Why do you want to become stronger?
As soon as these words came out, Tokugawa was stunned for a moment.
Different from the Tokugawa in the drama, that Tokugawa was full of "extreme" ideas because of the practices of Byodoin, and was committed to overthrowing Byodoin and becoming the best in the world with his "righteous" practices.
But now, because he has never experienced the severe beatings of Byodoin, he does not have too drastic thoughts or persistence.
It can be said that he is now a "wandering soul" running around without any goal.
Even if he was called to the U17 training camp, it was only because the team needed it.
He himself doesn't have any long-term goals.
He just wanted to become stronger to cope with the current situation, and never thought about why he wanted to become stronger.
So much so that the current Tokugawa actually lacks a "road mark".
Therefore, the ghost's question was quite sharp to him.
"As expected, you haven't found your own path yet."
"Think about it."
"Why on earth are you here?"
Ghost didn't rush him to hand over the answer, but got up and prepared to go back to the dormitory to take a shower.
"Ara, he's just leaving."
"But you can always go to him and tell him."
Irie smiled, looked at the ghosts leaving, said to Tokugawa, and then followed him.
"You need to think carefully about this issue."
"For each of us, there is an obsession to accomplish."
"If you come here with the idea of doing nothing, you will only fall behind in the end."
Byodoin scratched his head, dripping with sweat, and looked at the junior in front of him and persuaded him in a serious tone.
Although there is currently nothing special about this kid, since the ghosts are expecting him, it proves that he is talented.
"My goal...?"
Looking at the three people leaving, Tokugawa murmured in a low voice and finally fell silent.
……………
"Dudu!!"
Walking on the road back to Hyotei, dusk enveloped the ground, and Tokugawa still had no clue.
Why does he want to become stronger now?
He couldn't answer this question himself.
Because since arriving at the U17 training camp, he has lost his previous thoughts.
Ruruo was working hard to become a professional player overseas before, but now he doesn't seem to care.
Why did you change your mind?
He doesn't even know it himself.
I just feel that I am not in a hurry to get into the career I once longed for.
Perhaps subconsciously, he himself knew that if he couldn't even deal with a junior high school student, what qualifications did he have to go to the professional field?
"Crack!"
"boom!"
As soon as he returned to the teaching building, Tokugawa heard a familiar voice coming from the window.
He walked to the window sill and looked at the team members who were still exercising under the sunset.
Shishido Ryo, Mukahi Gakuto, Taki Oginosuke, and even Jirou, who always dozed off, were exercising.
Coupled with a few freshmen, they seemed completely unaware of fatigue.
"Ah hum, isn't this okay? Huadi."
The familiar tone came from the direction blocked by the woods. Even though he couldn't see his figure, Tokugawa knew who it was.
"yes!!"
The sound of out of breath sounded as Huadi dragged his heavy body to finish the last distance, and then panted violently.
"Atobe, I feel like I'm used to it here."
"Then go get some arm training."
"Atobe, I'm almost done here."
"Yueren, you need to strengthen your physical strength, and remember to exercise your legs properly."
A series of questions rang out, but they did not arouse the impatience of the gorgeous minister.
Tokugawa silently stared at the court below, lost in thought.
…………
"goodbye."
"See you tomorrow."
"Thank you for your hard work, seniors!"
It wasn't until it was almost dark that the members left one by one.
But when everyone left, Atobe and Kachichi were still in the stadium.
"Snapped!"
With a snap of his fingers, the surrounding night lights lit up, as if the tennis court was used as a stage, and Atobe stood in the center with great style.
"Huadi, are you ready?"
"yes!"
He took off his coat, matched it with the team uniform, held the racket in his hand, and shouted to Huadi.
Tokugawa looked at the situation on the court in surprise, and for a moment he didn't know what Atobe was going to do.
But then, he was shocked.
I saw that Huaji had brought several temporary ball machines from somewhere and placed them on the court. At the same time, he also got some smooth walls for the court and placed them behind Atobe and on the left and right sides.
"Twelve stations?"
"And those walls"
Unable to fully see the field of view of the stadium, Tokugawa quickly changed floors. When he observed from the top of the building, he found that things were different from what he imagined.
"Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!!!"
A series of shots sounded, and extremely violent fast balls rushed out of the machine.
Huaji waited on the side for the ball machine to finish serving the ball, and then pushed a wall to the front of the ball. Together with the several walls just placed, it just created a closed environment for the entire court.
Twelve tennis balls kept bouncing back and forth inside, while Atobe swung the racket one after another, hitting the wall without missing any one.
"So, with the smoothness of the wall, the ball will keep bouncing, and because of the angle, the trajectory of the ball will be different."
"Like a perpetual motion machine"
"With that amount, you have to have the ball control, observation and technical skills to catch them all without missing a beat and not let them crash."
After observing Atobe's training, Tokugawa realized that he was still too small before.
The current head of the Ice Emperor trains more crazily than anyone else.
It's no wonder that when he hit ten goals before, he took them all as if nothing happened.
With Atobe's training method, hitting ten goals is nothing.
Seeing how he kept responding to the tennis balls bouncing around in that narrow environment without letting them stop when they hit the ground, it can be said that his insight and technical ability have reached their peak.
You have to know that in that situation, if you make a mistake, you may be hit by tennis balls shooting from the surrounding area and get bruised and swollen.
Not only was Atobe not injured, but he hit all the balls back and even stopped them midway without letting the balls collide with each other.
A true "batting perpetual motion machine" has been achieved.
His hand unconsciously grasped the guardrail, and Tokugawa was fascinated.
…………
It wasn't until Atobe's training ended that Tokugawa slowly walked to the court.
"Didn't you say you were going to the training camp to ask for advice?"
"It looks like you didn't succeed."
It was completely different from the Atobe he usually saw. He was now sweating profusely, and his uniform looked like it was soaked. He looked like a drowned rat.
"I just don't understand it."
"uh-huh?"
"Why do you want to become stronger?"
Having raised that question, Tokugawa wanted to know Atobe's answer.
(For each of us, there is an obsession to be completed.)
Recalling Byodoin's words in his mind, he wanted to know what Atobe's obsession was.
"I see, is that what worries you?"
"That's right. You are just like a puppet now. You have no ideas of your own and just follow the crowd."
"Let's answer your question first."
"Why do I want to become stronger?"
"That's because there are a lot of people I want to knock down."
"Aogaku's Tezuka and Fuji. Yamabuki's Akutsu, Tatekai's Yukimura and Sanada, and Nio Teiko's Shirazu and Akashi."
"They are all opponents that I can look forward to"
“The main thing is”
"I want to lead the Ice Emperor to dominate the country!"
Hearing this, Atobe sat on the steps, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and smiled. Then he turned around and looked at Tokugawa and answered solemnly.
Dominate the country
With just four words, Tokugawa felt an elusive power and oppression.
Thinking about the strength of other schools, he was a little eager to try.
Perhaps he had some inkling of the problem.
"Since you don't know what to do now, how about I give you a small goal?"
But at this time, Atobe stood up, turned around and looked at him and said seriously.
"?"
Quietly waiting for the next step, Tokugawa wanted to see what Atobe would say.
"Become the best high school student in Neon! Tokugawa."
(End of chapter)
