The following month.
Shikinomori Sports Park.
The National Tournament had ended. The previous year's upperclassmen had finished their middle school careers; some were moving on to high school, while others were leaving.
Meanwhile, the Junior Tournament was in full swing.
Saeki Muneyoshi, of course, hadn't entered this year's tournament.
He'd been in Chiba before, and now that he'd come to Tokyo Metropolis, the registration deadline had already passed. He'd missed his chance to compete.
That didn't stop him from visiting Shikinomori Sports Park, though.
Saeki Kojiro had to compete in the tournament held in Chiba Prefecture, so he'd left Tokyo Metropolis for Chiba the previous afternoon.
Now Muneyoshi was on his own. His training at home had reached a bottleneck, and he was feeling bored, so he decided to come here and find something to do.
This year's Junior Tournament had also attracted a large number of tennis fans.
The unprecedented back-to-back National Tournament victories had just wrapped up, and enthusiasm for tennis in Japan was at an all-time high. As a result, the tournament had drawn plenty of attention.
By the time Saeki Muneyoshi arrived, the matches had reached the semifinals. Both semifinals were underway at the same time, and crowds had gathered around the courts.
Besides the ordinary spectators and students, Muneyoshi also spotted quite a few tennis reporters, frantically snapping photos of the players on court.
He paid the reporters no mind.
With a tennis bag slung over his shoulder, Saeki Muneyoshi blended into the crowd and quietly watched the players on court.
As he wandered back and forth between the two courts, he actually spotted a few "familiar faces."
The boy with the green headband and flowing blue hair was none other than the Child of God, famed throughout Japan's middle school tennis world in the years to come.
Yukimura Seiichi!
This boy, who would practically rule Japan's middle school tennis scene for three years, hadn't yet developed the imposing presence he'd have later. He still looked a little young and naïve—cute, even, and like an easy target for bullies.
On the other court, a boy wearing a baseball cap was unleashing a furious barrage of attacks against his opponent.
"Is that all you've got? Pathetic!"
Hearing such domineering words from a child always felt out of place, but the boy paid no attention to the looks he was getting.
This was Sanada Genichirou.
He had great confidence in his own abilities.
In his eyes, he had some idea of the skill level of the other players his age who practiced tennis in Tokyo Metropolis.
Only Yukimura Seiichi, competing in the semifinal on the other court, was an opponent he wanted to defeat.
As for everyone else, he didn't give them a second thought.
After all, as far as he could remember, ever since he first took up tennis, the only person Sanada Genichirou had ever lost to was Yukimura Seiichi.
That was why his domineering attitude was directed at everyone but Yukimura—including himself.
Yukimura had already developed a technique that could make his opponents succumb to Yips.
Having experienced Yukimura's uncanny ability to deprive him of sight and touch firsthand, Sanada had been left with deep psychological scars.
That was precisely why he valued Yukimura Seiichi so highly and wanted more than anything to defeat him. Only by winning could he overcome his fear.
Saeki Muneyoshi quietly observed from the sidelines. Compared with how they'd look three years later, Yukimura Seiichi and Sanada Genichirou were both incredibly young at this point.
If you don't believe me, just get someone to post a picture!
Of course, he was about the same age as them.
The three years of middle school were a golden period for boys' physical development. During that time, their height would shoot up, and every aspect of their physical abilities would develop toward its peak.
Take Saeki Muneyoshi, for example. From the time he'd graduated elementary school until now, with the two-month summer vacation nearly over, he'd grown about two centimeters each month.
He was already 170 cm tall, and he was still growing. At his current age of twelve or thirteen, he could easily grow another ten centimeters by his third year.
Shaking off those stray thoughts, Muneyoshi turned his attention back to the matches. Judging by the state of each match and the players' actual performances, Sanada Genichirou was still a little weaker.
He was somewhat stronger than Fuji had been when they'd played each other a month ago, but not by much. Judging purely by their five stats, he was probably only a little ahead of Fuji.
He opened Fuji Shusuke's five-stat chart:
Speed: 3
Power: 3
Stamina: 3
Technique: 4.5
Mental Strength: 3.5
Total: 17.
He'd already obtained Fuji's five stats when their match had ended.
All in all, they were quite good. Fuji had already reached the level of a Kanto Tournament ace before even starting middle school.
But then again, considering Fuji's original development, he'd spent his first year at Seigaku picking up balls. It wasn't until his second year that he made the regulars, and with the other Seigaku regulars above him, his results hadn't been particularly good.
It wasn't until his third year that he truly began to break through at the Kanto Tournament.
His growth had probably been focused on the two areas where he was already outstanding: technique and mental strength.
That also matched his original stats after he entered U-17.
But his growth was too slow. Since Saeki Muneyoshi had appeared in this world, he naturally wanted his opponents to grow stronger and surpass their original achievements.
That was why he'd given Fuji his advice. Whether Fuji chose to take it was none of his concern.
By comparison, Sanada Genichirou was indeed a little stronger than Fuji at this point, but the gap wasn't large.
After entering Rikkai Dai, however, Sanada would reach the National Tournament three years in a row, gaining the chance to compete against countless opponents. After winning back-to-back championships, his strength would grow explosively.
By the time Fuji faced him again, he would be nowhere near Sanada's level.
It would probably take entering U-17 for Fuji to close that gap.
Still, even though Sanada was strong at this point, he was weaker than Muneyoshi. The gap wasn't huge, but Sanada still couldn't put him under any real pressure.
Muneyoshi simply stopped paying attention to Sanada and focused on observing Yukimura's match instead.
Compared with the frenzied action on Sanada's court, Yukimura's match was much quieter.
The uninitiated saw the spectacle; the knowledgeable saw the details.
As he watched, Muneyoshi began to feel a sense of pressure. Yukimura was completely outclassing his opponent, toying with him like a puppet.
The match had only reached the second game, but to Muneyoshi, it already seemed over. It was just a matter of whether Yukimura wanted to finish it quickly. His opponent was nowhere near his level.
Like a puppet under someone's control, the player was gradually having all his confidence crushed.
"The Child of God... What a truly twisted hobby."
"Only someone like him could use the terrifying technique of Yips."
But Saeki Muneyoshi didn't dwell on it. He quietly watched Yukimura's match, repeatedly imagining himself in the opponent's place and simulating how he might fight back.
"Bang!"
The final blow was a beautiful smash.
The ball stirred up a gust of air, snapping Yukimura's opponent out of his daze.
But waking up now was useless. He hadn't broken free on his own; Yukimura had let him wake up. And by the time he did, the match was already over.
"Game, Yukimura Seiichi wins, score 6–0."
There had never been any suspense in the match. Muneyoshi didn't need to stay for the final, either; the result would be just as predictable.
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