0023 Reinhardt and his friends become little fans?! Ryuga goes into battle! One against three?!
“Thank you very much! Mr. Nanjiro!”
“Oh! No problem at all! It's just a photo, right? Little guy, I have high hopes for you!”
“Mr. Nanjiro, I also want...”
“An autograph? Here you go, here you go! This is a signed photo! Take it, take it!”
Ryoma Echizen, Ryuga Echizen, and Hokuto watched as Reinhardt and his friends gathered around Nanjiro Echizen for photos and autographs.
Their eyes were full of admiration.
Hokuto, Ryoma, and Ryuga all twitched slightly at the corners of their eyes.
“That old man...is he actually this popular?”
Ryuga mumbled, unable to accept what he was seeing.
Ryoma didn’t say anything, but his eyes were also filled with disbelief.
His father, who loved to tease him and even didn't like taking baths!
He was actually being worshipped by people.
Hokuto shook his head helplessly and said softly: “The old man is a top professional player after all! No matter what he's like on a daily basis, his position in the professional tennis world is undeniable.”
When he saw Reinhardt's reaction to meeting Nanjiro Echizen, he had already guessed what would happen.
If it were Reinhardt in the future, with his world-class level and as the captain of the U.S. U-17 team, he would probably only show great respect!
But the current Reinhardt.
Even though he is already quite famous due to his talent, he is still just a little kid after all!
Nanjiro Echizen’s presence had already been placed on a pedestal in his heart.
Hokuto also couldn't help but feel helpless, because the crazy “little fans” weren’t just Reinhardt alone.
The two members of the duo, Doudou Aubondu and Chico Barentin, who had followed Ryuga around the villa, were just like Reinhardt!
They also treated Nanjiro Echizen as their own idol.
Seeing Nanjiro Echizen's smug expression, his mouth even couldn’t close from grinning.
Hokuto sat aside and said calmly: “What’s the point of a signed photo, anyway? We have a court at home! And you all brought rackets!”
“Just play a few games with the old man!”
“Old man, you wouldn’t refuse a request from your own fans, would you?”
Reinhardt and his friends were instantly overjoyed.
They all stared at Nanjiro Echizen.
The latter's expression stiffened and he glared at Hokuto, who was "digging a hole" for him.
Playing a few games would naturally be easy.
But it was just boring to bully kids!
He was just enjoying the admiration from his young fans.
When he was still playing, he only looked at female fans at most.
Now that he's been retired for a few years, occasionally having these young fans recognize him actually allows him to reminisce about his former glory.
“Forget playing with me! You three are still too young!”
“Let's do this, Ryuga! You play two games with them!”
Seeing that Nanjiro Echizen was asking him to play, Ryuga was a little unwilling.
Why did it have to be him?!
But Hokuto nodded: “Okay! Ryuga, consider this a warm-up for today's training!”
“Reinhardt, are you guys interested?”
Reinhardt and his friends were initially somewhat disappointed that they wouldn’t get to face a legend.
But since both Nanjiro Echizen and Hokuto had said so, they naturally wouldn’t have any objections.
Besides!
Being able to play a match in front of a legend was something they never dared to dream of before.
“I have no problem!”
“Hehe! Ryuga! I won’t let you off easy!”
“Then let’s see how you stack up, Ryuga!”
Seeing this, Ryuga wouldn’t be coy either.
He narrowed his eyes and said seriously: “Come on!”
Soon.
After both sides had completed a simple warm-up, Ryoma reluctantly moved a chair for Hokuto, who was acting as the referee, to sit by the court.
Then he ran to the courtside to cheer for Ryuga!
Reinhardt and his friends, even though they weren’t sure about Ryuga’s real strength, didn’t want to use a rotation system to play three full matches against Ryuga.
It would be unsportsmanlike to win, and wouldn’t it be even more embarrassing to lose?!
So they agreed that each of them would play one set.
The right to serve was also given to Ryuga.
The first to take the court was Chico Barentin.
As Hokuto announced the start of the match.
Ryuga raised his hand and swung his racket.
As soon as he made his move, Reinhardt and his friends, who were also watching the match, narrowed their eyes.
After the first few exchanges, Doudou couldn’t help but say: “If it wasn’t confirmed that he, like Hokuto, has only been playing tennis for a year, who would believe that this guy actually has this kind of strength!”
Reinhardt nodded.
“Yeah! You can only say that the legendary’s eye for talent is indeed extraordinary! Although he doesn’t have Hokuto’s talent! But his talent is probably stronger than ours!”
“Besides, Doudou, look carefully! Ryuga may not have reached the state level, but his fundamentals are exceptionally solid! His skills are also no less than Chico’s in the slightest! As a result, Chico hasn’t been able to gain any advantage so far!”
As the two were talking.
The match on the court had already begun to shift from mutual probing to each player putting in their effort.
0-15!
15-15!
0-30!
...
Nanjiro Echizen stood behind Hokuto at some point.
“Interesting! I thought the kids you met in that competition would have at most a barely passable talent!”
“I didn’t expect this kid to be able to reach this level at 11 years old!”
“I don’t like dealing with mediocre players!”
Nanjiro Echizen rolled his eyes at Hokuto's response.
Mediocre?!
In terms of talent, really.
Who isn’t mediocre in front of you, kid?!
...
3 minutes later.
Ryuga stood in front of the net, a victor’s smile on his lips.
Chico Barentin furrowed his brows. Clearly, his own strength level was far superior to Ryuga, who hadn’t yet reached the state level.
But he had actually...lost!
But quickly he took a deep breath and shook hands with Ryuga after the match.
As for why he lost, Hokuto and the others who watched the entire match knew perfectly well.
Ryuga’s observation skills and learning ability were simply astonishing.
Although he was initially falling behind, he clearly kept observing Chico Barentin’s hitting habits and return weaknesses.
After observing the information he needed, he used his solid fundamentals and excellent ball control to repeatedly hit Chico Barentin’s most-used net shots.
In the end, he also won the game with a diagonal net shot!
Hokuto and Nanjiro Echizen knew very well that net shots were never Ryuga’s most commonly used scoring method!
This kind of match style, which changed along with the opponent’s tennis style, also made them nod in silent approval.
The opponent’s recent intensified training was beginning to show its effects!
“Brother won! That’s awesome!!”
As Ryoma cheered, the second opponent, Doudou Aubondu, also walked onto the court with his racket in hand.
Hokuto looked towards Ryuga.
Doudou Aubondu’s strength at this stage was significantly stronger than Chico Barentin’s.
For Ryuga, who was 11 years old, it was undoubtedly a huge challenge!
But he saw a strong will in Ryuga’s eyes.
He felt a strange sense of confidence in this “little brother” who had followed him for four years!
The match hadn’t even started yet, perhaps there was still a chance!
...
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