Easily Advancing

As always, Atobe, who believed himself to be the most important figure, made his entrance last. Just as registration was about to close, he led the entire Hyotei team to the venue.

While other schools arrived in just one bus, Atobe generously chartered ten buses, transporting the participants and two hundred cheerleaders to the competition grounds.

The spectacle was truly grand.

"It's Hyotei..."

As the number one seed in the Tokyo Metropolis tournament and a top four finisher in last year's national competition, Hyotei's arrival immediately drew the attention of all the other schools.

Compared to them, Hyotei was a true national powerhouse.

Their achievement of reaching the top four in the nation last year was enough to make all the schools present hesitate.

After all, most of the schools in this tournament didn't even have the chance to qualify for the Kanto Tournament.

And as this group, with their full lineup, numerous members, and matching uniforms, walked by.

Their sheer presence was enough to instill a sense of nervousness in the other schools.

"Hello, Hyotei Academy is here to register. This is the list of our participants for the Tokyo Metropolis tournament."

Atobe handed the list to the registration staff who had just finished registering Seigaku's members.

"Alright, hmm, Hyotei has four first-year students this year too?"

The registrar, startled by the sudden influx of boys in identical uniforms, asked.

Sensing the impatience of the boy in front of him, he didn't dare to delay. He immediately took the list, glanced at it, and asked curiously.

"Hmm? Besides Hyotei, is there another school with first-year regulars? Is it Yamabuki?"

Shishido Ryo asked in surprise.

He didn't think it would be an unknown school, otherwise, the registrar wouldn't be so surprised. It must be a school whose reputation could rival Hyotei's.

Unaware of Seigaku, he believed that in the current Tokyo Metropolis tournament, only Yamabuki was worth Hyotei's attention.

They could barely be considered Hyotei's rivals.

"Ah, it's Seigaku over there. How strange, they've changed so much, and they've welcomed so many first-year regulars this year." The registrar pointed towards Seigaku not far away.

"Oh, Seigaku? I hope they'll be a decent opponent!"

Atobe didn't pay much attention to what the registrar said. Currently, he felt that the only person truly worth his notice was Saeki Muneyoshi.

After submitting the list, Atobe arrogantly glanced at the surrounding "minnows."

Then he led his team away.

Watching Hyotei's massive entourage and feeling their powerful aura, everyone instinctively made way for them.

"Oishi, Fuji, look, it's Hyotei!"

Kikumaru Eiji spotted Hyotei's team and poked Oishi Shichiro beside him before slinging an arm around Fuji's neck.

"Eiji, I see them."

Oishi Shichiro was helpless about his partner's restless nature. Fuji, on the other hand, didn't say much, just smiled gently.

"Their aura is so strong, and there are so many of them..."

"Cat-faced kid, you talk too much, get out of the way!"

Eiji's chattering nature greatly annoyed Akutsu, who roughly pushed Kikumaru and Fuji aside and walked off in another direction with an unfriendly expression.

However, judging by the racket he was holding, he wasn't going to fight, but to warm up.

"Hey, Fuji, Akutsu's personality is really terrible..."

Seeing Akutsu leave, Kikumaru complained pitifully to Fuji.

But Fuji wasn't fooled, his eyes narrowing into crescents: "Do you dislike Jin's personality, or is it because he often bullies you?"

As the sun slowly rose, all the participating teams completed their registration.

An atmosphere of tension filled the air as all participants began their warm-ups, simultaneously awaiting the tournament committee's draw results.

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

Due to the large number of schools in Tokyo Metropolis, the first-round opponents for several well-known schools were almost all unknown weak teams.

However, because Seigaku had six first-year students this year, many schools underestimated them, and their opponents were quite happy to draw Seigaku.

As a regular participant in the Tokyo Metropolis tournament, Seigaku attracted a lot of attention.

Especially since Seigaku this year was almost entirely composed of new first-year students, which made many schools harbor certain thoughts.

These thoughts were not limited to Seigaku; Hyotei also had four first-year students.

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

Especially for the first match, for these rookies making their debut.

Suddenly facing a strong opponent would surely cause them to panic, and it would be the perfect time to expose their true strength.

In this way, a lot of information could be gathered from the first match.

If they were lucky, they could collect information on almost all the regular players by playing a full match.

Therefore, the Hyotei versus Seigaku match venue was surrounded by crowds of spectators.

"Why are there so many people!"

Mukahi Gakuto looked around and muttered softly as he walked over to Oshitari and Anahira Ryo.

Compared to the regional preliminaries, which were merely an appetizer, the level of the prefectural tournament had risen significantly.

There were also more participating teams than in the previous regional matches.

Thus, information gathering was particularly important, and these people were here to collect intel on Hyotei.

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

However, as Hyotei's massive crowd surrounded the court, other schools wanting to gather information were forced into other corners.

"Hyotei is still so dominant!"

...The matches on both sides began simultaneously.

"Next up is Doubles 2. Please have both schools' Doubles 2 players enter the court!"

As the referee took his position, the match was about to begin.

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

Inui pushed up his glasses and said respectfully to Yamato Yūdai.

"Let's go, Inui!"

After both sides amicably decided the right to serve, Inui luckily won it.

Bang!

Bang!

Inui continuously bounced the tennis ball, getting a feel for it, then he tossed it high into the air and leaped up.

Whoosh!

A yellow streak instantly crossed the opponent's court and hit the back net with a thud.

"So... so fast!"

"What an amazing first-year!"

"The ball speed must be over 180 KM/H!"

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

This wasn't a serve that just any first-year could easily pull off.

The two opponents didn't react at all, staring blankly at the tennis ball rolling on the ground.

"Wh-what's going on? Isn't this kid a first-year?"

"His... his body won't move! Is this the kind of tennis a first-year can hit?"

The players from the opposing school were shocked; this was simply not an opponent on the same level.

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

Afterward, the opponents clearly lost their spirit, and their serves lost their original level.

"Match concluded. Seigaku's Inui Sadaharu and Yamato Yūdai's pair wins, with a score of 6:0."

The moment the Doubles 2 match ended, the surrounding crowd erupted.

They hadn't expected Seigaku's Doubles 2 pair to be so formidable, shutting out their opponents.

"Good work! Yamato-senpai!"

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

Immediately after the Doubles 2 match, the Doubles 1 match began, and Kikumaru and Oishi returned from their warm-ups at the opportune moment.

After a polite coin toss for the right to serve, the Doubles 1 match commenced.

Bang!

Bang-bang-bang!

Bang!

"Match concluded. Seigaku's Kikumaru Eiji and Oishi Shūichirō's pair wins, with a score of 6:0."

Soon, the referee's voice rang out again.

Next up were the more spectator-friendly singles matches. Seigaku's Singles 3 player was Akutsu Jin.

Upon seeing Akutsu's fierce expression, the opponent was intimidated from the start.

Ten minutes. Facing Akutsu's hyper-offensive tennis style, the opponent's Singles 3 player lasted only ten minutes.

"Match concluded. Seigaku's Akutsu Jin wins, with a score of 6:0."

Thunderous applause erupted, Akutsu's wild style igniting the audience.

The spectators, who had originally hoped Seigaku would go the distance, realized they had been thinking too much.

Seigaku advanced cleanly and efficiently, and Hyotei on the other side also advanced easily with a 3-0 win.

ps: Danyang saw some reader comments while slacking off at work earlier. He originally wanted to ask in a separate chapter, but seeing that the timed chapter set for this morning hadn't been released yet, he decided to ask at the end.

Do you guys think it's better to focus solely on the protagonist, or to shift the perspective to other characters while the protagonist is training?

If the focus remains entirely on the protagonist, the current stage would be a simple and tedious cycle of practice-summary-challenge, repeating over and over. There would also be long periods of solo practice, sometimes where he acts as an audience member, a witness.

If the perspective shifts to what the protagonist sees when he's acting as an audience member, the protagonist would have no presence, and you guys might feel I'm padding the story, which would be a bit of a head-scratcher.

However, Danyang can guarantee that this is only due to the protagonist's special circumstances as a first-year at Fudomine. This kind of disjointed narrative won't happen later on.

Also, after the prefectural tournament, the Kanto Tournament and National Tournament for first-years likely won't be described much, as the protagonist might not be able to participate by then.

Finally, Danyang is asking for votes again – monthly votes, recommendation votes, etc. The more, the better. After returning home tonight, Danyang will add more chapters based on your support, even if it means skipping dinner!!