It's You, Akutsu!

Following the lead of several junior high school student ministers, a few more people joined their group.

Among them, the Fudomine Tennis Club members were the most enthusiastic, gathering together in advance, just like when they were preparing to challenge the high school students before.

The group walked and stopped frequently, always pausing to observe each training ground they reached.

"Tachibana Kippei, where's Saeki Muneyoshi? Didn't he come with you?"

Throughout the journey, Sanada hesitated to speak, but as they approached the next training ground, he finally voiced his concerns.

It's no secret that when the National Tournament ended, schools like Rikkai Dai and Hyotei Academy received invitations to overseas training camps to varying degrees.

After all, they had discussed this matter on their way here, and they also knew that Fudomine had been favored by Belgium and had been extended an invitation.

However, it was later revealed that a staff member from Belgium was seriously injured by Fudomine Saeki Muneyoshi.

However, the matter was suppressed as soon as it emerged and did not cause any sensation, but the news was not kept secret.

Ordinary tennis players would probably take this as a joke, but these people wouldn't.

After all, many people here had received invitations at the time.

However, the fight was abruptly stopped by the Japan players, and judging from their attitude, the seniors who helped them seemed to disregard those people.

Therefore, the students from Rikkai Dai believed that the story of Saeki Muneyoshi personally beating the Belgium man into the hospital was genuine.

After all, considering Saeki Muneyoshi's consistent style of doing things, he is indeed capable of doing it.

This incident not only shocked them but also made them worry. After all, seriously injuring someone and sending them to the hospital was no small matter.

It could even cause an international dispute.

If Saeki Muneyoshi is disqualified from participating in the training camp this time, it might allow them to close the gap with him, but as rivals, they are also worried...

What if Saeki Muneyoshi can no longer put pressure on them?

After all, not everyone is like Tezuka, who had Yamato Yūdai personally tell him about Saeki Muneyoshi.

The Rikkai Dai students relied entirely on Yanagi Renji to gather information on his own. Although they knew that Muneyoshi was definitely from the training camp, they discovered that they hadn't seen Saeki Muneyoshi for a day.

He couldn't help but wonder if Saeki Muneyoshi had already been punished.

This conflicted feeling has persisted until now...

"Sanada, Muneyoshi was called away by the coach when he brought us here, and we still haven't been able to find him."

Seemingly having guessed Sanada's thoughts, Tachibana Kippei didn't hide anything and spoke directly.

Listening to their discussion, Akutsu curled his lip in disdain, and squeezed a letter inside his pocket with his large hand.

This was an invitation from America, delivered to him three days after the National Tournament by a man who called himself Reinhardt.

America offered him very generous terms, even outlining his future plans for a professional career.

However, Akutsu remained unmoved. After learning about Saeki Muneyoshi from Yamato Yūdai, he pondered the matter for several days.

When he encountered Reinhardt, he inquired about his abilities and learned of the strength that Saeki Muneyoshi had displayed. Only then did Akutsu Jin not run away in such a sorry state.

"That damn guy, he never showed his true strength when he competed against me. I couldn't even beat him, how can I possibly slink away to America!"

Akutsu gave a cold snort in his heart. His mind went blank, and he began to think about when to have another match with Saeki Muneyoshi.

"Since that guy is a member of Japan U-17, as long as I join Japan U-17, I'll have plenty of time to compete against him. Next time, I'll definitely force him to show his true strength."

Enraged, Akutsu Jin crumpled America's invitation into a ball and threw it into a trash can some distance away.

His top priority right now is to improve his strength. Once he has the strength, he will be respected no matter which country he goes to in the future.

What's more, the Japan Team has someone he most wants to defeat.

However, Akutsu observed the athletes in the surrounding training grounds, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper. As they ventured deeper, he realized that although the athletes in these training grounds were all quite strong...

However, nothing truly caught his eye, which greatly displeased Akutsu.

Until!

Bang!

Thud! Thud!

As they stepped into area five of the training field, the players' abilities underwent a significant change.

Many players on the field are at a similar level to them at this stage.

And as they walked past Field 5, they entered Fields 4 and 3.

This feeling is growing stronger.

Completely different from the stadium behind them, a unique and tense atmosphere, distinct from that of the U17 team, swept over them all at once.

"This feeling..."

Yukimura squinted and looked around at the few somewhat familiar figures training on the second court.

Everyone sensed a palpable tension, one that was completely different from what they experienced during their usual school training.

"So this is what U17 is all about...?"

Tezuka, Atobe, Tachibana Kippei, Akutsu were also stunned. Now they could understand why Saeki Muneyoshi had undergone such a transformation here.

And when they walked past Stadium No. 2 and arrived at the legendary Stadium No. 1.

Several tall figures, seemingly having finished their training, walked towards them.

"Hey, you've all made it this far. How's it going?" A familiar figure appeared among the group, smiling at them with narrowed eyes.

"Muneyoshi!"

"Saeki Muneyoshi!"

The visitors were none other than Saeki Muneyoshi and Oni Jūjirō.

"Are you heading to Stadium One? No need, come with me, there's no one at Stadium One right now!"

Muneyoshi glanced at the route they were planning to take and abandoned their idea of continuing forward.

"Nobody here? Isn't it still training time, Muneyoshi?"

Fuji smiled as he looked at him, his eyes half-open. Not only him, but the others also expressed curiosity about Muneyoshi's words.

"Yeah, there's nobody here right now, and not just anyone can go to Stadium Number One. Come on, I'll take you guys to eat. You must be starving after climbing all this way!"

As he spoke, Muneyoshi called on the Fudomine members to follow him, and the other middle school students had no choice but to follow as well.

At that moment, Yukimura recognized the figure standing in the corner behind Muneyoshi.

"Are you the senior who helped us that day?"

Yukimura's eyes flickered, and at that moment Sanada also saw Tokugawa.

"It's you!" At that moment, Atobe also saw the baby face hidden in the shadow of Oni Jūjirō, and he was immediately furious.

"Hey, Atobe- kun, we meet again!"

Irie smiled slightly; his sunny smile, combined with his baby-faced appearance, was full of goodwill.

"Hmph, so you're one of the guys from the back court too. Which court number are you on?"

Atobe completely ignored Irie's overtures. Having experienced Irie's tennis firsthand, he already had a pretty good idea of Atobe personality.

"I'm court number three, Atobe- kun!"

Irie was unusually easy to talk to at this moment.

Yukimura paid no attention to the Irie and Atobe, but instead focused his attention on Tokugawa.

"Senior, we haven't had a chance to thank you properly for your help last time. Thank you. We still don't know your name?"

Tokugawa glanced at Yukimura and Sanada, nodded, and after a moment of silence, said coldly, "Tokugawa Kazuya, court number one!"

"Field No. 1?"

As soon as Tokugawa spoke, all the junior high school students turned their attention to him, after all, they knew that Stadium Number One represented the "strongest".

"Number One..."

Tachibana Kippei took a deep breath, glanced at Muneyoshi beside him, and said in a deep voice, "So, Muneyoshi, what's your court number?!"

Muneyoshi smiled but didn't speak. After a brief silence, he patted Tachibana Kippei on the shoulder. "Just think of me as someone from Field Number One!"

"Let's go, Muneyoshi!"

After remaining silent for a while, Oni Jūjirō and Tanegashima Shūji ignored the middle school students around them and strode forward.

Upon seeing this, Akutsu frowned. He seemed to sense a similar aura from this older-looking high school student.

Seeing the ghost about to leave, he blurted out, "Hey, what about you? Which stadium are you from?"

"Um?"

Oni Jūjirō paused slightly, glaring at Akutsu, but to his surprise, Akutsu wasn't afraid of him and even glared back.

Their gazes lingered for a few seconds before Oni Jūjirō turned away and continued walking forward without saying a word.

Muneyoshi followed with a smile, Akutsu as he passed Akutsu, he whispered to him, "Muneyoshi, don't be afraid of him. He's just from court number five, his name is Oni Jūjirō!"

After saying that, Muneyoshi, Irie, and Tokugawa continued walking forward.

"Field number five! Hmph, just you wait, I'll catch up and smash your face in!"

Akutsu frowned. Although he sensed something was off, he didn't care because he wanted to take on the challenge anyway.

Of these people, apart from another one with white hair, only Oni Jūjirō has the lowest ranking.

Wouldn't defeating him mean I could catch up with Saeki Muneyoshi?

This thought wasn't just in Akutsu's mind, but also in the hearts of all the junior high school students present.

Meanwhile, Muneyoshi, who was walking at the front, smiled and said to Oni Jūjirō, "Oni-senpai, I've thought of your best prey!"

"Oh? Could it be that kid from earlier?"

Oni Jūjirō glanced at Muneyoshi and then guessed what Muneyoshi was thinking.

"Senior Ghost guessed right, it really was him."

This idea had just popped into Muneyoshi's head. If the goal was to give all the junior high students a shock, what could be better than Akutsu?

They are very strong and belong to the top tier among junior high school students.

He has a strong personality, and many people are wary of him.

No doubt about it, Akutsu, it's you I choose!

Oni Jūjirō sneered, "If you want to compete with me, be prepared to go to hell!"

He neither agreed nor refused Muneyoshi's request to provide such care to junior high school students.

"Senior Oni, I think Akutsu is the one among their group with the best chance and the most talent to follow our path!"

Muneyoshi paused for a moment, then gave his assessment.

These words surprised Irie, Irie, Tokugawa, and the Tanegashima, as they rarely heard such high praise from Muneyoshi.

Oni Jūjirō was no exception. After a brief silence, he said, "In that case, I will verify it myself, Muneyoshi!"

P. S.: "Another update of over 6,000 words, I'm a bit tired from flying back today."