Fudomine Junior High

Wow, Shinji, you looked so cool just now!

Back in the rest area, his good friend Kamio Akira rushed over and climbed onto Shinji's back, yelling loudly.

"Next time, next time I'll say the same thing!"

Seemingly inspired to imitate, Kamio Akira stood up straight again, mimicking Ibu Shinji's tone.

"... I Ibu Shinji, can completely subdue them!!"

Even with Shinji's personality, he felt a little embarrassed at having his words repeated.

At this moment Muneyoshi and Tachibana also came up.

"Shinji, well done!"

Ibu Shinji's performance fully justifies Muneyoshi's praise. Without the full-blown fighting scenes of the original work, Shinji's personality is not as gloomy.

Although he remained silent, he smiled happily when he heard Muneyoshi's praise.

For a moment, the rest area of Fudomine was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

In the Kanto Tournament, Fudomine won 3-0.

The following afternoon.

Bang!

"Game over. Score 6:3, Kamio Akira from Fudomine Junior High wins."

With the referee's voice fading, Fudomine's match for the day was over, and they eliminated Saitama Prefecture's second seed, Oguchi Minami Junior High School, with a total score of 3-0.

With the conclusion of this match, Fudomine easily advanced to the third round of the Kanto Tournament.

Their next opponent is Yamabuki Middle School, one of Tokyo's historically strong teams.

Yamabuki Middle School.

As a strong team that consistently advances to the National Tournament in the original work, it's no surprise that no one was surprised by their advancement.

In contrast, their opponent in the third round, Fudomine, is the team that surprised all the schools.

Just like Seigaku last year.

The name Fudomine seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

To everyone's astonishment, they made it straight into the third round of the Kanto Tournament. It's worth noting that the Tennis Association changed its rules this year, expanding the number of participating schools in the Kanto Tournament.

The number of universities that could advance has increased from twenty to twenty-eight, making it much more difficult to advance.

Moreover, the teams that Fudomine faced before were not weak teams; they were all second seeds from other prefectures.

But now they have all become the cornerstone of Fudomine's fame.

However, the next stage will be a crucial battle to test the Fudomine.

As a consistently strong team in the Kanto region, Yamabuki certainly deserves the title.

At Yamabuki Middle School's Tennis Club, Sengoku flipped through the thick stack of documents in his hands. He discovered that Banrō didn't seem surprised by Fudomine's advancement and had even been prepared for it.

Almost every piece of information about the Fudomine members is extremely detailed.

"Your Banrō is truly amazing; you seem to have foreseen everything!"

The first-year students in Yamabuki did not know Saeki Muneyoshi, and therefore were unaware of the challenge he had given them last year.

However, Sengoku was very wary of him.

Having personally experienced a glimpse of Saeki Muneyoshi's strength, he still finds that kind of power troublesome.

"Understanding the opponent is the coach's responsibility; everyone should take a look!"

The Banrō smiled gently. Having been a coach for twenty years, he knew very well what kind of opponents were worth taking seriously.

Furthermore, he was not one of those naive middle school students. As one of the veterans of the Japan tennis world, he was very knowledgeable about Saeki Muneyoshi and the World Tournament.

After all, Yamabuki Middle School is a place that sends talent to the Japan U-17 training camp every year.

"What a clever little guy..."

Banrō was well aware that in the current junior high school level, no one could rival Saeki Muneyoshi's strength.

Just like Echizen Nanjirō and Byōdōin Hōō in the past.

To deal with people like them, you must target their teammates.

However, compared to Echizen Nanjirō in the past, Byōdōin Hōō and Saeki Muneyoshi's teammates are much stronger.

The Banrō continued to ponder, while the other team members carefully reviewed the information.

After a long pause, Tōhō Masami spoke first.

"So, apart from Saeki Muneyoshi, everyone else at Fudomine is a newcomer?" Tōhō Masami frowned slightly as she flipped through the documents in her hand.

"No, there's also their vice-captain, who is Kyushu Shishigaku's ace from last year's National Tournament — Tachibana Kippei."

"But that guy, Saeki Muneyoshi, managed to make it to the Kanto Tournament with a bunch of newbies. He's really lucky, just like Sengoku."

Having also finished reviewing the materials, Minami Kentaro, casually leaning back in his chair, picked up the conversation and joked.

"Since Fudomine managed to fight their way up from the regional preliminaries, even defeating Hyotei Academy and Seigaku, their abilities are something no one should underestimate."

Sengoku ignored his teammates' teasing, instead showing a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

Yamabuki Middle School is no pushover school like other weak schools; the words they just said were merely a few people joking around to ease the tension.

Their emphasis on Banrō led them to consider it one of their main rivals from the very beginning of the competition.

"If you want to play, Sengoku, you can ask Banrō to put you in singles third."

Sensing the expectation in Sengoku's heart, Tōhō Masami pondered for a moment and then offered her suggestion.

Up until now, Sengoku has never played a match in the Kanto Tournament, and other ordinary teams simply cannot defeat their Yamabuki's undefeated doubles team.

Sengoku Kiyosumi Banda Kenya with a bright smile on her face.

"Banrō..."

"Little Sengoku, are you sure you want to switch to singles three?"

The Banrō had overheard their conversation, and when he saw Sengoku looking at him, he smiled and asked with narrowed eyes.

His observations of Fudomine's lineup and tactics during this period allowed him to gain insight into the style of Fudomine's coach, Hanamura Aoi.

At the same time, there's also the little guy Saeki Muneyoshi, and the doubles pair they've been keeping hidden. The important singles position will definitely be filled by a very strong opponent.

Sengoku Kiyosumi might suffer a great loss if she tries to play as the third singles player this time.

Of course, these were Banrō his own thoughts, and he never voiced them.

"To Banrō, can't I play the third role in singles...?"

Sengoku Kiyosumi saw Banda Kenya's somewhat intriguing smile and nervously touched his hair. Under Banrō's all-seeing gaze, he felt a little guilty.

"Hehe, no problem. Since you've applied, I grant your request."

The Banrō replied with a smile, giving a deep look at the delighted Sengoku Kiyosumi.

"What Saeki did to Sengoku in first grade did change him a lot, but compared to those amazing kids, Sengoku is still far behind. Hopefully, this time he can do something different."

After everyone had left, the Banrō sat alone in his office and sighed softly.

He's long past the age of pursuing all honors; now he just wants to see these kids grow up.

One week later.

Ariake Tennis Forest Park.

The deafening noise of the crowd filled the stadium from both different directions.

The third round of the Kanto Tournament has officially begun, and one of today's highlights is, of course, the match between Fudomine and Yamabuki.

Everyone wanted to see if Fudomine could still pull off a stunt against Yamabuki Middle School, one of Tokyo's most prestigious and established schools.

Many schools and their athletes actually want Yamabuki to curb Fudomine's rise.

Ideally, we should defeat them and return Fudomine to its previous state of being a pushover.

This also satisfies their unspoken expectations and unusual pleasures.

P. S.: "I forgot to mention yesterday's bonus chapter; it was for reaching 1000 monthly votes... Oh well, it's already been released. I'll add another one today, please vote!"

There's an extra chapter today...