“Interesting.
This really is interesting.”
Outside the chain-link fence surrounding the Yamabuki Tennis Club courts, Banda, the team’s advisor, watched the black-haired boy training meticulously on the court, the interest in his eyes steadily growing.
He had noticed that the boy not only maintained the same amount of power and speed with every Swing, but more importantly, the range of motion was almost identical each time as well.
In other words, every one of the black-haired boy’s Swings ended at almost exactly the same position.
What did that mean?
It meant that his understanding and control of his Swing had already reached an astonishing level.
As far as Banda could remember, even Sengoku hadn’t reached this level.
“What a shame.”
After a brief pause, Banda sighed inwardly.
Swing practice was only an early-stage tennis drill.
At the beginner level, it could indeed rapidly improve a player’s control over the racket.
But compared to actual matches, it still fell far short.
And Sengoku, who already possessed Kanto-level ability, could rely on his natural talent to maintain a feel for the ball far beyond that of an ordinary player simply by playing matches, even without training.
That alone was something the vast majority of people would struggle to catch up to even after three years of diligent Swing practice.
Still, Banda continued observing for a while and committed the boy’s appearance to memory.
He had instinctively assumed Shibukawa was a new first-year middle school student.
Once summer ended, this year’s batch of newcomers would be eligible to participate in practice.
When the time came, Banda intended to see whether the boy was worth developing as one of their top prospects.
Shibukawa, who was training earnestly on the court, was completely unaware of any of this.
By now, his [Swing] skill had already reached Level 5.
The experience required for the next level had accordingly increased to 3,000.
With his previous training method, he would need to perform 3,000 standard Swings, which would take at least a week.
Therefore, if he wanted to level up quickly, he had to consistently perform his Swings to a higher standard.
Moreover, as his understanding of the Swing grew deeper, Shibukawa had a feeling that there were definitely other performance ratings above ‘Excellent.’
…
“Old bastard.”
In one corner of the Yamabuki school grounds, a grayish-white-haired boy sitting on the grass frowned at the elderly man approaching him.
“I already told you.
I’m not interested in tennis.”
“Is that so?”
The newcomer, Banda, spoke with his usual smiling expression.
“I don’t think that’s true.
Akutsu, with your physical gifts, if you applied them to tennis, I’m certain you could accomplish extraordinary things.”
“Tch.”
Akutsu merely sneered in disdain.
“I couldn’t care less about that stuff.
And remember this, old man—don’t bring it up with me again.
Otherwise…” The source of this chapter is g.com.
As he spoke, he rose to his feet and shot the old man before him a murderous glare before turning and walking away.
“That kid…”
Watching him leave, Banda shook his head helplessly.
He possessed extraordinary talent, yet he had no interest whatsoever in any sport.
On top of that, his violent personality made him more troublesome than any middle schooler Banda had ever encountered.
Banda could finally understand why the soccer and basketball clubs had left such a talented prospect as Akutsu alone instead of trying to recruit him.
Now that he’d seen it for himself, they were undoubtedly intimidated by his personality as well.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have any other choice.”
Banda sighed.
Although a team tennis competition wasn’t something that could be won simply by uncovering one super-genius, for a Yamabuki team that lacked strength in singles, Akutsu had become the inevitable choice.
‘However…’
As his thoughts shifted, Banda recalled the boy with long black bangs he’d seen earlier at the tennis club.
‘I’ll need to keep a closer eye on those first-years too.’
As a veteran coach who had long since made a name for himself, Banda knew very well that the transition between old and new players was one of the most critical periods for a team’s overall strength.
If handled poorly, it was entirely possible for Yamabuki to end up even weaker than it was this year.
Beep, beep!
Just then, the screen of the phone he’d left on the table lit up.
A new message appeared on one of his social apps.
“They’re back?”
After reading it, Banda immediately smiled.
“In that case, I can probably move that plan forward too.
Sengoku is far too talented to let that talent go to waste.”
…
The next day.
Yamabuki Tennis Club.
Shibukawa blended into the crowd as he went through his daily training.
By now, performing Excellent-level Swings had become second nature to him, but he still had no idea how to reach the next level.
Fortunately, as someone who usually faded into the background at Yamabuki and barely drew any attention, he was nothing like Muromachi, who had become one of the team’s main focuses.
Moreover, he was already a second-year, so he’d avoided all the petty crap involving the hazing of newcomers that happened in Japanese schools.
That allowed him to keep an even lower profile while steadily building up his strength.
Clang!
However, after training had gone on for a while, the calm was finally broken.
As the metal gate to the tennis courts swung open, a group of boys wearing white jackets filed in, their expressions proud and their gazes sharp.
“The regulars are back!”
No one knew who said it, but everyone immediately stopped what they were doing.
The regulars.
Out of every member of Yamabuki’s tennis club, they were the eight strongest players selected through multiple rounds of evaluation.
Every single one of them stood head and shoulders above the rest in ability.
That was especially true of captain Uesugi Kenichi and the second-year regular Sengoku Kiyosumi, Yamabuki’s most talented player.
Even Muromachi, who considered himself a genius, didn’t dare take either of them lightly.
“Captain.”
Minami, who had stayed behind to oversee training, stepped forward and began speaking with the brown-haired boy at the head of the group—Yamabuki’s captain, Uesugi Kenichi.
“You did a good job.”
Uesugi gave him an approving pat on the shoulder.
Minami might not have been particularly gifted, but he worked extremely hard and was also quite capable when it came to managing the team.
Over the past six months, he had become Uesugi’s most dependable assistant.
“Everyone.”
Uesugi then stepped forward and looked at the players gathered on the court.
“I’ve heard how you’ve all been doing.
You’ve worked hard while we were away.”
Huh?
Everyone froze at his words.
Shibukawa was no exception.
From the original body’s memories, he clearly remembered that their captain wasn’t exactly known for having a good temper.
Yet now he was speaking so gently, acting this friendly?
Sure enough.
Uesugi’s expression immediately turned serious, his gaze sharpening.
“But after going to Kyushu this time, I finally realized just how wide the gap is between Yamabuki and the top teams.”
At those words, several of the regulars behind him stirred inwardly, all of them recalling Uesugi’s match against Atobe a few days earlier.
The gap had been enormous!
Uesugi was older and his reputation wasn’t much worse than Atobe’s, yet he’d been completely crushed, without even the slightest ability to fight back.
“So, after discussing it with Coach Banda, we’ve decided that starting today, you’ll all undergo targeted intensive training.”
Intensive…
training?
Everyone was taken aback.
Muromachi, however, quickly realized what this meant, intense excitement appearing behind his white-framed sunglasses.
An opportunity!
This was his, Muromachi Tōji’s, crucial opportunity to become a regular before entering his second year!
He absolutely couldn’t let it slip away!!
‘Training?’
A flicker of surprise first flashed through Shibukawa’s eyes beneath his bangs, followed by a trace of anticipation.
This seemed like an opportunity for him to move on to the next stage of his development now that he had finished building his foundation.