Advancing to the Semifinals
While the Metropolitan Tournament was being held, the Kanagawa Prefecture prefectural tournament was also in full swing.
Bang!
"Game 6-0, Sanada Genichirou of Rikkai Dai High School wins."
"Match ended, with a total score of 3-0. Rikkai Dai High School wins!"
As soon as the referee's voice fell, the third singles player from the opposing Tennis Club collapsed to the ground.
"Terrifying. Rikkai, the Rikkai Dai, seem to be getting more and more terrifying this year."
This year, Rikkai Dai, carrying the momentum of being the First in the Nation, made many people watching from the sidelines feel their scalp tingle.
Sanada used this match to show them what National Level dominance truly means.
That terrifying, invisible backswing completely demoralized the opponent in just two games, turning the match into a one-sided affair.
"Hmph! Too lax."
Sanada slightly lowered the brim of his hat, looking disdainfully at his defeated opponent.
Such a weak opponent made him lose the desire to shake hands, and he went straight back to his own team.
"Wow, as expected of our vice minister, he won the game in less than ten minutes!"
Mori Juzaburo lay sprawled out without any decorum, watching Sanada finish his match, and chuckled as he joked.
"Senior Mouri, please be serious..."
Sanada, who had been looking serious, was instantly taken aback by Mori Juzaburo.
If he hadn't known Mori Juzaburo's personality and abilities, he would have wanted to properly restrain Mouri's lazy ways long ago.
For Sanada, who had strict training requirements, this kind of laziness was the most intolerable thing.
And similar county-level competitions are being held in the same place.
Osaka, Kyushu, and other places have also undergone some changes due to Muneyoshi's influence.
The most obvious example is in Higa Junior High after Muneyoshi personally visited the school, although he was unable to invite Kite to join them.
However, this also made Kite aware of Saeki Muneyoshi's actions.
This greatly inspired him, and not long after Saeki Muneyoshi left, Kite Eishiro, who was also restricted from playing, initiated a reform.
Furthermore, they violently expelled Saotome Haru, the coach of Higa Junior High.
They began recruiting geniuses from the Kyushu region, which led to the emergence of the complete Higa Junior High team a year ahead of schedule.
They are currently engaged in fierce competition in the Okinawa Prefecture tournament, hoping to overthrow Shishigaku's dominance in the Kyushu Tournament.
Let's return to the Metropolitan Tournament.
Just one week after the first round of the competition, Fudomine faced Osawa Industrial in the second round.
Fudomine also won easily, sending in reserve players to secure a victory and advance to the quarterfinals.
Their opponent in the quarterfinals will be Kamada Junior High.
One week later.
Fudomine vs. Kamada Junior High.
After advancing to the quarterfinals, Hanamura Aoi became much more cautious, fielding the same full-strength lineup against Kamada Junior High as against St. Rudolph.
Because of Fudomine's consecutive victories, their matches have attracted more and more spectators.
Many people who want to understand Fudomine's strength are constantly gathering information about the Fudomine players.
Bang!
"Game score: 6-0. Fudomine won the doubles match 2, bringing the overall score to 1-0."
Bang!
"Game 1, Fudomine won the doubles match, score 7-5, overall score 2-0."
Bang!
"In the singles match, Fudomine Kamio Akira won 6-4."
" In the Metropolitan Tournament, Fudomine defeated Kamada Junior High with a Fudomine 3-0 record."
Fudomine once again decisively defeated his opponent.
In particular, they tried out the partnership between Tachibana Kippei and Lin Xiu in the doubles second match.
Although it was their first time playing together, and both were frontcourt players, the doubles pair demonstrated their exceptional adaptability when facing weaker opponents.
Their decisive victory over Kamata in the match also showcased the incredible potential of the Fudomine team's combinations to other schools.
Moreover, even though the first-year doubles pair was considered the weaker one, the situation was somewhat tense in their match against Kamata's doubles team.
In the end, the combination of Ishida Tetsu and Ibu Shinji relied on their individual strength to win with a score of 7-5.
"It seems your previous training of Shinji was quite effective, although his coordination with Ishida Tetsu isn't as good as Kamio's."
"However, Shinji's willpower and tenacity are noticeably different from before, and he is also very familiar with the overall rhythm of doubles and singles."
"But whether it's him, Ishida, or Kamio, stamina is their weakness among these first-year students. Once they encounter an opponent who excels at defense and counter-attack, they will get caught in a tug-of-war and may even be dragged down to defeat."
After the match, Muneyoshi, Tachibana, and Hanamura Aoi did a post-match review, with Hanamura Aoi and Muneyoshi taking turns analyzing each person's performance and weaknesses.
Tachibana Kippei sometimes adds a few words of advice.
With their current insight and Coach Hanamura Aoi's keen eye, they can indeed spot many weaknesses in the other members.
And all of these are important bases for how everyone can continue to improve themselves.
Not only for the first-year team members, Muneyoshi also offered his opinions on the combination of Tachibana Kippei and Lin Xiu.
Although they won cleanly, it was only because their opponents were too weak. The two still have too many overlaps when playing doubles, and they need to practice to work on their synergy.
However, these are things to consider later. Now that they have defeated Kamata, it's equivalent to advancing to the semifinals of the Metropolitan Tournament.
The opponents they face will be even stronger.
This is the second major juncture that Fudomine is about to face, and they are very curious about who they will be facing next.
Is it Yamabuki?
Or Hyotei Academy?
Or perhaps a second-round match against Seigaku?
Half an hour later.
The other four teams have been determined: Yamabuki, Seigaku, and Hyotei Academy!
Tachibana An returned from another stadium carrying a stack of documents, bringing news of their final opponent.
"Our opponent in the semifinals is Hyotei Academy!"
Muneyoshi and the others exchanged glances, all seeing the burning desire in each other's eyes.
Defeating Hyotei Academy and advancing to the finals was the most immediate thought in the minds of everyone at Fudomine.
Meanwhile, all the teams that made it to the semifinals received a notification from the referee.
"The quarterfinals of the Metropolitan Tournament have concluded, with the Hyotei Academy, Seigaku, Yamabuki, and Fudomine advancing to the top four. These four schools have earned the right to participate in the Kanto Tournament, where the semifinals, finals, and loser's bracket revival matches will be held a week later."
Meanwhile, at the Hyotei Academy, Sakaki Tarou had also gathered the Hyotei Academy's Regular.
We are preparing to discuss the lineup allocation for the semi-final matchups.
"The opponent for the next match has been decided: Fudomine!"
"Fudomine?!"
"Is that the dark horse from the Metropolitan Tournament who's been all the rage lately?"
As a tennis powerhouse in junior high school, Hyotei Academy's members don't consider other schools a threat, except for a few.
Even a school that's been called a dark horse.
Furthermore, Hyotei Academy has welcomed many new players this year, and none of them have heard of Fudomine exposure to the sport.
Sakaki Tarou took in the expressions of most people, but he didn't say anything.
Suddenly, Atobe and Oshitari seemed to remember something.
Especially Atobe, whose eyes suddenly sharpened.
"An advisor? Could it be..."
Seeing this, Sakaki Tarou nodded in satisfaction, and then had Taki Oginosuke play the video.
In the video, images of Saeki Muneyoshi, Tachibana Kippei, and Keith flash by in turn.
The footage shown, especially of Saeki Muneyoshi, instantly brought back some unpleasant memories for the second-year students.
"It's him! He's from Fudomine?"
Atobe's eyes flashed with a chilling light. Saeki Muneyoshi, he had been waiting for far too long.
"Great, we finally met again!"
Oshitari Yushi exchanged a glance with Anahira Ryo Mukahi Gakuto, all of whom could see the burning desire in each other's eyes.
Saeki Muneyoshi, this is the man who brought them humiliation and challenge, and now he has brought his Tennis Club to the Hyotei Academy.
At this moment, the first-year students also noticed the change in the expressions of the senior students and department heads.
I was immediately intrigued.
At that moment, Sakaki Tarou's voice rang out again:
"Besides Saeki Muneyoshi, Fudomine also needs to be wary of Tachibana Kippei, whom I'm sure everyone is familiar with."
"Tachibana Kippei?"
"The ace of Shishigaku, he actually came to Tokyo too? And he went to Fudomine?"
At this, the expressions of those familiar with Tachibana Kippei changed once again. Fudomine already had Saeki Muneyoshi to take seriously, and now Tachibana Kippei had appeared...
He's definitely a tough opponent!
"Besides..."
However, before Sakaki Tarou could finish speaking, footage of Keith's match started playing again on the screen.
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