The Upperclassmen Strike Back
After sparring with Oni Jūjirō, the others, except for Irie, had a general understanding of Muneyoshi's strength.
That's when he truly began to be considered one of his own.
The group went to the cafeteria together, and along the way, many older students pointed and whispered about them, creating a very unpleasant atmosphere throughout the training camp.
"The atmosphere inside the base is getting increasingly strange; something big is probably about to happen."
As he walked, Irie Kanata wiped his glasses and spoke very seriously.
A hint of worry appeared on Mitsuya's face, but after all, he and Muneyoshi were both middle school students, and although he had noticed it, there was nothing he could do to change it.
"Hehe..."
Tanegashima Shūji patted Irie the shoulder, indicating that he thought so too.
At this moment, the stern-faced ghost said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, it's just a minor matter, nothing serious will happen."
Muneyoshi and the others exchanged glances, quite certain that Gui knew something.
But when she tried to ask, the ghost changed the subject.
After finishing his meal, Muneyoshi planned to go to the indoor training ground for some more training, so he parted ways with the others, who each had their own things to do and training schedules to keep.
The Path of Darkness is now fully on track; however, he needs to experiment more with its development and utilization.
Throughout the journey, Muneyoshi kept thinking about and conceiving the direction of the next development.
As I rounded a corner, a large shadow suddenly appeared in front of me.
Muneyoshi looked up and saw a group of tall high school students wearing red clothes with black and white stripes standing in front of him.
"Kid, I've heard you're arrogant and think you're all that!"
One of the men, who seemed to be the leader, said with ill intent.
Muneyoshi frowned, glanced at the man, and said, "You... do you need something?"
"Heh! I didn't expect someone like you to actually make it to Field 3 and even win the First String badge?"
Muneyoshi still ignored him, his gaze fixed on him indifferently.
Sensing the disdain in Muneyoshi's eyes, the man's temper flared up, and he immediately became sullen.
"Hand over the badge! Only third-year students are allowed to wear badges like this. There are too many first-year students in the base now, and even a middle school student like you."
"Someone like you getting a badge is a disgrace to our U-17!"
This person included all the first-year high school students in their speech, setting them up against the second and third-year students, and even discriminating against Muneyoshi for being a junior high school student.
With such arrogance, how could they possibly accuse him of being arrogant?
This blatant distortion of the truth struck Muneyoshi as absurd.
Is he arrogant?
No one who's spent time with them has felt that way, okay?
However, from their words, Muneyoshi also understood what their purpose was.
Nowadays, almost everyone in Court 1 or Court 2 is a third-year student, and they strongly resent first-year students entering Court 1.
That's why the coaches put this First String opportunity on the top five courts, giving many first-year players a chance.
The First String is likely the vanguard whose badge was stolen during the hunt.
With such strength, others would probably be intimidated, but Muneyoshi wouldn't take it seriously at all.
A mocking smile appeared on Muneyoshi's lips, his eyes were icy cold. He glanced at him briefly, then looked towards the road behind him.
He said nonchalantly, "If the First String has trash like you, that would really lower the standard. Get lost!"
As Muneyoshi finished speaking, all the third-year students seemed to freeze for two seconds. Then, the upperclassmen who came to their senses had a flush of red on their faces, a flush that was hard to tell whether it was shame or anger.
Several hot-tempered men rolled up their sleeves, ready to teach Muneyoshi a lesson, while the leader, with a gloomy face, was also about to erupt.
A shout suddenly came from behind.
What do you want?!
The shout stunned everyone.
In the distance, Oni Jūjirō, Tanegashima Shūji, Irie Kanata walked over.
They had only been gone a short while when they saw so many people surrounding Muneyoshi, and all three of them looked rather displeased.
A bloodthirsty glint flashed in Oni Jūjirō's eyes, and a ferocious rage appeared on his fierce face. "What are you all trying to do here?"
Being stared at by a ghost sent shivers down their spines; they knew how terrifying this old man, who didn't look like a high school student, could be.
When he won first place, many people were dissatisfied and challenged him.
But those who resorted to underhanded tactics had their hands broken by the ghosts and were carried away from the base.
Therefore, they dared not provoke the ghost at all. Even that former member of the First String could only grit his teeth, snort, and slink away.
Muneyoshi watched the departing group, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
Who are they?
"They're nothing but a bunch of insignificant nobodys!"
"Oni Jūjirō said dismissively."
"Alright, Demon Lord, since they've already approached Muneyoshi, let's tell him."
Then Irie Kanata gave Muneyoshi a detailed explanation.
It turns out that most of these people were senior high school students from courts one and two. Their skills weren't top-notch in the training camp, but they were better than average.
In order to protect their positions, they began to band together to resist the people on the other side of the court.
Especially promising newcomers.
However, this First String Shuffle Match dealt them a heavy blow. The coaching staff directly stipulated that anyone could challenge the top five courts, so many first-year students who failed to advance directly bypassed them and challenged the First String.
And it was successful.
This resulted in many First String members losing their badges and entering stadiums number one and two.
Their early achievement in first grade made them even more dissatisfied.
Encouraged, they are now preparing to attack the coaching staff and the first-year students.
"Ha, what a bunch of reckless fools."
Fudomine, Muneyoshi was all too familiar with this situation.
Therefore, when faced with such a situation again, he was almost instinctively triggered into speaking, and blurted out the answer.
"Are you just going to sit here and wait? You should launch a counterattack immediately and drive them all out. For any die-hards, you can even use brutal methods!!!"
Muneyoshi's indignant appearance surprised the others slightly; they hadn't expected Muneyoshi reaction to be even stronger than theirs.
Oni Jūjirō, however, seemed somewhat surprised. After looking at Muneyoshi for two seconds, he said with a hint of deeper meaning:
"No wonder even Byōdōin's temper would think highly of you; you two actually think the same way..."
"Byōdōin?!!"
A look of understanding flashed in Muneyoshi's eyes. He knew why Byodoin had said that after fighting Byōdōin Oni Jūjirō yesterday.
So that's the reason.
Tanegashima Shūji and Irie Kanata also seemed to have gotten to know Muneyoshi in a new light.
A hint of a smile flashed in Irie's eyes. He glanced at Muneyoshi, then at Oni, and chuckled:
"It's not just you, Saeki -kun, who thinks this way about how to deal with the upperclassmen; Oni-kun and Byōdōin share the same opinion!"
"Hmph! My views are not entirely the same as his..."
The demon snorted coldly, expressing his displeasure at Irie comparing him to Byōdōin, but he remained silent.
Regarding the conflict between the demons and Byōdōin, Tanegashima shook his head, not wanting to get involved, and instead said to Muneyoshi:
"You don't need to worry too much. With us here, they won't dare to openly resort to underhanded tactics! Besides, I've already spoken to Ochi; just keep an eye on things."
"Thank you very much, seniors!"
Back in the dormitory area, Muneyoshi thanked the three of them very sincerely.
Although he wasn't afraid, he should still express his gratitude for others' kindness.
After seeing the three off, Muneyoshi returned to his room alone, closed the door, and after a long while, only a faint sound could be heard coming from inside.
"Using dirty tricks isn't a tactic unique to you... Do you think you can compare to the people in the Underground Tennis World?"
P. S.: "Requesting monthly votes"