But this year is different. Yukimura, Sanada, and Yanagi Renji are all first-year freshmen. With them leading the way, Rikkai Dai will only move forward in a better direction. This is what Ishihara and Fushimi want to see.
Fushimi has some reservations about Yukimura. After all, during the club's new member recruitment, he was deprived of his five senses, and the entire tennis club was swept by these three. Any former captain would be angry about that. But opinions aside, Fushimi still knows his place. As long as Yukimura can lead the tennis club to greater heights, Fushimi won't have too many complaints, even if it means he becomes just an ordinary club member of Rikkai Dai. Everything is for Rikkai Dai's fourteen consecutive Kanto tournament victories and for Rikkai Dai to break that curse at the National Tournament and claim the National Championship.
Watching the doubles pair walk off the court, Tezuka also stepped forward to console them. Compared to singles, the only doubles pair worth watching was Gen and Kawadani's. If even this doubles pair lost to Rikkai Dai, then the upcoming match with Mukahi and Shishido's pair would likely also result in a loss. However, it's fortunate this is just a practice match. Practice matches are meant to correct mistakes and to gauge the strength of the Rikkai Dai Tennis Club. Now, the strength Rikkai Dai has displayed has exceeded Tezuka's expectations.
"A famous tennis school that has dominated the Kanto Tournament for so long isn't just relying on boasts. They really do have some depth. And there are many first-year freshmen around, even more than Hyotei recruited this year. Plus, those older students..."
Just in terms of the cheering squad's momentum, Rikkai Dai wouldn't lose much to Hyotei. Of course, this is only temporary. Atobe believes that next year, Hyotei will recruit even more first-year freshmen. As long as he's at Hyotei, the school's facilities will be fully improved. Whether it's the cafeteria or teaching facilities, as long as it's within a reasonable scope, it's just a word from Atobe. Atobe doesn't really care about such a small amount of money.
"The usual training should be entirely overseen by Rikkai Dai's strategist, Yanagi Renji." Kamikawa had a pretty good guess in his mind. The reason Rikkai Dai could grow so quickly was inseparable from the training regimens Yanagi Renji put in place. Yanagi Renji and Inui Sadaharu are similar; both are skilled at using data to formulate perfect training programs. Under scientifically organized training programs, some exceptionally talented tennis players, hidden among the vast crowd, will gradually reveal their talents.
This includes Masaharu Niou, Bunta Marui, and Jackal Kuwahara. These three, in their first year at Rikkai Dai, didn't display their inherent talent at all. It wasn't until their second year that their talents gradually became apparent, along with Hiroshi Yagyu. Yagyu is mentioned in the anime to have joined the tennis club at Niou's invitation, but in little seaweed's (Kaidoh's) memories, Yagyu had already joined the tennis club in his second year. Because he often had to handle student council affairs, he didn't frequently participate in basic training. Rikkai Dai's team in their third year was hailed as a team with national-level strength across the board. Marui and Jackal's doubles pair was considered the best doubles team in the National Tournament. Yanagi Renji, paired with anyone, possessed national-level doubles ability. Niou, Sanada, and the others are even more self-explanatory; they inherently possess national-level strength.
Niou demonstrated his astonishing imitation talent as early as his second year. Of course, it was only an imitation of demeanor, not true imitation. Only with a sufficiently strong body could he unleash various diverse techniques and see his imitation through to the end.
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"Next up are the singles matches." Mukahi was itching to play, wanting to get on the court. However, he knew deep down that he was only suited for doubles at Hyotei. It's called a practice match, but both teams have their pride. The losing side would feel a bit disgraced, especially since Hyotei has already lost two consecutive matches. Even though they were facing last year's Kanto Tournament champions, the Hyotei team members didn't want to see their team lose the match.
"Who's up next?" Shishido subconsciously looked at Kamikawa and Tezuka. Kamikawa had disappeared somewhere, while Tezuka sat quietly in his chair, seemingly waiting for something. The next two singles matches would be played by these two. He and Mukahi formed a temporary doubles pair today, and even as a temporary combination, their coordination wasn't bad. Plus, they had made all necessary preparations before leaving. Today, Shishido really wanted to show off his recent growth.
"It's my turn," Kamikawa said with a slight smile, walking over from another court, a light sweat on his forehead.
"Warm-up?!" Mukahi and Shishido were startled. Pre-match warm-ups. Even Kamikawa didn't warm up before facing Oshitari. He only moved around a bit before the practice match with Atobe. They'd known Kamikawa for two or three months, and there weren't many opportunities for him to warm up before a match. He was like a monster who had appeared out of nowhere, steadily surpassing both Tezuka and Atobe. Even if Tezuka and Kamikawa hadn't met in a Hyotei practice match, Shishido still felt that Kamikawa's strength was superior to Tezuka's. The final match of the JR Tournament left a deep impression on Shishido. To this day, he hasn't forgotten it!
"Voluntarily warming up?" Atobe was also a bit surprised, looking again at the second-year Kamikawa had mentioned earlier.
At this moment, on Rikkai Dai's side, Mouri looked like he had just woken up, scratching his hair, yawning, and then headed towards the court with his racket.
"Mouri-senpai! Yukimura wants to play this match!" Yanagi Renji suddenly spoke, stopping Mouri's movement. His eyes barely concealed his disdain for Mouri. A guy who usually doesn't even train wants to actively go out and play. Even though Rikkai Dai had already secured two wins, Yanagi Renji felt it wasn't enough. Facing a team like Hyotei, if they couldn't achieve a clean sweep, then this practice match would be meaningless.
Dominating Kanto! That has never been the pursuit of the Big Three. Their only pursuit is to dominate the nation and claim the National Tournament championship.
"Oh dear~ Yukimura, do you want to play this match?" Mouri turned around with a chuckle, holding his racket with both hands behind his head, looking completely unconcerned.
"Mouri-senpai, do you want to play?" Yukimura didn't answer directly. He smiled, looking at Mouri, wanting to hear his reply.
"I do want to, but it depends on what you say, Yukimura. After all, you're Rikkai Dai's captain." Mouri looked at Yukimura disrespectfully, playfully teasing him.
"This guy!" Sanada, who had woken up, looked at Mouri with a displeased expression. This slouching guy, he really didn't know why Yukimura included him in this practice match roster. In Sanada's eyes, Mouri simply didn't have the demeanor a strong player should have; he was just an idiot who didn't take his talent seriously!
"Hehehe... Yukimura, what do you say?" Mouri chuckled, not caring about Sanada's angry look. In fact, he found this version of Sanada quite amusing, at least much more interesting than those guys from Shitenhoji.
"Alright then, Mouri-senpai, you can go on court." A gentle voice reached Mouri's ears. Yukimura, who had finished warming up and was ready to go on court, at this moment gave up the chance to face Kamikawa directly. For Yukimura, he had been looking forward to this match for a long time. After the defeat at the JR Tournament, Sanada had grown a lot, and so had he. After all, it was his first experience with failure. That feeling was very subtle, and it also opened a new door for him.