The Team Shuffle

After greeting Byōdōin and the others, Muneyoshi took his racket and left with Oni and the others.

After washing up, the group went to Tanegashima and Irie's dormitory and sat cross-legged in the living room to discuss things.

"This Shuffle Match has escalated to this point; we, the first-year students, have officially declared war on the third-year students!" Irie with a solemn expression.

"What's there to be afraid of? Once the revolution begins, it can't stop until one side is completely defeated!" Oni Jūjirō crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back on the sofa.

"I'm not worried about the other seniors. With Dōmoto Shingo and Ryuichi Natsume Ryūichi under the watchful eyes of Oni and Byōdōin, they'll be fine. Kaji Fūta, Kiriya, and Ōmagari Ryūji, they should be able to hold off the enemy's counterattack as well."

Tanegashima started calculating the difference in strength between the two sides on his fingers, and in the end he was somewhat troubled:

"Right now, the most worrying ones are Date Otori, Ban Rikiya, Hakamada Izō, the Mutsu Brothers, and Akitomo Kōyō..."

Irie sat on the sofa, his fingers lightly tapping the table. After a moment of contemplation, he also felt the situation was not optimistic.

"As for Momiji, I'm afraid there's little chance left. As for the Mutsu Brothers and Hakamada Izō, they haven't had enough time to grow up."

Hearing Irie and Tanegashima's analysis, Muneyoshi also felt somewhat worried.

If the issue of the right to speak cannot be perfectly resolved this time, then the upcoming World Tournament may face further turmoil.

Indeed, while it seems that this group of students can consistently maintain their winnings of badges, not all first-year high school students can do so.

Even those who would later become members of the First String were not entirely in a stronger position at this time.

The group of First String students in the top league are quite strong. Even Harada Hiroki, who was recently defeated by Muneyoshi, is extremely powerful.

If he hadn't underestimated his opponent at the beginning and angered Muneyoshi, who would have violently injured his knee, he wouldn't have been able to avoid it.

Today's match probably won't end so easily.

Moreover, the result of the match showed that even with a knee injury, he was still able to fight Muneyoshi for ten games.

It can be said that he was completely worn down by Muneyoshi.

With a total score of 25 across all five dimensions, Harada Hiroki is undoubtedly the third-best performer among senior high school students.

If he plays a steady and methodical game against Muneyoshi doesn't have a significant advantage over him.

As for the other third-year students who were defeated by Byōdōin, although they also lost their badges, it depends on who they were compared to.

Among the current First String of the badge, besides No. 5 Oni, No. 20 Irie, No. 4 Tanegashima, and No. 12 Ochi.

The Byōdōin Hōō (No. 1), Kiriya (No. 7), Kaji Fūta (No. 9), and Tōno Atsukyō (No. 11).

And Kimijima Ikuto, who lost his No. 10 badge after failing to challenge the former No. 7 of the first First String.

His current badge is No. 15, a gift from Muneyoshi.

His No. 10 badge was obtained by Ōmagari Ryūji, who failed to challenge badge number six but then successfully challenged badge number ten.

In addition, there are junior high school students Saeki Muneyoshi and Mitsuya Akito.

There were ten first-year high school students in total, eight third-year high school students, and none second-year high school students.

Among the defeated senior high school students, former No. 5 Harada Hiroki and No. 8 Katsumura Yota did not receive badges.

The other senior students who successfully completed the challenge then acquired other new serial numbers.

With so many top-performing senior high school students, their overall strength and influence should not be underestimated.

To replace them and seize control of the training camp, the first-year students must at least secure more than half of the spots in the First String and stabilize their position so that the other team has no way to resist.

The group's multifaceted analysis allowed Muneyoshi and Ochi, who had not yet participated in the expedition with them, to truly understand the intricacies involved.

He now understands why Oni Jūjirō's position as the leader of the First String was so easily replaced by Byōdōin in the original work.

It was definitely the Byōdōin that truly established its position in this revolutionary Shuffle Match.

In the current situation at the training camp, demons with relatively introverted personalities are clearly not as effective as those from Byōdōin.

However, although Byōdōin is the nominal leader of the First String, this does not mean that the senior players will completely obey Byōdōin's management.

This is why friction keeps occurring.

They only dared not openly rebel because of Byōdōin and the demons' power; they were not truly obedient in their hearts.

They've gathered such a large group of people within the First String; who knows how they might be plotting to trip up Byōdōin?

Therefore, the key to this reshuffle lies in whether these first-year high school students can stabilize their positions, and even more importantly, whether a few more can emerge to secure First String.

Even the last few in the First String are acceptable.

The next morning, after breakfast, everyone arrived at the perimeter of Stadium Number One with perfect understanding.

Even though a significant match was about to take place, everyone remained completely silent, without any commotion.

Even the second-year high school students, who could only be spectators, were secretly waiting for a new dynamic to emerge.

The coaching staff understood perfectly and canceled this morning's training session, replacing it with free time.

It's all for the sake of the final result.

At this point, the three coaches had already received authorization from the head coach.

Let them do it!

With the head coach's support, things became much easier for them.

Even before the match started, the coaching staff was already busy.

They have a lot to prepare. They need to find information on both senior high school students and freshmen students, arrange a photography class, and even prepare medical staff.

Given how heated things have become, it's entirely understandable that he might suffer a serious injury.

Wasn't Harada Hiroki yesterday?

Although Muneyoshi ultimately missed a vital spot, his injuries were still quite severe.

But this morning, the medical staff informed me that Harada Hiroki had left the medical room and wanted to participate in the Shuffle Match again, in order to increase his chances of winning as a senior.

"Hey, look, the third graders are here."

The second-year students watching the game quickly made way for the senior students in their uniforms as they approached.

Not long after, Byōdōin led the first-year students to the sports field.

Now, both sides have arrived.

"Hmph, Byōdōin, you've finally arrived!"

The third-year student leader Dōmoto Shingo, looked at Byōdōin across from him and said in a deep voice.

"So what if you arrived early? Does that change the fact that you were defeated?"

Byōdōin replied indifferently, not taking Dōmoto Shingo. He glanced around at the third-year students and said:

"So, tell me, how do you want to compete? Should we just have a match, or...?"

"Byōdōin, since this is a team shuffle, there should be team battles, conducted in the manner of a regular competition. Of course, to ensure fairness, those who have already obtained the top ten badges in the First String will not participate in the competition; let the others compete for the bottom ten rankings. How does that sound?"

Dōmoto Shingo looked at Byōdōin and told him the plan they had been discussing all night.

The strength of Byōdōin, Oni, Tanegashima, who have already obtained the top ten badges, is simply too great, and Muneyoshi's strength should not be underestimated either.

Although they were confident in their ability to handle the strength of Kiriya, Kaji Fūta, and Ōmagari Ryūji.

But to single them out would be too unseemly.

He believed that the Byōdōin would not agree either, so he had no choice but to choose this compromise.

They want to seize all the last ten seats, then surpass the Byōdōin in numbers and gain more say.

It has to be said, that's a really clever little scheme.

Unfortunately, tennis is all about skill...

"Hahahaha, Dōmoto Shingo, is this the idea you third-year students came up with?"

Byōdōin's eyes were filled with coldness. "Fine, I'll grant your wish!"

Then, seeing the joy in the other person's eyes, his tone became domineering. "However, you have to have a final match with me, in front of everyone!"

At this moment, Dōmoto Shingo's smile vanished.

P. S.: Requesting monthly votes.

Actually, I thought about adding this scene for a long time, and how to add it. I was worried that if I added it, people would say I was padding the story. In the end, I figured that people wouldn't really care about these nobody characters, so I decided to save it if possible. Anyway, we won, so I'll just gloss over the process. The next chapter will be the ending of this event, speeding up the process, and then we'll start a new chapter.

Requesting monthly votes~