Kanagawa, Rikkai Dai Tennis Club.
Whoosh!
The doors to the tennis club's training hall were pushed open from outside. With one hand rolling up his short sleeve and the other holding his tennis bag, Saeki Muneyoshi walked in with a smile, quite out of the blue.
Silence...
The Rikkai Dai players, who were preparing for the Kanto Tournament, all turned to look at the entrance.
Although Rikkai Dai had undergone a thorough overhaul this year, the team had always placed great importance on rules.
Especially now, with Sanada Genichirou—a stickler for rules himself—on the team.
Everyone fell silent at the sight of the unfamiliar figure who had barged in. The atmosphere grew oppressive.
Muneyoshi glanced around. Yukimura Seiichi, Yanagi Renji, and Mitsuya Akito weren't there. They were probably checking data and videos of their opponents in the Kanto Tournament.
But there were plenty of familiar faces on the court. Marui Bunta, with his red hair and chewing gum in his mouth, and Jack Sanohara, the dark-skinned, bald, South American-Japanese half-breed.
And there was the future Rikkai Dai's ultimate weapon: the unpredictable artist who loved to deceive his opponents with illusionary tricks, a natural talent who could adapt to anything, and a doubles partner who paired perfectly with anyone—the trickster Niou Masaharu, a white-haired fox.
Then there was the master of slacking off, who had transferred from Shitenhoji in Osaka to the Kanto region. He had yet to find his direction in life and played tennis on nothing but talent: Mori Juzaburo.
And, at that moment, a man named Sanada Genichirou—wearing a baseball cap and still not yet known as the Emperor—was striding toward Muneyoshi, his eyes brimming with pent-up fury...
What an enviably talented team...
"Who are you?"
"We're closed to outsiders during practice. Don't you know that?"
"Get out!"