The Expeditionary Force Returns, and the Second String Strikes First

"Are they getting serious? I'm really looking forward to it."

Even the usually composed Yukimura was somewhat dismissive of Irie's words.

Seeing that the middle school students didn't take this seriously, the ghost got a little angry.

"You haven't realized the seriousness of the situation yet; the real horror of this training camp is yet to come."

Seeing the ghost made the junior high school students more serious and attentive than usual. Although they showed some changes, they were not particularly sad.

"Fine, fine. Since you don't believe me, you'll find out tomorrow."

Tanegashima stepped in to cut off the conversation regarding the junior high school students' performance.

If words don't work, then we can only let real-world experience teach them a lesson.

"Do you think that because of the previous training, your strength has undergone a tremendous change, so you have the right to be arrogant?"

Keep it up, reality will crush your worthless pride.

After saying his last words to the middle school students, Horio turned and followed the four of them out of the Center Court.

The remaining middle school students watched Horio and the others leave, lost in thought.

"Keep going, don't stop, feel the power in the tennis ball!"

Nighttime, inside Court No. 1, Oni and Tokugawa are practicing together.

Facing Oni's attacks, Tokugawa was slightly at a disadvantage, but he still gritted his teeth and fought back against every single one of Tokugawa's attacks.

"This is really a headache. Hearing that guy is coming back has made Tokugawa even more tense."

"Yes, after all, he was an opponent that Tokugawa was determined to defeat, even at the cost of his life."

Outside the stadium, Horio and Irie chatted while watching the situation on the field.

"It's uncertain whether he's strong enough to compete with him right now. Defeating him depends on whether you can break through your own limits in the match."

"What you're talking about is too difficult to achieve; Tokugawa will never give up his obsession."

A year ago, during his match against Byodoin, if it weren't for me and the demon saving him, he wouldn't have had the chance to stay in the training camp.

He was beaten so badly he lost consciousness, but he still didn't give up the match. His determination must be even stronger now.

"Winning or losing often hinges on a single decision. Whatever choice he makes, there will be both good and bad for him."

I only hinted at it indirectly; how he proceeds is up to his own understanding.

Horio understood Irie's words: a person cannot make progress if they don't even have their own perseverance.

However, Tokugawa's persistence was precisely the driving force behind his rapid growth, but it was also the shackle that limited him from going any further.

The root of all this is the match he played at Byodoin a year ago. Therefore, if Tokugawa wants to reach new heights, he must resolve this issue in another match at Byodoin.

"Why! Why are these high school students always the ones selected? We've had a higher winning percentage in all the substitution matches so far!"

"That's right, these lists are indeed mostly made up of high school students..."

Inside Court No. 3, Kirihara looked at the list in Shiraishi's hand and was very dissatisfied.

"However, it seems there's a junior high school student on this list."

"If the person chosen was from Court No. 3 or earlier, I wouldn't think anything of it, but Yukimura is clearly from court number six."

"Could it be that there's some hidden story behind this?"

The crowd frowned at the glaring words "junior high school student" on the list.

Meanwhile, battles were quietly taking place throughout the training camp.

"Did the old man tell you guys about this? So you want to strike first, is that it?"

Inside the Center Court, the junior high school students were all gathered together, but some people were missing.

When Horio heard Sanada say that Mifune had sent Sasabe to inform them about the Expeditionary Force last night, Horio did not deny it.

"Damn it, it seems those guys who haven't shown up yet have already started to strike first."

"It really is the same old winning formula..."

"From now on, venue numbers and such are meaningless; everything depends on your own strength."

After learning the details, the junior high school student decided to take the initiative.

At this moment, at the training camp gate, Kurobe, Saito, and Takuetsu were watching the iron gate that was opening.

Outside the iron gate, a group of people appeared, dressed in uniforms different from the white and black uniforms of the training camp.

"Everyone, the overseas expedition has been tough."

"It seems some overconfident individuals have snuck in, especially a first-year middle school kid."

The leader of the group was unmoved by the Kurobe's offer of condolences and went straight to the point, asking about the training camp.

"Was this at your behest?"

"Haha, it's just a routine matter."

"Hmph, you haven't changed at all."

However, sending your Second Army to fight those twenty good-for-nothings ahead of time is actually a pretty good option.

The man with shoulder-length blond hair laughed loudly and then led the others into the training camp.

"Sadaharu, leave this to me."

"Revolutionary Army in black uniforms, did you return specifically to defeat us?"

"In that case, if you can beat me, this badge representing the country is yours."

Inside the practice court, Liu and Gan were facing a man with medium-length hair and glasses.

The man seemed to know a lot about the two men's Revolutionary Army identities, so he directly stated that if they won, they could get the badge with the Arabic numeral seventeen engraved on it that hung on his collar.

"So you're saying that if we're going to take action, we should get serious, right?"

"No, I meant I was very happy to meet you during this training camp."

"Me too, it's been so long Akuto- nii."

It turns out that the man opposite Liu Hegan was a member of the Second Army, Mitsuya Akuto, who was also skilled in Information Tennis.

Do you know him, Renji?

Hearing Liu talking so familiarly to this man, Gan, who was standing to the side, became somewhat curious.

However, Liu did not answer Gan's question, but instead looked at Mitsuya with a serious expression.

"I won't be polite..."

"You mean I'll just take action without holding back, right?"

Before Liu could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Mitsuya. Upon hearing Mitsuya say what he wanted to say, Liu's expression immediately changed.

Mitsuya simply smiled, then turned and walked back to the back of the field.

Mitsuya tossed the ball into the air and served.

After Liu retaliated, he turned his gaze to Mitsuya.

"The probability of hitting a corner kick is... 73 percent."

Mitsuya shot veered to the left, and the angle of his arm swinging the racket was even greater.

Immediately judging that it was a diagonal kick, Liu, having reached this conclusion, also ran to the left.

"You think you can predict my shot so easily? Once you make that prediction, the probability will change."

Because the probability of me hitting a passing shot is 98%.

Seeing that Liu had already run to the left half of the court, Mitsuya pushed off with his right foot, and his original backhand stance immediately changed to a forehand stance.

Aiming at Liu's right side, he hit a straight shot.

"No problem, Renji already predicted it, even the changes in the next stage... What!? An irregular ball!"

Seeing this situation, Gan, who was watching from the sidelines, was not worried for Liu, because Liu had changed his running direction the moment he countered at Mitsuya.

They arrived at the landing point just before the ball hit the ground, but the ball did not bounce normally upon landing.

The irregular rebound caught Liu off guard and caused Gan's prediction to be wrong.

Although Liu eventually caught up with the ball, he could only return it with Lob Shot.

"U-17 training camp, No. 36 reinforced field, the tangent point at the 11 o'clock position in front of the west sideline."

Under normal circumstances, the probability of hitting an irregular ball is only 2.1%, so the probability that Yanagi Renji will not consider taking any measures to deal with the irregular ball is...90%.

Bang!

"That guy's playing Information Tennis too!?"

Upon hearing Mitsuya's more comprehensive and insightful analysis, Kan suddenly frowned.

Liu was not surprised at all by Mitsuya's strength, and in the subsequent matches, he tried his best to find the weaknesses in Mitsuya's information.

However, the longer the match dragged on, the less accurate Liu's judgment and prediction of the ball's trajectory became.

Based on the data so far, the next return point is... Ah! What's going on!

Undeterred, Liu continued analyzing the data, but this time, when he turned his attention to Mitsuya, his data seemed to be malfunctioning.

Unable to accurately read Mitsuya's return shot, he became passive again.

After a hasty return, Yanagi's analysis of Mitsuya completely failed, like a precision instrument malfunctioning.

Bang!

"Renji looks... something's not right..."

By this time, Liu was already panting heavily, due to the invalidation of the data and the existing gap between him and Mitsuya.

His stamina was being worn down by repeated defensive maneuvers, while Mitsuya on the other side seemed completely unaffected.

"It's about to begin, Renji. Prepare for defeat."

Mitsuya looked at Yanagi, who was panting heavily, and suddenly a smile appeared on his face.

After muttering something to himself, he returned to the bottom line.

Serving again, Liu, adhering to his Information Tennis, prepared to attempt another analysis.

At that moment, the data in his brain told him a result, which directly caused him to stop his actions.

Bang!

"Renji! Why didn't you catch that ball just now!"

"It's over. I've already seen the end of this game."

Seeing that Liu had let the tennis ball pass him, Gan, who was standing on the sidelines, questioned him angrily.

However, Liu remained remarkably calm in the face of Gan's anger.

Gan was somewhat confused when he heard Liu say that he had seen the outcome of the match.

"My chances of winning... are zero."

"Zero? You mean his Information Tennis is even better than yours?"

After asking Liu a question, Gan's gaze turned to Mitsuya across the way.

Sensing the angry look in Mitsuya's eyes behind his dry glasses, he spoke in a relaxed tone.

"Actually, there's nothing strange about that. After all, what I taught Renji before was only a very small part of my Information Tennis."