Regional Preliminary Qualifiers

Muneyoshi no longer cared about Fudomine's tennis club.

Having lived two lives, he could now see clearly that Fudomine's situation was different from other schools.

The tennis club coach and the third-year students were in cahoots, controlling the team and running it like a fortress.

Nothing could penetrate it, not even water.

Even by using the vice-principal's connections and suppressing them with authority to join the tennis club, the actual problems were not resolved.

Tony Oki gave him the title of regular, but it was just a title. He was never called for training, and his name was never on any of the tennis club's activities.

He had seriously followed the school's requirements, but in terms of actual operations, there were far too many ways to play around.

Muneyoshi no longer held out any hope for them. At this moment, he thought of Tachibana Kippei and that group in the future. With their love for tennis, why would they still engage in violent incidents?

The reason was likely here.

If the coach and the cancerous third-years were not completely removed, Fudomine would never have a chance for change.

Once he understood this, Muneyoshi no longer harbored any illusions about them and instead began to desperately improve his own strength.

His training methods primarily focused on multi-ball hitting and strengthening his wrists.

Moreover, ever since he joined the tennis club, the atmosphere had made him feel extremely suppressed.

Mockery, hostility, isolation, and exclusion—countless small tactics deepened the negative emotions in Muneyoshi's heart.

Only through training could he find some relief.

Another entire morning passed, and Muneyoshi was training in the club's practice room. Yamada had also been practicing with Muneyoshi all morning.

He was now drenched in sweat, his hair clinging wetly to his forehead.

Even with his physical condition, such high-intensity continuous training left him feeling somewhat exhausted.

However, this persistence was still very rewarding, especially after stepping through the gates of nationals.

Because there were no longer any bottlenecks blocking him, Muneyoshi could unleash all of his potential without reservation.

Therefore, he grew extremely fast.

Muneyoshi could clearly feel that his strength had improved significantly, especially his technique for hitting the sweet spot, which he was using more and more skillfully.

Currently, his Five Dimensions attributes were still steadily growing, especially with his physical development, leading to more significant improvements in basic attributes like strength and speed.

With such a foundation, combined with his innate powerful mental strength.

He figured that with a little more time, he would be able to reach another level.

At least the next time he faced Tezuka, he wouldn't be so disheveled.

If he could overcome it, even if Tezuka activated the State of Selflessness's three gates, he would be able to contend with him, right?

Although Muneyoshi was confident, he had not yet walked the path of the State of Selflessness. However, he knew the power of the State of Selflessness, especially after the third gate.

That was equivalent to stepping into another dimension.

However, Muneyoshi believed that if he continued on his envisioned path, he would not be weaker than that path.

"Thank you again for your help today. I've troubled you again, Coach Yamada."

Having personally experienced Muneyoshi's terrifying growth during this period, and now seeing how Muneyoshi, despite being extremely tired, still paid so much attention to etiquette, Yamada was very moved. He smiled and replied, "It's alright, Muneyoshi. Being able to spar with a genius like you makes me feel younger."

After expressing his gratitude to Yamada again, Muneyoshi left the club with his tennis bag.

Expressing his gratitude was the right thing to do, as he had troubled the other party quite a bit during this time.

Since entering Fudomine Academy, Muneyoshi had come to the club to practice and improve whenever he had free time after school or during breaks.

As his training volume increased, even with his good talent, he now felt like he was just one step away from achieving something.

However, because he had been in a period of rapid strength improvement, he did not force it when he noticed this.

He knew he just needed a catalyst to complete this move, so he turned to strengthening his body.

Thus, time passed day by day. While Muneyoshi was immersed in his training, it was suddenly mid-May.

May 11th, Saturday.

The selection for the preliminary rounds of Japan's (unknown number) National Junior High School Tennis Championship officially began.

Across Japan, on this day, preliminary selections were held by region, and these preliminaries were also known as regional matches.

Only the top two teams would advance to the subsequent Tokyo Metropolis Tournament.

The most anticipated team in the entire Tokyo Metropolis was Hyotei Academy, the number one seed in the Joto region of Tokyo Metropolis and a quarterfinalist in the previous National Tournament.

However, these had little to do with Fudomine. They were not in the same preliminary match area as Hyotei.

Since Fudomine is located in Tokyo Metropolis, even though it's just a regional qualifier, the participating schools and the scale of the event are quite large.

After all, Tokyo Metropolis has hundreds of schools.

Kakinoki Sports Park, next to Kakinoki Junior High, is the venue for the Jōsei regionals of the Kanto Tournament.

Quite a few school teams have already arrived.

According to the rules of the regional tournaments, only the champions and runners-up from each region can advance to the next round, the Metropolis Tournament.

In this Jōsei region, besides Kakinoki Junior High, which is the top seed, most other schools are likely vying for second place.

Actually, Seigaku should have been the strongest school in the Jōsei region.

However, last year, due to Seigaku's captain, Yuta Oishi, getting injured, Seigaku, which had the best chance of advancing to the Kanto Tournament, suffered a significant loss in strength.

Kakinoki Junior High successfully took advantage of the situation and secured the top seed.

This year, Seigaku is making a comeback, but they have to start from the first round again.

And their first opponent is Fudomine, the school Saeki Muneyoshi belongs to.

Upon arriving at the venue, all he could see was a sea of people.

Teams clustered together in groups of three or five, greeting acquaintances.

Saeki Muneyoshi glanced around once and then stopped paying attention.

He was already extremely displeased. He had learned from Tony Oki that he would be playing as a substitute!

Playing as a substitute!

Wasn't that equivalent to being a decoration?

What kind of situation would require a substitute?

Saeki Muneyoshi didn't believe Fudomine had the strength to drag another team to a substitute match, especially against Seigaku.

Therefore, the restless urge within him to change everything grew even stronger.

Meanwhile, at Higashi-Ayase Tennis Park, not far from Hyotei, it was already bustling with people, as the Tokyo City East region qualifiers were being held there today.

"Has Hyotei not arrived yet?"

The speaker was Inoue Mamoru, a reporter from Tennis Monthly. He was still alone at the moment, as the intern reporter Shiba Saori was still attending university.

Since she hadn't graduated yet, she naturally hadn't become an intern reporter for Tennis Monthly.

Inoue Mamoru looked around and saw students in school uniforms everywhere in the park.

Outside the park entrance not far away, teams wearing colorful jackets were continuously entering.

"These should all be the teams participating in the regional tournament, and the opponents Hyotei will soon face."

Inoue Mamoru watched the entrance, waiting for the team wearing gray and white jackets to appear.

After photographing Hyotei, the top seed, he still needed to go to other courts to take pictures, so time was tight.

"They're here."

Inoue Mamoru murmured, looking at the five large buses parked at the park entrance. Countless teenagers in gray and white uniforms were getting off the buses one after another.

"Is this the national powerhouse Hyotei..."

Looking at the arrogant boy with a tear mole under his eye walking at the front, Inoue Mamoru was momentarily stunned.

He hadn't expected Hyotei to have so many first-years.

However, as a reporter for Tennis Monthly, he diligently took pictures...

"It seems Hyotei has changed a lot this year. Rikkai Dai from Kanagawa also has many first-years. I wonder how Seigaku is doing."

Inoue Mamoru stared blankly at the crowd of people from Hyotei walking by.

As a die-hard fan of Echizen Nanjirō, he always had a special feeling for Seigaku, but unfortunately, Seigaku had been dormant for too long.

"After I finish shooting Hyotei, I'll go check on Seigaku..."

Click~

The flash on the camera kept going off, as Inoue Mamoru thought to himself.