Chapter 62: It is the machine's limit, not Takahashi's limit

Takahashi Yanichi, like Yukimura Seiichi, challenged the Tennis Club Captain as a first-year freshman, and both succeeded, replacing the incumbent to become the new Captain.

However, the difficulty level faced by these two was vastly different.

Yukimura faced the Captain of Rikkai, which only dominated the Kanto Region, while Takahashi faced a Captain who dominated the entire nation.

If one were to say Yukimura faced "hard mode," then Takahashi faced "nightmare mode."

Yet Takahashi, who had only three months of tennis experience.

Actually managed to do it!

And he did it under Sanada's watchful eyes.

Unbelievable, unexpected, inconceivable.

Let such emotions come a few more times.

Through constant shock, Sanada gradually grew accustomed to it.

Now, hearing Yanagi Renji say that Takahashi could return a tennis ball at 230 km/h.

Sanada felt it was not so hard to accept after all.

The shock was there, but his emotional threshold had increased, and his reaction was not as intense.

After a long while, Sanada spoke: "If it's Takahashi, it's possible; after all, one cannot judge his strength by conventional logic."

"What if I said he caught five balls at a speed of 230 km/h in less than 1 second?"

Yanagi Renji asked again.

"What!"

"Renji, you aren't dreaming, are you!"

Sanada said loudly.

Returning one tennis ball at 230 km/h versus returning five tennis balls at 230 km/h.

These are completely different concepts!

Taking himself as an example, his limit is returning a tennis ball at around 210 km/h.

And that is only for one ball.

If one wanted to return five balls at once—no, never mind five, even three—the ball speed would have to be significantly reduced.

Otherwise, one's eyes would be blurred, let alone catching and returning the balls.

Sanada's raised volume attracted Yukimura.

Yukimura had just finished his closing tasks when he heard the two men's voices.

Yanagi Renji explained to the two: "I went to the Special Training Room this afternoon, that high-tech training room only allowed for Regular Members."

"I discovered the parameters displayed on the Automatic Ball Machine were: 230 km/h, 0.001-second interval, five balls."

"Only Takahashi and Kirihara had entered that training room in the morning."

"No one else entered that training room this afternoon besides me."

"Kirihara knows how to use the Automatic Ball Machine and how to clear the settings."

"Only the newcomer Takahashi didn't know that uncleared parameters would be retained and become part of the history log."

Once these words were spoken, Yukimura and Sanada fell silent simultaneously.

Yanagi Renji continued: "So, I checked the history log."

"The speed was set all the way from 205 km/h to 230 km/h, and the interval time was set from 0.1 seconds to 0.001 seconds."

Suddenly, there was dead silence.

Only the sound of the evening Wind whistling could be heard.

After a long while, Yukimura broke the silence and said: "Since it was set to this number, it means Takahashi did not succeed at these parameters; otherwise, he would have set the numbers higher."

Sanada reacted immediately and said: "That's right, he must have failed the challenge at these parameters. His limit is likely even lower than this."

"I'm afraid this isn't Takahashi's limit; it's the limit of the Automatic Ball Machine!"

Yanagi Renji said softly.

"Because our budget was limited, we didn't buy the top-tier model of this Automatic Ball Machine; we bought the standard version."

"When we purchased it, we thought the standard version's functions would be sufficient."

"The limit of the standard version is exactly the parameters Takahashi set."

Yanagi Renji added.

Silence.

Another bout of silence.

"It seems the standard version is no longer enough; let's buy a top-tier one!"

"We aren't short on that bit of money."

Yukimura spoke, breaking the silence.

Sanada opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately said nothing.

For middle school students, using a standard tennis Automatic Ball Machine is already completely sufficient.

The top-tier Automatic Ball Machine is prepared for professional players!

It is not prepared for ordinary middle school students!

And as for Takahashi's strength, the standard version of the machine can no longer keep up with him!

Although he had been shocked many times before and his own shock threshold had greatly increased, at this moment, Sanada was still incredibly shocked.

"There is one more thing, did you notice?"

"How Kirihara addresses Takahashi?"

Yukimura continued.

"Mm, Kirihara calls Takahashi master!"

Sanada replied.

"I always thought Kirihara was a bit simple and silly, but he really used his brain for this; he acted fast!"

"Taking a strong person as a master is a very effective way to improve one's strength."

Yanagi Renji praised.

Listening to Yanagi Renji's praise, Sanada's brow twitched involuntarily a few times.

Taking a strong person as a master is not a problem at all.

The problem is that Kirihara is in his second year, and Takahashi is in his first year.

Kirihara is one year older than Takahashi and one grade higher.

Taking someone one year younger than oneself as a master, Sanada always felt something was strange about it.

It's not according to the rules!

There is an old saying in the Dragon Kingdom: "A master for a day is a father for life."

If this were applied to Takahashi and Kirihara, then Takahashi's seniority would invisibly be a generation higher than Kirihara's.

At the same time, he would also be a generation higher than all of them.

Although as the Captain of the Tennis Club, Takahashi should indeed be respected by the members.

But this is still different from the respect a master should receive.

A junior is both the Captain and the master of another junior.

Such a complicated relationship makes the habitually rule-abiding Sanada very uncomfortable.

But purely in terms of improving strength, taking someone much stronger than oneself as a master is indeed a very effective method and a shortcut.

Just as Sanada was immersed in his own thoughts, he heard a "thud" from behind.

Turning his head subconsciously, he was shocked to find that Yukimura had already collapsed and was unconscious.

In the hospital.

Upon hearing the news, all the Regular Members came to visit the hospitalized Yukimura.

Takahashi stood to the side, watching the others anxiously asking about Yukimura's condition.

Takahashi remembered that the illness Yukimura had was not life-threatening.

By the time of the later U17 World Cup, he had fully recovered and it would not recur.

However, surgery was required.

In the original story, it was because of the surgery that Yukimura could not appear in the Kanto Tournament, causing Rikkai to miss the Kanto Tournament championship and ending Rikkai's 15-game winning streak.

By the time of the National Tournament, Yukimura, dragging a body that had just undergone surgery and had not fully recovered, played against Echizen Ryoma and ultimately missed the National Tournament championship.

Thinking of this plot from the original story, Takahashi sighed with emotion.

Then he thought of the trophies placed in the Rikkaidai Tennis Club office.

From the Kanto Tournament championship trophies to the National Tournament trophies, they were lined up neatly, filling an entire cabinet.

This is the result of the hard work of generations of Rikkaidai Tennis Club members over more than a decade.

It is the best testament to their day-after-day, year-after-year hard work, without a moment of slack.

It is the glory passed down through generations of the Rikkaidai Tennis Club!

To actually lose this legacy in the hands of Yukimura Seiichi, the strongest in the history of the Tennis Club!

What a disgrace and irony this is!