The Coaches' Decision

"It seems you're not very popular, Saeki -kun."

Snap!

Kimijima Ikuto, carrying a plate, plopped down next to Saeki Muneyoshi.

At the same time, the man who came with Kimijima and sat down opposite Muneyoshi was a tall man with a black rope wrapped around his forehead and long, reddish-purple hair.

Muneyoshi's pupils contracted; he recognized him.

First String No. 8, the executioner on the field Tōno Atsukyō.

However, at this point, Muneyoshi had not yet found any trace of medals on the collar of his clothes.

Has it not been successfully captured yet?

"Hey, Tōno, you mustn't scare our Saeki -kun..."

Seeing Muneyoshi's gaze fall on him, Tōno Atsukyō licked his lips, his voice slightly shrill:

"Hehe, Kimijima, you're overthinking it. He doesn't look like he's been scared by me."

"Oh, Saeki -kun is truly extraordinary. No wonder the boss values him so highly."

Kimijima Ikuto also noticed that Muneyoshi's gaze held only curiosity, without the slightest fear.

Muneyoshi, with his sharp ears, immediately spotted the blind spot. "Boss?"

"Of course, didn't you know? Byōdōin Hōō is our boss..."

"Didn't you receive some guidance from the boss?"

I see!

He wondered why Kimijima treated him so well, and why even the future ruthless Tōno Atsukyō looked at him differently.

The source was originally here.

With this connection established, the three of them started chatting casually.

Actually, Kimijima Ikuto and Tōno Atsukyō came to his rescue after seeing him being ostracized by the high school students.

It's important to understand that indifference and exclusion are the easiest ways to destroy a person's mentality within a group.

Muneyoshi is only a first-year junior high school student, and they think things aren't going well like this. In addition, they have some friendship with Byōdōin, which is why they did this.

Unfortunately, Kimijima was unaware that Muneyoshi was born with a natural tendency to be isolated in unfamiliar environments.

He had already experienced a similar scenario once before at Fudomine, and the final result, of course, was that he "kindly" resolved the issue of all the isolated individuals.

This made Fudomine much more harmonious.

Therefore, such isolation is a minor problem for him.

However, Muneyoshi appreciated their good intentions.

As their conversation deepened, Muneyoshi also voiced the question that had been lingering in his mind.

"Tōno, why don't you have the same medal as Kimijima- senpai?"

Pointing to Kimijima's collar, Muneyoshi's eyes became very innocent and naive at this moment, as if he was simply curious.

"Hey, the guy I was looking to hunt isn't here... but he'll be back soon... I definitely won't let that guy get away this time!"

Tōno Atsukyō Muneyoshi no attempt to conceal his doubts and directly revealed his objective.

However, every time the conversation reached its end, Tōno Atsukyō would always reveal a perverted smile on his face and make a sound like an owl.

This made Muneyoshi feel a little uncomfortable.

Kimijima Ikuto was already used to it; they had been classmates and teammates since middle school.

However, being a deep and perceptive man, he noticed Muneyoshi's brow twitch slightly and immediately understood, changing the subject.

"Judging from your performance today, there should be a Shuffle Match tomorrow. Are you confident?"

"Hmm? So fast? I can't wait..."

Muneyoshi didn't answer directly, but simply smiled and nodded, yet the confidence he exuded at that moment couldn't be more obvious.

Kimijima Ikuto and Tōno Atsukyō declined to comment on his confidence, but they both knew that Muneyoshi should feel no pressure before the fifth court.

Thank you, both of you.

After leaving the cafeteria, Muneyoshi expressed his gratitude once again.

"Hurry up and climb up! The most exciting part of the training camp is almost here, and you'll miss it if you don't get up here!"

As they were about to part, Kimijima Ikuto gave Muneyoshi a meaningful suggestion, and then the two of them left.

Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Muneyoshi pondered, "Could it be that the First String is about to return? Right, the National Tournament ended a long time ago, and the U-17 World Cup is just around the corner..."

"Looks like I'll have to put in some effort."

He already knew this from his conversation with Ochi and Kimijima: the U-17 system wasn't ready for a large influx of junior high school students two years from now.

To challenge the Expeditionary First String and win the badge, only players from the top five courts are eligible.

If they're coming back soon, he'll still be on court number 10, which is a bit low in the rankings.

The setting sun blazed like fire, turning the clouds on the horizon a fiery red.

The day passed quickly, and Muneyoshi finished today's training with a sense of joy.

Snap!

With a push of the hands and a light step on the toes, the body that was lying on the ground quickly sprang up.

He had completed the last five sets, totaling 150 push-ups.

Looking around, Muneyoshi noticed that most of the other high school students were still finishing up their projects.

"It seems my years of training have finally paid off; I'm even faster than a high school student."

After stretching his body a little, Muneyoshi stepped off the field and began to do some stretching exercises.

He felt the intensity at the slowest pace during the six hours in the morning, but in the afternoon he stopped hiding it and went more than ten minutes faster than the three hours required for high school students.

His body seemed to have adapted perfectly to the intensity; apart from being a little tired, he didn't experience much discomfort.

The benefits of physical strength are obvious. After all, all special moves and techniques must be performed through the body, and Muneyoshi has never skimped on physical training.

What do you think?

In the small, dark room of the coach's monitoring room, even Takuetsue Ryuji, who was in charge of physical training, fell silent for the first time regarding someone's performance.

Moreover, the other party was a junior high school student.

He remained so silent that he didn't even know how to evaluate Saeki Muneyoshi.

Saitō and Kurobe have watched several times the video surveillance footage of Muneyoshi easily completing his training in the morning, and then getting serious in the afternoon and completing it faster than a high school student.

Without a trace of cheating or shirking, Muneyoshi truly followed the training schedule and completed every single task.

"The initial five-dimensional data collected has been updated once again."

Kurobe twirled the ballpoint pen in his hand, then repeatedly tapped the capped end of the pen on the table in front of him.

"Da... da... da..."

"No, training records alone won't give us his true five-dimensional data. We need to arrange Shuffle Match for him as soon as possible..."

"But this is only his first day here!"

"Yes, everyone else gets their reshuffled a week later, isn't it a bit inappropriate for him to make arrangements immediately upon arrival?"

Upon hearing this, the monitoring room fell unusually quiet for a moment.

"This person possesses the same qualities as Byōdōin and the demons; we cannot make decisions lightly..."

"Report this situation to Coach Mifune on the back hill."

Saitō and Takuya exchanged a few words, pondered for a while, and then offered their suggestions.

Kurobe's movements faltered; this was the second time this year's training camp had encountered such an unexpected situation.

After thinking for a moment, Kurobe nodded, then took a marked phone from his office drawer and dialed...

"Okay, I understand... Let's arrange it like I said..."

On the back mountain, Mifune Nyudo casually tossed his phone aside and reclined on a bench, feigning sleep.

"It certainly looks like another one who's qualified to be nurtured."

With his large, hairy hands, he grabbed the gourd and gulped down two mouthfuls, then gave a rare smile.

"That's true. Someone who was personally contacted by Byōdōin must be a promising talent. Let's see how far you can go. Simply relying on darkness won't bring about much change..."

After muttering something under his breath, Mifune's expression changed again when he saw a group of high school students collapsed on the cliff.

"What's wrong, you weaklings? You can't even beat a middle school student, and you're already tired? You still want revenge?"

Various insults and curses poured out of Mifune Nyudo's mouth.

Faced with this reprimand and scolding that they had become accustomed to, the high school students did not retaliate.

However, upon hearing the name Saeki Muneyoshi, many people blushed and insisted on standing up.

P. S.: Requesting monthly votes.