The Battle for the Semifinals

After Fudomine became the first school to advance to the quarterfinals, the other schools followed suit.

Five schools from the Tokyo Metropolis area— Fudomine, Seigaku, Hyotei Academy, Yamabuki, and St. Rudolph —along with Midoriyama Middle School from Saitama Prefecture, Rokkaku Middle School from Chiba Prefecture, and Rikkai Dai from Kanagawa Chiba Prefecture, have become the new top eight.

Tokyo Metropolis's strength was also clearly demonstrated at this moment.

The subsequent match schedule was also made known to the various schools.

In the upper bracket, Fudomine and Midoriyama, Hyotei Academy and Yamabuki.

In the lower half of the bracket, Seigaku and Rokkaku Middle School, Rikkai Dai and St. Rudolph.

It has to be said that St. Rudolph was very lucky. The teams he encountered were even easier to beat than Fudomine. His strongest opponent was actually Ginka!

However, at this moment, facing the monster that is Rikkai Dai, their good luck has run out.

A week later, at Ariake Tennis Forest Park, the Kanto Tournament quarterfinals began.

There's not much to say about the match between Fudomine and Midoriyama. Although Midoriyama is the strongest team in Saitama Prefecture, they have virtually no chance of winning against Fudomine.

After seeing Kamio easily win the singles match against the third player, and then Makihara Shuichi and Sakurai Masaya's partnership also basically winning the doubles match against the second player, Muneyoshi left the court and started wandering around.

After all, Ishida Tetsu, the second-ranked player from Fudomine, possessed such formidable power that no one in Midoriya could rival him.

"Hmm, which match should we go watch?"

Saeki Muneyoshi stood at the intersection of the two venues, with the Hyotei Academy and Yamabuki on his left. The winner of their match would be Fudomine's next opponent.

On the right are Seigaku and Rokkaku.

Saeki Kojiro's Rokkaku Old Man team.

"I haven't seen Old Man and Kojiro in a long time, I should go see them!"

After a moment's thought, Muneyoshi decided to go to the right. It wasn't that he didn't care about his opponent in the next round, but simply that he missed his cousin, Kojiro.

"You big liar, wait for me!"

Suddenly, Tachibana An's voice came from behind. She had seen Muneyoshi leave and followed him...

However, when Muneyoshi reappeared at the venue for the Seigaku vs. Rokkaku match with Tachibana An, it was already twenty minutes later.

Don't get the wrong idea, everyone. This young lady wanted ice cream, so how could Muneyoshi not help her buy it?

However, the timing was just right. Compared to Fudomine's crushing victory over Midoriya, Seigaku and Rokkaku were somewhat evenly matched in the first two games.

Although Seigaku ultimately won both matches, each game lasted at least ten games, and the match about to begin is the second singles game.

"Next, we will begin the Singles 2 match, featuring Aoi Kentaro from Rokkaku Middle School against Echizen Ryoma from Seigaku. Please enter the arena!"

"Go, Ryoma! Go!"

"Go for it, Kentaro!"

Amid cheers from both sides, two figures of roughly the same height arrived at the net almost simultaneously.

You choose first.

"Just."

The once optimistic Aoi Kentaro's voice became rather flat as the group reached the edge of the cliff.

However, those eyes, filled with fighting spirit, never left Echizen for a moment.

With a snap.

The racket, after spinning, fell to the ground.

Echizen glancing at the situation, Echizen gestured to the referee, said nothing more, and walked directly to his own backcourt.

If it were according to his old personality, Ryoma would definitely have said some sarcastic remarks, but after being beaten up so many times since returning to Japan, he didn't dare to make a move prematurely without knowing the opponent's exact strength.

Seeing this, the referee on the high chair waved his hand and announced:

"The match begins! Aoi Kentaro from Rokkaku Middle School serves. End of set!"

Aoi Kentaro returned to his own backcourt. As the first-year captain of Rokkaku Middle School, he saw that the team had now reached the edge of a cliff.

His opponent was also a first-year student like him, but he wasn't particularly happy about it.

Although he also wanted to defeat Echizen Ryoma immediately and sound the horn for the team's counterattack, he wasn't stupid.

An opponent who can be defeated by the Seigaku in a singles match must not be easy to deal with.

Although he is skilled in pressure tactics, he will not deliberately provoke his opponent to increase the pressure on himself.

Bang!

Kentaro, holding a special racket, hit the tennis ball, his brown eyes fixed on Echizen Ryoma, not missing a single detail.

"The first-year students on the other side are of average speed."

Across the court, Echizen moved swiftly as Kentaro served, quickly judging the landing point of the tennis ball. Once his mind was focused, a glint of light flashed in his eyes.

This time, the opponent he encountered was no longer the kind that was completely invincible.

Of course, Aoi Kentaro, who is also a first-year student like him, is not bad in strength; he seems to be quite capable.

But this is far less pressure than the opponents he faced before, such as Fudomine, Hyotei Academy, and Yamabuki...

With a quick ankle twist and a powerful stomp, Echizen arched his arm, gripped his racket tightly, and swung it forcefully at the bouncing tennis ball.

Bang!

A crisp cracking sound came from beside his hand.

The tennis ball only left a deep dent on his racket face, and then, with a powerful swing, it flew back at high speed.

With powerful control, the tennis ball landed directly in the corner of the sideline, at a very tricky angle.

Even with his quick reflexes, Aoi Kentaro couldn't catch up; the tennis ball bounced off the bottom of the racket frame.

"Seigaku of Echizen Ryoma scores, score 0-15."

Bang!

Bang!

"Game! Echizen Ryoma Seigaku wins this game, score 1-0."

After seeing the tennis ball fly out, the referee immediately waved and signaled, "Change of courts!"

The moment the two passed each other in the middle of the court, Kentaro's fighting spirit and Ryoma's wariness intensified.

The several defeats he experienced upon returning to Japan made Ryoma realize that even if the game seems to be going well for him, he should never underestimate any opponent.

Ryoma quietly switched his racket to his right hand, bounced the tennis ball a few times, and then tossed it high into the air.

Bang!

The Twist Serve caught Aoi Kentaro off guard.

"Echizen Ryoma scores, making the score 15-0."

"Well done, Echizen! Use your Twist Serve to crush the opponent, and we've got this match in the bag!"

Horio, one of the three giants of Seigaku, shouted excitedly from behind the protective netting.

Despite his lack of natural tennis talent, he completely projected himself onto Echizen Ryoma when he saw him play.

It was as if he were fighting against the other party.

This is also why the other two joined him as staunch supporters of Ryoma.

Seeing this, the cheerleading squad from Rokkaku Middle School also began to cheer for their team members, and the two sides entered a tense phase.

Saeki Kojiro stood in the Rokkaku rest area, watching Kentaro running around the field, but he wasn't too worried.

Aoi Kentaro's strength is not limited to this, but due to his unique characteristics, he always needs to fall behind before he can rise up.

"However, Kentaro, shouldn't you start putting in your full strength soon?"

Saeki Kojiro glanced at the court and chuckled to himself.

P. S.: "Last day of 2023, please give me double points!"

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