Chapter 128: Singles No. 3, The Battle of the Captains

Inoue listened to what Shiba said, pondered for a moment, and said, "Not necessarily."

"The National Tournament starts from this match; the team that wins three matches first can advance."

"Generally speaking, the Captain always plays in the Singles No. 1 position. But given Rikkai's strength, I'm afraid it won't need to go to a fifth match."

"In fact, the number of times the Rikkai Captain can actually play is very few."

"In last year's National Tournament finals, Shitenhoji played against Rikkai, and Rikkai won in just three matches; the Captain at the time, Yukimura Seiichi, didn't even have a chance to play."

"So the match between Rikkai and Rokurigaoka a few days ago was a rare match where the Captain played, but unfortunately, we missed it."

Hearing Inoue's words, Shiba's mood suddenly dropped.

"Is Rikkai really that strong?"

Inoue said, "Yes, not only is their overall strength powerful, but I feel that the new Captain, Takahashi Yanichi, has displayed strength in the Kanto Tournament that even surpasses the former Captain, Yukimura Seiichi."

"If nothing unexpected happens, Rikkai will still be the champion this year."

Shiba said, "Tezuka is a player scouted by the king, Germany U17; Takahashi might not necessarily win if he plays against Tezuka!"

Inoue said, "Even if Takahashi loses to Tezuka, the National Tournament is a team competition, so Rikkai still has a better chance of winning in the end."

"Originally, Rikkai's Three Giants—Yanagi Renji, Sanada Genichiro, and Yukimura Seiichi—already stood at the pinnacle of the middle school tennis world, and now a Takahashi Yanichi has been added. Rikkai's victory is truly without any blind spots."

Shiba felt even more dejected.

……

Hyotei's resting area.

Coach Sakaki Taro sat in the on-court coaching seat, his gaze toward Captain Atobe Keigo filled with gratification and satisfaction.

Sakaki Taro knew that Atobe's individual strength was very powerful; he was the only player in Hyotei Academy to reach the National Level.

At the same time, he was also very satisfied with Atobe's excellent management and leadership skills; at only the third year of middle school, he could manage the 200-plus members of the Tennis Club in an orderly fashion.

This was all thanks to Atobe being born into a wealthy and powerful noble family.

But this also created Atobe's flamboyant, confident, and proud personality.

With Atobe's original personality, he could not possibly appear in any position other than Singles No. 1.

But for this match, Atobe made a change.

He was actually willing to take the initiative to go to the Singles No. 3 position, which surprised Sakaki Taro greatly, while also lamenting that Atobe had grown up and was a mature Tennis Club Captain.

He no longer considered only himself when doing things, but stood from the perspective of the entire Tennis Club to consider them.

Sakaki Taro knew that the gap in strength between Hyotei and Rikkai was huge; even if Rikkai eliminated Hyotei in three matches today and advanced smoothly, he would not be particularly surprised.

But what gratified him was that, as the Captain of Hyotei, Atobe Keigo was actually willing to play in Singles No. 3; with his National Level strength, the probability of winning was quite high.

Sakaki Taro had researched Rikkai and knew that Rikkai's powerhouses always played in the Singles No. 2 or No. 1 positions; powerhouses occasionally appeared in Singles No. 3, but the probability was not high.

So Atobe taking the initiative to play in Singles No. 3 was very likely to win a match for Hyotei, making Rikkai take four matches to finish.

Although the final outcome had not changed, being able to drag three matches into four matches was enough for Sakaki Taro; after all, that was Rikkai, which had dominated the Kanto Tournament for 16 years.

And most importantly, Atobe was growing, constantly progressing on the road to becoming an excellent Captain.

This point satisfied Sakaki Taro the most.

……

"National Tournament Quarterfinals, Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School versus Hyotei Academy, is about to begin!"

"First is the Singles No. 3 match, between Takahashi Yanichi of Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School and Atobe Keigo of Hyotei Academy."

The referee announced loudly.

……

"What? Is it a match between the two Captains right from the start?"

Inoue felt very surprised, and then he reacted.

This meant that he could record data regarding Takahashi Yanichi.

He had originally thought he wouldn't be able to see the Rikkai Captain's match, but he didn't expect him to actually play in Singles No. 3.

Although he didn't know why, Inoue felt that even the heavens were favoring him.

Also feeling surprised were the members of Rikkai.

"Why would the Captain play in the Singles No. 3 position?"

"For a Hyotei, there's no need for the Captain to take action at all!"

Niou spoke up.

"That's right, for the Master to take action personally, it's giving Hyotei too much face!"

Kirihara said.

"But the opponent is also the Captain playing in the Singles No. 3 position."

Yanagi Renji spoke up.

Sanada listened to the conversation of the few people beside him and fell into deep thought.

Yesterday, he had just analyzed with Takahashi that Atobe Keigo, for the sake of the entire Tennis Club, might give up the Singles No. 1 position and play in Singles No. 2.

He saw that Takahashi was very concerned about this matter and was very curious, so he thought Takahashi wanted to play against Atobe.

He didn't expect Takahashi to say he wanted to play in Singles No. 3; Sanada thought Takahashi wanted to play around again, so he didn't pay it any mind.

He didn't expect that today Atobe Keigo would actually play in Singles No. 3, so his analysis from yesterday was completely wrong.

Did Takahashi guess Atobe's position, which is why he took the initiative to come to Singles No. 3?

Clearly, Sanada had more contact with Atobe and understood Atobe better.

How could Takahashi guess Atobe's thoughts so accurately?

The situation before his eyes left Sanada unable to understand.

……

On the other side.

Sakaki Taro listened to the referee's words, his eyes narrowing.

It was rare for Atobe to be willing to lower his status to play in Singles No. 3, but he hadn't expected the opponent to also have their Captain playing.

The advantage on his side had vanished in an instant.

Since that was the case, he would just have to see how strong Takahashi really was, and how exactly he had managed to sit in the position of Rikkai Captain.

On the court.

Atobe and Takahashi both walked onto the court and arrived at the net.

Atobe's face had turned completely dark.

"I didn't expect the Rikkai Captain to also lower his status and play in the Singles No. 3 position."

Atobe's low voice revealed a sense of suppressed anger.

Takahashi smiled and said, "Isn't that because you, the Hyotei Captain Atobe Keigo, are also in the Singles No. 3 position?"

"You..."

The look in Atobe's eyes as he stared at Takahashi was practically spitting Fire.

He recalled that he and Takahashi had once had a match at an unknown Street Tennis Court in Tokyo, and that match had a wager: the loser had to voluntarily forfeit the next match they played.

And the one who lost back then was him, Atobe Keigo.

This made him feel very annoyed; as the Captain of the prestigious tennis school Hyotei, losing to someone from a Street Tennis Court was truly disgraceful.

But later, upon learning that Takahashi was the newly appointed Rikkai Captain, Atobe's annoyance was slightly alleviated.

Losing to the Rikkai Captain was better than losing to someone from a Street Tennis Court!

But since Takahashi was the Rikkai Captain, the next match would very likely be at the National Tournament.

This thought made Atobe feel even more annoyed and regretful.

Although it was a loss in the end, winning without a fight would not only lose face for him, Atobe, but the face of all of Hyotei would be thrown away.

After finding out a few days ago that they would meet Rikkai in the quarterfinals, Atobe had been in a foul mood, and he had even specifically called Sanada to ask which position Takahashi would be playing in.

It was all to avoid running into Takahashi.

But Sanada was useless; as Vice Captain, he actually knew nothing!