Regular Lineup Confirmed

Horio tossed the ball into the air, just like before.

He swung his racket at an unhurried pace, and the ball flew toward Inui Sadaharu.

At that moment, Inui Sadaharu could barely even grip his racket, yet he still tried his best to swing. But the instant the ball left Horio's racket—

Inui Sadaharu realized that he could not move at all. Even as the incoming ball became clearer and clearer, all he could do was watch it land in his half of the court.

"Horio scores, 15:0."

"What's going on? Why can't I move?

That ball was as ordinary as could be. There's no way I should be this exhausted.

Could it be... that Akutsu felt this powerless back then too...?"

Realizing that something was wrong with him, Inui Sadaharu seemed to understand what Horio had said to Akutsu back then.

"I thought making you see the ball but unable to return it was childish of me. At your current level, even if Tezuka came, he probably wouldn't have much chance of beating you."

Bang...

"Horio scores, 30:0."

Bang...

"Horio scores, 40:0."

Bang...

"Horio scores. The score is 6:0. Horio wins."

For the next few points, the only sounds were tennis balls being served, hitting the ground, and bouncing. Neither the two players on the court nor the Regulars and non-Regulars off the court said a word.

Perhaps they had been too shocked. Or perhaps they simply did not know how to describe it.

A person could only stand in his own half of the court and watch his opponent score with an utterly ordinary serve.

What a helpless feeling that was. If they knew that the closer the ball came, the more clearly they could see its trajectory, they would have felt even worse.

"Senpai Inui, go put some ice on it. It's impossible for you to receive my Shatter.

Luckily, I only used sixty percent of my strength. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to compete in the Kanto Tournament."

"Horio, you really are strong. I've said it many times, but it's the truth."

"Stop talking, Senpai Inui. The match is over. Go take care of your arm—we still have something important to do later."

Hearing Horio mention something important, Inui Sadaharu remembered Horio's plan and immediately went to ice his arm.

"That was amazing, Horio! How did you hit that New Tennis Skill?

And that last serve too—it all looked so difficult."

"It is pretty difficult. Anyway, among middle school students right now, no one but me can pull it off."

Hearing Katsuro's admiring praise, Horio accepted it as a matter of course.

"You really don't hold back, do you, kid? Still, I never expected you to beat Inui, the so-called Information Tennis expert, that badly."

Seeing Horio's extremely punchable expression, Kikumaru could not help but lecture him.

"Thanks for the compliment, Senpai Kikumaru. But now that the match is over, shouldn't we get on with today's training?"

Horio knew exactly where Kikumaru's weakness lay. Seeing the lively Kikumaru, he immediately had him in his grasp.

"Speaking of which, it was you, you brat, who came up with that training plan with Agan. You seriously don't treat us like human beings."

"Only by doing what ordinary people cannot can you become stronger. Enough complaining, Senpai Kikumaru. I'll give everyone a surprise later."

"The school team's Regular lineup has been confirmed. The original Regulars remain unchanged, except Momoshiro will be replaced by Inui. I hope you train hard and achieve good results in the Kanto Tournament."

After gathering everyone again, Coach Ryuzaki offered a few words of encouragement.

"After we dismiss, all Regulars are to stay behind. Amo, you stay too. Everyone else has worked hard today, so go home first."

"Yes!"

Looking at the Regulars still on the court, along with Momoshiro, who had already changed into his uniform, Horio said, "You've probably guessed why I had Senpai Oishi keep you behind. Next, I'll give each of you some suggestions based on your individual circumstances."

"For the national championship, and even for the challenges we'll face afterward, we must speed up our growth."

"From here on, all you need to do is listen carefully. First, Senpai Fuji, who is currently the second strongest. Your three return shots and Disappearing Serve are still enough for the Tokyo Metropolitan Tournament, but they won't be enough once we reach the Kanto Tournament."

"So you only have two paths now: either refine your three return shots, or broaden your range of shots and develop a fourth return shot—or even more."

"As a defensive counterattacking player, your fallback options are very important. If all of your fallback options are figured out by others, then you have already lost."

Hearing Horio's words, Fuji fell into thought. In truth, Fuji had long understood what Horio was saying.

He had already been trying to develop more return shots, but Horio's suggestion to refine his existing three gave him some inspiration.

"Next is Senpai Inui. I've said it before—people will keep improving."

"If the rate at which data is updated can't keep up with the rate at which people improve, then so-called Information Tennis will only have the opposite effect."

"So, the Information Tennis I believe in is tennis that can synchronize its updates at any time during a match based on changes in a person's muscles."

"Of course, there's another possibility: when your opponent is also an Information Tennis player."

"When your strengths are nearly equal, the only way you can win is by changing his data."

"Make the data he has on you wrong, thereby creating a discrepancy."

Inui Sadaharu, still with an ice pack strapped to his arm, pushed up his glasses and considered Horio's suggestion.

"Horio is right. I definitely won't be the only one playing Information Tennis.

"At the very least, he counts as one too. But updating data anytime and anywhere based on changes—that isn't an easy thing to do."

"Next is Kawamura-senpai. I don't have any other advice for you.

"Just follow the training plan and practice every day to strengthen your physical condition."

"Only once your body is strong enough will using ordinary Wave Balls, or even more powerful Wave Balls, stop causing harm to your body."

"Oishi-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai, I think your doubles play is already very good among middle school students.

"Oishi-senpai's solid baseline defense, Kikumaru-senpai's agile net play."

"But whether it's doubles or singles, stamina is a fatal issue. Still, I don't think that'll be a problem if you follow the training plan."

"The issue now is the limitations of Kikumaru-senpai's Special Skill Shots. Since Special Skill Shots are defined by agility—

"If you make agility the core and then increase the speed further, I think your opponents will definitely be caught off guard in net battles."

"One more thing I need to mention is Synchronization.

"It's a special realm that appears in doubles, a realm only two people with exceptional chemistry can touch.

"In my view, you two are the most likely to reach that realm."

"Once you reach that realm, I'll be able to tell you about the world beyond Synchronization."