Fudomine's Starting Players

At this moment, in the Fudomine Tennis Club...

A young, sophisticated woman, dressed in a neat beige suit and with her burgundy hair flowing smoothly down her back, walked out of the coach's office.

Her expression was gentle, but a casual glance from her sent shivers down the spines of all the freshmen she was looking at, yet instantly filled them with energy.

After arriving at the court, Hanamura Aoi casually sat on a bench outside the court, his deep gaze sweeping over all the members.

After seeing that all the members had arrived, she stood up and gracefully walked to the front of everyone.

"To everyone in the Tennis Club, on the day you joined the club, Saeki -kun promised you that everyone could participate in the upcoming intra-school ranking tournament, and you've all trained hard for a week to achieve that goal."

Hanamura Aoi's voice wasn't loud, but everyone stood at attention the moment she spoke, especially Muneyoshi, Tachibana, Keith, who were the first to express their support for her.

"I've seen everyone's hard work, and you've all done a great job."

Seeing that no one spoke, Hanamura Aoi nodded slightly and continued.

"As for the results of everyone's training, the upcoming open selection competition within the school to select official team members will surely provide you with the answer."

To make the competition fairer, this tournament will be divided into seven groups for a round-robin elimination format, with all participants drawing lots to determine their opponents.

The top player in each group will be promoted to a full member of the Fudomine Tennis Club.

"Furthermore, those who fail should not be discouraged. This selection process will not only include the Regular, but also four alternates. These four alternates will receive the same treatment and training as the Regular."

"Furthermore, reserve members are selected through a second round of elimination matches, with each reserve member having the opportunity to challenge a regular member once a week. If they succeed, they can become Regular."

Hanamura Aoi put down the plan she had come up with with Muneyoshi and Tachibana.

A murmur arose from the crowd as everyone tried to process the information that Hanamura Aoi had shared.

Are there any other questions?

After waiting a moment, Hanamura Aoi looked up at her watch and continued to ask.

Seeing that no one objected, she gracefully waved her hand and said, "Then let's draw lots and proceed with the knockout rounds according to the group draw."

As the minister, Muneyoshi was naturally the first to step forward.

With the assistance of Tachibana An, all the group assignments were finalized, and the Fudomine school's open selection tournament officially began.

There's not much to say about the details of the match.

Although it was nominally a lottery, under Hanamura Aoi's management, Tachibana An was still assigned to different groups by those specially marked by Hanamura Aoi.

For example, there's Saeki Muneyoshi from Group 1, Tachibana Kippei from Group 2, Keith from Group 3, Lin Xiu from Group 4...

As for the other three groups, they are, of course Kamio Akira, Ibu Shinji, and Ishida Tetsu.

Although he said everyone could do it, they had actually been training for over a week, and Hanamura Aoi already knew everyone's strength and whether they were worth developing.

The match proceeded smoothly and methodically.

"The minister's competition is about to begin..."

"The vice minister's competition is about to begin..."

The people who hadn't yet competed gathered around the arena where Muneyoshi or Tachibana would be playing.

On the court, the first-year students were somewhat nervous and timid as they faced Saeki Muneyoshi.

"Relax, you can't play tennis well like that."

Seeing that his teammate was clearly not in a good state, Muneyoshi was both annoyed and amused as he tried to comfort him.

"Yes... yes, Minister!"

Bang!

It's clear that even after Muneyoshi's explanation, this new student's serve still fell short of expectations.

However, the opponent's choice after serving surprised Muneyoshi somewhat.

Surprisingly, he used a serve-and-volley style of play. After noticing some errors in his serve, he was able to adjust quickly. This ability to adjust impressed Muneyoshi.

The rebounding tennis ball wasn't particularly powerful for Muneyoshi took a step forward as it closed in.

The black racket left a blur as it swept across my hand.

Bang!

The loud thud startled the opponent.

After the tennis ball flew over, he stood there dumbfounded.

Muneyoshi's shot was incredibly fast!

Even though he had restrained much of his strength, his interception was still too fast for these ordinary members.

"Match over! Saeki Muneyoshi wins!"

It didn't take long for Muneyoshi to finish his match, while on the other side, the group match between Tachibana Kippei and Keith was also coming to an end.

"Thank you, thank you for your guidance, Minister!"

The overwhelming victory made the team members admire Muneyoshi even more.

"Your basic net play is pretty good. Next time, try raising your pace by another ten percent."

"Additionally, at the end of training, you can tie sandbags to your ankles, which can help improve your speed."

Muneyoshi smiled, shook hands with him, and offered his advice.

With his current strength, he can easily perceive the problems in his opponent and the areas where they can improve.

"Great! To actually get guidance from the minister!"

"I also want to have a match with the minister!"

"The minister is such a good person!"

Keith, who had just finished the match, couldn't help but twitch his lips when he heard his teammates' comments about Saeki Muneyoshi.

Hopefully, these people will still hold onto this belief when Saeki Muneyoshi reveals his dark side.

"Matsushita, take more photos of Saeki Muneyoshi."

Inoue Mamoru arrived at the Tennis Club just in time for Muneyoshi's match, and he gave his vice-president some instructions.

"Don't worry, senior, I've already set up the equipment."

While his deputy filmed Saeki Muneyoshi, Inoue Mamoru began filming the other members of Fudomine.

"Hey, isn't that Tachibana Kippei, one of the Kyushu Twin Heroes? He's here in Fudomine too!"

Inoue, who had initially thought there would be no other surprises from Fudomine, suddenly perked up and started snapping photos of Tachibana Kippei.

Although Tachibana Kippei had cut her hair short and dyed it black, Inoue still couldn't forget her stunning appearance at last year's National Tournament.

"Is this guy over here a foreign student? With that kind of skill, he's probably about on par with Sanada!"

Inoue Mamoru realized that Fudomine was hiding its strength far too well; with such power, it might just be this year's biggest dark horse.

Inoue Mamoru's constant filming naturally attracted the attention of others.

Who are you two?

Coach Hanamura Aoi walked up to Inoue Mamoru and asked him a question.

"Hello, we are reporters from Tennis Monthly. My name is Inoue Mamoru, and this is my assistant, Matsushita."

Looking at this woman who appeared intellectual and elegant on the surface but possessed a very sharp aura, Inoue Mamoru couldn't help but wonder if she was Fudomine's new coach.

Just then, Muneyoshi finished his match and walked off the field.

Inoue Mamoru one look and went straight up to it.

"Muneyoshi, I'm bothering you again!"

This was not the first time Inoue Mamoru and Muneyoshi had met; he had interviewed Muneyoshi before when they were in France.

Even so, he looked at the young man before him with some emotion.

Who would have thought that such a handsome and dashing young man would have already made a name for himself in the world?

Recalling the reports about Muneyoshi by mainstream media around the world after the end of the France U-17 World Cup, Inoue Mamoru was deeply moved.

"You're too kind, Inoue-senpai."

Upon hearing Inoue Mamoru's voice, Muneyoshi looked at him with a smile and said...

At this moment, Tachibana Kippei, Keith, Lin Xiu, who had finished their matches one after another, also came to Muneyoshi's side.

Sensing the imposing aura emanating from the four, Inoue Mamoru stared intently at them.

He sensed an aura similar to that of Rikkai Dai and Seigaku from these individuals.

This year's Japan school tennis scene in Japan looks set to be anything but boring.

At Inoue Mamoru's request, the four of them stood on either side of Hanamura Aoi and took a group photo.

As the Fudomine Tennis Club quieted down considerably.

All matches of the first intra-school ranking competition have concluded.

The official roster for the new Fudomine Tennis Club has been released.

"Now I will read out the list of official team members."

Hanamura Aoi stood before all the club members, a ray of the setting sun reflecting off her and then shining on all the members, bathing them in a golden glow.

"Tennis Club President, Saeki Muneyoshi."

"Vice Minister, Tachibana Kippei."

"Keith."

"Lin Xiu."

"Kamio Akira."

"Ibu Shinji."

"Ishida Tetsu."

"Next is the list of substitute players."

"Mori Tatsunori, Uchimura Kyosuke, Sakurai Masaya, Makihara Shuichi."

After reading out the list of all team members, Hanamura Aoi paused briefly. She noticed some members looking discouraged by not being selected. After exchanging a glance with Muneyoshi, she continued:

"There's still some time before the regional qualifiers. Fudomine's goal this year is the National Tournament, so the Regular lineup here won't be completely finalized!"

"Before the National Tournament, our team members were ranked from strongest to weakest. Do you all understand?"

"I understand!"

At that moment, even the members who were not selected responded to Hanamura Aoi with a roar.

Infected by this atmosphere, everyone in the Tennis Club is eyeing the Regular position and is full of anticipation for the upcoming regional qualifiers.

P. S.: "Thank you to all the readers who gave me tips. Now I've made up for all the extra chapters I owed."

Also, I really didn't have any filler. I've been as concise as possible. These chapters are actually about character development for the team members and how the team gets on track. This is necessary plot, and I couldn't just jump right in without any introduction.

Thank you to Xianyu-Muyueqing from Penguin Reading for the generous donation.

Thank you for the five 500-yuan donations you promised you wouldn't forget.

Thank you Ying Kun for the donation.

Thank you to reader 20190111204353535 for the continuous donations.

Thanks to Rain Wraith, Daoist Qingxu, Shadowbreak at Dawn, A Primary Schooler Who Hasn't Started Middle School, Illusory as Life.

Thank you to all the readers for your generous donations.

I won't forget to add extra chapters for those who give me tips; even if I'm busy with work, I'll make up for it later.