Easy Advancement

As always, Atobe, who considered himself the most important figure, made his entrance last. Just before registration closed, he led the entire Hyotei Academy team to the venue.

While the other schools had only arrived in a single bus, Atobe had lavishly chartered ten buses to bring the competitors and two hundred cheerleaders to the tournament grounds.

Their display was truly grand.

"It's Hyotei..."

As the top seed of the Metropolitan Tournament and last year's National Tournament semifinalists, Hyotei Academy instantly drew the attention of every school present the moment they appeared.

Compared to the others, Hyotei Academy was a genuine national powerhouse.

Their achievement of reaching the National Tournament's final four last year alone was enough to make every school present hesitate.

After all, most of the schools in this Metropolitan Tournament did not even qualify for the Kanto Tournament.

And when this large, neatly assembled group of people in matching uniforms passed by,

their sheer imposing presence made the other schools feel tense.

"Hello. Hyotei Academy is here to register. This is our roster for the Metropolitan Tournament."

Atobe handed the list to the registrar, who had just finished registering Seigaku's players.

"Alright. Huh, Hyotei Academy has four first-years this year too?"

The registrar froze for a moment, startled by the sudden influx of boys in identical uniforms.

Then, noticing the impatience on the boy's face before him, he did not dare delay. He immediately took the roster, gave it a glance, and asked curiously.

"Hm? Does another school besides Hyotei Academy have first-year Regulars? Yamabuki?"

Shishido Ryo asked in surprise.

He did not think it would be some unknown school. Otherwise, the registrar would not have been so startled. It had to be a school with a reputation enough to rival Hyotei Academy's.

Unfamiliar with Seigaku, he believed that the only school in the current Metropolitan Tournament worth Hyotei Academy's attention was Yamabuki.

They could barely be considered Hyotei Academy's opponents.

"There, Seigaku over there. How strange. They've changed so much too—this year, they have so many first-year Regulars as well." The registrar pointed toward Seigaku in the distance.

"Oh, Seigaku? I hope they're decent opponents!"

Atobe did not pay much attention to what the registrar had said. At present, he felt that the only person truly worth his notice was Saeki Muneyoshi.

After submitting the roster, Atobe arrogantly swept his gaze over the surrounding rabble.

Then he led his team away.

Watching Hyotei Academy's massive contingent and feeling its overwhelming presence, everyone instinctively made way for them.

"Oishi, Fuji, look! It's Hyotei Academy!"

When Kikumaru Eiji spotted the Hyotei Academy team, he poked Oishi Shuichiro beside him, then threw an arm around Fuji's neck as he spoke.

"Eiji, I see them."

Oishi Shuichiro could only sigh at his partner's hyperactive nature. Fuji said nothing, merely smiling gently.

"They're so imposing, and there are so many of them..."

"Cat-faced brat, you talk too much. Move."

Eiji's nonstop chatter irritated Akutsu Jin. He roughly pulled Kikumaru and Fuji apart, then stalked off in another direction with an unpleasant expression.

However, judging by the racket in his hand, he was probably not heading off to fight, but to warm up.

"Fuji, Akutsu's personality is awful..."

Seeing Akutsu leave, Kikumaru complained pitifully to Fuji.

But Fuji was not fooled. His eyes curved into crescents as he said, "Do you dislike Jin's personality, or do you dislike how often he bullies you?"

As the sun slowly rose, all the competing teams finished registering.

The air was filled with tension. Every competitor began warming up while waiting for the tournament committee to announce the match brackets.

Soon, the first round of the first day was about to begin.

Because Tokyo Metropolis had so many schools, the first-round opponents for several well-known schools were almost all unknown weak teams.

However, since Seigaku had six first-years this time, many schools looked down on them. As their opponents, they were quite pleased to have drawn Seigaku.

As a regular participant in the Metropolitan Tournament, Seigaku drew plenty of attention.

Especially since this year's Seigaku team consisted almost entirely of first-year newcomers, which inevitably gave many schools certain ideas.

Seigaku was not the only team treated this way. Hyotei Academy was as well, since they also had four first-years.

Thus, many people came to observe Seigaku and Hyotei Academy, hoping to gather some intelligence.

Especially from their first matches, for these rookies making their first appearance.

If they suddenly encountered strong opponents, they would surely panic and reveal their true strength most easily.

That way, the first match could provide a great deal of information.

If they were lucky and the match went the distance, they could gather information on nearly every Regular player.

Therefore, crowds of spectators surrounded both Hyotei Academy's and Seigaku's courts.

"Why are there so many people?"

Mukahi Gakuto looked around, then leaned close to Oshitari and Anahira Ryo, muttering quietly.

Compared with the regional qualifiers, which had merely been an appetizer, the Metropolitan Tournament was on an entirely different level.

There were also far more participating teams than in the regional tournament.

As a result, gathering intelligence was especially important. These people had come here precisely to collect information on Hyotei Academy.

Now, players from other schools could be seen everywhere throughout Ariake Tennis Forest Park.

However, once Hyotei Academy's massive group surrounded the court, the other schools hoping to gather intelligence were forced into the remaining corners.

"Hyotei Academy is as domineering as ever!"

...The matches on both sides began simultaneously.

"Next is Doubles Two. Doubles Two players from both schools, please enter the court!"

With the referee in place, the match was about to begin.

"It's our turn, Yamato-senpai!"

Inui adjusted his glasses and respectfully addressed Yamato Yūdai.

"Let's go, Inui!"

After the two sides amicably decided serving rights, Inui was fortunate enough to win the serve.

Bang!

Bang!

Inui continuously bounced the tennis ball, searching for his rhythm. Then he tossed it high into the air and leaped up.

Whoosh!

A streak of yellow light instantly tore across the opposing court and slammed into the back fence with a thud.

"S-So fast!"

"What an incredible first-year!"

"That serve must be over 180 km/h!"

The onlookers were dumbfounded by Inui Sadaharu's high-speed serve.

This was not a serve just any first-year could casually pull off.

The opposing pair had not reacted at all, staring blankly at the tennis ball rolling across the ground.

"W-What is this? Isn't that kid a first-year?"

"My body... My body can't move at all! Is this really tennis a first-year can play?"

The players from the opposing school were stunned. They were simply not on the same level.

Inui won the opening game with four high-speed serves.

After that, his opponents had clearly lost their fighting spirit, and even their serves fell far below their usual standard.

"Match over. Seigaku's Inui Sadaharu and Yamato Yūdai win, 6–0."

The moment the Doubles Two match ended, the surrounding crowd erupted.

They had not expected Seigaku's Doubles Two pair to be so formidable, shutting out their opponents completely.

"Thanks for the effort, Yamato-senpai!"

Looking at Inui and Yamato standing before him, Tezuka smiled and handed them towels.

As soon as Doubles Two ended, Doubles One began. Kikumaru and Oishi returned from their warm-up at just the right time.

After the two sides politely settled the serve, the Doubles One match began.

Bang!

Bang—bang bang!

Bang!

"Match over. Seigaku's Kikumaru Eiji and Oishi Shuichiro win, 6–0."

Very quickly, the referee's voice rang out once more.

Next came the more entertaining singles matches. Seigaku sent out Akutsu Jin for Singles Three.

The moment their opponents saw Akutsu's ferocious appearance, they lost three parts of their courage.

Ten minutes. Against Akutsu's aggressively offensive tennis style, the opposing Singles Three player lasted only ten minutes.

"Match over. Seigaku's Akutsu Jin wins, 6–0."

Thunderous applause erupted from the crowd. Akutsu's wild style set the entire audience ablaze.

The onlookers, who had originally hoped Seigaku's match would go the distance, realized they had been thinking too much.

Seigaku advanced cleanly and decisively, while Hyotei Academy on the other side also advanced easily with a 3–0 victory.

P.S. While slacking off at work, Danyang just saw some comments from readers. I had originally planned to make a separate post to ask about this, but then I saw that this scheduled chapter from this morning had not been released yet, so I'll just ask at the end.

Would you prefer the focus to stay entirely on the protagonist, or should the perspective shift to other people while the protagonist is training on his own?

If the focus stays entirely on the protagonist, then at this stage it would simply be an extremely repetitive and dull cycle of training, summarizing, and challenging himself over and over. His solo training also takes a long time, and sometimes he would only serve as a spectator or witness.

But if I shift the perspective to the scenes he sees while he is acting as a spectator, the protagonist would have no presence, and everyone might think I'm padding the story. It's giving me a bit of a headache.

But Danyang can guarantee that this is only due to the protagonist's special situation as a first-year at Fudomine. There will not be this kind of disconnect later on.

Also, after the Metropolitan Tournament, the first-year Kanto Tournament and National Tournament probably will not be described much, because the protagonist may not be able to experience them at that time.

Lastly, please send more votes—monthly votes, recommendation votes, anything is welcome. The more the better! When Danyang gets home tonight, I'll add more chapters based on your support, even if I have to skip dinner!!