My Prince of Tennis has a high proficiency level

Chapter 92 Echizen Ryoma

in the afternoon.

Club activity time.

While Yamabuki was holding its school-wide selection tournament, Seigaku's tennis club, having already selected eight regular players, also entered into normal training.

"Hey, I told you long ago, with Echizen's talent, he'll definitely become a starter."

The entrance to the Seigaku Tennis Club.

A short boy, wearing a light orange short-sleeved shirt, with eyebrows that looked like waves connected in a straight line, tilted his head back at a 45-degree angle and spoke with a face full of confidence.

"Horiao-kun...

The two boys standing next to him, both wearing light white short-sleeved shirts from the first year of Seigaku, exchanged a glance and saw the helplessness in each other's eyes.

no way.

The boy in front of me was clearly of average strength and talent, yet he had a strange kind of self-confidence.

He tells everyone he's been playing tennis for two years, but he gets completely crushed the moment he starts playing. He's only been in the tennis club for a week, and he's already become the most disliked person on the team.

However, both of them were well aware that Horio, the boy with the unibrow, wasn't a bad person at heart. It was just that he lacked ability and liked to talk big, which made him not very likable.

In contrast, another newcomer from their cohort was an idol in the eyes of all the newcomers.

"Look, Ryoma-kun is here!"

At this moment, the mushroom-headed boy, Katsuro, exclaimed excitedly.

Then, a boy wearing a red and white short-sleeved shirt and a white tennis cap slowly walked towards the court.

Ryoma Echizen.

12 is old.

A newcomer to the Seigaku tennis club, who also recently defeated a strong senior opponent in the Seigaku intra-school qualifiers to secure a regular player spot.

"It's that guy!"

Meanwhile, the expressions of the second-year students wearing blue jackets within Seigaku changed slightly.

They started by picking up balls and spent a year honing their skills before finally qualifying for the school's selection competition. As it turned out, this newcomer qualified for the competition right away, and not only that, he also secured the coveted starting position.

Many people find it hard to accept, but they are wary of the other party's strength. Although they dare not continue to target him, they keep their distance, showing a vague sign of isolating Yueqian.

Unfortunately, for Echizen, who grew up in North America and was used to being alone, this isolation was nothing.

Moreover, dragons do not dwell with snakes.

Echizen is proud by nature. Although he doesn't openly look down on anyone, deep down he has absolutely no interest in these guys with average strength.

"The environment in Japan is indeed different from that in North America."

As he walked onto the field, Echizen took in the reactions of the players around him and shook his head inwardly. There, both overt and covert, existed certain unspoken rules of the senior players' culture.

Strength certainly carries weight, but it's not like in North America where an individual's strength is enough to silence dissent. Respect for the strong is much more pronounced there.

But Echizen didn't really care.

Transferring back to Japan wasn't his own idea; it was a decision made after his parents discussed it. However, after spending the last few days there, he's gained a new understanding of the tennis culture there.

Seigaku isn't very strong.

At least nationwide, his name recognition isn't high. However, the few regular players he's contacted so far have given Echizen a unique perspective.

Momoshiro has a very strong burst of power.

Qian, skilled in calculation.

There is also the resilient crabapple.

Everyone has their own unique style, and even Echizen couldn't easily defeat him. At least, compared to when he participated in the youth competition before the start of the school year...

During the match, the scumbag Sasabe I encountered was far stronger than me.

If Echizen remembers correctly, that long-haired guy was a high school student. But in terms of strength, all three Seigaku regulars Echizen had faced were capable of easily defeating him.

"Momoshiro, Inui, and Kaidou are all very strong, but in Seigaku's opinion, they are probably not the strongest."

These days, Echizen hasn't been asking much about the team. But his friends have been gathering a lot of inside information about Seigaku for him.

Aside from the three players Echizen had faced, among the remaining players, Kawamura, a third-year student, was the strongest, while Vice-Captain Oishi and Kikumaru were a doubles team.

The remaining captain, Tezuka, and the genius Fuji are recognized as the two strongest players in Seigaku.

"It's universally acknowledged!"

Thinking of this, a flame of fighting spirit flashed in Echizen's eyes.

Although his initial motivation for playing tennis was to defeat that annoying guy, he also enjoys playing against other top players.

Echizen was well aware of the weight of the phrase "universally recognized." It was an established fact, an adjective that no one would refute. Combined with everyone's respect for the captain's family, their strength had most likely reached a level where one person could suppress the entire team.

pity.

Tezuka's personality is too cold.

Even when Echizen met his gaze, he would look away because of the oppressive feeling of the other's eyes. Being new to the place, he adhered to the principle of "I'll only let others bother me."

The principle of not offending anyone is to always keep a low profile.

Moreover, Echizen guessed that even if he did invite Tezuka to a match, the latter might not agree.

"The only one left... is Fuji-senpai."

Thinking of this, Echizen suddenly turned his gaze to the brown-haired figure in the crowd.

brush!

Seemingly sensing his probing gaze, Fuji turned his head and, upon discovering that it was the most talked-about newcomer, the Seigaku genius immediately smiled with narrowed eyes.

Today's training content is as follows.

Just then, a tall, spiky-haired boy wearing a white short-sleeved shirt stepped forward. Strangely, he wore opaque white glasses, making it impossible to see his eyes.

"It's Senior Inui."

Katsuro, Katsuo, and others in the crowd immediately began to whisper among themselves.

"He lost to Ryoma-kun, and then to Kaidou-senpai, so he's no longer a regular player."

"Judging from this, it seems he's in charge of training arrangements. Well, he is a data-driven player, so he must know a lot about the situation of the other players on the team."

Not long after.

Inui arranged the training for the first-year students and regular team members. He looked at the starters and said in a deep voice, "Today's training is spot-up shots. The standard for starters is to hit at least 8 out of 10 shots."

"Phew... thankfully."

Upon hearing this, a kind-looking young man with short brown hair in the crowd scratched his head and breathed a sigh of relief.

Takashi Kawamura.

14 is old.

A third-year student at Seigaku and a regular member of the tennis club.

He's very strong, but his ball control isn't great. If you're expected to have a 100% shooting percentage, he'll be under a lot of pressure.

really.

After training began, everyone else hit the target 10 times out of 10, while only Kawamura managed to hit 8 out of 10.

"Hmm."

Seeing this, Gan stroked his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face: "This training method isn't working well; the team members don't seem to feel any urgency. And even if they don't succeed, there doesn't seem to be any effective punishment."

Gan secretly made up his mind to start by punishing the players who made mistakes. Meanwhile, the training entered the practice phase of pair work.

"Regular training allows players to freely choose their opponents."

Qian said something and then walked to the side to continue thinking. He had vaguely found a spark of inspiration when he saw Momoshiro drinking water.

"Is it a free choice?"

Echizen, standing in the crowd, seemed to have thought of something and subconsciously looked in a certain direction.

Swish!

As if they had reached a tacit understanding beforehand, Fuji also turned his head to look.

The two looked at each other and smiled.

"W-What's going on?"

As if they had discovered something, a second-year team member exclaimed in surprise, "Echizen and Fuji-senpai, what are they...?"

immediately.

Then Fuji and Echizen walked onto the court together.

"I didn't expect these two to clash so early."

Qian looked at the two of them with some surprise.

He had recently lost to Echizen and knew his opponent was very strong. Even with the data he had already collected, he had little chance of winning against him in another match.

Not to mention Fuji, Inui hasn't won a single match against him in the past two years.

If Echizen is merely someone with immense potential and a promising future, then Fuji is a master who has already converted that potential into formidable strength.

Therefore, Inui was very interested in the match between the two.

"Fuji has changed a lot since he participated in the autumn youth selection competition last time."

Just then, Ryuzaki, wearing a pink tracksuit, walked over. Her gaze fell on Fuji, and she said with a touch of melancholy, "In the past, he definitely wouldn't have liked doing this kind of thing."

In the past, Fuji was gentle and low-key. Despite playing beautiful and elegant tennis, he didn't like to show off. To strangers, he was just a kind and gentle gentleman.

But all of that changed after last fall's qualifying rounds.

"I don't think this is a bad thing."

At that moment, Tezuka, wearing glasses, also walked over. He looked at the two who had reached the net and nodded slightly, saying, "The old Fuji was too steady, lacking a bit of drive. His current state is much better."

In fact, even Tezuka himself didn't know how much Fuji's strength had improved in the three months since he participated in the National Autumn Youth Selection Tournament last year.

This match could be a good opportunity for Echizen to test how strong Fuji is now.

Aren't you worried?

Hearing Tezuka's words, Ryuzaki laughed and said, "What if Fuji gets serious and breaks that kid's mentality?"

"This is not something I should be thinking about."

Tezuka shook his head.

He admired the young man's talent. But if the opponent's mentality was broken by a single match, it only meant that the opponent was not strong enough.

and.

He had a feeling that while Fuji might be very strong now, he might not be able to easily defeat Echizen.

"Hey, senior."

At the net, Echizen adjusted his hat brim and looked at the handsome young man in front of him with great interest: "I heard you're a genius from Seigaku, so your tennis skills must be amazing. Please don't hold back in the match later."

The boy spoke arrogantly, but his dark green eyes revealed a strong sense of confidence, which was clearly not just simple arrogance.

"no problem."

Fuji did not get angry.

Years of ingrained habits have enabled him to face anything calmly. Moreover, he also realized that the boy's so-called arrogant words were nothing more than a simple provocation.

Especially after what happened more than four months ago, Fuji's goals are no longer limited to Seigaku. Even Tezuka, in his heart, is not as important as that person.

However, he was still very interested in Echizen.

The boy before him was incredibly talented, becoming a regular member in his first year, and even more so after fighting his way up from the Inui and Kaidou groups. Even Fuji himself two years ago might not have been able to achieve this level.

Thinking about how he had wasted the past two years and squandered his talent, Fuji couldn't help but have some other thoughts when he looked at the boy in front of him again.

"Genius is just a gimmick."

After exchanging a few words, Fuji gained the right to serve and retreated to the vicinity of the baseline. He then looked at the boy opposite him who had assumed a ready stance.

"Tezuka probably didn't have that thought."

"But in my opinion, adding a little pressure to you right now might be more meaningful."

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