NOVEL NEXT Chapter 120: <120> Training for Lightning-Fast Reactions
Chapter 120: Training for Lightning-Fast Reactions
After lunch, Coach Mitani led Sendo to... an indoor tennis court.
The moment Sendo saw the tennis ball machine and the court, his eyes glazed over with confusion.
His first reaction was, Are you kidding me?
Turning to Coach Mitani, his expression was full of questions, as if to say, I need an explanation.
Sendo wasn't the type to jump to conclusions, always giving others a chance to explain.
"Listen, Sendo-kun," Coach Mitani began, "the purpose of coming here is to train your eyes to track fast-moving objects, honing your dynamic vision and reflexes. Even if it doesn't significantly improve them, it's an excellent way to maintain your natural talents. You should know that tennis players require faster short-distance explosive speed than sprinters, and even better dynamic vision, reflexes, and judgment than MLB hitters facing pitches over 200 km/h.
"In other words, tennis is an extreme sport with a lot of overlap with baseball. For example, the short-distance burst speed required in tennis—about 10 meters—is comparable to the 30-meter sprints in baseball. And tennis demands even greater precision."
"Ah, I see!" Sendo nodded, now understanding the purpose of the training.
"The ball machine here can serve balls at speeds of up to 200 km/h, so enjoy yourself—and try not to wet your pants!" Coach Mitani added with a mischievous grin. "If we weren't at an all-girls school, we might've had access to a machine capable of 240 km/h."
Sendo's face froze for a moment.
200 km/h is no joke, he thought, especially for a first-timer.
Still, he adjusted his breathing to stay composed.
Fortunately, the machine served balls in a fixed trajectory and location, so he wasn't too worried about getting injured.
"Breathe in… breathe out…" A smile spread across Sendo's face.
This is going to be fun. I'm excited!
...
After finalizing arrangements with the tennis club, Coach Mitani returned.
Sakura Girls's's University's tennis team was quite strong, but they rarely used the ball machine, so lending it out wasn't an issue.
"Follow me," Coach Mitani said, leading Sendo onto the court.
Sendo looked around curiously. His knowledge of tennis came mostly from anime, so he found the environment intriguing.
Meanwhile, the tennis players on the court were also curiously observing him.
They had heard about the cute boy who would be using their court to train his reflexes and dynamic vision.
"Here, take this!" Coach Mitani handed him a tennis racket as they entered the court.
Sendo tilted his head, looking puzzled.
"This is borrowed. If you get bored, you can try hitting some balls—200 km/h tennis balls!" Coach Mitani said, the hint of malice in his tone unmistakable.
"Uh…" Sendo, now familiar with the coach's personality, wasn't surprised by the teasing.
As for actually hitting the balls?
Sendo wasn't sure what to expect from a 200 km/h serve since he hadn't seen one in person.
So, he chose to remain silent, figuring no one would judge him if he missed.
But if he managed to hit it, he was eager to see Coach Mitani's reaction.
Sendo wasn't one to underestimate challenges, especially knowing that professional tennis serves could reach speeds of 239 km/h.
While seasoned tennis players could occasionally return serves at 200 km/h, the real challenge lay in controlling the return.
Hitting such a ball required exceptional reflexes and dynamic vision, areas where Sendo was supremely confident.
"Ready?" Coach Mitani's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Sendo nodded calmly.
"Such a cool expression," remarked one of the tennis players from a distance.
"He's so cute!" another chimed in, exchanging glances with her teammate before both spoke in unison.
...
Bang!
Thwack!
The first sound was the tennis ball being fired from the machine.
The second was the ball hitting the ground.
Sendo hadn't planned to swing, but the speed of the ball startled him.
Holding the racket, he turned to glance back in amazement.
It's so fast! But I can see it clearly. From every angle… if the ball's trajectory is fixed, I should be able to hit it, right? Sendo thought to himself, a testament to his exceptional dynamic vision.
Coach Mitani, observing from the side, was equally impressed—not by the ball's speed but by Sendo's expression.
It was clear that Sendo could effortlessly track the ball's movement, his gaze perfectly synchronized with its trajectory.
Despite the speed appearing faster the closer it was to the receiver, Sendo showed no signs of struggle.
"Shall we continue?" Coach Mitani asked, more out of courtesy than concern, seeing that Sendo was unaffected.
"Of course! Keep them coming!" Sendo replied, lowering the racket from his shoulder and assuming a ready stance.
"Wait… he's going to try to hit it on the second serve? He already has a clear read on it after just one ball?" The tennis players and even Coach Mitani were taken aback.
...
Bang!
Thwack!
Swoosh!
Sendo swung—and made contact! Although the ball flew wildly, it was a 200 km/h serve, and he'd managed to return it.
"Unbelievable!" gasped one of the onlookers. "That was a 200 km/h ball!"
"What a monster. He makes it look so easy! Looks like this training will only help him maintain his dynamic vision and reflexes rather than improve them," Coach Mitani muttered.
Sendo continued playing, sending balls flying all over the court, thoroughly enjoying himself.
Meanwhile, the onlookers were left in awe, wondering where Coach Mitani had found such a talent.
...
After some time, Coach Mitani left to tend to his team, leaving Sendo to train alone.
Many members of the tennis club stayed to watch, finding his unorthodox approach to tennis—focused solely on extreme speed—both fascinating and entertaining.
Sendo trained for two hours before leaving, eager to check on his team's progress.
As a coach, he couldn't stay away for too long. Without him, the team had to split their hitting and defensive drills, reducing the efficiency of their training.
...
Back at Akagi Junior High, Sendo resumed his dual role as both a pitcher and batter, transforming practice into simulated games.
With Shin catching, the others rotated between infield defense and hitting, adapting to their small roster with creative drills.
The intensity of these intra-team matches rivaled official games, with a focus on aggressive strategies such as stealing bases, hit-and-runs, and sacrifice plays.
Under Sendo's guidance, the training was fiercer than ever, sharpening everyone's skills.
Sendo couldn't help but think, This team has so much potential to grow even stronger.
...
After dinner, the players engaged in optional training.
Some practiced their swings, while others performed shadow drills.
Sawamura continued his explosiveness training—a routine he'd been following for over four years—resulting in a softball pitch speed of 130 km/h, faster than most hardball pitches due to the ball's lighter weight.
Sendo also continued honing his swing.
After two days of practice, his discomfort with wooden bats had significantly diminished, and his movements were much smoother.
As the third day dawned, Sendo, now familiar with the routine, arrived at Sakura Girls's's University.
As usual, he exchanged playful banter with Ozawa before stepping into the batting cage.
Surprisingly, Sendo found himself getting along with Ozawa.
Perhaps it was because their mental ages weren't far apart.
Their banter even prompted Coach Mitani to jokingly suggest there was something romantic between them—a comment the two ignored in perfect sync, leaving the coach awkwardly silent.
However, once on the field, all bets were off.
Sendo hadn't forgotten the frustrations of the past two days, and Ozawa, too, was determined not to back down, knowing the inevitable losses awaiting her.
The tension between them was palpable.
"Ready?" Coach Mitani asked the spiky-haired boy crouching at home plate.
"Anytime!" Sendo replied confidently.
"Alright, let's begin!" Coach Mitani signaled for the first pitch.
The duel began anew.
For the catcher, matching pitches against a hitter as strong as Sendo was a headache.
Fortunately, Ozawa's precise control and variety of breaking pitches kept the game competitive.
The first pitch was a test.
Smack!
"Ball!"
The pitch went inside, so off-target that Sendo even leaned back to avoid it, highlighting how much it missed the strike zone.
"Good, this might give him the illusion that the strike zone is larger—maybe," Coach Mitani thought, though even he wasn't fully confident.
Dealing with someone as gifted as Sendo made such strategies a gamble.
With Sendo's extraordinary spatial awareness, it was unclear whether this tactic would work.
Still, there was no choice but to aim for the edges of the zone; otherwise, it would be suicidal to pitch directly to him.
Ozawa's greatest weapon against Sendo was her terrifying horizontal movement slider, which also featured some vertical break.
After two days of practice, her slider had become even more effective.
High-intensity confrontations like these were the fastest way for a player to improve.
Facing Sendo, Ozawa often had to throw multiple sliders in a single at-bat to disrupt his rhythm; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to hold up.
Naturally, this frequent use also helped her refine the pitch considerably.
This kind of improvement mirrored why players who competed in tournaments like Koshien often experienced significant growth.
...
"Second pitch, aim here!"
Ping!
"Foul ball!" Coach Mitani called out sharply.
The inside slider that moved from the strike zone to the ball zone was hit, almost landing in fair territory.
The narrow miss caused Coach Mitani to adopt a more serious expression.
This kind of adjustment from Sendo wasn't present in the previous days, as most of his successful hits had been on fastballs well outside the strike zone.
"One pitch doesn't prove anything," Coach Mitani reminded himself silently, though it didn't stop him from raising his level of caution.
His pitch-calling became even more meticulous.
His caution soon proved justified.
Although Sendo didn't perfectly time every breaking ball after that initial foul, his ability to connect with them improved significantly.
His swings were gradually pushing closer to fair territory.
It was clear that Ozawa's ability to suppress Sendo was running out of time.
Even though Coach Mitani knew this was inevitable, seeing signs of that day approaching still sent a chill down his spine.
...
The day's results were, on paper, positive for Ozawa.
The number of hits from ground balls and line drives was balanced, and she even secured more outs than the previous day.
Strictly speaking, it was a good outcome—if not for the final at-bat that ended in a home run.
In the batting cage, home runs and long drives were judged based on trajectory and power, which seasoned baseball players could easily assess.
Ozawa, who had been feeling encouraged by her ability to keep Sendo in check, suddenly found her mood plummeting.
Even though Sendo admitted that the home run was mostly due to luck, his remark only earned him a death glare from Ozawa—a classic female technique.
Her large eyes fixed on him, staring with such intensity that Sendo nearly fled in panic, unable to meet her gaze.
...
After the minor drama, Sendo's routine returned to normal.
He spent time with the tennis club in the afternoon, followed by team offense-defense drills in the evening, and concluded his day with solo batting practice, honing his swing through meditation and repetition.
...
What Sendo didn't know was that, later that afternoon, Coach Nakani received a call from an old friend.
The caller was seeking recommendations for promising players.
During the conversation, Coach Nakani casually mentioned Sendo.
"That kid is probably the strongest I've ever seen. But good luck convincing him of anything!"
"Really? Is he as good as you claim? I'd like to see him in action. Do you have any footage?"
"Yes, but there's not much data on him. Sendo only trained with me for a month in the fourth grade before stepping away from baseball entirely. It wasn't until last year that he joined a middle school baseball club in Nagano, where he became the team's coach. He's only recently started playing again," Coach Nakani briefly explained.
"Oh? Then when was this footage recorded?"
"Just two days ago. It's from a one-on-one practice at Sakura Girls's's University. You've heard of their coach, Mitani, right?"
"Of course! They've been one of the top-tier teams in recent years. But isn't that a girls' school?"
"Yes, and Sendo has been practicing with their ace pitcher. To increase the challenge, he's using a wooden bat. I've got footage from his first and second days using it."
"Interesting! I'll have to see it for myself."
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