Fudomine Breaks the Game
After the group stage ended, it seemed that the controversy caused by the Japan Team, apart from the sensation it caused on the day itself, was subsequently overshadowed by other strong teams in Paris.
However, outside of Paris, especially among the journalists who came to watch the U-17 World Cup, firsthand information was also relayed back to their respective countries.
A series of news reports about the group stage of the U-17 World Cup began to appear in major sports newspapers around the world.
Among them, the most eye-catching is undoubtedly the dark horse miracle of the Japan Team!
<A dark horse emerges at the U-17 World Cup! France, one of the "Big Four," suffers a crushing elimination!>
<Shocking! The youngest participant in the U-17 World Cup sparks a major debate within the International Tennis Federation regarding entry requirements and age limits!>
After twenty years of silence, following the Nanjirou, Japan has finally risen again!
There was no such thing as the protagonist's name spreading all over the world. News about Saeki Muneyoshi was always relegated to the back corner of newspaper articles, and was mostly just mentioned in passing.
Aside from those who pay close attention to him or know him very well, most people only know that the Japan Team has a junior high school student playing in the competition, and that they even won.
As for what his name is, not many people care.
After Saeki Muneyoshi entered the game, Zeus from the Greece Team also entered the game. He is only in the second year of junior high school and is not much older than Muneyoshi.
Moreover, Zeus demonstrated tremendous power, and the media, especially Western media, are more accustomed to reporting on Zeus.
After all, the power in tennis lies with Europe.
The biggest sensation is the rise of the Japan Team, a tennis wasteland that suddenly emerged from the bottom of the world rankings and successfully defeated the France Team, one of the Big Four.
It was several days later when the news reached Japan.
Only during the Nanjirou era was Japan highly sensitive to news from the world tennis scene.
After all, it had been silent for twenty years, and most people had already given up hope.
Nowadays, most people who follow news about the world of tennis are professional tennis players or in related fields; only a very small number follow it out of hobby.
Inside the office of a professional Tennis Monthly in Tokyo Metropolis Japan.
As usual, Inoue Mamoru arrived at the newspaper office early in the morning.
Because there haven't been any tennis tournaments in Japan lately, the newspaper office isn't very busy.
After brewing himself a cup of tea, Inoue Mamoru picked up the world tennis newspapers he had subscribed to and began to read.
"Huh? Japan's U-17 team actually made it to the quarterfinals this year?"
While Inoue Mamoru was sipping tea and casually browsing through magazines and newspapers, he was suddenly drawn to the headline article.
Afterward, he read all the articles and saw a familiar name.
The youngest participant is Saeki Muneyoshi, a first-year junior high school student.
"This name sounds familiar, like I've heard it somewhere before..."
Inoue Mamoru, with his astonishing memory, felt a sense of familiarity when he saw Saeki Muneyoshi's name.
However, he genuinely did not recall seeing this person in the various school Metropolitan Tournament, the Kanto Tournament, or the National Tournament.
Where did you see him before?
Inoue Mamoru muttered to himself, then began to look at the photos of the Japan Team's participants.
Finally, during the match against France, I saw a photo of Saeki Muneyoshi playing.
"It was him! He actually participated in this U-17 World Cup Open?"
Upon seeing Saeki Muneyoshi's photo, Inoue Mamoru suddenly remembered that this was the person he had seen challenging the dojo when he was interviewing Seigaku.
Furthermore, they even wrote a magazine article based on Saeki Muneyoshi's story. However, besides mentioning Saeki Muneyoshi, that monthly magazine focused more on expressing their concerns about Japan tennis.
After all, with such an unknown person challenging them one after another, Japan tennis looked like it was doomed.
"I didn't expect him to be so strong, he even defeated France's second-best singles player?"
The contents of these magazine and newspaper reports were somewhat unbelievable to Inoue Mamoru.
Even after a long time, Inoue Mamoru was still leaning against his seat, digesting this sudden bombshell news.
Soon, Inoue Mamoru made a decision: he would personally go to Paris to report on the U-17 World Cup in France!
Tokyo Fudomine School!
The holidays are just around the corner, so there's a lot of schoolwork going on before the end of the semester.
The principal of Fudomine was dealing with his day's work when the vice principal suddenly pushed open the door, holding a newspaper in his hand.
What's the matter?
The principal was a little unhappy about being suddenly disturbed, but as the vice principal who was closest to Muneyoshi, he didn't care too much at the moment.
"Sir/Madam, please take a look at today's news!"
After saying that, he handed over the newspaper in his hand; the vice principal had already marked the important parts.
"This is!"
The principal glanced at it, then suddenly stopped what he was doing, picked up the newspaper, and began to read it seriously.
The magazine prominently featured an image of Saeki Muneyoshi wearing the red, white, and black uniform of the Japan national team, playing against France.
"Saeki Muneyoshi! Has his tennis reached this level?"
"That's right, Muneyoshi's skill level is already high enough to be a key player on the Japan Team. If we entrust the Tennis Club to him, we're sure to achieve great results..."
"Alright, let's do it that way then... You go and handle it!"
"Yes, Dean!"
The vice principal was also pleased, because Muneyoshi's previous violent actions had also displeased the other board members.
Although the principal had verbally promised to let him do it, no one expected it to go to this extent, to the point that both he and the principal were under pressure from all sides.
Now that Muneyoshi's strength has been proven, then, following the Japan practice of worshipping the strong...
Muneyoshi's previous actions are completely forgivable, and the other board members have nothing to say about it.
As for the principal, as long as he can achieve good results, he will feel proud. He can turn a blind eye to Saeki Muneyoshi's other actions.
The biggest obstacle to rebuilding the Tennis Club was no longer there.
At this time, Muneyoshi was far away in Paris, was unaware that his entry into the U-17 team and participation in the World Cup had actually cleared away all of Fudomine's troubles.
It just goes to show that the key to breaking the deadlock in a conflict of interests often lies not in the event itself!
Now, Muneyoshi can completely customize Fudomine according to his own needs.
The vice principal also informed Muneyoshi's father of the news via text message.
Knowing that Muneyoshi was at a crucial moment in the competition, Saeki's father did not disturb him, but planned to tell him the good news after everything was over.
A few days later, the knockout match between the Japan Team and Switzerland Team finally began.
In the past few days, the France Team played a rematch against the Greece Team, and after four sets, the French team eliminated the Greece and advanced to the quarterfinals.
It was a way of saving face.
However, this set of rules has caused dissatisfaction among many countries, and the International Tennis Federation has begun discussing rule changes for the next tournament.
Besides the France Team's situation, another thing was that all the members of the Japan Team watched the match between Germany and America.
The mighty Germany nation finally bared its fangs in this match.
America's ambition to replace the BIG4 was dashed once again, as they were cleanly swept 3-0 by Germany.
The most exciting part was the match between the two teams' strongest rookies.
Jürgen Borisovich Polk vs. Ralph Reinhardt.
The two displayed a professional-level contest, especially Polk, whose immense strength put even Byōdōin, sitting next to Muneyoshi, under extreme pressure.
After the match, Byōdōin became much more silent and expressed his desire to travel the world to Mifune Nyudo.
Mifune Nyudo finally agreed, but everything would have to wait until he returned to Japan.
P. S.: "Even a small matter at Fudomine has resolved the biggest obstacle. Please vote with monthly tickets!"