Chapter 10: Defeat at the World Tournament, Opportunity Arises

Tokyo, a certain tennis club.

Whiz—whiz—whiz!

The automatic ball launcher, like a machine gun, fires three tennis balls in succession.

The balls' trajectories intersect, drawing sharp yellow streaks across the court.

Jiecheng Wu steps forward, faces the oncoming balls, awakens the Wildness within, and a terrifying aura spreads outward in an instant.

The swift tennis balls seem to suddenly slow, and the complex flight paths become clearly visible to him.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Three crisp striking sounds echo.

The ball flies back as he swings, and Jiecheng Wu's black spiky hair lifts backward, revealing a delicate, handsome face, focused and resolute.

Jiecheng Wu feels joy watching the activated Wildness·Leopard, realizing that over a month of relentless hard training has finally paid off.

Because he had already mastered Wildness·Mountain Cat, acquiring the advanced skill Wildness·Leopard did not take much time.

This is also one reason why Jie Cheng Wu finds the character template of Hayama Kotaro highly compatible with himself.

Thus, even if other uncrowned Five Generals' character templates had appeared, he would have chosen Hayama Kotaro without hesitation.

Whiz—whiz—whiz!

The ball launcher does not pause, again firing three balls in succession.

Beside the training court, a person stands holding a newspaper, visibly agitated.

His name is Xiao Liu Longping, the club's tennis coach, responsible for the daily training of amateur players.

Jiecheng Wu originally learned the basics of tennis from him.

However, his personality is odd; he often wears a green coat and slicks his hair with gel, making it shine like polished oil.

He also says some particularly chuunibyou, hot‑blooded lines.

He shouts things like, "This is youth!" "Hot‑blood!"—phrases that many can't understand.

So even middle‑schoolers in the midst of their chuunibyou phase sometimes can't stand his eccentricity.

Nevertheless, despite that, the trainees don't dislike him; they greatly respect this coach in the late stage of chuunibyou.

Because he truly can teach them useful things.

But now Xiao Liu Longping looks at the newspaper with a dead‑pale face, his hands trembling, tears streaming down.

"Coach Xiao Liu, what's wrong?"

Just after finishing training, Jiecheng Wu is wiping sweat with a white towel when he sees Xiao Liu Longping's dissatisfied expression.

"Japan... Japan's national team lost"

Hearing Jiecheng Wu's question, Xiao Liu Longping turns his head, as if finding an outlet for his emotions, and large tears instantly spill from his face.

He strides forward, grabs Jiecheng Wu's shoulder, and shakes him wildly.

"Xiao Wu! The Japan national team lost!"

"Lost! —"

Jiecheng Wu feels dizzy from the shaking, seeing tears and snot about to splash onto him.

"Coach! Calm down—calm down! —"

He instantly recoils in fear, scrambling to break free from the hot‑blooded fool coach's grip.

"Coach, be clear—what exactly lost?"

He continues to ask.

Xiao Liu Longping, however, so agitated that he covers his head and lets out a long howl to the sky, unwilling to accept the truth, he flings the newspaper into the air.

"How could this be!!!"

"We were clearly hopeful of breaking out of the group stage this year!"

"How could we lose!"

"Why is it like this?!!"

Jiecheng Wu helplessly slaps his forehead.

"Sigh..."

Coach Xiao Liu may be good at everything, but this personality is truly hard to accept.

He picks up the newspaper from the ground, smooths its creases, and at the very center a photo catches the eye.

A handsome boy with yellow hair, covered in wounds, kneels half‑crouched on the ground, while behind him the giant electronic screen boldly reads

"France VS Japan, 3-2"

"U17 Tennis World Cup, Japan national team 2-3 defeat, no chance for the knockout stage!!!"

"Damn, how did I forget this scene?!"

The moment he sees the newspaper, a long‑buried memory is awakened.

Jiecheng Wu vaguely recalls that in the story, Byodo-in Temple Feng Huang, when he was a high‑school freshman, led his cohort's Japan national team to the U17 Tennis World Cup.

Unfortunately, they lost to the French team in the group stage, ending that brief world journey.

At that time, the Japanese tennis world highly favored that generation of young players.

There was no other reason; it was simply a flood of geniuses, a stellar lineup.

Byodo-in Temple Feng Huang, while in middle school, led Mu Zhi Teng Academy to two consecutive national championships, and shortly after entering the Japan U17 Training Camp, developed the terrifying technique Light Strike.

Under the guidance of senior figures in the tennis world, he smoothly comprehended Alaya consciousness, unlocking a dimensional power and securing the No. 1 spot in the Japan U17 Training Camp.

And besides Byodo-in Temple Feng Huang, the brilliance of the other few people was also dazzling.

Gui Shi Ci Lang, a contestant from a remote area, had no reputation even before high school.

It wasn't until his first year of high school that he led the obscure Okayama Olympic Middle School to win the National Competition championship in one stroke, which caught the attention of the Japan U17 Training Camp, and they drafted him.

His strength was terrifyingly extreme; he directly defeated Byodo-in Temple Feng Huang in the training camp, leaving an indelible scar on his forehead.

Tanegashima Shuji, the No. 2 player of the Japan U17 Training Camp, rarely makes a move, yet the seemingly invincible Onigawara Jiro admitted that Tanegashima Shuji is an opponent even he might not be able to defeat.

Moreover, the other players who had just entered high school were also very strong: the dual‑blade Omagari Renji and the Mach‑speed serve master Tsukiya Hikaru.

Normally, with these geniuses competing in the World Cup, they should secure a good ranking.

But instead a surprise upset occurred, and they didn't even get past the group stage.

No wonder Coach Xiao Liu was so saddened.

However, Jiecheng Wu knew in his heart that the Japanese team didn't lose because of lack of skill.

On the day of the match, the French Destruction King duke's sister was buying rice balls by the roadside when a construction scaffold at a nearby renovation suddenly collapsed, about to crush her.

Byodo-in Temple Feng Huang happened to be nearby; without a second thought, the justice‑filled him rushed over and shielded her from the falling steel pipe and bricks.

The girl was unharmed, while he was covered in wounds.

When they arrived at the venue, the badly wounded Byodo-in Temple Feng Huang could no longer resist the French Destruction King's fierce assault; the Japanese team also lost the crucial point because of the incident, missing out on the subsequent elimination round.

Byodo-in Temple Feng Huang felt deep guilt and immense regret; from then on, in order to win the World Cup, he traveled across countries, and his playing style grew increasingly domineering.

And the Destruction King duke was grateful for Byodo-in Temple Feng Huang's act, joining the Japanese national team to repay the favor.

The failure in this World Cup was not a crime of war; it was truly fate playing tricks.

However, domestic media seemed to think otherwise.

Although this report does not state it outright, the subtext is full of doubts about Japanese tennis, with a sharply satirical tone.

What follows will likely be another debate conference off the court.

"What do you know about tennis?"

"Results speak for themselves."

"If you think you can do it, go ahead!"

"Why isn't the World Cup like this now?"

Jiecheng Wu imagined this scene in his mind and shivered, shaking his head.

But at that moment, as if a bolt of lightning struck, Jiecheng Wu was suddenly illuminated with insight.

"Coach, I'm skipping practice today; I'm leaving now!"

He greeted Xiao Liu Longping, who was still doubting life, tidied up his things, and hurried home.

Back in his room, the first thing he did was retrieve the photos he had taken earlier.

Thanks to Yin Wuxiangzi for the 100‑point gift, and thanks to the readers for their monthly tickets!

(End of Chapter)