Three More Players

4 PM.

Instead of going to training, Muneyoshi came to the main gate, accompanied by his Strategy Coach, Kurobe Yukio.

The Four-Nation Exchange Tournament is about to begin, and in order to ensure combat strength, Byōdōin has sent a few people back.

Today is the day they return to base.

Shortly afterward, three tall figures appeared in the surveillance footage.

The door then opened.

"Welcome back, Ochi- senpai, Mitsuya -senpai, Omagari- senpai!"

"Muneyoshi, this is truly a rare sight. You actually came to pick us up in person?"

Seeing familiar faces they hadn't seen in a long time, the group was quite happy.

Of course, the three of them were also very clear about why Muneyoshi had come here; it was nothing more than to put some pressure on the junior high school students.

They found these things easy and enjoyable to do, and they had already agreed when they were first contacted.

Since only a few people returned this time, the Kurobe did not arrange any hunting activities for them.

The group walked towards their dormitory, chatting and laughing.

The next day.

After finishing their morning practice, the high school students all gathered at Field No. 5.

Overnight, almost everyone in the training camp knew that Court 5 was going to reshuffle its teams with Court 3.

By the time some belated high school students arrived at Court 5, the game had already begun.

"The team Shuffle Match between Court 3 and Court 5 will now begin! Players from both sides, please come forward!"

"Due to changes in the rules of world tennis, this competition will adopt the latest rules for playing on the court."

One member of the black-clad coaching staff climbed onto a high chair, while another explained the new rules of the game to them.

The coaches in the black team are not only coaches but also professional referees.

These rules were actually communicated to all participants before the competition.

However, this is the first time it has been used in the training camp, which is also an excellent opportunity for all the high school and junior high school students watching to learn the rules.

However, for the two teams standing at the net, their focus was not on the rules, but on the players coming out of the other team.

Especially for junior high school students, the sudden appearance of several unfamiliar figures on court number three gave them a bad feeling.

As the team leader of Court No. 3, Irie Kanata smiled and scanned the group of junior high school students opposite him, then glanced at Oni Jūjirō outside the court.

He asked with a slightly surprised tone, "Huh? The Demon Lord isn't showing up today?"

"Hmph, we middle schoolers are more than capable of taking down your No. 3 court without relying on that Demon Senior's power!"

Atobe Keigo's gaze lingered on the three extra people for a moment, and he was about to ask them a question, but after hearing Irie's words, which seemed to question their strength, he responded firmly.

"Atobe- kun, you certainly have a good fighting spirit! In the next match, let's see the power of you middle schoolers!"

Irie Kanata smiled indifferently.

If it were before, his No. 3 court team might have been defeated by this group of junior high school students.

However, now, under Muneyoshi's planning and with the support of the coaching staff, the returning First String members have also entered Stadium No. 3.

Their stadium strength no longer has any weaknesses.

As for your statement that the First String members aren't on Stadium 3?

I'm sorry, but the training camp has a rule that First String members can choose any court to train on.

It's just the three of them.

No!

It's probably just that the five of them happened to choose court number three for training today.

It was all a coincidence.

Meanwhile, on the middle school students' side, they gathered together, discussing the newly appeared faces.

Yukimura glanced at the tallest figure with blue and white hair, Yi Nian: "Everyone, it seems there are other things we don't know about this training camp. Those newcomers don't look like they're to be trifled with!"

"That's right. We don't know about the others, but that guy with the long blond hair is our former senior from Rikkai Dai, Mitsuya Akito!"

Beside Yukimura, Sanada Genichirou continued his words, glancing in the direction of Mitsuya with a look of great apprehension.

"Hmph! Yukimura Sanada, are you scared already? If you're scared, then just admit defeat now, and I'll take care of him myself!"

Atobe's tone remained arrogant, but when he looked at the tall figure, he always felt that the other person was looking at him as well.

Unable to resolve their argument, the three turned their attention to Tezuka Kunimitsu to the side.

"Tezuka, what do you think?"

Tezuka adjusted his glasses and glanced at the group around him. "The opponent's strength is unknown, so let's focus entirely on attacking!"

Tezuka's words left the others speechless.

But to say something like that is truly Tezuka's style.

"According to the new tennis rules, the first match will be a singles third-place match, with Tezuka Kunimitsu Court 5 facing Shuji Taneshima on Court Tanegashima Shūji!"

"Please welcome both players to the arena!"

Seeing that both sides were ready, the referee announced the names of the opposing players for this match.

"Looks like we've come at just the right time. The first match is Tezuka! I hope he'll like this opponent I specially picked for him!"

Muneyoshi and Tokugawa walked up to Oni Jūjirō and said.

"Muneyoshi! I know Tezuka Kunimitsu's strength very well. Although he's not bad, he's no match for Tanegashima at all. You're probably going to be disappointed in this show!"

Oni Jūjirō has played more than one game against the group of junior high school students on Court 5, so he has a lot to say about their strength.

Tezuka's technique, though seemingly perfect, was still too immature.

Moreover, they were facing someone like Tanegashima, who had mastered all techniques.

"Demon-senpai, of course I know Tezuka's strength, but I'm more interested in seeing if he can show his usual style when facing Tanegashima -senpai!"

Muneyoshi did not disagree with Oni Jūjirō's judgment, but his familiarity with these guys was far beyond Oni Jūjirō's.

"Muneyoshi, I hope their abilities live up to your trust!"

Tokugawa said calmly, indicating that he didn't have a high opinion of the middle school students either.

Having talent is one thing, but being able to realize that talent is another.

"I'm actually quite curious too, so let's see how far they can go."

Muneyoshi's gaze swept across the faces of Tezuka Yukimura, and the others, a wicked smile playing on his lips.

It's evident that they've maintained such a high level of confidence so far.

At least, that's the case so far.

Just as the middle school students were discussing Tezuka's upcoming match and how he would win their first victory...

The high school students who arrived at Court 5 one after another, some of whom had been there for a while, had their expressions change drastically when they saw the familiar figures appearing on the players' bench.

"When did this happen? How come people from that group have returned?"

The high school students, who knew the inside story of the training camp, looked at the junior high students with pity.

"Ugh, this is really troublesome. I should have known better than to agree to Muneyoshi's offer. It's much more enjoyable to watch Oni and Irie do these kinds of chore tasks."

Hearing the referee call his name, Tanegashima Shūji lazily yawned, picked up his racket, and walked onto the court.

He lazily rested his racket on his shoulder, while his other hand ruffled his curly white hair, a smile always on his face.

Although Tanegashima didn't want to play, he was a man of his word.

Having already agreed to Saeki Muneyoshi's request, and with the coaching staff also showing great interest in the arrangement, he had no choice but to step onto the court and face Tezuka Kunimitsu.

Watching Tanegashima the stage, Tezuka felt a sense of curiosity.

From the moment he entered the training camp and first saw Tanegashima with Muneyoshi, he knew that this person was very powerful.

However, he was unclear about exactly which stage he had reached.

In fact, there is a very clear sense of restraint within the training camp.

Before Oni Jūjirō went any further, he was able to fight Byōdōin to the death, and even compete for victory.

However, he was unable to achieve victory against Tanegashima Shūji.

The same applies to Byōdōin. When facing Tanegashima Shūji, he could only suppress Tanegashima with his overwhelming physical strength and then win by using his superior speed.

Tanegashima's innate talent evolved into a special move called "Oni's Annihilation," which can return any ball technique. This is Tanegashima's strongest and most powerful trump card.

They are also the true nemesis of power-based and skill-based athletes.

The existence of this move is also the reason why Muneyoshi has never challenged Tanegashima Shūji to a match.

Power and Technique are the cornerstones of Muneyoshi's tennis system, while mental strength is the catalyst that has elevated him to his current level.

If they can subdue Oni Jūjirō, then Tanegashima Shūji can also subdue him.

However, compared to Oni Jūjirō, Tanegashima's restraint on Muneyoshi might not have been as obvious.

Muneyoshi had always wanted to know if his all-out, destructive tennis style could break through Tanegashima's defense of Oni's Annihilation.

Of course, even if he breaks through the Already Extinguished Nothing, there may still be more nothingness waiting for him.

He didn't know exactly how strong Tanegashima had become.

However, the best way to deal with Tanegashima is through a tennis system based on Speed Extreme and featuring multiple variations of techniques, or through a pure Mental Power Path.

This is also why Zeus was able to suppress Tanegashima at the beginning.

Thinking of this, Muneyoshi looked at Irie the side.

"This guy, come to think of it, is someone who can restrain Tanegashima... Could this be another reason why Tanegashima and Irie have such a good relationship?"

The two then stood in front of the net.

The referee in black sat in the referee's chair and began letting the two players choose sides.

Looking at Tezuka's indifferent poker face, Tanegashima seemed to have thought of something amusing and said with a smile:

"Tezuka, right? How about we play rock-paper-scissors? If you win, you get to serve."

"Tanegashima -senpai, I refuse to play this game."

Tezuka instinctively wanted to agree to Tanegashima's unprovoked suggestion, but then he thought of Saeki Muneyoshi's peculiar spiritual path and immediately became wary.

Although Tezuka was unaware that Tanegashima Shūji's observational and mental abilities were even stronger than those of Atobe and Yukimura.

However, this did not prevent him from interrupting his opponent's attempts to interfere with him.

Because he did indeed feel an intrusion of spiritual power just a moment ago.

Having learned from his experience fighting Muneyoshi, Tezuka's vigilance had reached its peak.

In the original work, Tanegashima did the same when facing Sanada and Akutsu; the rock-paper-scissors he mentioned was actually the moment the opponent made their move.

He can instantly see through his opponent's subtle movements and expressions, guess what the opponent will do, and then use this information to disrupt the opponent's mindset.

This approach might have worked under other circumstances, or when facing Sanada, Akutsu, or Tachibana Kippei.

However, it's not very effective against Yukimura, Atobe, or Tezuka, who suffered a great loss at Muneyoshi's hands.

Seeing that Tezuka refused again, Tanegashima didn't care and instead persisted:

"Come on... Tezuka, smile. If you don't go, I'll go first..."

Tanegashima put his hands behind his back and muttered softly, "Rock, paper, scissors."

Even when he extended his hand, Tezuka Kunimitsu didn't even look at it. In fact, when he saw Tanegashima's non-spinning racket, he took out his own racket and placed it on the ground.

I choose the official one!

After saying that, Tezuka started spinning around on his own.

Snap!

After glancing at the direction the letters on the racket handle were pointing, Tezuka picked up the racket, turned around, and walked straight to the baseline.

"Oh dear, how heartless! Looks like another boring middle school student..."

Although Tanegashima's tone was teasing, his eyes held a hint of appreciation and amusement.

The last junior high school student who could resist his spiritual guidance and suggestion was Saeki Muneyoshi.

Today's update is actually more than the normal four chapters, with one chapter having over 3400 words, another 2600, and another 3600. I won't deliberately split the chapters anymore; each chapter will have its own length. I hope readers with tickets will vote to support me.

After this description of the competition, I will no longer write about competitions between junior high and high school students when the third grade enters U17. I will skip it directly, so please rest assured that I will not write about the competitions I have already written.

Moreover, this competition only focuses on two people, Tezuka and Yukimura, who are the only ones who have the potential to break through now.