Yamabuki's Prodigy, Akutsu Jin!

Yamabuki Middle School.

A prestigious school with over sixty or seventy years of history, it was somewhat well-known in Tokyo, a private school in the city.

Unlike other middle schools, Yamabuki had no elementary school, only a middle school. Students could advance directly from middle school to university graduate school, truly earning its reputation as a prestigious school.

Yamabuki's tennis club was also famous far and wide, especially their doubles matches.

Yamabuki almost always qualified for the National Tournament every year, and almost always got eliminated in the first round. If they were lucky, they might advance to the second round.

Even so, Yamabuki's standing in the middle school tennis world was not weak.

The winds of reform had not truly swept through Yamabuki, or perhaps only Hyotei and Kanagawa Prefecture's Rikkai Dai Fuzhong could truly achieve such reform!

At this moment, A smiling old man, who looked very kind, was looking at the young man before him with a mischievous grin.

Banda Mikiya, Yamabuki Middle School's tennis advisor (coach) for over twenty years.

A mushroom haircut, a pale face, his brows exuded a violent aura, and his eyes were defiant.

This scene felt out of place no matter how you looked at it.

"Old man, stop looking at me like that, it's disgusting!"

At this moment, a cold voice came from the young man.

"Akutsu... you have unique reflexes, extraordinary speed, power, flexibility, and balance. Are you sure you don't want to join the tennis club?"

Banda-rou smiled and looked at him, walking behind him and squeezing Akutsu's shoulder. "With your physical condition, you could become a top athlete in any sport."

"Still not considering playing tennis?"

Akutsu was getting impatient from the nagging. He grabbed Banda-rou's collar, his defiant eyes fixed on the old man. "I've already told you, I have zero interest in tennis."

With that, Akutsu pushed Banda-rou aside, then glanced at the tennis racket on the ground, a look of disdain on his face.

Tennis... how boring.

"Akutsu... things are different this year~"

Banda-rou patted the dust off his collar and said with a smile, "Many geniuses have appeared this year, geniuses even stronger than you."

"Tell me... if someone defeats you in a field you dislike, will you..."

Before Banda-rou could finish, Akutsu turned his head, his wolf-like eyes fixed on the old man.

"Old man, are you looking for death?!"

"Let's give it a try, Akutsu." Banda-rou walked past Akutsu with his hands behind his back, his gaze occasionally drifting to the court not far away. "Feel free to try out the tennis club... see if tennis is as boring as you imagine."

Akutsu stood in place, his gaze fixed on Banda-rou, then he glanced at the racket on the ground, bent down to pick it up, held it horizontally at his waist, and walked towards the tennis club with Banda-rou.

Banda-rou heard the footsteps behind him and a smile inadvertently appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Akutsu Jin, he hadn't expected Yamabuki Middle School to produce such a prodigy.

Sengoku Kiyosumi's talent in singles was already outstanding, but compared to Akutsu, he was in a completely different league. Akutsu was a natural singles player, with astonishing talent beyond ordinary comprehension.

In the past decade, Banda-rou had seen many geniuses, but none of them, in his opinion, matched the talent Akutsu displayed.

"I need to provoke him, to spark his interest in tennis..."

Banda-rou had only temporarily influenced Akutsu, igniting his competitive spirit. Once he felt that Yamabuki's tennis level was nothing special, he would immediately drop the racket and return to his aimless life.

Akutsu was such a contradictory person.

It was precisely because of this that his appearance would make Yamabuki's tennis club stronger.

"Hyotei..."

"This year's Hyotei has produced some incredibly talented freshmen. Perhaps they will become stepping stones for Akutsu."

Banda-rou had discovered Akutsu by chance, and Hyotei was the news brought back by Yamabuki's regulars who went for a friendly match yesterday.

After all, more than half of the players they had competed against were freshmen who had just entered Hyotei this year, and they had all defeated them in singles matches.

The winds of reform seemed to have reached Yamabuki as well.

And at this moment, Kamikawa, who had arrived at Yamabuki's entrance by subway, took a deep breath of fresh air.

Unaware that the storyline had already changed, he walked towards the Yamabuki tennis club with his tennis bag, intending to meet the tennis prodigy early.

From the grass, three figures suddenly emerged, all looking forward in unison.

One of them, a boy with long brown hair, couldn't help himself and asked, "Is it okay for us to follow him like this?"

"Ryo~ Don't you want to know the secret to Kamikawa's strength?!" the boy with wine-red hair said enticingly.

"Yamabuki Middle School?! They also made it to the National Tournament last year, and are said to be an old, reputable tennis school in Tokyo. What's he doing here?"

Beside him, a boy wearing black-rimmed glasses and short, dark blue hair, a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes.

He had ended his training early, thinking they were going out for some secret training, but instead, they went to another prestigious tennis school. What exactly was Kamikawa trying to do?

"I bet that guy is here to challenge them."

At this moment, a voice suddenly came from behind them.

They were startled and turned their heads to look.

Standing behind them was none other than the smug young master Atobe. Tezuka had also followed, though the two hadn't spoken much on the way.

"Captain, Vice-Captain, why... why did you follow us?" Shishido awkwardly scratched his head.

Atobe looked at Shishido with the expression one would give an idiot and said, "Four people leaving early at once, do you think this great master is an idiot?!"

"We just wanted to see Kamikawa's secret to getting stronger, and who knew Kamikawa's final destination would be Yamabuki Middle School," Mukahi said frankly, revealing his thoughts.

"Yeah."

Oshitari nodded silently. "I thought that guy lived here."

"You guys, could that guy be a spy sent by Yamabuki to steal information on our Hyotei tennis club's growth?!" Shishido suddenly thought of something and said to everyone.

What greeted him were pairs of eyes looking at him like he was an idiot.

To seek out information, so he joined the Hyotei tennis club?

Wasn't this something only an idiot would do?!

"Heh heh... I was just trying to liven up the atmosphere~"

Shishido understood how idiotic his previous statement was and admitted he was just trying to ease the awkwardness.

"What should we do next?"

"Should we go in? If we go in, will the Yamabuki people kick us out?"

"Speaking of which, what is Kamikawa going in there for? He's not really going to challenge them, is he?"

They all spoke one after another, but no conclusion was reached.

Finally, their gazes fell on Atobe, who glanced at Tezuka beside him.

Tezuka was silent for a long moment before slowly saying, "Let's go in and take a look."

After receiving an affirmative reply, Shishido and the others nodded one after another and walked towards the Yamabuki Middle School tennis club.