The Teams Ready to Pick Up the Scraps

The following morning.

The morning light illuminated the green mountains and forests. It was summer, and the maple leaves on the mountains had not yet turned into fiery red waves, but they still danced in the wind.

Click click click!

The sound of a heavy door sliding echoed through the tranquil mountain forest.

The training camp doors opened, Muneyoshi, who hadn't even entered yet, immediately spotted the three coaches— Kurobe Yukio, Saito Itaru, and Takuetsue Ryuji were already waiting there.

"Coach Kurobe! Coach Saitō! Coach Takuya!"

"I'm truly honored that the three coaches were waiting for me at the door!"

Having not seen them for a long time, Muneyoshi smiled slightly and even made a joke.

"Haha! After all, they've come to welcome our No. 3, so we should give them plenty of face."

Kurobe Yukio smiled in agreement, then seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Muneyoshi, you've finally arrived, and you've arrived just in time!"

Saito Itaru Takuetsue Ryuji, who had come up with him, also nodded to Muneyoshi.

"Welcome back, Muneyoshi!"

Only when they saw Saeki Muneyoshi arrive as promised did the three members of the Kurobe finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Otherwise, they would have been completely unsure of what to do in the face of this sudden attack, and they wouldn't even know who to lead the short expedition that followed.

Is there such a rush?

Muneyoshi looked at the three members of the Kurobe with some surprise. Even if he hadn't come to the training camp, weren't there others like Byōdōin and Oni Jūjirō who were stronger than him?

"Let's talk as we walk. Oni and Tanegashima are already waiting for you."

"Standing here at the door is definitely not a long-term solution, "Takuetsue Ryuji quickly interrupted, seeing that the group was about to launch into a long speech.

Saito Itaru and Kurobe Yukio thought it made sense; after all, this wasn't the place to talk, so they led the way, talking as they walked.

Along the way, many of the newly recruited high school students did not recognize Saeki Muneyoshi and looked at him with surprise.

This was the first time these people had ever seen someone being welcomed back from outside by three coaches together.

Everyone was curious.

"Who is this guy? He looks so young."

"I don't know, she must be new. And to be greeted by three coaches, she must be very strong. I wonder which field she'll be assigned to."

Many of the newcomers were chattering amongst themselves when some of the second and third-year high school students who knew Muneyoshi gave the newcomers a disdainful look.

"Open your eyes and look carefully! That's not some newcomer; he's First String!"

"And they're from First String!"

"What!"

"Him? The First String?!"

The new high school students stared in astonishment at Saeki Muneyoshi, who still looked somewhat immature.

Having been in the training camp for so long, they have a general understanding of their own strength and the strength of the First String, and they also understand the meaning of the First String.

Many people looked on with envy at the sight of Saeki Muneyoshi, who had secured a place in the First String at such a young age.

"Coach Kurobe, why did you call me back so urgently? Is something wrong? Besides, there are Oni and Byōdōin in the club. If they can't handle this, I'm afraid I can't either."

Muneyoshi ignored the newcomers' chatter and instead asked the question that the Kurobe members had hesitated to ask earlier.

"Muneyoshi, you don't know, the training camp's strength is almost gone. About two weeks ago, Byōdōin took most of the First String's members on an expedition to Europe."

They still need to train overseas and won't be back for a while. Now, only a few true First String members remain in the training camp, and besides you, there's no one else capable of leading the army into battle."

Kurobe sighed; things were never as simple as Muneyoshi had imagined.

"As for the Oni Jūjirō you mentioned, some things happened recently. Oni and Irie refused the Byōdōin expedition team's overseas expedition because of Tokugawa Kazuya's relationship with him."

"And you know Tanegashima, he gets airsick, so there's practically no one available in the training camp right now."

Kurobe shook his head; he really didn't have any capable people left.

"By the way, you know Tokugawa Kazuya, right?"

"Um... if you're talking about Tokugawa in Spain, then I know him, but I didn't expect the training camp to be in such a divided state..."

Muneyoshi gave a wry smile. He had thought that Byōdōin's personality had changed a lot compared to the original work, and that he wouldn't do anything serious to Tokugawa.

Unexpectedly, such things could not be avoided, and even triggered an open conflict between Byōdōin's group and Oni Jūjirō's group.

Of course, Muneyoshi would never know that the reason Byōdōin was so angry was largely because of him.

The Byōdōin kept this in mind because he mentioned that Spain wanted to poach him...

From the coaches, Muneyoshi learned the reason why he was urgently recalled.

An hour later, players from the South Korea U-17 team will arrive to challenge them and participate in the overseas expedition points match.

Originally, the South Korea U17 team members were not taken seriously by the Kurobe group at all.

But there's nothing we can do; the training camp is at its weakest point right now.

Byōdōin took most of its main players with them to Europe for training and international tournaments.

The coaches all agreed.

Because the Japan Team was already ranked near the bottom, even though they won a few games in last year's World Tournament and gained some points, their ranking improved by a few places.

But it's still near the bottom.

Teams like this typically don't receive challenges from other countries.

Firstly, the Japan Team's ranking is too low, so no team with real talent would be interested in them.

Secondly, the Japan Team's apparent strength is undeniable; even if they win, they won't gain many points.

However, there are a few countries that have launched an expeditionary challenge points tournament against the Japan U-17 team.

They seized the opportunity presented by the absence of the main players from Japan U-17 team to launch their challenge.

One of them is South Korea 'Japan neighbor.

South Korea was originally ranked only slightly lower than Japan.

The countries ranked near the bottom in the world.

Croatia, Bharata.

Aragornoma, South Korea, Siam.

Their points difference with Japan is not significant; at this time last year, Japan's points were even lower than Bharata's.

Therefore, if they can defeat the Japan team, their points will easily surpass those of the Japan team.

Moreover, South Korea believes that Japan defeated the BIG4 last year, and they are confident that Japan will defeat Japan again this year.

So, rounding it up, doesn't that mean they beat the BIG4?

A direct intracranial orgasm would be great!

That's why they seized this opportunity to pull this stunt.

Currently, only three members of the First String remain in the training camp: Oni Jūjirō, Tanegashima Shūji, and Irie Kanata.

Now, with Saeki Muneyoshi included, there are four people. As for the other candidates, they can only be drawn from the Second Army.

When the three of them led Muneyoshi to the First String's dormitory, Oni and Tanegashima were already waiting there.

"Kid, you've come back just in time!"

Tanegashima Shūji grabbed Muneyoshi and put his arm around his shoulder, looking very happy.

"Tsk tsk, long time no see! Tanegashima has actually become No. 2! I'm so envious!"

Muneyoshi exclaimed loudly upon seeing the badge on Tanegashima Shūji's collar.

This made Tanegashima Shūji feel embarrassed. "Actually, I don't want this badge. You can have it if you want it. Anyway, you're the one who defeated him, so it belongs to you!"

"Never mind, I'm not confident of defeating Senior Tanegashima right now. Once I am, I'll definitely come and ask him for advice."

After Muneyoshi and Tanegashima finished joking around, Irie and Oni also came up.

Welcome back, Saeki -kun!

Kanata Irie wore a smile on his porcelain doll-like face. Irie Kanata Muneyoshi around, he felt much more at ease!

"Long time no see, my two seniors!"

Muneyoshi pushed Taneshima Tanegashima and smiled as he looked at Oni Jūjirō and Irie Kanata.

"Kid, I wonder if your strength has declined after all this time?"

"Oni Jūjirō said in a deep voice."

"I dare not slack off in the slightest before defeating Senior Demon!"

The moment Muneyoshi saw Oni Jūjirō, his eyes lit up with an amazing gleam, and he was eager to try it out.

"Alright, that's enough. The head coach is still waiting for you. Let's go quickly."

Seeing that the two wanted to have another match, Kurobe quickly stopped them, as this was not the time for their competition.

P. S.: "Requesting monthly votes"

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