A Match with Seigaku, Shishido the Featureless!

"Seigaku... managed to scrape their way into the Metropolitan Tournament. Last year, they lost to Hyotei, led by Senior Ochi," Kamikawa said, pointing at the list.

According to the rankings, Seigaku had even lost to Kakimoto Junior High in the regional qualifiers this year.

Dragging their battered bodies into the Metropolitan Tournament was not a good sign for Seigaku.

Last year, Seigaku had also barely made it into the Metropolitan Tournament, only to face Hyotei in the quarterfinals.

"Yeah."

Tezuka's eyes flickered slightly.

The school he had most wanted to attend, the school where the legendary Samurai had once stayed.

Now, it seemed this school had greatly disappointed him, losing to Kakimoto Junior High in the regional qualifiers, a team that always got eliminated in the first round of the Metropolitan Tournament.

"It seems the winds of change haven't blown into Seigaku."

Kamikawa said calmly, as if stating a simple fact.

Seigaku's corruption was different from Hyotei's. Hyotei had undergone a reform, led by Gekko Ochi. Sakaki Taro was not Sumire Ryuzaki; sometimes, a coach's influence was far greater than that of second or third-year students.

"I want to go see Seigaku."

Tezuka wanted to see the school where the legendary Samurai had once stayed.

Kamikawa smiled and shook his head, then said to Tezuka, "It's not appropriate to go now. The Metropolitan Tournament is still some time away. If you go now, are you planning to challenge them?"

Speaking of challenging them, Kamikawa had gone to Yamabuki with the same idea. After all, the original work mentioned that Akutsu only joined the tennis club in his third year.

"I have that thought." Tezuka's eyes flickered slightly; he did indeed have that thought.

At this point in time, Tezuka was even more restless than Echizen and loved challenging strong opponents.

"There's no need to challenge them."

Kamikawa shook his head and continued, "There's still some time before the Metropolitan Tournament. Inform Coach Sakaki and arrange a practice match."

"I don't think Seigaku has any reason to refuse a practice match proactively invited by Hyotei."

"Okay!"

Tezuka didn't object.

Arranging practice matches was indeed the most common way for schools to gather information about their opponents.

Moreover, Seigaku had no reason to refuse a practice match with Hyotei, last year's national semifinalist.

After some idle chat, Tezuka and Kamikawa left the lounge to train.

As the club president, Tezuka's daily training load was even heavier than that of the regular players. Atobe, unwilling to be outdone, also increased his training, as if the two were competing.

In contrast, Kamikawa, ever since his match with Atobe, continued to train according to his training schedule. If some training goals on his status panel were not met, Kamikawa would specifically do extra practice.

Compared to the content on his daily training schedule, the training provided by the status panel was more scientific and resulted in greater improvements.

After training, Kamikawa sat in the shade, looking at his status panel.

[Kamikawa Mutsu.] [Age: 13] [Strength: 3.9] [Speed: 4.3] [Stamina: 4.2] [Skill: 4.1] [Spirit: 4.9] [Today's Training: 3000 shots hitting a specific point (completed), 7km endurance run (completed), 20 jin dumbbell flyes, two sets (completed)]

As he grew older, his bones had enlarged significantly, corresponding to a certain degree of improvement in strength and speed. The increase in strength was the most significant, as it was closely related to physical growth.

The training content on the status panel had also improved to a certain extent.

Simultaneously, after several sparring sessions, Kamikawa's mental strength had also increased. Each increase in the application of his willpower brought about a qualitative leap.

Kamikawa was curious about how high his five attributes would reach by the time of the National Tournament in October.

Peak national level? Or near world-class? Or perhaps an even higher realm...

"Mukahi, look! Jiro is still running," Shishido said subconsciously, looking beside him on the court.

Mukahi, who had been accompanying him, had also joined the running group at some point, circling the court. Sweat soaked Mukahi's team uniform, but it did not shake his desire to continuously grow stronger.

Shishido turned his head to look not far away. Almost the entire tennis club was in a state of full-scale extra training. It seemed only he was idle.

"I..."

Shishido was momentarily speechless.

As Oshitari strengthened his ball control, Jiro and Mukahi worked on their stamina. Tezuka and Kamikawa were both occupied with their own matters, and even Mitsuya Genko senpai was busy reinforcing his weak ball control.

Among the official members, he was the only one who didn't know his own strengths.

He was like someone who could do a little bit of everything, but was a master of none.

Was someone like him truly suited for tennis?

Seeing this, Shishido fell into deep confusion.

Oshitari possessed astonishing tennis talent and was already stronger than him. Coupled with his extraordinary skills, Shishido knew without a doubt that he was no match for him.

Jiro was born with incredible wrist flexibility. If he could overcome his stamina issues, he would be even less of an opponent for Shishido.

Even Mukahi, whose strength was comparable to his, was working on his weaknesses. He already had outstanding jumping ability, his flashy aerial special shots, and his net offense were something even Shishido struggled to deal with.

Looking at it this way, Shishido seemed to be the most mediocre among this group, lacking any distinguishing features.

If this continued, he would only fall further behind others, and even lose his position as an official member.

What was his own unique tennis?

Finding this answer would take time, a lot of time. Perhaps he would continue to be mediocre for all three years.

"Shishido, you haven't finished your training for today."

A stern voice came from behind him.

It was Tezuka, who had just finished his first phase of training and was planning to rest for a few minutes while observing everyone else's training.

"Yes!"

Shishido responded weakly.

Looking at the main group ahead, he joined them to work on his stamina.

Tezuka gazed at Shishido's retreating back, lost in thought.

"Hoo..."

Kamikawa yawned and walked past Tezuka, heading straight for the vending machine.

"Kamikawa."

Tezuka suddenly called out to stop him.

"What is it?"

Kamikawa turned his head. As if realizing something, he said, "Don't tell me you want another can. I treated you yesterday, and you think I'll treat you again today? Dream on."

Tezuka's lips twitched slightly. "Am I that kind of person?"

"Hmm?"

Kamikawa sized Tezuka up and nodded.

Tezuka's personality hadn't changed, but he had gained a hidden trait of "blackmailing" his childhood friend.

Perhaps it was from spending too much time with him that he had unconsciously picked it up.

After all, when they were kids, Kamikawa often used various excuses to trick Tezuka into buying him fizzy drinks.

"I have something important to discuss with you," Tezuka said plainly. "What do you think of everyone's recent improvements?"

"They're all doing pretty well," Kamikawa shrugged. "Compared to before the regional qualifiers, everyone is more motivated."

"And Shishido?"

Tezuka's gaze fell on Shishido, who was running with the others to build stamina. He then looked at Kamikawa with a complex expression. "What do you think of Shishido's recent progress?"

Tezuka could tell.

Two days after winning the regional qualifiers, an inter-school practice match was held. Mukahi, Oshitari, and the others performed quite well. Only one person... his strength had improved somewhat, but not significantly.

That person was Shishido.

It wasn't that Shishido hadn't grown. Tezuka saw his daily training volume.

A large part of the reason Shishido hadn't improved was that he hadn't found his own unique path, which led to slow progress in his strength.

"Him?"

Kamikawa couldn't blame Shishido. Shishido truly lacked distinguishing features. When it came to net play and volleys, his talent was inferior to Jiro's. When it came to jumping ability, he was inferior to Mukahi's. In terms of skills, he was even less skilled than Oshitari.

Not to mention stamina or mental strength.

He didn't have any prominent aspects related to the five dimensions.

It wasn't impossible for him to develop comprehensively. After all, the player from Shitenhoji had improved his strength in all aspects. But could Shishido truly endure that kind of loneliness?!

The answer was no!

Even the player from Shitenhoji got tired of playing that kind of monotonous tennis.

If it weren't for the sake of the tennis club's victory, he would never have played such a featureless, textbook-style tennis.

"He will find his own path in tennis," Kamikawa said, his gaze fixed on Shishido, who was still doing his stamina run.