The First Round: St. Rudolph

Ever since learning that Seigaku, whom they considered their formidable rival, had actually lost to Fudomine in the preliminary rounds...

Mizuki's interest in Fudomine immediately increased.

It's important to understand that Fudomine just beat any other team; they defeated National Level school Seigaku.

During last year's competition, Mizuki was deeply captivated by Fuji Shusuke's genius creativity and talent.

In particular, after he discovered that Fuji had a younger brother whom he cherished very much, he used some subtle and insidious methods to stir things up.

This led Fuji Yuta, who was already going through a rebellious phase and was dissatisfied with always being overshadowed by his older brother, to seek refuge in his arms.

Under his training and encouragement, Fuji Yuta developed a deep obsession with his older brother, Fuji Shusuke.

This made Mizuki, who already cared a lot about Seigaku, even more determined to make Seigaku the target of St. Rudolph.

He didn't miss a single one of Seigaku's matches, observing the data on the Seigaku team members.

This was all so that we would have an absolute guarantee of defeating Seigaku later on.

I never expected Seigaku to lose.

At the Mizuki watched the entire match and naturally observed Fudomine's performance.

In particular, there was the match between their minister Saeki Muneyoshi, and his deputy Tachibana Kippei.

Based on Mizuki's perspective and experience, St. Rudolph has absolutely no chance of defeating these two.

However, their doubles game has a weakness.

Even if I give up two singles matches, I still have one more singles match to deal with!

It's impossible that the person who never even played was also a master!

How is that possible?

Mizuki simply couldn't believe that so many capable people would suddenly appear, so after thinking for a moment, he regained his composed and confident demeanor.

As one of the four data masters in the original Chinese middle-level tennis, his talent in Data Tennis is almost second only to Yanagi Renji, who was personally taught by Mitsuya Akito.

She is stronger Inui Sadaharu, and only slightly stronger than Konjiki Koharu.

His only shortcoming was that he had to figure things out on his own, and his school was St. Rudolph.

He's quite a tragic character; if his teammates were stronger, he would probably be even more formidable.

For most colleges, the data predictions at the Mizuki were quite accurate.

In almost every match, not only the result but even the exact number of games he won was exactly as he predicted.

This is why St. Rudolph has always been second only to the Hyotei Academy in the East District, and last year they even made it to the Kanto Tournament.

However, this year they encountered Fudomine.

Muneyoshi was well aware of Mizuki's character and knew that St. Rudolph would definitely use some means.

However, he didn't offer any specific advice. The first-year students at Fudomine are still too weak, and experiencing more setbacks and failures would be a good thing.

Both sides completed their pre-match exchange in a "harmonious" atmosphere, and then returned to their respective rest areas.

"Now we will begin the first round of the Metropolitan Tournament's elimination matches, with Fudomine Academy facing off against the St. Rudolph Academy."

"The first match will be the doubles 2 game. Please bring your doubles 2 players from both schools to the court!"

With the referee in place, the match began immediately.

"Double 2, Fudomine Kamio Akira Tetsu Ishida Tetsu vs. Kisarazu Atsushi and Yanagisawa Shinya of St. Rudolph."

"Just as I expected, Fudomine's doubles is their biggest weakness right now, still those first-year players. So, I'll leave the first match to you two, Yanagisawa and Kisarazu."

Mizuki tossed her hair, a confident look on her face.

"Don't worry, Mizuki, we've already remembered the information you gave us."

Kisarazu Atsushi and Yanagisawa Shinya nodded in agreement; they had never Fudomine to begin with.

However, after hearing that they had defeated Seigaku, they became slightly more wary.

Now, with the data provided by Mizuki, they have no difficulty at all facing the first-year doubles team from Fudomine.

As soon as the match started, St. Rudolph launched a fierce attack, and Kamio and Ishida, who were not very experienced, were immediately overwhelmed.

However, during Tennis Club training and a suggestion from Hanamura Aoi during a change of court, they quickly adjusted.

They're all young, who's more hot-tempered?

The two began to unleash their full potential, engaging in a fierce tug-of-war with each other.

Both Kamio Akira and Ishida Tetsu underwent brutal training under Tachibana Kippei.

Although the time was short, their improvement in strength was still visible to the naked eye, and the two fought with extra effort.

Unfortunately, their overall strength was never as good as their opponent's.

No matter what, Yanagisawa Shinya and Kisarazu Atsushi were capable of suppressing Momoshiro for a short time, and their strength was not bad among the second-year students.

Furthermore, they had already grasped the weaknesses of Kamio Akira and Ishida Tetsu through Mizuki's intelligence, and as time went on, Fudomine gradually found itself at a disadvantage.

"Muneyoshi, we're going to lose this match." After watching two rounds, Tachibana Kippei said directly to Muneyoshi.

Muneyoshi nodded as well; one of the players opposite him was someone he knew very well.

Kisarazu Atsushi is the twin brother of Kisarazu Ryo from Rokkaku Middle School. Muneyoshi has met him several times, but unexpectedly, he still came to St. Rudolph just like in the original work.

"Yes, Kamio and Ishida performed well, both giving their best. However, their weaknesses and playing styles were easily figured out by their opponents, who targeted their weakest areas."

Muneyoshi raised the issue raised by the two to a new level, which piqued the interest of Keith and Lin Xiu as well.

"Oh? Those two over there are pretty good. They've only played two games, but they've already figured out Kamio and the others' weaknesses and playing styles?"

Hearing Lin Xiu's somewhat incredulous tone Muneyoshi shook his head.

"It was their Tennis Club manager who did this. Mizuki is a data-driven tennis player. He must have gathered Kamio and Ishida's weaknesses beforehand and leaked them."

Just as Muneyoshi and the others were talking, the pace of the game was further accelerated by St. Rudolph.

Twenty minutes later.

"Match ended with St. Rudolph winning, score 6-2!"

Unsurprisingly, Kamio and Ishida, whose weaknesses were completely exposed, lost the match.

This made the two of them look very unpleasant, and they remained silent after returning to the rest area.

Seeing this, Muneyoshi went up to him.

"Don't you feel very resentful?"

When Kamio Akira and Ishida Tetsu saw Muneyoshi approaching and asking him questions in a gentle tone, their expressions immediately tensed up.

He responded haltingly.

Muneyoshi ignored their nervousness and continued, "Failure is not terrible; what's terrible is that you can't identify your weaknesses and areas for improvement from this competition."

"Sit here and think about it carefully. Actually, the other party has already clearly pointed out the areas where you need to improve and enhance."

Helping teammates resolve their inner conflicts and providing psychological counseling are not Muneyoshi's strengths; he is better at training his teammates.

However, seeing their dejected and flustered state, Muneyoshi, as the head of Fudomine, still needed to step forward and offer them some guidance.

Whether or not they pay attention is up to them.

On the judges' stand, Hanamura Aoi, who had originally intended to say something, now held back her words, as she was very satisfied with Muneyoshi's performance.

Such team members are not only highly skilled, but also have clear goals, unwavering will, and are always striving towards their objectives. Furthermore, they have a very high level of vision and can clearly point out the shortcomings of their teammates.

This made her coaching job much easier and less stressful.

She increasingly felt that leaving Jōsei Shōnan and coming to Fudomine was the wisest decision she had ever made.

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