Unexpected Horio

"Then you'd better put in a little more effort, otherwise I won't be satisfied."

A ball returned from the net already has increased power, and Akutsu further amplified its power.

Even if Atobe were to receive Atobe ball at this moment, he would only be able to send it flying.

"Then let me carefully consider your current worth."

As he spoke, Horio swung his racket, heading towards the terrifyingly powerful tennis ball.

Bang...

A louder sound than usual filled the training hall. Several strings on Horio's racket had broken, but he still managed to return the ball.

"The rackets that ordinary people use are not durable; the strings break after only a few balls."

Looking at the racket that had been beaten, Horio commented but also affirmed Akutsu.

If Akutsu can maintain this special form throughout the match, he will be a standout among middle school students.

Aside from Horio, the only ones who could defeat him are probably those two from Rikkai Dai, who is still recovering from arm Tezuka.

"Although you can now freely use the Beast's Aura, the new things you've discovered from their Beast's Aura probably can't be maintained indefinitely."

Horio then looked at Akutsu and said calmly.

"You haven't fully mastered this method of unleashing your physical potential through conscious liberation, have you? I think it's because your current physical condition is limiting you?"

Akutsu remained silent, but he also withdrew his Beast's Aura.

"Your appearance reminds me of something, but to reach that level requires extraordinary physical abilities, even flawless ones."

Seeing that Akutsu, Horio knew he had guessed correctly.

"However, I'm still amazed by your current abilities. To achieve this level in such a short time, I think no one else among middle school students could do it except you."

"Kid, what exactly are you trying to say? I'm not here to listen to your nonsense."

"It's nothing. I don't know why you, who had no interest in tennis before, suddenly started practicing again, but I approve of you now."

"There's no need to continue this match. You know perfectly well what happened with those few shots. You still won't win if you keep playing like this. I look forward to the day when you reach that level, and then we can have a proper match."

After saying that Horio picked up his broken racket and left the court, watching Horio departing figure.

Akutsu gripped his racket tightly, his brow furrowing.

"Young man, you're really impressive. This is the first time I've heard him praise someone like that."

As Akutsu was lost in his own world, the voice of the training gym owner came through.

Upon hearing his boss's words, Akutsu's usual impatient expression returned.

"Who are you? Stop spouting that nonsense."

Then, impatiently Akutsu threw down his racket, put on his jacket, and left the training hall.

"This is truly unexpected, and I'm really looking forward to it."

After leaving the training hall, Horio walked alone on the road, a smile appearing on his lips as he thought about how Akutsu had brought him such a big surprise.

The next day

"There are some changes to today's basic training; we'll have a new temporary sparring partner practicing with us."

At Seigaku Tennis Club, looking at the neatly lined-up members in front of him, Oishi gave a pre-training pep talk.

Everyone became curious when they heard that there would be new sparring partners today.

Then, under the curious gazes of the crowd, a familiar figure appeared.

"Hello everyone, I'm your new sparring partner for today. Please give me your feedback."

"Aren't you the team manager from Yamabuki?"

"You're Dan Taichi, right? Akutsu's little lackey."

"You look just like Ryoma. I can hardly tell them apart just by looking at their backs."

The appearance of Dan Taichi surprised the Seigaku team; the manager of their former rival team was actually practicing with them.

"Yes, I am the manager of the Yamabuki Middle School tennis team. I hope we can get along well."

Dan Taichi felt a little uncomfortable because of the Seigaku team members' friendly tone.

"Alright, everyone quiet down. Now that Taiyi has already greeted you, let's begin today's training."

Oishi then dismissed everyone and began today's training.

"In addition, after the basic training is completed, all regular players will continue to undergo targeted training. Horio will be in charge of training Dan Taichi today."

"Why should I be the one to lead so many people? I have my own training too."

Horio immediately protested when he heard Oishi assign him the task of training the new recruits with just one sentence.

"You haven't been training at all. You're the most idle person on the team, and you missed yesterday's celebration party, so consider that a punishment."

Oishi seemed to have been planning this for a long time, because the acting Captain was a little unhappy that he hadn't attended the victory celebration banquet yesterday.

"Okay... I accept."

Knowing he was in the wrong, Horio stopped arguing.

"Hello, what should we do next?"

After the basic training was completed, everyone else began their own training. Dan Taichi approached Horio to ask about the next steps.

"Do whatever you want, it's very free here, feel free to play around."

Horio, who had no intention of getting involved, was perfunctory and just wanted to get rid of Dan Taichi.

"Then I want to fight you. Even though I can't beat you, I still want to fight you."

"Knowing you're going to lose, why are you still playing? Are you trying to annoy me or yourself?"

Upon hearing Horio Dan Taichi's request, Horio, who was already reluctant to take action, became even more unwilling to do so.

"If you want to fight Katsuro or Katsuo, you can choose either one. After all, evenly matched opponents can help each other improve. If you want to fight me, you can think about it."

"Come and play a match with me, I'll give it my all."

"Alright, alright, let's fight!"

Looking at the incredibly persistent Dan Taichi, Horio thought to himself, "No wonder he's Akutsu's follower; even his annoying side is the same."

"You serve, hurry up."

Horio just wanted the game to end as soon as possible, even though it wasn't even boring.

Compared to Horio's nonchalance, Dan Taichi appeared extremely solemn.

In his opinion, Horio defeated Akutsu very easily.

Although he remembered what Akutsu had told him that day, he still wanted to try things out according to his own ideas.

"Akutsu Senpai, I still did what I thought was right. If I don't experience it for myself, I'll never catch up with you."

Dan Taichi tossed the ball into the air and swung his right hand with all his might.

Bang...

"Horio scores, 15:0"

"Continue."

As if he hadn't heard Katsuro's voice announcing the score, Horio spoke coldly.

Seeing his full-force attack being countered and scored by Horio, he realized that Horio.

I didn't even see the ball, I only heard the sound.

"Why is the tennis ball so fast? I can't even see it."