Invitation

"Has that kid really surpassed us by so much? If he loses control like those two did during their match, I'm afraid we..."

Mouri, who had just finished his match with Muneyoshi, was also somewhat dazed.

Given the destructive power that Tokugawa and that England just displayed, if Saeki Muneyoshi doesn't control them, it's questionable whether they'll even survive the match.

"So, Muneyoshi had been playing games with us all along..."

Upon hearing this, Yukimura's breath caught in his throat. As proud as he was, how could he tolerate being defeated so easily, even while holding back his strength?

This hurt him even more than if he had been defeated cleanly and decisively.

"Genichiro, we can't go on like this!"

"That's right!"

Sanada's voice was also filled with anger.

"Pfft~, the only pity is that senior from earlier, he didn't even tell us his name. He could have at least told us how to become as powerful as him!"

Niou, standing to the side, also shook his little braid behind his head in annoyance.

"No, Niou, we can know that!"

Yanagi Renji opened his half-closed eyes wide. He glanced in the direction Tokugawa had left, then looked at the very simple document in Yukimura's hand.

An invitation so brief it contained only an address and a time.

"If we go to this address, we'll probably learn the name of that senior and find a way to go further!"

Hearing Yanagi Renji's assessment, Yukimura glanced at the invitation in his hand again. "Alright, let's go to this place!"

The group of Seigaku walked down the street, preparing to take the train back to Tokyo.

In this National Tournament, Seigaku achieved a top-four ranking, which is a decent result, but for Seigaku, whose goal is to win the championship...

This result clearly cannot truly satisfy them.

Tezuka's brows furrowed from time to time, as if he had something on his mind.

Actually, while watching the final, Tezuka was out buying water when the Germany coach, Kane Retru, approached him personally.

Tezuka felt incredibly fortunate to be personally invited by a Germany coach.

For Tezuka, who aspired to be a professional player, nothing was more exhilarating than gaining the appreciation of a professional coach.

Moreover, the coach extended an olive branch to him, and even someone as composed as Tezuka almost subconsciously agreed.

However, considering his goal of reaching the top of the national championship and his teammates, he still tentatively expressed his desire to lead his teammates to a championship.

In fact, he had a very clear understanding of Tezuka's personality before he came to find Tezuka.

Kan Retru wasn't surprised by Tezuka's decision; he hadn't actually expected Tezuka to agree on the first invitation.

Furthermore, he admired Tezuka even more for his ability to stick to his dreams when faced with temptation.

Retru expressed his support for Tezuka's decision and promised that the invitation would remain valid, allowing him to pursue his dream with peace of mind.

At the same time, from the perspective of a professional coach, he pointed out some of Tezuka's current problems and areas that need improvement.

Furthermore, he compared Saeki Muneyoshi to Tezuka.

It was at this time that Tezuka learned everything about Muneyoshi.

"So, Muneyoshi has already embarked on a professional career?"

Tezuka felt very lucky to have such an opponent during his junior high school years, but he also found Muneyoshi's strong abilities difficult to overcome.

Now that he has temporarily declined Germany's invitation, rapidly improving his strength presents a significant challenge.

Just as Tezuka was pondering how to use Retru's suggestion to improve himself, a tall figure blocked their path.

"Tezuka, congratulations on leading Seigaku to the national semifinals!"

"Um?"

Tezuka's thoughts were interrupted. He looked up and saw a familiar figure.

"Yamato- senpai!"

"Yamato- senpai!" Fuji, Oishi, and the others behind Tezuka also saw Yamato Yūdai Yamato was here.

After a brief conversation, Yamato took out an invitation and handed it to them.

Compared to Yukimura's invitation, which only included the address and time, Tezuka's invitation thoughtfully included several more names...

Watching Yamato's departing figure, Tezuka's heart stirred once more.

Just when you're feeling sleepy, this invitation comes at the perfect time.

This scenario occurred in several teams participating in this National Tournament.

At Higa Junior High, after personally teaching all the club members a lesson through a series of battles, Fuwa the Iron Man took out an invitation and handed it to Kite Eishiro.

Due to his injuries, Kite's strength had not recovered to its peak, so he did not show much ability to resist the attacks of Fuwa the Iron Man.

Meanwhile, Shitenhoji welcomed their familiar former department head Hirazeni.

"Hey, Shiraishi, still thinking about the competition?"

After Hirazeni around with his friend Hara Tetsuya for a while and explaining his purpose to Watanabe Osamu, Heiji arrived at Shiraishi's side.

Seeing that Shiraishi still seemed immersed in the National Tournament, he went over to comfort him.

"Shiraishi, Shitenhoji making it to the semi-finals means you've done far better than I did back then!"

Shiraishi knew that Hirazeni was trying to comfort him, but after seeing the strength of Yukimura, Sanada, Mouri, Keith, Atobe, Tachibana Kippei, and Muneyoshi...

Especially after losing to Muneyoshi, Atobe, and Tachibana Kippei in a row, he actually began to doubt himself.

Hirazeni had just heard Watanabe Osamu mention this in his conversation.

"Haha, Shiraishi, you're not getting discouraged just because you can't beat Muneyoshi, are you? You know, his level is definitely not that of a middle school student."

Hirazeni's eyes were full of smiles. If he hadn't accompanied Saeki Muneyoshi on an expedition, he probably wouldn't have known the extent of the other's strength.

"Not at the junior high school level?" Shiraishi looked somewhat confused.

"Of course, that's why I came back this time. You'll be going to the same place as me!"

In another secluded corner, two high school students are watching a unique match unfolding on the field.

If Muneyoshi were here, he would lament the impermanence of life and the unpredictability of Fate.

Because the match being played was between none other than Atobe Keigo and Irie Kanata!

At this moment, Atobe's face showed a look of surprise.

After watching the game, the Hyotei Academy originally wanted to go back and train properly, but they didn't expect to be approached by this baby-faced guy.

I still have to fight him.

Atobe initially didn't want to agree, but after hearing the other party ask him if he wanted to have the same strength as Saeki Muneyoshi, everything seemed to slip out of his control.

Furthermore, as the match continued, he realized that his opponent wasn't that strong, and feeling deceived, Atobe went a bit too far.

Several times he thought he was about to end this meaningless "game," but he always managed to barely catch up, thanks to sheer "luck."

However, as these coincidences occurred more and more frequently, Atobe began to suspect something.

After all, he's not stupid; he knows there can't be that many coincidences.

But just when he's about to wake up, he falls back into the illusion that scoring is easy.

The score remained close, alternating between high and low, in this bizarre manner.

The Hyotei Academy team watched silently from the sidelines. Mukahi Gakuto and Ohtori Choutarou cheered for Atobe from time to time, but Oshitari, standing to the side, gradually sensed that something was wrong.

But he couldn't pinpoint exactly what the problem was.

Because Atobe usually likes to force a game into a tiebreaker to torment his opponents, he found it a bit strange that Atobe would pull off such a move against an "unknown player".

But it's not too bad!

Oshitari just felt something was a little strange.

On the field.

"Hahaha, is this the strength you have, the one who dared to challenge me?"

Atobe was in high spirits at this moment, proudly raising his head and launching continuous attacks on the "exhausted" Irie Kanata.

I was thinking that this was his favorite part.

"You're so lame, so unglamorous!"

Atobe relentlessly shattered Irie Kanata's confidence, and seeing his face grow paler and paler, Atobe became even happier.

At this moment, Irie's face also turned ashen with shock, fear, disbelief, and utter despair. He kept screaming incoherently:

"No, that's impossible! You're just a middle school student, how could you possibly possess such strength? I don't believe it!!!"

Then, Irie stumbled and struggled to return the ball, his words becoming somewhat incoherent. "You know, I'm a high school student!"

"How could I be defeated by someone like you? I must be dreaming!"

Suddenly, Irie's expression calmed down, and he murmured, "Yes, I must be dreaming!"

Seeing this, Atobe across from him looked on with disdain. He was filled with contempt for a high school student with such a poor attitude and lost all interest in continuing the game.

"Since you say you're dreaming, then freeze your beautiful dream for me!"

Atobe's previously scattered spiritual energy coalesced, and two deep, cold blue icicles shot out from his pupils.

"Ice World! Freeze it for me!"

Swish swish swish!

A series of icicles pierced Irie the court. Atobe's lips curled up; he desperately wanted to see Irie break down.

However.

When his gaze fell upon Irie Kanata, Irie was looking directly into his eyes, his baby face beaming with a kind smile.

Bang!

The crisp, cracking sounds echoed in Atobe's ears. The ice pillars that had covered half of the Irie field shattered completely, and the icy currents and ice shards that filled the sky coalesced again.

It fell into his half of the field.

"Just kidding, Atobe- kun!"

"I'm already aware of your talent, thank you for your wonderful performance!"

Irie's smile was radiant, but Atobe felt an unbearable chill.

Bang!

The tennis ball broke, the show ended.

P. S.: This chapter has a bit more word count, thank you everyone for your monthly votes.