40. Reward System: Double the training volume.

Oh no, this is it—the devil’s vegetable juice... The moment he saw the green concoction, Akira Matsubara felt his whole being sink. What was bound to come had finally arrived, just as he feared.

Fortunately, Akira had his own hidden advantage, so he wasn’t too worried about whether he could hit all three balls into the correct targets in a single try. It was Ryo Shishido, the first to step up, whom he pitied.

Still, the current batch of Inui Juice looked almost normal in color; the bizarre inventions yet to come would truly be the stuff of nightmares.

“Uh... what exactly is in this?” Ryo Shishido, sweat beading on his forehead, pointed at the gently swirling green liquid.

“Don’t worry, it’s all edible. The green color comes from a variety of leafy vegetables I added—it's just the chlorophyll,” Sadaharu Inui explained in earnest, seeing Shishido’s hesitation.

“Ah... ha, ha...” The explanation didn’t sound convincing in the least to Shishido, who could only muster a twitching, bitter smile. Inui, meanwhile, grinned broadly, as if already witnessing the outcome.

“I’ve tried it myself—it’s actually quite tasty. Isn’t that right, Renji?” Inui turned to Renji Yanagi, who was gripping his racket. A glint flashed across Inui's glasses.

“Mm... yes.” A dark shadow fell over Yanagi’s brow as he nodded, his response less than enthusiastic.

Taking the vegetable juice, Shishido braced himself and downed it in one gulp. For him, there was no unknown territory he dared not challenge; he had promised Akira Matsubara as much when he left Hyotei.

Seeing Shishido muster the courage to drink the Inui Juice, Akira’s brows involuntarily knitted in empathy—he could almost feel it himself.

As for the others, who had no idea of the Inui Juice’s true power, their faces remained largely unchanged. Tezuka wore his usual poker face; Fuji looked mildly surprised. Akutsu, arms crossed, watched with an air of disdain. Were these guys trying to be funny?

The cool, viscous liquid slid down his throat, and as Shishido opened his eyes, his face twisted dramatically as if he’d been poisoned, his high ponytail trembling uncontrollably.

“Ugh! What is this?!” His mouth was assaulted by a medley of indescribable, bizarre flavors that invaded his nose and mind, and clutching his mouth, he sprinted out of the court, howling in distress.

“Ahhhhhh!”

“What’s going on?”

“Looks like Shishido’s in agony...”

Shishido’s anguished cries echoed across Courts C and D. The substitute players, witnessing the commotion, whispered among themselves in confusion.

“Sadaharu... are you sure it’s safe?” Yanagi eyed Shishido’s breakdown with concern.

“Of course. You can try it yourself,” Inui said, producing another cup of the ominous juice from who-knows-where and grinning at Yanagi.

“Uh... never mind. Next! Akira Matsubara!” Yanagi rejected him outright, then called out as he sent three more balls flying.

“Here we go!”

Akira shot onto the court like a streak of lightning, skidding to a halt as he tried to discern the color of each incoming ball. But within half a second, his expression contorted with dismay.

“Damn it, I can’t tell them apart!” He wasn’t nearsighted, but only now did he realize how poor his dynamic vision was. Forget three balls—he could barely make out the color of one!

“Flash-Time!”

A dull gray aura rippled out from Akira’s body, freezing everyone in place the instant it touched them.

“Phew... let’s see what we have here...” Akira leaned in to examine the balls up close. Inui still stood poised with his cup, Yanagi frozen mid-serve.

The others, caught in their own unique micro-expressions, looked rather ridiculous—except for the ever-stoic Tezuka. Fuji and Akutsu were especially comical.

“Yellow... blue... and red.” Akira carefully placed each ball precisely before its matching colored cone. With a light swing, he muttered, “Alright, here goes nothing!”

The gray haze shattered like glass, sparkling energy scattering as time resumed and everyone returned to motion.

“Yellow! Blue! Red!”

With three solid thuds, Yanagi watched, astonished, as Akira landed all three balls with pinpoint accuracy.

“Incredible... he got them all!” Yanagi couldn’t help but comment.

“Oh? Nicely done, Matsubara,” Inui turned around, noting the perfectly matched balls and cones.

Akira arched an eyebrow. Though Inui’s tone sounded congratulatory, there was an odd note of regret beneath it.

“No wonder he beat me...” Yanagi admired the boy from the bottom of his heart.

While Rikkaidai’s training also involved hitting three balls at once, even players like Yukimura and Sanada could only direct them to a particular area near the baseline. To strike each ball into its exact matching cone as Akira just had—Yanagi had never seen anyone else accomplish that.

“Ready for more!” Yanagi served three balls at once again. Having succeeded once, Akira now brimmed with confidence, even boasting, “Bring it on! I’ll take whatever you throw at me!”

The second round was handled flawlessly as well. Fuji, observing, couldn’t help but praise, “Impressive, Matsubara.”

“For that kid, I doubt there’s much he can’t do,” Akutsu added, unwilling to be outdone.

“It’s best not to get too cocky, Matsubara. Soon... you’ll feel the difference,” Inui said, as if he’d already foreseen what was to come. As Akira prepared for the third set, he suddenly felt his body grow heavier.

“Trying to distract me, are you? Not a chance!” Akira recalled that Inui might try to trick him when he called out the colors, so he simply trusted what he’d seen during Flash-Time.

As the gray energy shattered once more, Akira shouted, “Red! Blue! Blue!”

“Are there really two blues?” Inui called out, an amused smile on his lips.

“Of course!” As the balls struck home, Yanagi confirmed that the two beneath the blue cone matched, and the red one was correct as well. He nodded in approval.

Seeing this, Inui’s smile faded a touch. Even with the added resistance, Akira’s concentration was unbroken. It seemed he needed to up the difficulty.

Behind him stood five cups of vegetable juice—Inui had prepared one for everyone. With so many nutritious ingredients, they must not go to waste!

With a clatter, Inui began gathering the scattered balls. Akira, suddenly uneasy, called out, “What are you doing, Inui?”

“You completed three rounds perfectly. There’s a penalty system, but also a reward system: your reward is three more rounds.” Inui adjusted his glasses, his smile as dark as ever.

“Hey, come on...” Akira’s lips twitched. “Isn’t this enough, Yanagi? Look, there’s still Akutsu, Vice-Captain Fuji, Captain Tezuka, and the new regular. Everyone’s waiting.”

“Hmm... According to the rules Inui and I set, the reward does double the training,” Yanagi replied, pretending to ponder.

Suddenly remembering what Inui and Yanagi had said in the lounge, Akira’s face blanched. Four or five rounds would be fine, but six... that was impossible!

“This is bad... Six uses of Flash-Time under resistance—I’ll collapse from exhaustion...”

And just as Akira feared, after the fifth use, he was soaked in sweat as if he’d just showered, his vision beginning to blur.

Still, faced with Yanagi’s relentless serves, Akira tried to endure by sheer force of will—anything to avoid drinking that vegetable juice.

But as he gritted his teeth and activated Flash-Time a sixth time, his depleted body felt utterly hollowed out. He froze in place, petrified.

Balls bounced off the wire fence and scattered. Unable to continue, Akira fell to his knees, gasping for breath.

Without warning, Inui appeared beside him like a ghost, a cup of vegetable juice raised in his hand and a wicked smile on his face.

“Damn...” Akira’s clenched jaw trembled uncontrollably.

With a desperate gulp, Akira drained the glass. In the next instant, his face went from deathly pale to ashen blue. Suddenly, his legs were strong and his breath steady—he bolted from the court.

Akutsu, who had scoffed at the supposed punishment, was left wide-eyed and speechless after witnessing Akira’s terrifying reaction.

Was it really that foul?

Even Tezuka, usually stoic, found himself a bit rattled. His eyes followed Akira as he vanished through the gates, and a rare hint of heaviness flickered in his gaze.