My Prince of Tennis has a high proficiency level

Chapter 117 Final Day, Yamabuki vs. Seigaku

Shibukawa was unaware that his match with Yanagi had brought forward the date of Yukimura's surgery in the original story.

Five days have passed in the blink of an eye.

The weekend has arrived once again, and the final day of the Tokyo Metropolitan Tournament has finally come.

At the park entrance.

Wearing a light green striped shirt and carrying an old-fashioned brown satchel, Inoue's gaze fell on the teenagers coming and going around him.

"This year's finals are even more popular than last year's."

"This is a good thing."

Zhi responded with a smile.

"yes."

Inoue nodded: "This shows that tennis is becoming increasingly popular, and more ordinary people can get in touch with the sport."

o

Although both are small ball sports, tennis has a much higher barrier to entry than table tennis and badminton. However, tennis is also more entertaining to watch than these two sports.

Especially now, with so many talented players emerging, more and more geniuses are appearing in junior high school tennis. A variety of amazing skills are constantly being displayed, even giving Inoue a dreamlike feeling.

"The final day's matches will be held consecutively in the morning and afternoon."

Inoue glanced at the time and said, "There are two semi-final matches in the morning, and the final and the losers' bracket revival match in the afternoon. The schedule is very tight, so we can only choose one of the semi-final matches."

"Of course!"

Zhi immediately exclaimed excitedly, "Of course it's the match between Seigaku and Yamabuki! With Ryoma joining Seigaku this year, they might just beat Yamabuki!"

"yes."

Inoue nodded.

If it were last year's lineup, Seigaku would most likely be no match for Yamabuki. But with the addition of that samurai's son, Seigaku's strength may seem to have only gained a powerful singles player on the surface, but the actual increase is quite considerable.

Since both of them were already biased towards Seigaku, they naturally favored Seigaku more.

As for the showdown between Hyotei and Ginka.

Although the former is currently the strongest team in the tournament, no one knows what lineup Hyotei will field. Given Atobe's arrogant personality, he might very well send out his second team.

After all, although Yinhua made it to the semifinals, their journey was far from smooth, and their opponents were among the weakest in recent years. It can only be said that they drew a favorable group, barely managing to reach the semifinals.

Even with the second team lineup, Ginka would have a hard time with Hyotei.

In comparison, the showdown between Seigaku and Yamabuki is undoubtedly more captivating. Inoue was already imagining the exciting scene of the two captains clashing.

Beep beep beep!!

Just then, five fully loaded buses drove by. Through the window, Zhi saw the group of teenagers wearing gray and white coats on the buses, and a look of shock appeared in her eyes.

"So many people are from Hyotei?"

"Well, Hyotei's tennis club has more than 200 members, so it would take at least five buses to fit them all."

Inoue shook his head and laughed, "In terms of sheer numbers, Hyotei could single-handedly take on the remaining three semi-final teams."

This is because Atobe is wealthy and powerful. Otherwise, no matter how strong his personal charisma is, it would be difficult to attract so many people to join the tennis club.

But in tennis, skill ultimately determines everything.

Rikkai University, with a smaller population, suppressed Hyotei University for two consecutive years. This is a fact that even Atobe's wealth cannot change.

In contrast, Inoue actually admired Yamabuki's rules more. The progressive system, from lower to higher levels, provided a sufficiently fair training environment, while also leveraging the advantages of the system to motivate everyone to strive for improvement.

Perhaps Yamabuki's current foundation isn't as strong as teams like Hyotei and Rikkai. But as long as these rules continue to function, even after players like Shibukawa graduate, Yamabuki will be able to establish itself in the Kanto region and even the national tournament.

"Let's go."

Inoue glanced at the time and then led Shiba towards the competition venue.

the other side.

In a temple built in the city of Tokyo, a middle-aged man in a black monk's robe is looking at a book about tennis instruction in his hand while a cat toy is tucked between his legs, teasing a chubby Himalayan cat.

crunch.

Just then, the door opened, and a pretty young woman walked out. She paused, surprised to see the middle-aged man, and asked curiously, "Uncle, isn't today the Dragon Horse Tournament finals? Aren't you going to go watch?"

"A major competition? I see."

The middle-aged man, Echizen Nanjiro, waved his hand dismissively upon hearing this. He had absolutely no interest in such a childish match.

What are your interests?

"Ha... Haji!"

At that moment, the kitten Karupin, which he had been teasing, suddenly lit up and pounced on his foot, biting his right big toe.

"Ouch!"

Nanjiro screamed, and the magazine in his hand slipped from his grasp, causing another special colored magazine hidden inside to fall out.

"ah?!"

The young girl immediately covered her eyes and retreated back into the room.

"Damn it..."

'

Nanjiro blushed and was about to deal with Karupin when the phone in the room suddenly rang. Soon, the girl from before said, "Uncle, it's Ryuzaki-sensei from Seigaku."

"Is it her?"

Nanjiro walked in with a frown, picked up the phone and said unhappily, "Hey, old woman, isn't today a match day? Why are you calling me?"

"What nonsense! I have no interest in that. Just let that kid compete seriously."

"Wait, who did you say their coach is?"

"Okay! I'll be right there!!"

Hang up the phone.

Ignoring his niece's astonishment, Nanjiro put on his wooden clogs, jumped into the yard, hopped on his bicycle, and pedaled away as fast as he could.

"It was that old guy!"

"Hmph! I didn't expect to run into Seigaku again. For that old woman to call me personally, it seems that the team she's coaching this year is quite extraordinary!"

The memory of that race from over twenty years ago flashed through his mind, and Nanjiro pedaled even faster.

"Next, the semi-finals of the tournament will begin, with Yamabuki Middle School facing Seishun Academy."

"Please invite both players to enter the arena."

As the announcement over the loudspeaker faded, the iron gate swung open with a bang. Then, the two teams of players, led by their respective coaches and team leaders, filed in.

"Long time no see, Ryuzaki-sensei."

Banda spoke with a slight smile on his wrinkled face.

"Long time no see, may we grow old together."

Ryuzaki nodded in greeting.

The last time the two teams met was at last year's Metropolitan Tournament. It was another match between Seigaku and Yamabuki, but Seigaku won the semi-finals and even made it to the quarterfinals of the Kanto Tournament.

To outsiders, Seigaku's ranking is undoubtedly higher than Yamabuki's. Many predict Seigaku has a higher chance of winning this year's tournament.

But recently, Inui approached Ryuzaki and explained his prediction of Yamabuki's strength, which has kept Ryuzaki up at night for the past few days.

Sengoku, who defeated the Kyushu duo Tachibana Kippei head-on, can only rank third. And that captain of Yamabuki, with a score of 6-0...

They shut out the Rikkai University's Liu.

With the Yamabuki team already formidable in doubles, Ryuzaki's chances of winning this match were even slimmer.

"Ugh."

Ryuzaki sighed inwardly.

The roster has already been assigned; the outcome will depend on the players' performance.

Just as the two were talking, Shibukawa and Tezuka, who were walking behind them, looked up as if they had sensed something and exchanged a glance.

The two nodded to each other in tacit agreement.

This wasn't their first meeting; they had played a match at the Seishundai Club's court more than half a year ago. Although it was only a one-point game, Shibukawa won, leaving a very deep impression on Tezuka.

"I never imagined that he would grow to such a level in such a short time."

Tezuka was filled with emotion.

Only after taking over as captain did he realize how difficult it was to comprehensively improve the team's strength. Yet, in less than a year, the other party had elevated Yamabuki's overall strength to such an extent.

Putting aside his personal abilities, his leadership skills alone are unmatched by the average team's minister.

"Nice to meet you!"

The players from both sides entered the court, lined up in front of the net, and bowed to each other. Then, the ministers from both sides came forward and began to talk.

"Ever since that game with you, Tezuka, I've been looking forward to playing against you again."

"Um."

Hearing Shibukawa's words, Tezuka nodded and said, "Me too, I hope we can have a real fight later!"

For Tezuka, the one-goal loss last time didn't really affect him much. For someone with his mindset, the outcome of a single match couldn't shake his resolve.

However, Shechuan's strength is now far greater than before. This has given rise to a thought in his mind of whether to fight him.

Teiya is, after all, just a cold-faced guy, not a truly emotionless tennis machine. He also has the ambition to compete against top players, and Shibukawa is now fully qualified.

They nodded to each other and then turned to leave.

"Next, the doubles match 2 will begin."

Then, the announcement for the match came over the loudspeaker: "Yamabuki Junior High School's Nitobe Inakichi and Kita Kazuma versus Seishun Gakuen's Momoshiro Takeshi and Kaido Kaoru."

"Both teams, please get ready."

The words fell.

Everyone's gaze fell on either side of the field.

From the direction of Yamabuki, Nito Mi, with her mushroom-shaped haircut and Kita, whose hair was parted in the middle and whose appearance vaguely resembled Atobe, walked to the side of the court.

"This lineup..."

'

Many of the onlookers changed their expressions.

Yamabuki is very strong in doubles. Among the remaining players, besides the Minami and Touhou pairing, Shinto Mi is one of the national-level doubles players who partnered with a third-year senior last year.

They're at a level where they wouldn't feel any pressure even in the Kanto Tournament, and at the Metropolitan Tournament level, they're practically veterans.

"The mountain is really getting serious!"

Someone lowered their voice and said, "Last year in the Tokyo Metropolitan Tournament, Shinto Mikoto's doubles team dominated Seigaku. And this time, they even paired him with his usual teammate."

"Yes, this group's strength is definitely at the national level."

The person next to him nodded emphatically.

In the matches before the regional qualifiers and semifinals, Yamabuki arranged doubles pairs that were basically randomly formed, using actual matches to train their players.

However, anyone familiar with the Yamabuki team knows that Niito and Kita are the fixed doubles pair. Currently, they've sent out [a certain player/team] in doubles match 2.

These two undoubtedly demonstrated Yamabuki's determination.

"But what about those two from Seigaku... what's their situation?"

Some people frowned subconsciously as they watched the doubles match sent out by Seigaku. Among them was Inoue, a tennis monthly magazine reporter carrying an old-fashioned satchel.

If he remembered correctly, both Momoshiro and Kaido were known for their singles skills before this. Momoshiro, in particular, partnered with Echizen in the regional preliminaries to play doubles against Tamahin Junior High.

Although Seigaku ultimately won the doubles match, the game was utterly unwatchable. The two players showed absolutely no teamwork and won solely through their superior singles skills.

This arrangement makes Inoue feel that Ryuzaki is resorting to desperate measures.

"Senpai, what's going on with Seigaku... "

'

"Well, generally speaking, doubles matches are either between partners who know each other well and have excellent teamwork, or between an experienced player mentoring a newcomer, where one of them has absolute dominance."

Inoue gently shook his head.

The essence of doubles is cooperation, and the key, simply put, lies in the individual player's choice priorities. A team like Yamabuki, which uses experienced players to mentor newcomers, not only cultivates new talent but also effectively centralizes control of the team.

After all, doubles requires everyone to think and act in unison. Having someone to lead is always better than having two people with equal power, where neither will submit to the other.

Be strong.

In comparison, Seigaku's arrangement was utterly ridiculous.

However, Inoue was not a rash person. He understood Ryuzaki and knew that Inui, who was in charge of coaching the Seigaku team, was no ordinary player.

Since they arranged for Momoshiro and Kaidou to play together, they must have had a real plan.

"Speaking of which, Momoshiro-senpai and Kaidou-senpai teaming up for doubles... is that really going to work?"

Outside the stadium, the three first-year students from Seigaku looked at each other in bewilderment.

In the original manga, Momoshiro and Kaidou's first doubles match was against St. Rudolf. However, in reality, the situation changed, and this was actually their first match as a team.

In doubles, the pairing of Oishi and Kikumaru is fixed and cannot be changed. Among the other starters, Tezuka and Fuji are confirmed to be the singles ace players, while Kawamura, with his straightforward personality, would find it difficult to unleash his true potential as a doubles partner without a strong mentor.

In reality, they did have suitable candidates, such as Inui, who serves as the team's training instructor. However, according to Seigaku's rules, Inui is not a regular starter and therefore cannot play.

The remaining three are Momoshiro, Kaido, and Echizen.

Arranging these three players as doubles, Ryuzaki finally decided on the pairing of Momoshiro and Kaido.

"Although these two have some conflicts, they can still uphold their bottom line."

Hearing the trio's discussion, Qian, who was standing next to them, shook his head and said, "Besides, although the two of them don't seem to get along, they might still be able to produce some unexpected results."

Inui knew almost everyone's data and information about Seigaku. Therefore, he knew that the combination of Momoshiro and Kaidou was not necessarily irreconcilable.

If used properly, the combination of these two can even produce an effect greater than the sum of its parts!

"Momojo and Kaido?"

On the other side, Niito raised an eyebrow slightly upon seeing his opponent: "Just as the captain predicted, Seigaku really pulled out a surprise move!"

It turns out that Mizuki had already explained each member of Seigaku's team their personality and playing style to the regulars before the match even started. Shibukawa had even predicted that Seigaku's roster would likely employ an unconventional playing style.

"These two are quite something."

Kita smoothed his hair slightly and said with a faint smile, "According to the minister, they are a combination that can unleash incredible power in desperate situations, and they should not be underestimated."

Whether it's Ryuzaki or Inui.

The Seigaku side was unaware that what they considered a brilliant move had actually been anticipated by Shibukawa. Even Momoshiro and Kaidou's personalities and habits were perfectly clear to the Yamabuki side.

In other words, from the very beginning of the match, there was an absolute asymmetry in information between the two sides.