"Seigaku... they barely made it into the Metropolitan Tournament. Last year, they lost to Hyotei, led by Ochi-senpai," Kamikawa said, pointing at Seigaku on the list.
Based on the ranking, Seigaku had even lost to Kakunoki Junior High in the regional qualifiers this year.
Barely scraping into the Metropolitan Tournament with a battered team wasn't a good sign for Seigaku.
Last year, Seigaku also barely made it to the Metropolitan Tournament, only to face Hyotei in the quarterfinals.
"Yeah."
Tezuka's eyes flickered slightly.
That was the school he had once most wanted to attend, the legendary school where the Samurai had supposedly been.
Now, it seemed this school had greatly disappointed him, losing to Kakunoki Junior High in the regional qualifiers—a school that typically only made it to the Metropolitan Tournament for a single round before being eliminated.
"It seems the winds of change haven't blown through Seigaku yet."
Kamikawa said calmly, as if stating a simple fact.
The corruption within Seigaku was different from Hyotei's. Hyotei had undergone a transformation, led by Tsukimitsu Ochi. Sakaki Tarou wasn't Sumire Ryuzaki; sometimes, a coach's authority could be much greater than that of second and third-year students.
"I want to go check out Seigaku."
Tezuka wanted to see the legendary school where the Samurai had supposedly been.
Kamikawa chuckled and shook his head, then said to Tezuka, "Now isn't a good time. There's still some time before the Metropolitan Tournament. If you go now, are you planning to crash their club?"
Speaking of crashing clubs, Kamikawa himself had gone to Yamabuki with the idea of crashing, especially since the original story mentioned Akutsu only joining the tennis club in his third year.
"I did think about it." Tezuka's eyes flickered slightly; he indeed had that thought.
At this point in time, Tezuka was even more active than Echizen and loved challenging strong opponents.
"No need to crash."
Kamikawa shook his head, then continued, "There's still some time until the Metropolitan Tournament. Talk to Coach Sakaki and arrange a practice match."
"I don't think Seigaku would have any reason to refuse a practice match initiated by Hyotei."
"Alright!"
Tezuka didn't object.
Arranging practice matches was indeed the most common way for schools to gather information on their opponents.
Moreover, Seigaku had no reason to refuse a practice match with Hyotei, who were last year's national top four.
After their casual chat, Tezuka and Kamikawa both left the lounge to train.
As the部長, Tezuka's daily training volume was even heavier than the regular players. Atobe, unwilling to be outdone, also increased his training; it was as if these two were competing.
In contrast, Kamikawa, ever since his match with Atobe, continued to train according to his schedule. If some training metrics on his status panel weren't met, Kamikawa would specifically do extra training.
Compared to the routine training schedule, the training provided by the status panel was more scientific and led to greater improvements.
After training, Kamikawa sat in a shaded area, examining his panel.
[Kamikawa Muzuki]
[Age: 13]
[Power: 3.9]
[Speed: 4.3]
[Stamina: 4.2]
[Technique: 4.1]
[Mental: 4.9]
[Today's Training: 3000 shots hitting one target point (Completed), 7km endurance run (Completed), 2 sets of 20lb dumbbell flyes (Completed)]
As his age increased, his bones had grown significantly, and correspondingly, his power and speed had also seen some improvement. Among them, power had the largest increase, as power is closely related to physical growth.
The training content on the status panel had also seen some improvement.
At the same time, after several matches, Kamikawa's mental strength had also increased. Each increase in the application of mental will brought a qualitative leap.
Kamikawa was very curious to see how high his five stats would climb by the National Tournament in October.
National peak level? Or quasi-world class? Or even a higher realm...
"Mukahi, look! Jirou is still running."
On the court, Shishido subconsciously looked to his side.
Mukahi, who had always been by his side, had, at some point, joined the running group, jogging around the court. Sweat drenched Mukahi's team uniform, yet it couldn't shake his desire to constantly become stronger.
Shishido turned his head to look not far away. Almost the entire tennis club was in a state of intensified training; it seemed he was the only one idle.
"I..."
Shishido was momentarily speechless.
He watched Oshitari enhance his ball control, Jirou and Mukahi strengthen their stamina, Tezuka and Kamikawa each working on their own things, and even Hikaru Gen-senpai was busy improving his weaknesses in ball control.
Among the regular members, he was the only one who didn't know his own strengths.
He was like someone who knew a little bit of everything but was proficient in nothing.
Was he, like this, truly suited for tennis?
Seeing this situation, Shishido fell into deep confusion.
Oshitari possessed astonishing tennis talent, and his inherent strength was superior to Shishido's. Coupled with his extraordinary technique, Shishido knew without a doubt that he was inferior to him.
Jirou's wrist flexibility was naturally incredible. If he made up for his lack of stamina, he would be even less of an opponent then.
Even Mukahi, whose strength was similar, was making up for his own shortcomings. He already possessed outstanding jumping ability and those flashy aerial trick shots. Even Shishido himself found Mukahi's net offense a bit hard to handle.
Looking at it this way, Shishido seemed to be the most mediocre among this group, with no particular specialization.
If this continued, he would only fall further behind others, perhaps even losing his spot as a regular.
What was his own unique tennis?!
Finding that answer would take time, a lot of time. Perhaps he would just continue to be mediocre for these three years.
"Shishido, your training for today isn't finished yet."
A stern voice came from behind him.
It was Tezuka, who had just finished one stage of his training and planned to rest for a few minutes while observing everyone else's training.
"Yes!"
Shishido shouted weakly.
He looked at the main group ahead and followed suit, training his stamina.
Tezuka gazed at Shishido's back, lost in thought.
"Hmph..."
Kamikawa yawned, walked past Tezuka, and headed straight for the vending machine.
"Kamikawa."
Tezuka suddenly spoke, stopping Kamikawa.
"What is it?"
Kamikawa turned his head, as if he'd just thought of something, and said, "You're not trying to get another can, are you? I treated you yesterday; if you want me to treat you again today, you're dreaming."
The corner of Tezuka's mouth twitched slightly. He said, "Am I that kind of person?"
"Hmm?"
Kamikawa looked Tezuka up and down, then nodded.
Tezuka's personality hadn't changed, he just seemed to have developed a hidden attribute of "extorting" his childhood friend.
He probably picked it up from spending too much time with Kamikawa.
After all, when they were kids, Kamikawa often used various excuses to trick Tezuka into buying him sodas.
"I have something serious to talk to you about."
Tezuka said calmly, "How do you think everyone has improved lately?"
"They're all doing pretty well."
Kamikawa shrugged, saying, "Compared to before the regional qualifiers, everyone's more motivated now."
"What about Shishido?"
Tezuka's gaze fell on Shishido, who was still doing his endurance run with the others. Then, he looked at Kamikawa with a complex expression: "How do you think Shishido has improved lately?"
Tezuka could tell.
Two days after winning the regional qualifiers, an intra-school practice match was held. Mukahi, Oshitari, and others performed quite well, but there was one person... his strength had improved somewhat, but not significantly.
This person was Shishido.
It wasn't that Shishido hadn't grown; Tezuka saw his daily training volume.
The main reason Shishido hadn't improved was that he hadn't found a path unique to himself, which led to his slow progress.
"Him, huh?"
It wasn't Shishido's fault, after all, he truly didn't have any specific specialties. In terms of net play and volleys, he wasn't as talented as Jirou. In terms of jumping ability, he wasn't as good as Mukahi. And in terms of technique, he was even less skilled than Oshitari.
Not to mention stamina or mental strength.
He didn't have a single outstanding trait related to the five stats.
It wasn't impossible to develop in an all-around way, after all, a certain player from Shitenhoji improved his abilities in all aspects. But could Shishido truly endure that kind of solitude?!
The answer was no!
Even that player from Shitenhoji grew tired of that kind of monotonous tennis.
If it weren't for the sake of the tennis club's victory, he would never play such an unspecialized, textbook-like tennis.
"He will find his own unique path in tennis." Kamikawa's gaze fell on Shishido, who was still on his endurance run.
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