Akutsu was no longer as arrogant and unruly as he had been in the original story.
Although he was still proud,
he knew he was a member of Hyotei and would fight for the team's victory!
Chiba Yun Chuan had completely beaten Akutsu into submission with his strength. For the past few months, Akutsu had challenged Chiba Yun Chuan almost every day—and every time, he'd ended up covered in bruises! To bring out his potential, Chiba Yun Chuan had hit him harder each time. Akutsu could take it, anyway!
Chiba Yun Chuan had treated Akutsu like a punching bag!
It wasn't until yesterday that Chiba Yun Chuan had helped him open the door to the opposite of the State of Selflessness: the Asura Path!
Honestly, Chiba Yun Chuan had been quite surprised. Akutsu had only grasped the Asura Path much later in the original story!
He hadn't expected him to master it already!
This was obviously good news for Hyotei. Their chances of winning the championship had just improved considerably!
At the same time, this gave Akutsu the means to dominate the middle school tennis scene. With the Asura Path and his peerless physical gifts, Akutsu was now a human weapon with tremendous offensive power!
That meant Hyotei's three singles players were practically invincible!
Of course, besides their singles players, both of Hyotei's doubles pairs had also reached national-level strength, though they had only just entered that tier.
It was almost unbelievable!
So far, only Rikkai Dai could go toe-to-toe with a lineup like theirs!
And that was without counting Akutagawa Jirou, who was close to national level, or Hiyoshi Wakashi and Kabaji Takahiro, who were at Kanto level.
Hyotei's lineup was terrifyingly strong.
On top of that, Chiba Yun Chuan had taught Basic Footwork to every Hyotei player!
They still hadn't gotten the hang of it, but they could use it in actual matches!
For now, though, only Hyotei's regular players knew about this. Nobody else did.
People only knew that Hyotei's regular players were strong this year. They had no idea they were this monstrous.
As for Chiba Yun Chuan's strength?
Every year, teams drew lots to determine their opponents at the Tokyo Metropolitan Tournament and the National Tournament. The tournaments were usually a month apart.
The draw to determine opponents took place two days before the tournament began.
There was no draw for the regional qualifiers. Teams simply showed up and played.
Only the champion and runner-up of the regional qualifiers could enter the Tokyo Metropolitan Tournament. There weren't any particularly strong teams around Hyotei Academy, so taking first place should be a matter of course!
After listening to the players complain, Hana continued,
"Now I'll announce tomorrow's lineup!
Shishido Ryo, Ootori Choutarou, Mukahi Gakuto, Oshitari Yuushi."
"Coach, do we really need to play in the regional qualifiers? Our opponents are all nobodies! I say we should just send the second-string team." Mukahi Gakuto couldn't understand Hana's decision and voiced his objection.
"What, do you have a problem with my lineup? Go run thirty laps around the track! You and your partner, Oshitari. Get moving!"
Hana immediately punished Mukahi Gakuto for questioning her, and even his doubles partner, Oshitari, got dragged into it!
It wasn't the first time. Over the past few months, Oshitari had been dragged into trouble by Mukahi Gakuto plenty of times!
"Yes, Coach."
At that, Mukahi Gakuto didn't argue further. He and Oshitari accepted the punishment together!
They knew that if they talked back, their punishment would only get longer and harsher!
"Now, the rest of the lineup:
Akutagawa Jirou, Kabaji Takahiro, Hiyoshi Wakashi, Akutsu!
That's the lineup for tomorrow!
You're free to do what you like now. Feel free to arrange practice matches."
"Yes, Coach!"
After Hana finished speaking, she left them to their own devices and packed her things, getting ready to head out!
Actually, she was going to train on her own.
Atobe managed the tennis club, after all. He had the time.
"Just as I expected, Atobe and Captain Chiba aren't playing." Shishido Ryo watched Hana walk away and spoke slowly.
"A match at this level isn't even worth watching, if you ask me. But Coach Hana says everyone has to show up! I wonder why. Right, Kabaji?"
"Yes."
Hana herself was still quite astonished. She hadn't expected a small middle school to have several players with such exceptional talent!
Chiba Yun Chuan was a given, but in Hana's eyes, Atobe and Akutsu also had a shot at going pro!
And they wouldn't rank too low among the professionals, either!
Still, that only surprised her for a moment. With a monster like Chiba Yun Chuan around, nothing else mattered!
Besides, she wouldn't be coming back to Hyotei in a few days. She had to train and prepare to return to the professional circuit.
The next day
At the regional qualifiers
"It's so unlucky to end up in the same district as Hyotei!"
"We don't stand a chance against Hyotei."
"It's Hyotei every year. Let's forfeit."
Not many people usually watched the regional qualifiers, but Hyotei drew quite a crowd.
There was still an hour before the matches began. Competing teams had to report to the venue within the allotted time, or they would be considered to have forfeited!
One by one, Hyotei's regular players stepped out of a van. Leading them was none other than Chiba Yun Chuan!
Their uniforms, half gray and half white with black collars, made them look imposing.
The other teams watched them with apprehension.
The main reason was that Hyotei was famous throughout the district, and its tennis club really was formidable.
So the other teams in the area were a little afraid of them.
"Are those Hyotei's regular players? The one in front is Chiba Yun Chuan, the captain of Hyotei's tennis team, right? I heard nobody's seen his true strength yet!"
"Hyotei looks so intimidating! They must be set on winning the qualifiers."
"The one up front is their captain, Chiba Yun Chuan. They also call him Yagami!"
People all around them were talking, but none of it affected Chiba Yun Chuan. Some of the team members, however, exchanged words.
"These people are so damn noisy." Akutsu said it loudly, sweeping his gaze around as if he meant to memorize the faces of everyone talking.
As soon as he looked around, the crowd grew quieter!
"Akutsu, you still haven't learned to control your temper. People only talk about the strong, so enjoy the feeling!" Atobe ran a hand through his stylish hair and replied.
"Tch!" Akutsu couldn't stand Atobe showing off, so he ignored him!
They continued toward the courts. At the entrance, Chiba Yun Chuan handed the player roster to a staff member. After checking that everything was in order, the staff member gave him a sign.
"Here's your team's entry sign. Please keep it safe."
"Thank you."
Hyotei's lineup was now official!
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