhelmed with joy, Horio suddenly lost his temper.

"Waste!"

The word "trash" echoed throughout the mountaintop, attracting the attention of not only the middle school students but also Mifune.

"They had the advantage but still got beaten like this, almost letting their opponent turn the tide. Do they even have the right to laugh?"

After being scored on by two opponents in a row, instead of trying to adapt, all they think about is why. Do they even have the right to laugh?

You all know in your hearts that your victory was undeserved, yet you shamelessly celebrate and have the audacity to laugh?

The same three questions silenced the group of high school students.

"You want to avoid double training? Everyone will have double training tomorrow!"

Also, students are not allowed to sleep in the dormitories at night; they must find their own sleep. Of course, junior high school students are not allowed to sleep there either.

Horio directly revoked the high school students' right to move into the wooden dormitory. As if seeing the surprised expressions on the faces of some junior high school students, Horio added a special comment.

The high school students had no complaints about Horio's arrangements.

After Mifune disbanded the group, the high school students left in silence.

Knowing that Horio had scheduled training for the evening, they didn't waste any time and went to replenish their energy after the team disbanded.

Although the junior high school students did not receive the treatment they wanted, they accepted the outcome due to Mifune's intimidation.

"Kid, the focus right now should be on these middle school students."

"Aren't you focused all your attention on them? Do you expect me to do the same?"

Besides, I'm helping you out. The high school students' improved skills will naturally motivate the middle school students; those guys are all hot-blooded teenagers who refuse to admit defeat.

"Whatever you want. Anyway, the focus of preparation for this World Championship is on middle school students."

After the high school and junior high school students left, Mifune immediately made it clear that Horio should focus on the junior high school students.

Horio could easily understand Mifune's meaning, but in his view, if middle school students wanted to improve further, Mifune's iron-fisted training alone would not be enough.

Using high school students of similar age as opponents is undoubtedly a way to enhance their skills, which is why Horio is so strict with high school students.

Mifune probably understood Horio's intentions, so he only gave a verbal reminder and didn't say anything more.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Mifune took his sake jug and left the stadium.

Bangbangbang...

"Get up, you lazybones! Time for nighttime training!"

As night fell, the junior high school students were already asleep inside the cave, and a light drizzle began to fall outside.

At that moment, Mifune appeared at the cave entrance, holding an iron bucket in his hand.

Looking at the middle school students sleeping soundly inside the cave, Mifune banged on the iron bucket in his hand.

The middle school students, woken up by the noise, were still yawning, looking like they hadn't woken up properly.

"How long are you going to slack off? Get up now, swing your rackets 10,000 times, and get started!"

Before the junior high students could even process what was happening, Mifune's latest training schedule had already been issued.

"Nighttime training?"

"What are you doing in the middle of the night..."

"You bunch of idiots, do you think you can beat the winners if you don't take advantage of the nighttime hours, you trash?"

Instead of getting angry at the junior high school students' complaints, Mifune chose to provoke them with sarcasm.

Under the noise attack from Mifune, the junior high school students finally gave in.

One by one, they dragged their still-sleepy bodies out of the cave, only becoming more awake after being soaked by the rain.

"Why are you doing field training so late at night?"

"It's raining so hard, what if you catch a cold?"

Looking at the raindrops falling continuously from the sky, everyone started complaining again.

"Stop arguing and get started. You don't want to go without sleep, do you?"

Mifune urged the middle school students on again, then turned and left.

Watching Mifune leave, the junior high school students, still harboring resentment, began to swing their rackets ten thousand times.

"What's wrong? Is this all you're struggling with? You can't even do a simple swing? Are you even high school students?"

Just then, a familiar voice came from the stadium not far away.

"There seems to be someone over there; it sounds like Horio's voice."

"Really? Is he secretly teaching high school students some amazing tricks!?"

Following the sound, everyone walked towards the stadium.

Mifune, who had already left from a short distance away, saw everyone's actions but did not stop them.

"It's good for you kids to get a shock; you didn't come here to enjoy yourselves."

After watching for a few seconds, Mifune finally turned around and left.

"You guys were so exhausted from 300 swings yesterday that you fell asleep on the court. You should at least show some improvement today. Do you have any confidence in yourselves?!"

"Have!"

On the court, Horio stood on a wooden block, while high school students swung their rackets in neat rows.

It's just that the team is in good formation; each person swings their racket differently.