Akutsu: No One in Tokyo Gets to Be More Arrogant Than Me

Most of those young tennis prodigies only noticed the bold claims Kannagi Shinichi had made. They did not care much about him joining Hyotei Academy.

However, Tokyo's prestigious tennis schools were paying close attention to the news of Kannagi Shinichi joining Hyotei.

Especially Tokyo's two traditional tennis powerhouses, Seishun Academy and Yamabuki Middle School.

"Ah, what a pity Kannagi Shinichi did not choose Seigaku. Otherwise, I would definitely have trained a second Echizen Nanjirou." Seigaku's coach, Ryuzaki Sumire, looked at the news in Tennis Weekly, her heart filled with envy and jealousy toward Hyotei. If Seigaku had Kannagi Shinichi leading them, she believed Seigaku would certainly rise again.

Fortunately, Kannagi Shinichi did not know what Ryuzaki Sumire was thinking. Otherwise, he would have scoffed right in her face.

Did she not know her own teaching ability? Did she really think she had trained Echizen Nanjirou? No, the reason Echizen Nanjirou had become a legend was more because of his own talent.

Believe it or not, if Echizen Nanjirou had been handed over to Bandou Mikiya, his achievements would have been even more brilliant than becoming a legend as he had.

Besides, Seigaku had the tradition that first-years could only pick up balls. Those first-years were not allowed to touch a racket for an entire year.

Of course, Ryuzaki Sumire dressed it up as letting the young players temper their minds and build solid foundations.

Bullshit. Instead of letting first-year players compete and gain experience, she delayed and suppressed those talented first-years. Such behavior was practically murdering those prodigies' tennis careers.

Moreover, it was precisely because of Ryuzaki Sumire's rule that Seigaku's upperclassmen bullied their first-year juniors.

Even after Echizen Ryoma returned from the United States and Tezuka Kunimitsu became captain, Seigaku's atmosphere had not changed. Back then, was not the second-year Arai still joining quite a few upperclassmen in bullying first-years like Echizen and Horio?

And the source of that atmosphere was Ryuzaki Sumire herself.

Now that Kannagi Shinichi had accepted Hyotei Academy's check, aside from still carrying the title of "the second Echizen Nanjirou," he had no connection whatsoever to Seigaku.

Even if Seigaku offered Kannagi Shinichi the same terms as Hyotei, he would still choose Hyotei.

Unless Seigaku was willing to pay more.

Of course, that was impossible. Given Seigaku's current tennis results, the school would never spend that money.

Compared to Ryuzaki Sumire's envy and jealousy toward Hyotei, Coach Bandou of Yamabuki Middle School had a much better mindset.

Although he also wanted to invite Kannagi Shinichi to Yamabuki, he could not offer the conditions Hyotei had given him.

He had already received word that, in order to bring Kannagi Shinichi to Hyotei, Hyotei Academy had offered a sizable scholarship. That was something Yamabuki Middle School absolutely could not afford.

Originally, Coach Bandou had planned to use his connections to invite Kannagi Shinichi on the condition that he would be sent abroad to study tennis in the future.

But after hearing that even Nagoya Seidoku's offer had been rejected, Coach Bandou gave up on inviting Kannagi Shinichi. After all, Nagoya Seidoku had offered a five-million-yen scholarship and tennis training in Germany.

He knew his own offer could not compare to Nagoya Seidoku's, let alone Hyotei, whose price was even higher.

Bandou Mikiya sat in his chair, narrowing his eyes with a faint smile. "It seems this little fellow really loves money."

If Kannagi Shinichi had heard Bandou Mikiya's assessment at that moment, he would definitely have given him a thumbs-up. "Old Man Ban, you really do have sharp eyes."

After Bandou Mikiya's faint smile faded, he became troubled again.

Although Yamabuki could be considered one of Tokyo's renowned tennis schools, and players from the school made names for themselves nationally every year, all of those famous players were doubles specialists.

As for singles, it had become Yamabuki Middle School's greatest weakness.

At that moment, a boy with the same hair color as Kannagi Shinichi appeared in Bandou Mikiya's mind. Thinking of him, Bandou Mikiya could not help murmuring, "That boy's talent is a rare marvel seen perhaps once in ten years. If he keeps playing tennis from now on, his future will not be inferior to Kannagi Shinichi's. Right, that child's name seemed to be Akutsu Jin."

In an alley near Yamabuki Middle School, an arrogant white-haired boy was blocking several delinquent middle schoolers.

At that moment, the white-haired boy looked extremely dangerous. His eyes in particular sent chills down people's spines.

The middle schoolers all trembled inwardly when they saw him. They had heard of the boy before—his name was Akutsu Jin, and he specialized in extorting delinquent boys in the area. They had not expected Akutsu Jin to come looking for them today.

"Hand over your money." Akutsu's tone was cold, like a general issuing orders to soldiers.

Although the delinquent middle schoolers were intimidated by Akutsu Jin's gaze, as delinquents, they would not submit so easily. One slightly older boy stepped forward and shouted to the others beside him, "Let's get him together."

A moment later, Akutsu emerged from the alley, with a stack of money in his hand.

As for the four or five delinquent boys in the alley, they lay sprawled in twisted positions, fearfully muttering without stop, "A devil... Akutsu is a devil."

Akutsu was walking down the street when he came to a street-corner tennis court. He heard the tennis boys discussing someone called Kannagi Shinichi.

He listened quietly, only getting up to head home once it was about time.

"Hahaha... creating an era of his own? This Kannagi guy sure is arrogant." On the way back, Akutsu Jin recalled what those people had been discussing. A vicious light flashed in his eyes as he muttered fiercely to himself, "Once this guy comes to Tokyo, I'll have to teach him a proper lesson. In Tokyo, no one gets to be more arrogant than me, Akutsu."

In Nagoya, Kannagi Shinichi still did not know that he had drawn the attention of tennis prodigies across Japan, including the dangerous Akutsu Jin.

At that moment, Kannagi Shinichi sat in his family's little shop with a lifeless expression.

His mother, Kannagi Rinako, had taken away the check, saying she would hold on to it for Kannagi Shinichi for now and return it to him once he grew up.

But Kannagi Shinichi did not believe her. He knew his mother was lying to him. Once she had the money, he would never get it back.

Seeing her son so dispirited, Kannagi Rinako knew it was because she had taken the check. So over the past few days, perhaps out of guilt, or perhaps because her son was about to leave home for school in Tokyo, she had gone all out making Kannagi Shinichi's favorite dishes. She had even given him ten thousand yen in spending money, something she had never done before.

But faced with the delicious food, Kannagi Shinichi had no appetite at all. His heart ached terribly. He did not want ten thousand; he wanted all of it.

After hastily forcing down a few bites of dinner, Kannagi Shinichi returned to his bedroom on the second floor of the little shop.

Although his mother Rinako had taken the money, Kannagi Shinichi had gained enormously from this meeting with Hyotei Academy.

It was not just Hyotei's astronomical scholarship. More importantly, after his one-point showdown with Ochi Moonlight, Kannagi Shinichi's long-dormant system panel had finally changed.