"Seigaku scores. The score is 1–0. Switch sides."
When he heard the umpire call for the players to switch sides, Horio went straight to the other side of the court.
"Get up. It's time to switch sides. If you're not dead, don't just lie there."
Seeing Akutsu still lying on the ground, with a few red marks on his face, Horio showed no courtesy.
Hearing the taunting words, Akutsu struggled to his feet and switched sides.
"You've used up your chances. Now get ready for hell."
Looking at Akutsu, whose mental state was starting to deteriorate, Horio decided to end the match quickly.
The tennis ball was tossed into the air, and then the purple racket swung.
The ball shot away, the sound of it rubbing against the air clearly reaching everyone inside and outside the court.
After bouncing, the ball struck Akutsu in the stomach, sending him flying once again.
"Seigaku scores. 15–0."
Thwack...
"Seigaku scores. 30–0."
"Seigaku scores. The score is 4–0."
With Horio completely dominating, the score reached 4–0. By now, there wasn't a single uninjured spot on Akutsu's body.
Several times, he had been hit so hard that he seemed dazed, yet Horio still showed no mercy.
The spectators outside the court were beginning to think Horio was the cruel one in this match, while Akutsu was slowly becoming an object of their pity.
"Two games left. Eight balls. You'd better hold on."
As Akutsu, battered and mentally scattered, felt Horio's relentless pressure, the defiance and fury in his heart began to erupt.
Thinking Akutsu could no longer fight back, Horio struck the ball without easing up at all.
The spectators expected him to be sent flying again, and chose to shut their eyes rather than watch.
As they waited to hear the sound of Akutsu hitting the ground, they instead heard a racket strike a tennis ball.
Everyone immediately opened their eyes. Akutsu, who had seemed dazed just moments ago, now had a different look in his eyes.
They weren't the kind of eyes a human would have, but those of a beast making its last stand when cornered.
"Hmm? The aura of a beast?"
The change in Akutsu's aura had clearly taken Horio by surprise.
"But it's only half-baked. An untamed beast's aura is useless."
Then he put even more power into his return. With the aura of an untamed beast, Akutsu recklessly squeezed the last of his strength from his body.
Facing Horio's more powerful return, Akutsu hit the ball back again.
After seeing Akutsu return several shots hit with nearly seventy percent of his strength, Horio stopped hesitating.
A purple aura enveloped his racket arm as he swung at the incoming ball.
The ball, flying toward Akutsu with even more force than the last one, struck Akutsu's racket—and sent it flying straight out of his hand.
"That's the complete Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired Limit. And that strange footwork, too. You're quite something, young man."
Seeing Horio use the Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired Limit, Echizen Nanjirou was surprised, even though he had expected it.
"That... looks familiar."
"I think I've seen something like it before, too..."
"It's Tezuka... It's not quite at Horio's level, but Tezuka really did play like that once."
"I think it was called the State of Selflessness, right? Yes, that's it."
"No... The legendary three gates. The State of Selflessness is only the prerequisite for opening them. From the way Horio looks, he's clearly already opened one of those gates."
"Maybe... No, it can't be... He's only a first-year. That kind of thing shouldn't be possible."
"I know what you're thinking, Oishi, but Horio is a very special person. It's a mistake to judge him by ordinary standards."
Seeing the legendary technique Horio had displayed, the Seigaku team was once again stunned.
Thwack...
Thwack...
Thwack...
"Seigaku scores. The score is 5–0."
After awakening the aura of a beast, Akutsu was once again reduced to his previous dazed state under Horio's relentless returns with the Hundred Refinements Self-Acquired Limit.
"I've been holding back a lot, but being able to return those shots shows you've got some ability. Now I'll let you see the ball, but make sure you can't reach it."
After saying that, Horio tossed the ball into the air and struck it with an ordinary swing.
It was a serve with average speed. Most of the people inside and outside the court could clearly see its path, and Akutsu on the other side could see it even better.
Although his body and mind were exhausted, he could still see the tennis ball clearly.
But when Akutsu tried to move to reach it, he found that he couldn't move at all.
As the ball drew closer, Akutsu could see its path more and more clearly, but his body grew increasingly stiff.
And so Akutsu stood motionless under everyone's gaze.
He watched an ordinary serve score on his side of the court, able to do nothing but stare.
"Seigaku scores. 15–0."
"You're the first person to experience my Complete Imprisonment. Even if I hit an underhand serve, you still won't be able to return it."
"Complete Imprisonment? Is that some kind of special ball skill? How does it work...?"
"If it really is Complete Imprisonment, doesn't that mean the kid can score directly on every serve in his service games?"
"In theory, yes. It's just a question of how far it can go."
"He really is an unfathomable person."
"What just happened? That first-year only hit an ordinary ball, didn't he?"
"Seigaku is terrifying this year. They're way stronger than last year, and they're doing this so easily even with their captain, Tezuka, absent. Seigaku has a great chance of winning the national championship this year."
"A remarkable mental power ball skill... He's honed a world-class skill at such a young age. It looks like the world will soon be changing."
Echizen Nanjirou had been stunned by Horio's performance more than once today. He hadn't seen his son's match, but the trip hadn't been in vain.
"You're not satisfied yet, are you? Then let's keep going. This time, I'll make it even slower."
He released the ball from his hand, then casually swung his racket.
Akutsu tried to move ahead of time when he saw Horio's motion. But the instant Horio swung and hit the ball, Akutsu froze as if someone had pressed pause.
Then he watched a slow underhand serve pass by him and land on the ground.
"Seigaku scores. 30–0."
Akutsu, already mentally shattered, finally broke down completely. Remembering the game, he knelt on the ground, his hands and feet trembling uncontrollably.
"What does it feel like to lose to the very game you looked down on? You've learned that lesson pretty well by now, haven't you?"
Looking at Akutsu, whose eyes were wide and face full of terror, Horio didn't think he deserved any sympathy.
He stopped looking at him, returned to the baseline, and won Second Singles with two more ordinary serves.
As for why he didn't use Complete Imprisonment, it was because there was no need.
Before you continue