First Arrival at U17

Time passed slowly, the sun rose high in the sky, and its blazing light illuminated the mountains and forests, making the entire mountain bright.

The air is filled with the chirping of insects and birds, a mountain breeze brings a touch of warmth, and lush green leaves sway gracefully in the breeze—the serene natural scenery is breathtaking.

"Snap!"

The seemingly still scene was suddenly shattered by the sound of a branch breaking, and birds took flight in fright.

Following the sound, a boy carrying a tennis bag emerged from the woods.

"Call!"

Muneyoshi took a slight breath. This godforsaken place was really hard to find. Not only were the mountain paths difficult to navigate, but there were also many places where there were no paths at all.

About half an hour later, around 11 a. m.

Before Muneyoshi's eyes finally came a tall metal gate.

A modern training base, a training base that gathers the elite high school students from Japan over Japan, is located inside this gate.

"Finally arrived, is this the Japan U-17?"

Along the way, surveillance cameras were installed everywhere, including in the bushes and trees, and even on the streetlights high up.

These measures are not only for surveillance purposes, but also for protecting information about the training camp.

There are people doing this kind of intelligence work in various places and countries, especially in neighboring South Korea, where they do it without any scruples. U-17 maintains very strict control over the privacy of its bases.

Walk slowly forward.

Muneyoshi arrived at a large, enclosed iron gate, which was the official entrance to the U-17 base.

Standing at the door, looking at the two security cameras on the door, Muneyoshi smiled slightly at the cameras as a greeting.

The invitation was then shown to the security camera at the entrance.

"Oh? Kurobe, has the little guy arrived already?"

"He's here..."

Inside the base's monitoring room.

Kurobe Yukio picked up the cup of coffee beside him and took a small sip.

"Open the door now that you're here!"

In the monitoring room, looking at Saeki Muneyoshi standing outside the door, the other two coaches spoke up.

Muneyoshi, standing at the door, was well aware that he had fallen into the eyes of that surveillance maniac. He waited silently for a while, and soon heard a sound.

"Squeak!"

The large iron gate at the entrance opened automatically to both sides, leaving only a gap for one person to pass through.

Muneyoshi glanced at it, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes, exhaled a breath of stale air, and then walked in with his tennis bag on his back.

"By the way, is there any problem with your arrangement? This is someone Coach Mifune personally invited. Won't he be angry if he finds out?"

Looking at the composed young man in the video, Takuetsue Ryuji spoke to the other two.

"Necessary stress tests are essential. The junior high school students we just invited need to understand the differences between junior high and high school students."

Saito Itaru smiled gently, stroking his chin with one hand, his tone exceptionally soft.

As Mental Coach, he presents himself as someone who is very approachable, gentle, and kind.

But only those who truly understand him know that beneath that gentle exterior, he can always make choices that others wouldn't expect.

Upon hearing Saitō's words, Kurobe agreed, and Takuetsue Ryuji no longer objected.

At this moment, they all put down their teacups and carefully observed the surveillance footage in front of them.

In fact, they all really wanted to calculate what level this junior high school student, who was specially recruited by the head coach, could reach in the five dimensions without his knowledge.

The data presented is most accurate only when the other party is completely unaware of it.

Muneyoshi walked slowly along the road. He was very surprised that no one came to greet or guide him.

However, he wasn't bored at all, even though it was his first time in this "familiar yet unfamiliar" place.

Along the way, you can see tennis courts everywhere, neatly arranged on both sides, with many players training on the courts.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of balls being struck was incessant.

Having observed them all, Muneyoshi had gained a general understanding of their strength.

To be honest, they were all quite good, at least better than many of the junior high school students he had encountered.

There's a reason why high school students look down on junior high students in the original work. The fact that they were invited here means that they were all geniuses to some extent during their junior high school years.

Although these second and third-year high school students were called "minor" by the coaches, their age and experience were undeniable.

Having played tennis for several more years, his skill level is significantly higher than that of the average junior high school student.

After all, not everyone is part of the main cast.

As junior high school students entered the country in the future, they were easily overtaken. It wasn't that they were too weak, but rather that those recruited were just like the students from the Byōdōin in this year's cohort.

"Tap tap tap..."

Looking at the athletes running in a line on the road, dressed in white with red and black uniforms, Muneyoshi didn't see any familiar faces.

Who is this?

"Don't know him? Is he new here?"

"There are even newcomers?"

"No way, didn't the training camp start a long time ago? How could there be any newcomers?"

"Of course I remember! You've forgotten? That terrifying guy named Oni Jūjirō from not long ago!"

"Uh... I think I know about this kid. This is the perk the coaches mentioned to the last few stadiums yesterday!"

"What kind of perks? Are they for the last few stadiums?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I heard that if they beat the kids who came today, they can automatically advance to the next court ranking."

"That's great? Why didn't we get a turn at court number 12?"

Immediately, those who heard the news began to complain.

"Alright, shut up. If we don't finish today's task, it'll double tomorrow. Hurry up and run, those behind, catch up..."

At this moment, someone who appeared to be the leader stopped the conversation in the group and urged the people behind him to hurry up.

Since no one came to greet him, and Muneyoshi didn't know who to turn to, he simply stood there watching them train.

Groups of people ran past him, and almost every high school student who passed by would look at Muneyoshi with surprise because he looked so young.

As Muneyoshi looked around, he realized that this U17 reserve base was indeed the result of a huge investment.

Each tennis court is monitored in real time by dedicated high-definition cameras, and each location has a dedicated coaching staff responsible for recording data and inputting it into computers.

Moreover, the training equipment is all high-end imported goods.

Many of the things Muneyoshi hadn't seen during the infighting within Spain clubs were familiar to him, but he recognized some of them and knew they were equipped with state-of-the-art equipment.

At this moment, the high school students on the courts of Bases 14 through 16 seemed to be getting restless.

They had already heard news of Muneyoshi's arrival from people in other locations.

They received the message yesterday and were told to wait at the venue today.

If you defeat the newcomers who arrive today, you will automatically be promoted to court number ten and exempt from three ranking matches.

Such benefits are like a gift from heaven.

The people at these venues were all very excited, but since they couldn't actively seek out Muneyoshi, they could only wait for him to come to the court.

So when they learned that Muneyoshi had arrived, they kept glancing at the fork in the road.

Until...

A young, upright figure, not wearing a training camp uniform, appeared before them.

"He's here, he's here!"

P. S.: It's here! The update is here! Please vote with your monthly tickets!