The Shuffle Match's Roadblock

Long before Muneyoshi was about to unleash his true power, Oni Jūjirō and Irie Kanata had already made preparations.

After the point was decided, he rushed onto the field, picked up Tokugawa, and ran.

Muneyoshi, of course, happily followed along.

When the smoke and dust completely dissipated, Muneyoshi and the others had completely disappeared.

And the half of the field where Tokugawa originally played is now on the verge of being abandoned.

The group dodged surveillance cameras, circled around, and finally appeared in the coaching staff's sight as if nothing had happened.

Although everyone understood the situation, they still wanted to give the coaches a way out.

The necessary surface work still needs to be done.

When the group reappeared in the surveillance video, Irie quietly walked up to Muneyoshi's side.

"Saeki -kun, I didn't realize you were this strong! That last ball, I'm afraid only Tanegashima -kun and Oni-kun could have caught it."

Irie's expression turned serious, and he spoke with a touch of emotion.

However, Irie's appearance made Muneyoshi unsure whether he was telling the truth or lying.

"What are you saying, Irie- senpai? You should know I haven't defeated you yet!"

Muneyoshi has become largely immune to Irie's mix of truth and falsehood.

Having undergone the brutal training of Mifune Nyudo, Tokugawa already had a solid foundation and sufficient resources.

With the guidance of Oni and Irie, his potential has been further enhanced, and now he has even demonstrated the potential of Sixth Sense in his match against Muneyoshi.

If Muneyoshi doesn't unleash his true power, he probably won't be able to deliver a real blow to Tokugawa.

At this moment, Tokugawa was like a piece of refined iron that needed to be repeatedly forged, to be turned into a sharp weapon when facing Byōdōin again.

It would require more forging, Muneyoshi simply added a little something extra.

As for whether it will damage Tokugawa's confidence?

That's not something Muneyoshi needs to consider. Besides, if Tokugawa's confidence is so easily shaken, it would be a waste of Oni and Irie's hard work.

He was even less qualified to stand before the Byōdōin again.

This was something that Saeki Muneyoshi, Oni Jūjirō, Irie Kanata, and even Tokugawa himself were well aware of.

This is why Tokugawa was so determined to witness Muneyoshi's true strength.

According to Saeki Muneyoshi's own estimation, the strongest Japan Team right now consists of four players.

Byōdōin Hōō, Oni Jūjirō, Duke Watanabe, Tanegashima Shūji.

All four of them are now stronger than Muneyoshi, and they are also the people that Saeki Muneyoshi himself has decided to surpass.

As for who is the strongest among these four, that depends on their individual methods.

When there is no overwhelming advantage in strength, or no absolute ability to counter the opponent, the competition comes down to the ability to perform under pressure.

In this respect, Ōmagari Ryūji would also have a place.

However, Muneyoshi was not afraid of any of them.

Whether it's Ōmagari Ryūji, Kaji Fūta, or Kiriya.

Even with Irie Kanata's bizarre mental domain, as long as he didn't make a major breakthrough, Muneyoshi was confident he could withstand it.

Muneyoshi's gaze swept over Oni, Tanegashima, Irie, his eyes filled with an inscrutable expression.

At this moment, the three of them were also constantly recalling Muneyoshi's last two counterattacks.

Especially the last move.

Saeki Muneyoshi's aggressive approach and seemingly limitless improvement in strength gave them a great sense of crisis.

Meanwhile, inside the small dark room, Kurobe Yukio and Saito Itaru were watching the data charts of Saeki Muneyoshi and Tokugawa Kazuya flashing on the large screen.

Tokugawa Kazuya's data estimates were the first to be finalized, and compared to when he first entered the training camp, Tokugawa's progress in the past few months has been very obvious.

Actually, you don't need to look at the data; just seeing that he can counter several of Muneyoshi's moves is enough to show his improved strength.

They were well aware that although the current training camp had a six-level strength restriction, Saeki Muneyoshi could still use his strength flexibly when facing Tokugawa Kazuya.

Moreover, Muneyoshi's appearance just now clearly indicated that he hadn't only used the sixth level.

Since it's not the sixth level, it means it has exceeded that limit. Although it may not be the full power unleashed, it's probably not far off.

Muneyoshi's moves are not so easy to counter.

Having been able to fight Muneyoshi to this extent, Tokugawa has clearly now fully entered the world-class realm.

Moreover, it's not just world-class, it's reached an extremely high level.

"Ha, I never expected Tokugawa to actually achieve this under the guidance of Oni and Irie?"

"This really is a blessing for Japan!"

Watching the figures of the Kurobe Yukio's gaze lingered on the somewhat disheveled Tokugawa for a moment before he chuckled softly.

"Yes, I didn't expect Tokugawa to improve so quickly! It seems that after being trained by the head coach, the effort that Irie and Oni have poured into Tokugawa is finally starting to bear fruit."

Saito Itaru looked at the Tokugawa chart on the screen and responded with some emotion, reflecting on his recent performance.

"Kurobe, did you say Tokugawa's strength has entered Muneyoshi's territory?"

Turning his gaze away from the screen, Saito Itaru looked at the composed Kurobe and asked curiously.

Upon hearing this, Kurobe hesitated for a moment, unsure of how much of his strength Muneyoshi had used. After a brief silence, he spoke in a speculative tone:

"Tokugawa's current five-dimensional abilities are somewhat inferior to Muneyoshi's in the first year. Even after so much training, his improvement is not significant."

Therefore, in this respect, he is far inferior to Muneyoshi back then; it can be said that he did not reach that level.

After a pause, Kurobe took a sip of his coffee and continued, "However, compared to Muneyoshi's extreme and biased development of various offensive techniques, Tokugawa's strength lies in his defense!"

"Defense? You mean!"

With Kurobe's suggestion, Saito Itaru naturally thought of this as well.

"That's right, defense!"

Kurobe fiddled with the Sony laptop on the table, bringing up a few screens.

"Whether it's the Black Hole or the keen sense he displayed, both are enhancing his defensive capabilities, which is why he was able to withstand Muneyoshi's attacks for a short period of time."

Saito Itaru nodded and said, "That's right. Black Hole is a ball technique that can rival Asura Path. Tokugawa can use it now. Although it can't last too long, it's fine for a short time."

"His only drawback is that his attack methods are not as good as Muneyoshi's, who focuses on offense!"

"Hmph!" Kurobe shook his head. "Your expectations are too high. How many people in the world can compare to Muneyoshi in terms of pure offensive development?"

"Judging from his current strength, Tokugawa's abilities are quite impressive even in the world-class arena. He's ready to challenge the Different Dimension Realm. The only question is, how does he compare to the rest of the First String...?"

"What's the rush? You'll find out sooner or later!"

The reforms in world tennis were brought forward by a year, giving them plenty of time.

At this moment, Kurobe's eyes fell on the stable chart in Muneyoshi's area. Looking at the four-word assessment in the last line, both coaches fell silent.

"Haha, as expected of Muneyoshi! If the head coach hadn't forbade it, I really wanted to see him fight Oni Jūjirō or Tanegashima Shūji again, to see if he'd truly reached that level!"

"The test results are unsatisfactory... Is this the third person in the training camp to achieve a breakthrough on a spiritual level?"

The two were chatting happily in the small dark room and didn't notice that Takuetsue Ryuji had already come in.

"Saitō, you're in charge of the middle school students today, aren't you going to check on them? Their mental training should be almost over, right?"

Takuetsue Ryuji appeared to have just finished leading the high school students in training, and was slightly out of breath.

"I'm not entirely satisfied with this mental training program for junior high school students; I must come up with the most suitable plan next time..."

Saito Itaru stood up, put his hands behind his back, and left, muttering to himself as he walked.

He was completely unaware of his height, suddenly...

Clang!

"Ouch! My head hurts so much!"

The familiar sound made Kurobe and Takuya shake their heads. It seemed that if they wanted Saitō to remember them, they might as well build the door even higher.

The coach did not hold Munehiko accountable for the match between Muneyoshi and Tokugawa, and the days of training and improvement passed by very quickly.

The junior high school students who came here had never received such professional training before.

With scientific training and a corresponding diet, all physical indicators improved rapidly, and everyone clearly noticed their own progress.

A professional coaching team, top-notch equipment and facilities, scientific training and conditioning, and a highly competitive environment.

All of this allowed them to realize their talents to the fullest.

After recognizing the exceptional talent of some players, the coaching staff began to provide targeted support to them.

Every day, a Shuffle Match is arranged for a very small number of exceptionally outstanding junior high school students. Except for a few, almost all junior high school students have already moved up several places in the rankings.

Several people have even begun climbing towards the summit.

Among them, the weaker teams, those who are not even good enough to enter the training camp, such as Rikkai Dai's Jack Sanohara, basically can't be promoted after reaching the No. 13 court.

Similar to him are the three first-year students from Fudomine.

Aside from Shinji, who was slightly better off and barely made it into Court 10, he couldn't advance any further.

Kamio and Ishida were stuck on pitch number 11.

The long competition began.

Victory means entering Court 11; defeat means falling off Court 12.

The coaching staff originally had little interest in their indecisiveness.

However, considering that they are only first-year students and are Muneyoshi's teammates, they are arranged to initiate a series of Shuffle Match upwards.

As for those high school students who failed, they were naturally considered worthless by the coaches.

It would be perfect to have them practice against these junior high school students and gain experience in competitions.

Of course, these are all junior high school students who are younger or relatively weaker.

As for the others, they were all truly talented players chosen by Muneyoshi.

The worst Inui Sadaharu, is on Field 9.

Sengoku Kiyosumi, Hirakoba Rin Niou Masaharu, Yagyu Hiroshi, Marui Bunta, and Ishida Gin have all entered the No. 8 court.

Lin Xiu, Fuji Shusuke, Yanagi Renji, Oshitari Yushi entered Court No. 7.

The others are: Tachibana Kippei, Sanada Genichirou, Kite Eishiro, Shiraishi Kuranosuke, Akutsu Jin Hara Tetsuya, Chitose Senri, Atobe Keigo.

They all got into Field 6, but were firmly blocked from Field 5.

Whenever they try to enter Stadium Number Five, they are very likely to run into Oni Jūjirō.

Even if you didn't encounter Oni Jūjirō, you would have met Hirazeni, Nakagawa Naidō, Fuwa the Iron Man...

Among them, Akutsu Jin, Keith, Tachibana Kippei Sanada Genichirou, Atobe Keigo, Atobe Keigo, and Kite Eishiro will only encounter Oni Jūjirō.

That's why, among the junior high school students, Oni Jūjirō of Field No. 5 is known as the "Gatekeeper of Hell."

Another new nickname has emerged: an obstacle to the Shuffle Match.

P. S.: "A little something extra today, please vote with your monthly tickets~"

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