The Exhibition Match Draw at the World Championship's Warm-Up

"That concludes the list of middle school players selected to represent us in the World Championship!"

"Only the strongest players make the team. That's the whole point of this training camp!" Mifune Nyudo roared, spelling out the camp's most straightforward rule.

Several players looked unhappy. Mifune let out a loud shout and laid out the rule in no uncertain terms.

"Hmph! Dismissed!"

Mifune snorted, then turned and strode into the central building.

Kurobe, Saito Itaru, and Takuetsue Ryuji followed him inside.

Only after they had left did the middle schoolers finally let out a breath of relief.

"So we were brought here to compete on the world stage!"

"I'm so jealous of the ones who were selected!"

The middle schoolers who hadn't made the team looked enviously at those who had.

Many of them, like Muneyoshi and the others, were middle school students, but they knew that from this moment on, they were headed down different paths.

Still, those who had missed out weren't jealous. Just as Mifune had said, the final roster had been chosen entirely on the basis of each player's individual ability.

Those who were good enough made the team. Those who weren't didn't.

It was that simple.

If they were going to compete on the world stage, they needed only the best.

They wouldn't, like in the original story, pick Oishi just to make Seigaku look good, even though he was only there for comic relief.

The December sun in Hawaii was still bright.

Across the endless beach, waves rolled beneath a beautiful sweep of peaks.

On the other side of the beach, a group of teenagers dressed in unusual beachwear had gathered.

They were the Japan Team players selected for the Melbourne U17 World Cup.

With the World Championship fast approaching, Mifune had called everyone