Preparing for the Final, Horio Trains Again
At the baseline, Ryoma, already annoyed by Aoi's nagging, didn't hold back and directly hit Outer Spin Serve with his right hand.
Having never seen Outer Spin Serve before, Aoi was caught off guard by the sudden rebound of the ball, and her center of gravity was instantly disrupted.
However, after losing his balance, he managed to return the tennis ball while adjusting.
The two then exchanged blows, neither gaining the upper hand.
"It's harder than I expected; Echizen hasn't scored a single point."
"That first-year student from Rokkaku Middle School is no pushover either; he was able to go toe-to-toe with Echizen."
"And from the very beginning, Ryoma moved him around at will, yet he returned every single ball without missing a single one."
"So that means Echizen actually has the upper hand, right?"
They held onto that ball for a long time, Seigaku members felt something was off, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it.
"Ryoma is the one being suppressed. Look at Ryoma's feet."
Horio, hearing that the others had also noticed something was wrong, spoke up to warn them.
"That Kui's returns were incredibly precise with every single ball."
"In other words, no matter where Ryoma hits the ball, Aoi can return it to the same spot."
"Wouldn't that kid be stuck in one place? Even if he wanted to move, he'd eventually have to go back to the same spot."
"I think Ryoma must have felt extremely humiliated to be hit back like that."
"Ah! It's Lob Shot, kid, you've changed your move."
While the Seigaku members were talking, a somewhat impatient Ryoma stopped parrying from both sides and directly launched a Lob Shot.
Seeing this, Aoi didn't miss the opportunity, taking a running start and jumping, ready to smash the ball.
"The ball is too high, I probably won't be able to catch it."
"Got it! But the ball isn't in the middle of the racket, it'll be hard to control and will go out of bounds."
Bang...
"Hexas score, 15:0"
The ball didn't go out of bounds as some people predicted; instead, it landed perfectly inside the boundary and scored a point.
"What happened? That tall ball didn't go out of bounds!"
"It's because of that racket; the hexagonal net perfectly distributes the pressure of the ball."
When the ball contacts the racket, the hexagonal net can perfectly wrap around the tennis ball.
This way, the force generated by the tennis ball hitting the racket will not be affected by the difference between the racket and the net.
"So that means no matter where the tennis ball lands on the racket, Aoi can always return it in the perfect way."
Upon hearing Horio's words, Kan immediately understood the advantages of this racket.
"The player himself is already very capable, and with the added assistance of the racket, Ryoma will have a very difficult time in this match."
"Don't worry, a player who needs external assistance can't beat Ryoma."
In Horio's view, while using that kind of special racket is not forbidden, it is a matter of a player's own ability.
If you are strong enough, you can make the perfect return no matter what kind of ball it is.
Someone like Aoi, who doesn't study the best way to return the ball and the racket, will never understand the sweet spot or even the super sweet spot playing style.
Bang...
"Seigaku's score: 40-0"
Bang...
"Six points scored, score 3:2"
Bang...
"Seigaku scores, score tied 4-4"
"They've been playing for three hours now."
"The game is still undecided."
"Those two are truly evenly matched."
Three hours have passed since the start of the match, but the score is still tied at 4-4.
"Although they both seemed to be enjoying the match, it was indeed too slow for it to drag on for so long."
Others may not know how it feels, but for Horio, the match lasting for three hours was truly a headache.
"This is too exhausting. At this rate, they'll be fighting until dark. I'm going to buy some drinks."
Perhaps because everyone was exhausted from the three-hour match, no one paid any attention to Horio's words.
But as Horio turned to leave, a pair of eyes remained fixed on him.
"Seigaku scores, score 7-6, Seigaku wins."
In a back-and-forth battle, Ryoma took the lead in the tiebreaker, scoring the seventh point to end the match.
The moment the referee announced the end of the match, both Ryoma and Aoi lay down on the ground.
"It's finally over! That's great! Three wins out of three!"
"However, they are both exhausted and have no strength left. We need to take him home today."
"Oh right, Horio hasn't come back yet. Katsuro and Katsuo, you two go look for him. We need to get ready to go back."
After the match ended, the Seigaku team, who were preparing to go home, remembered that Horio hadn't returned yet, so Oishi asked Katsuro Katsuo to go look for him.
Just then, Tomoka called out to the two of them, her expression somewhat unnatural.
"Just go find him under the tree not far from the vending machine; he's asleep there."
"Oh~ Tomoka, how did you know where Horio is?"
"Oh right, did you leave together?"
"Oh, I see. Everyone was focused on the game, and you two went on a date."
The gossipy Seigaku members' curiosity was immediately ignited, and they surrounded Tomoka as if interrogating a criminal.
"No, what are the Senpai thinking? I just happened to see it when I went to buy drinks."
Tomoka blushed and retorted when teased, but the Seigaku members weren't buying it.
"Is the match over? That must have been tough."
Horio, who was found by Katsuro and Katsuo, still looked like he hadn't woken up properly and had no idea what had just happened.
"You've come back just in time, Horio. Now that you're back, we can go home now."
Oishi Horio had returned, so they gathered everyone and left the stadium.
However, when they left, everyone except Horio had strange expressions on their faces.
Completely bewildered, Horio wondered if something had happened while he was away.
They asked Katsuro and Katsuo, but received no answer, and the two of them suppressed their laughter.
If there's anyone else whose expression was off, it's Tomoka.
Horio has Katsuro Katsuo Tomoka, while Tomoka has Sakuno.
When she noticed that her best friend was looking at her differently than usual, Tomoka, who had just been teased by her Senpai, felt even more ashamed.
And so, the semi-final ended with everyone trying to suppress their laughter, Horio looking bewildered, and Tomoka looking annoyed.
"Really? You're going to cultivate on your own again?"
"Yes, there's still about a week until the finals, so I want to do one more round of training."
"Then go ahead. I hope you can surprise us like you did last time when you come back."
"Okay, Coach. I'll definitely make even greater progress when I come back."
"That's settled then. If there's nothing else, you can set off."