The next day.
At a farmhouse on the outskirts of Tokyo.
Early in the morning, under Coach Ryuzaki's lead, the Seigaku team boarded a bus and headed to their training ground.
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
As soon as they stepped off the bus, the team could hear the intense sound of tennis balls being struck.
"Is someone playing a match?"
Momoshiro exclaimed in surprise. "So, Ryoma's already here?"
*Bang!*
At that moment, a powerful shot rang out.
Accompanied by the sound of the ball cutting through the air, a tennis ball wrapped in faint arcs of lightning flew straight toward Momoshiro.
"Watch out!"
Behind him, Kaido shouted and rushed forward, positioning himself in front of Momoshiro. With a forceful swing, he struck the ball back.
*Boom!*
A loud explosion-like sound echoed.
Feeling the tremendous force transmitted through his racket, Kaido's expression darkened. He quickly placed his other hand on the racket, using both hands to barely return the ball.
"What the…"
The Seigaku team's expressions changed.
No one had expected to be ambushed the moment they arrived. Even more shocking was that Kaido, the strongest among them in terms of raw power, had to use both hands just to return the ball.
After the initial shock, Momoshiro and Kaido glared at the other side, ready to demand an explanation for the sudden attack.
"You must be Kaido Kaoru, right?"
However, before they could speak, the tall, bald boy on the other side raised his hand vertically in front of his chest. "Your strength is decent, but your fundamentals are lacking."
Decent strength?
Lacking fundamentals?
Momoshiro and Kaido were instantly furious. Not only had this guy attacked them out of nowhere, but he also had the audacity to insult Kaido to his face.
"You're… Shitenhouji's Ishida Gin?"
However, before the two could retort, Fuji, who had been observing quietly, spoke up in surprise. He then turned to Inui and asked, "So, our training partners for this camp are from Shitenhouji?"
"That's right."
Inui nodded, adjusting his glasses. "For the next three days, Shitenhouji will be our training partners. They're a strong team, so don't let your guard down."
"Understood."
Momoshiro and Kaido quickly nodded.
Having a top-tier team like Shitenhouji as their training partners was a rare opportunity. They weren't about to ruin it by picking a fight.
"Hey, Gin, is that Seigaku over there?"
At that moment, a red-haired boy wearing a leopard-print tank top ran over excitedly. "Echizen! Where's Seigaku's Echizen? Come play a match with me!"
"Kintarou."
A voice filled with exasperation followed him. "It's Ryoma, not Echizen. It's rude to get someone's name wrong."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
Kintarou waved it off, his eyes scanning the Seigaku team.
After a moment, he frowned, not finding the person he was looking for. "Hey, where's your Echizen? Didn't he come?"
"Ryoma?"
Momoshiro finally realized. He turned to Inui in surprise. "Inui-senpai, is Ryoma not joining this training session?"
"I'm not sure."
Inui shook his head.
"Don't worry about Ryoma."
Coach Ryuzaki, who had just stepped off the bus, interjected. "His training is being handled by someone else. It's more beneficial for him than joining us here."
"Someone else… Wait!!"
Suddenly, as if struck by a realization, Momoshiro's eyes widened. The rest of the team also seemed to remember something, their minds flashing back to the middle-aged man in the black robe they had seen in the taxi yesterday.
"Alright!"
Seeing the shocked expressions on everyone's faces, Coach Ryuzaki spoke firmly. "Focus up! Don't waste a single second of these three days. And like Inui said, Shitenhouji is a strong team. Everyone needs to give it their all during training!"
"Yes!"
The team responded in unison.
And so, the intensive training session between Seigaku and Shitenhouji officially began.
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
Meanwhile, at the Hyotei tennis club.
Inside the training grounds, everyone was hard at work. Even Shishido, who was nursing a knee injury, was practicing his swings while standing.
With three days left until the finals, if his injury healed in time, he still had a chance to compete. After all, this was his last year in middle school nationals.
If he couldn't play, he wouldn't be able to accept it.
Hiyoshi was also training diligently. With Shishido injured, he had the best chance of securing the doubles 2 spot.
Since morning, he had been practicing his *Enbu-style Shukuchi* footwork while also pondering how to break into the realm of martial arts that Ishikawa had mastered.
"Haa…"
After completing his 1,000th swing, Hiyoshi let out a long breath.
It was tough!
Even though he had grasped the basics of *Four Gods Enbu: White Tiger*, he still couldn't take that final step into the realm of martial arts.
"Should I… ask the vice-captain for advice?"
With that thought, Hiyoshi glanced toward the corner where Ishikawa usually trained alone.
"Hmm?"
To his surprise, Ishikawa, who had been practicing against the wall earlier, was now sitting cross-legged on the ground.
"That posture… it looks a bit strange."
Hiyoshi shook his head.
At some point, Ishikawa had started incorporating what looked like yoga exercises into his daily routine.
Sometimes, Hiyoshi wanted to say, "Don't bite off more than you can chew."
But then he remembered Ishikawa's mastery of advanced kendo and ancient martial arts, and he quickly dismissed the thought.
In fact, Hiyoshi had a strange feeling. It seemed like, in the near future, Ishikawa's yoga practice would reach the same level of mastery as his kendo and martial arts.
"Breathe…"
"Breathe…"
Not far away, Ishikawa sat cross-legged, his breathing steady and rhythmic. At this moment, he exuded an unusual aura. Despite sitting in a highly visible spot, if one didn't pay close attention, it was easy to overlook his presence.
It was as if… he had somehow detached himself from the world.
And if one were to look closely, they would notice that Ishikawa's eyes had lost their focus.
Yes.
At this moment, Ishikawa was in a state where his five senses had been stripped away.
The reason? After defeating Yukimura the previous day, the system had rewarded him with the ability *Five Senses Deprivation*.
During the match, using this technique to enter a state of complete mental and physical relaxation, Ishikawa found it easy to slip into deep meditation.
So, he cleverly used the *Five Senses Deprivation* ability to strip away his own senses, allowing him to enter a deeper state of meditation.
In this state, Ishikawa could clearly feel the changes in his consciousness and mental strength. Especially when he was extremely fatigued, depriving his senses allowed his stamina to recover at three times the normal rate.
Combined with the effects of his yoga practice, Ishikawa's physical endurance had reached a level comparable to players with a five-dimensional rating of 5 or higher.
Moreover, he could sense that if he continued at this pace, his secondary skill, yoga, would soon break through to the next level.
And so, day after day, both Hyotei and Seigaku continued their training, each following their own rhythm.
Before they knew it, three days had passed.
In a remote valley on the outskirts of Tokyo.
Night had fallen.
Next to a waterfall, a boy wearing a red-and-white shirt and a tennis cap tossed a small stone into the air.
*Swish!*
With a flick of his wrist, he channeled his strength through the wooden stick in his hand, sending the stone flying like a bullet.
*Crack!*
The stone pierced through the waterfall and struck the cave behind it.
"Not bad."
Not far away, the middle-aged man in the black robe nodded in approval. "You've finally grasped the basics."
"Haa…"
The boy let out a deep breath.
For the past three days, he had been training relentlessly.
Over and over, he repeated the same monotonous movements. Finally, just as his father had said, he had crossed the threshold.
"It's getting late."
The man, Nanjiroh Echizen, spoke up. "Let's end the training here. How much you've truly learned and how much you can apply in the upcoming match is up to you now."
"I understand."
The boy, Ryoma Echizen, the son of the Samurai, nodded solemnly.
Three days of living in the wild had roughened his skin slightly.
But his eyes now held a depth they hadn't before. His entire demeanor had become more mature and composed.
"Ishikawa Shin…"
As Ryoma's gaze shifted, the image of the black-haired boy appeared in his mind. A faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "I'm looking forward to our match tomorrow!"
---