The next morning, Ippo arrived at the gym with renewed determination. His shadowboxing session the day before had left him feeling more connected to his training than ever before. As he changed into his workout clothes, he could hear the familiar sounds of the gym coming to life.
"Makunouchi!" Kamogawa called out. "Get over here!"
Ippo hurried over to where the coach was standing near the ring, holding a pair of mitts.
"Today we're going to work on dealing with Miyata's counter," Kamogawa announced. "You showed good power yesterday, but power means nothing if you can't land it."
"How do I deal with his counters?" Ippo asked earnestly.
Before Kamogawa could answer, Aoki and Kimura wandered over, apparently overhearing the conversation.
"Oh, this should be good," Aoki said with a grin. "Coach, are you going to teach him the secret technique?"
"What secret technique?" Ippo asked, his eyes lighting up.
"The ancient art of not getting punched in the face," Kimura said with mock seriousness.
"That's not a real technique!" Ippo protested.
"Sure it is," Aoki laughed. "Step one: don't stand where the punch is going. Step two: profit!"
"You idiots," Kamogawa growled, "get back to your own training before I make you both practice the ancient art of running laps."
As the two veterans quickly dispersed, Kamogawa turned his attention back to Ippo.
"Get in the ring," he ordered.
Once they were both in the ring with Kamogawa holding the mitts, the old coach began explaining his strategy.
"Miyata's biggest strength is also his weakness," Kamogawa said. "He relies too heavily on his counters. So here's what you're going to do—you're going to irritate him."
"Irritate him?" Ippo looked confused.
"That's right. You're going to make him wait. Stay just out of range, make him impatient. When he gets frustrated and rushes in to attack you—that's when you hit him with the uppercut."
Kamogawa positioned the mitts to demonstrate. "He'll come in with his guard high, expecting you to throw straight punches. But instead, you come up from below with that devastating uppercut of yours."
Ippo nodded, beginning to understand the strategy. "So I wait for him to come to me, then counter his counter?"
"Exactly. Now let's practice."
[TEMPLATE UNDERSTANDING: ACTIVATED]
As Ippo began working the mitts, something felt familiar about this strategy. In the depths of his consciousness, memories from Yuto's experiences began to surface—not painful memories this time, but tactical ones.
Yuto had faced plenty of counter-punchers during his career. The key was patience, timing, and most importantly, making them fight your fight instead of theirs.
Ippo's mitt work became more focused, more precise. Each uppercut was thrown with perfect timing, as if he'd been practicing this exact scenario for years.
"Good," Kamogawa said, feeling the power behind each punch. "But remember, the setup is everything. If you rush in, he'll counter you before you can counter him."
From the corner of his eye, Ippo noticed someone watching them intently. An older man with graying hair sat quietly on a chair near the ring, his experienced eyes taking in every detail of their training.
During a break, Ippo sat down nearby, not realizing who the man was.
"Excuse me," the man said politely. "You're the one who sparred with Miyata yesterday, aren't you?"
"Yes, sir," Ippo replied, bowing slightly. "My name is Ippo Makunouchi."
"I saw the match," the man continued. "Your power is quite impressive. Miyata had to work harder than he has in months."
"Thank you, but Miyata is incredibly skilled. His counters are amazing."
The man smiled. "He's worked very hard to develop those techniques."
Before their conversation could continue further, Miyata approached from across the gym.
"Dad, are you bothering the new guy?" Miyata asked with slight exasperation.
Ippo's eyes widened in realization. "You're... you're Miyata's father?"
"Former professional boxer," Miyata's father said with a slight nod. "And current pain in my son's neck, according to him."
"Don't listen to him," Miyata said to Ippo, though his tone was more affectionate than annoyed. "He likes to give unsolicited advice to every fighter he meets."
"Unsolicited?" his father protested. "I'm simply appreciating good technique when I see it."
As their conversation continued, Ippo found himself fascinated by the relationship between Miyata and his father. There was clearly deep respect and love there, mixed with the kind of gentle teasing that spoke of years of shared experience.
"Your uppercut yesterday was particularly impressive," Miyata's father said to Ippo. "Very few beginners have that kind of natural power."
"I've been working on it," Ippo replied modestly.
"The angle was perfect too. That's not something that can be taught easily—it has to be felt."
Miyata looked at his father curiously. "You seem unusually interested in this guy, Dad."
"I'm interested in anyone who can push you to improve," his father replied. "And yesterday, you had to dig deeper than you have in a long time."
"Makunouchi!" Kamogawa's voice called out. "Break time's over. Back in the ring!"
As Ippo returned to training, Miyata's father continued to watch with obvious interest. The mitt work resumed, with Kamogawa putting Ippo through increasingly complex drills.
"Remember," Kamogawa said as they worked, "boxing isn't just about physical technique. It's about mental warfare too. You need to get inside his head, make him fight your fight."
[YUTO'S STRATEGIC THINKING: ACCESSED]
Through the memories flowing from the template, Ippo began to understand the deeper aspects of what Kamogawa was teaching. It wasn't just about throwing an uppercut—it was about controlling the pace and distance of the fight, about psychological manipulation as much as physical technique.
"I think I understand," Ippo said during another break. "It's not just about waiting for him to attack. It's about making him attack the way I want him to."
Kamogawa nodded approvingly. "Now you're getting it. Boxing is as much chess as it is warfare."
After the training session ended, the gym began to empty out. As Ippo headed toward the shower room, Takamura intercepted him.
"Not so fast, kid," Takamura said with a grin. "Time for your initiation."
"Initiation?" Ippo asked nervously.
Before he could react, Takamura had grabbed the towel from around Ippo's waist.
"Welcome to the gym!" Takamura announced loudly, holding the towel above his head like a trophy.
Ippo's face turned bright red as several gym members turned to look, including Aoki and Kimura, who had been nearby.
"Takamura!" Ippo protested, trying to cover himself. "Give that back!"
"Not until you acknowledge me as your boxing sempai!" Takamura laughed.
"Fine! You're my sempai! Just give me the towel!"
As Takamura finally returned the towel, the other gym members chuckled good-naturedly. Despite his embarrassment, Ippo realized that this was their way of accepting him into their group.
Later that evening, Takamura, Kimura, and Ippo found themselves at Iwata's Chinese Noodles, a small restaurant that had apparently become the gym's unofficial meeting place.
"So," Takamura said between slurps of ramen, "what do you think of the old man's strategy?"
"It makes sense," Ippo replied, picking up noodles with his chopsticks. "But it's going to require a lot of patience."
"Patience is the hardest part of boxing," Kimura added. "Especially when someone's trying to take your head off."
"The key is staying calm under pressure," Takamura continued. "That's what separates good fighters from great ones."
As they ate, Ippo found himself thinking about the three-month timeline Kamogawa had mentioned for preparing for the rematch with Miyata. Three months to master a strategy that could level the playing field against a technical genius.
"Takamura-san," Ippo said hesitantly, "do you really think I can beat Miyata?"
Takamura paused in his eating and looked at Ippo seriously. "Kid, I've seen your power. If you can land clean shots on him, you can definitely win. The question is whether you can make yourself into the kind of fighter who can create those opportunities."
"What kind of fighter is that?"
"Smart. Patient. Someone who can think three moves ahead while someone's trying to knock their teeth out."
That night, Ippo sat on the family fishing boat with his mother, helping with the evening's work. The steady rhythm of preparing equipment and checking nets gave him time to think about everything he'd learned that day.
"You seem deep in thought," his mother observed.
"Just thinking about training," Ippo replied. "There's so much to learn."
"Your father always said that learning never stops," she said softly. "Every day brings new challenges and new opportunities to grow."
Ippo looked at the photo of his father that sat in the boat's small cabin. In the dim light, he could almost imagine his father's encouraging smile.
[TEMPLATE UNLOCK: 20%][NEW MEMORIES AVAILABLE][STRATEGIC COMBAT KNOWLEDGE ENHANCED]
As new memories trickled in from Yuto's experiences, Ippo began to understand that the next three months would be about more than just physical training. He would need to develop the mental toughness and strategic thinking that separated champions from ordinary fighters.
"Three months," he said quietly to himself, watching the city lights reflect on the water. "Three months to become someone who can stand toe-to-toe with a genius."
In his mind, he could almost hear Yuto's voice encouraging him forward. The path wouldn't be easy, but every journey toward strength began with a single step.
And Ippo was ready to take that step.