Loser Group's Progress

Although everyone said they were confident, their racket swings were still sluggish.

"Then stop with the nice talk! Get your racket up and start swinging!"

Horio's voice spurred everyone on, and the high school students actually sped up their movements.

"High school students are still practicing their swings so late."

"And they've been practicing in this heavy rain, judging by how soaked they are, they've been practicing for at least an hour."

"And Horio was also supervising them in the pouring rain."

While Horio was educating high school students, the junior high school students had already seen them practicing on the basketball court.

Seeing the high school students practicing in the rain without a single complaint, and persisting even when they were almost at their limit, the junior high school student felt a little ashamed of himself.

"Look, the rackets the high school students are using seem different from those used during the day."

At this moment, Gan noticed the unusual appearance of the racket, and the others also turned their attention to their rackets.

Why do they seem to have such difficulty swinging their rackets? Do they swing their rackets 10,000 times every night?

"That racket is a bit strange; its material is different from ordinary rackets."

Would you like to give it a try?

Just as everyone's attention was focused on the rackets, Horio's voice startled them.

"Horio, what brings you here all of a sudden..."

"Yeah, that scared me to death."

"You guys aren't just here to watch from the sidelines, are you? Come on, let me show you what high school training is like."

Seeing the middle school students hiding behind a few trees, Horio called out to them and then returned to the basketball court.

At this moment, the junior high school students followed Horio to the court, and their close observation made them see the unusual racket even more clearly.

"That's a racket made of iron!"

"No wonder they had so much trouble swinging it..."

"Pshaw, so what if it's an iron racket? How heavy can it be?"

Compared to the surprised Oishi and Gan, Kaitou expressed great skepticism about the weight of the specially made racket.

"It seems Senpai Kaitou is very curious about the weight of the racket, so let you try it yourself."

Seeing that Kaitou wasn't working, Horio took the racket from Sasabe.

Sasabe had his racket taken from him, immediately felt a sense of relief. Horio turned around and tossed the racket to Kaitou.

Seeing the racket thrown at her, Kaitou instinctively caught it with one hand.

But the moment he gripped the racket tightly, its weight made him feel like he was holding a boulder.

The racket slammed heavily onto the ground, causing Kaitou to stagger.

"It's... so heavy..."

Kaitou finally believed in the weight of the racket and managed to lift it with both hands.

After trying out the swing motion again, Kaitou finally understood why the high school student looked so clenched-teeth.

"Alright, anyone else want to give it a try? This is a rare opportunity!"

After taking the racket from Kaitou's hand, Horio looked at the other junior high school students.

The middle school student watched Horio holding his racket as if nothing had happened and couldn't help but wonder if Kaitou had been acting.

Driven by their own doubts, the others also tried out the power of the specially made racket.

Undoubtedly, most people are completely unaccustomed to the specially designed racket.

Only a few players can barely grip the racket with one hand, such as power players like Kawamura, Kabaji, and Tadashi, and of course, Sanada, whose strength is among the top of junior high school students.

However, although it's possible to hold the racket with one hand, swinging it is quite difficult.

"Alright, now that you've tried it, give the racket back. The high school students haven't finished their training yet; don't waste their time."

Seeing the surprised and serious expressions on the faces of the junior high school students, Horio smiled triumphantly and then tried to shoo them away.

Surprisingly, after returning the specially made rackets to the high school students, the junior high school students started practicing their swings right next to the high school students.

Horio didn't say anything about it, nor did he ask why; his attention was focused on the high school students.

So, the court, which originally only had high school students, now had junior high school students, and a group of them practiced their swings in the rain.

About an hour later, the high school students finally finished their racket-swinging practice.

Compared to yesterday, although most people still collapsed immediately after completing the training, a few people were able to persevere.

"Those who are alright, take the rest back to where you're going to spend the night. Today's training was a little better than yesterday's, but it's still unsatisfactory."

Hearing Horio's evaluation, the high school students were not discouraged.

Even if it's still not up to standard, it's making progress.

Watching the high school students leave, Horio jumped off the wooden block and prepared to leave as well. At that moment, a middle school student saw Horio turn around and quickly spoke up.

"Horio, are you leaving? But we haven't finished practicing yet."

Horio and saw that it was Kintaro.

He glanced at the others, who were also staring at him.

"You're under that old geezer's command, so he should be the one keeping you company. My mission is complete, so there's no need for me to stay."

After saying that, Horio walked towards the wooden house, but after taking a few steps, Horio suddenly stopped.

"Losing the game must be very frustrating, especially since the winners have professional staff and equipment to assist them in training every day at the Training Base."

After training, there's plenty of food and excellent accommodations, but you Loser Group insist on suffering in a place like this.

The primitive training, the harsh environment, and the Coach who liked to torture you—you were all very resentful, weren't you?

Horio turned to look at everyone, and they all agreed with Horio words.

"But you've lost, and that's that. If you don't want to fall too far behind them, you have to accept it."

While sophisticated and advanced instruments can indeed maximize human progress, even the most sophisticated and advanced instruments cannot measure the hidden power within the human body.

"If you want revenge, you must unleash your hidden power and undergo a complete transformation."

Horio's words plunged the middle school students into deep thought, and they didn't even notice that Horio had quietly left the court.

Not far away, behind a hidden tree, Horio's words were clearly heard by the figure behind the tree.

His eyes were incredibly sharp even in the darkness, inspiring awe in those who looked upon him.

Just then, Horio, who was leaving the stadium, happened to pass by that tree and suddenly muttered to himself.

My mission is complete.

It sounded like he was talking to himself, but also like he was deliberately speaking to someone.

The figure behind the tree glanced at Horio as he left after hearing this, then turned his attention back to the middle school students.

Seeing the middle school students still standing there in a daze on the field, a figure emerged from behind the tree.

"What are you guys doing! Is this how you do 10,000 swings?"

Seeing Mifune approaching from a distance, everyone slowly came to their answer, and they swung their rackets again.

A few days passed, and the training for both high school and junior high school students got back on track.

The high school students gradually adapted to the training arranged by Horio, while the junior high school students stopped resisting at the beginning.

Instead, they channeled their energy into training.

Despite the inhumane training methods employed by Mifune, the junior high school students persevered.

Meanwhile, in the training camp on the other side, the junior high school students in the winning group were also making continuous progress, defeating their opponents in the daily random rounds.

"Junior high school students are advancing in rank every day lately."

"It seems that apart from Ghost, the rest of the students on Court No. 5 are all middle schoolers."

Outside the stadium, Tokugawa and Tanegashima were watching the middle school students' match.

"Even so, many of them haven't even used half their strength. What do you think?"

"I'm really looking forward to it, Tanegashima- Senpai."

"Yes, but with each subsequent promotion, the skill level changes dramatically."

Look, Irie and his team on Court No. 3 didn't let Court No. 4 score a single point."

Following Tanegashima's gaze, Tokugawa saw Irie leading the people from the Court No. 3 off the field with a smile.

"Honestly, how many times has it been? You still can't even beat a middle school student."

On the court, Horio glanced at the timer in his hand before turning his gaze to the high school students in front of him.

"Those middle school students know how to find a workaround, can't you think of a way?"

They're just a flock of eagles; we told you to hide, but we didn't say you couldn't attack first.

It's hard to imagine that a group of high school students wouldn't even dare to raise their heads in front of Horio, a middle school student, and could only endure being scolded by Horio.

"Now, junior high school students are starting to surpass you. Although your training volume is no less than theirs, this reality is still at a disadvantage for you."

I'll adjust the training intensity as needed, so be prepared. Since you've been caught, you can train on your own now.

After saying that, Horio dismissed the high school students and walked into the depths of the woods.

"What's going on? The balloons on the junior high students' backs are still there, so how come they're doing self-training?"

More than two hours after Horio disappeared, he returned somewhat puzzled.

"Coach, I heard they chased the eagles away while they were dodging, which is why they're fighting so openly."

Horio nodded upon hearing the high school student's explanation.

He then turned his gaze to the junior high school students practicing on the field.

"It seems that digging holes to dodge eagles these past few days has helped them overcome their physical limitations, allowing them to handle even irregular terrain with ease."

Under the daily, Mifune, and grueling training, the junior high school students have undergone a transformation, experiencing a qualitative change in their physical strength compared to before.

"You guys need to keep going. They've overcome their stamina issues; the next step is to strengthen their physical abilities."

They're going to train using the same special rackets as you, and their training progress is already surpassing yours.

Turning his head, Horio spoke to the high school student who was watching silently.

Although that's what they say, Horio also knows that high school students have reached their limits.

Compared to junior high school students, high school students' natural talent is not enough to support them making greater progress in a short period of time.

Moreover, he had seen the high school students' hard work during this period, which was no less than that of the junior high school students, so Horio's attitude towards them improved considerably.