Horio Got Serious
Bang...
After the sound of the tennis ball hitting the ground, in the viewing area of Rikkai Dai.
Niou and the others were astonished, but Kirihara's face was filled with fear.
"He's reenacting the match between Kirihara and Fuji."
"Is he a devil? How could he do such a thing?"
"Is this what he meant by settling accounts? Sanada, you have to hold on!"
"Will that guy bring down Captain Sanada? What kind of monster is that...?"
Kirihara saw a familiar scene, which once again pulled him back to his match against Fuji.
"I'm so sorry, I swung the racket too hastily just now and accidentally hit your knee."
Looking at Sanada lying on the ground, Horio asked with concern.
"It's alright, just use whatever other tricks you have up your sleeve."
Sanada, being stubborn, tolerated Horio's behavior.
Sanada stood up, walked somewhat awkwardly to the baseline, and served again.
Horio, just like Kirihara had back then, began to wage a war of attrition against Sanada.
Everyone at Rikkai Dai, except for Kirihara, looked grave upon seeing the almost identical match.
They all knew that Horio did this because of Kirihara, but none of them blamed him.
After all, they were his teammates, and Rikkai Dai's future hope.
On the other hand, while Seigaku also disapproved of Horio's actions, they felt a sense of satisfaction.
The united Seigaku already disliked this kind of behavior that went against the principles of tennis, and Horio's actions were undoubtedly revenge for Fuji.
Off the field, representatives from various universities, although they had already witnessed Horio's strength.
However, the fact that Sanada, the tennis emperor among junior high school students, could be treated like a toy still refreshed my understanding.
Furthermore, they all know how serious Horio is about tennis, and they are also tennis enthusiasts, so they can understand why Horio did what he did.
Bang...
"Seigaku score, 30:0"
After moving Sanada around for more than a dozen rounds, Horio finally finished the ball.
The game was ended when Sanada's knee was nearing its limit, then given him a brief respite before continuing.
This is Horio's punishment, which is both murderous and psychologically damaging. Compared to Kirihara's methods, Horio undoubtedly more cruel.
"Seigaku's score: 40-0"
"Seigaku scores, score 3-0"
After the third game, Sanada was already quite exhausted and disheveled from Horio's torment.
Despite his disheveled appearance, Sanada's eyes remained resolute.
At the start of the fourth game, Horio did not choose to use any special techniques, but simply served a regular serve.
Despite feeling discomfort from knee pain, Sanada tried to move using his left foot to minimize the pressure on his right foot.
As before, Sanada could only maintain a regular exchange of blows with Horio.
After a few rounds, Sanada's eyes sharpened, and he suddenly gripped his racket with both hands.
Like a Japanese samurai wielding a sword and making a slashing motion, he aimed at the tennis ball.
Bang...
Rikkai Dai scores, 15:0
"It was lightning! Sanada actually used a lightning technique that wasn't even finished yet."
When Yanagi Renji saw Sanada's movements, he immediately recalled a familiar move.
Horio hadn't expected that Sanada, whose knee was already injured, would be able to use lightning. Not to mention that it wasn't even the complete version of lightning, using lightning would put a strain on his leg.
Sanada originally didn't want to use this tactic, but for Rikkai Dai's three-peat, he couldn't care less.
Rikkai Dai scores, 30:0
Rikkai Dai scores, 40:0
"Rikkai Dai scores, score 1-3"
"You're really persistent, ignoring your knee injury in your pursuit of victory."
Seeing Sanada's face contorted in pain, Horio began to somewhat acknowledge the man's worth.
"But your half-baked skills can't last much longer, right? If you continue, your knee injury might break the bone."
The complete version of Lei utilizes the power of his legs, so this unfinished version will definitely put more strain on his legs.
Therefore, Horio concluded that Sanada wouldn't last long, and in that case, Horio decided to let Sanada continue playing and scoring.
"The Moving Like Thunder, which wasn't completed, still isn't working; my knees can barely take it anymore."
Sensing he had reached his limit, Sanada had no choice but to temporarily abandon using Rai and focus on handling the next ball in the most efficient way.
At the start of the fifth game, Sanada served again.
To protect his knees, Sanada's serve also became much worse.
Horio had already seen through Sanada's situation. Horio wasn't actually that averse to someone like Sanada who was extremely obsessed with victory.
It was only because of Kirihara's actions that Sanada did not stop him, but instead chose to condone them.
This angered Horio, which is why he punished him like that in the first few rounds.
"The punishments have been carried out; now I'm going to compete with you seriously."
Sanada, who was preparing to serve, suddenly heard Horio's words, but his unease did not lessen in the slightest.
With this worry in mind, a serve that wasn't particularly powerful was hit.
Sensing that Sanada was being somewhat perfunctory, Horio increased his force, and the previously limp tennis ball immediately became fierce.
Because of Sanada's right knee injury, Horio chose to hit the ball to Sanada's left side.
With both hands gripping the racket and using the left foot as the pivot, a backhand return is more than sufficient.
Just as Horio had predicted, Sanada stomped his left foot hard on the ground and swung his arms out with a powerful backhand swing.
The tennis ball was returned, Horio assumed a fighting stance, ready to retaliate.
"It's the Weak Water. Horio is going to use the Weak Water."
The Seigaku members cheered excitedly when they saw Horio strike a familiar pose.
With a swing of his racket, the tennis ball flew out again, Sanada felt the increased force on it once more.
Grip the racket tighter, watch the ball fly towards you, and hit it with all your might.
Bang...
"Seigaku score, 15:0"
The ball, which was clearly hit towards Horio's half of the court with a shakehand grip, fell to the ground with an abnormal trajectory the moment the racket was swung.
This change seems unremarkable, yet it is perplexing.
"Seigaku score, 30:0"
The tennis ball once again plummeted to the ground after Sanada swung his racket, and Sanada began to ponder how to deal with the ball.
"Seigaku's score: 40-0"
"Seigaku scores, score 4-1"
No matter how much Sanada thought about it, he hadn't come up with a solution after just a few shots.
In the sixth game, it was Horio's serve again.
"If I just serve randomly, he'll probably use that half-baked grenade again, so let's try a new move."
I realized I had a new trick that I'd only recently updated, but hadn't tried yet, and now was the perfect opportunity.
So he looked up at Sanada and reminded him.
"Next, I'll show you something new I've recently developed. Although, like your thunder, it's still an unfinished product, it wouldn't hurt to let you see it."