Chapter 182: Heading Toward the World

"Bang!"

"3-1!"

"Point for the Takahashi-Oomagari pair!"

Fuji and Kintaro both ran toward the middle at the same time; in order to reach the ball, Kintaro even dove onto the ground.

However.

"Thud!"

The tennis ball landed heavily in the open space between the two.

"Takahashi's ball speed isn't as fast as it was in the first set now, but Fuji and Kintaro still can't reach it."

Chitose said with some confusion.

Beside him, Atobe stared fixedly at the ball's landing spot; he pondered for a moment and said, "The landing spot of this ball from Takahashi is a blind spot that neither of them can react to in time."

"Not just the ball speed, Takahashi is even finding the blind spots with such accuracy!"

Oshitari Yuushi said, "And as soon as Takahashi makes a move, the high schooler Oomagari standing to the side stops trying to return the ball entirely."

"It's turned into one-on-two again!"

Oishi opened his mouth slightly, feeling incredulous.

"Could it be that Takahashi can defeat both Fuji and Kintaro by himself?"

Yanagi Renji looked at the somewhat dazed Oishi, preparing to speak a few words of comfort.

"You've hit the nail on the head! Master isn't just playing one-on-two, and Kintaro is even at the limit of Peerless Perfection."

Kirihara spoke up before Yanagi Renji could.

Oishi was stunned as he listened to Kirihara's words.

That's right, the current Kintaro is at the limit of Peerless Perfection, just like Echizen during the Kanto Tournament and Tezuka during the National Tournament.

And beside Kintaro is Fuji Shusuke, who is hailed as the genius of Seigaku.

The two of them combined still cannot take a single point from Takahashi.

Is this the true strength of the Rikkai Captain, Takahashi Yanichi?

Kikumaru, who was beside Oishi, also spoke in a daze: "You've got to be kidding! Fuji's signature moves—the Vanishing Serve, Hecatoncheires' Gatekeepers, and Star Fireworks—have all been easily broken by Takahashi!"

"Star Fireworks, that's Fuji's Sixth Counter!"

Yukimura explained, "Takahashi's fundamental strength is extremely powerful; he can see through the essence of Fuji's signature moves at a glance, so these little tricks are useless against him."

Hearing Yukimura's words, Shiraishi was somewhat stunned, then he seemed to realize something and said, "No flashy movements, seeing through the essence of a move at a glance!"

"Returning everything using the most fundamental methods."

"Takahashi's tennis is the only thing that can truly be called perfect!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Match over! The Takahashi-Oomagari pair wins!"

"Score 6-0, 6-1!"

After the doubles match, several singles matches were held one after another.

However, without exception, all the middle schoolers who took the court failed.

"The strength of the top 10 high schoolers is just too overwhelming!"

"They're not even on the same level as the bottom 20 we played against yesterday."

Shiraishi sighed.

He had just played a singles match against Tanegashima Shuji, and the match ended with the opponent winning 6-0 twice, without him scoring a single point.

"To think Takahashi could secure the NO. 2 spot among such powerful high schoolers, it's truly terrifying!"

Chitose Senri chimed in as well.

He had just played a match against the NO. 3, Duke, and followed in Shiraishi's footsteps, having his match ended by the opponent in two sets.

"Takahashi, he truly is the number one among us middle schoolers!"

Fuji Shusuke, standing to the side, said in a low voice.

"Rumble!"

"Rumble!"

An airplane flew in from the distance, getting closer and closer.

Coach Kurobe, standing at the very front of the Main Court, looked at the approaching plane and said, "It's finally time for the Head Coach to make an appearance!"

A middle-aged man with a full beard stepped down from the plane.

"I am the Head Coach of the U17 Japan Representative Team, Mifune Nyudo!"

Momoshiro said in surprise, "For real? A guy like this is actually our Head Coach?"

Tokugawa said, "Momoshiro, you must maintain the proper respect for Coach Mifune!"

Mifune roared loudly, "Listen up! You brats!"

"As part of the International Tennis Association's goal to cultivate new talent, this U17 World Cup has made a special exception to allow middle school students to participate; this is the reason we sent out training camp invitations to you middle schoolers."

"During this period, I have been observing your progress and potential for development, and after consulting with the other coaches, we have decided on the middle school representative team."

"Now, I will announce the 14 middle schoolers selected for the representative team."

"Yukimura Seiichi, Sanada Genichiro, Yanagi Renji, Niou Masaharu, Marui Bunta, Kirihara Akaya, Atobe Keigo, Shiraishi Kuranosuke, Toyama Kintaro, Chitose Senri, Fuji Shusuke, Oishi Shuichiro, Kite Eishiro."

Kintaro counted on his fingers and asked curiously, "Old man, isn't this only 13 people?"

Mifune said loudly, "You brat, don't interrupt me!"

"And there is also the captain of the middle school representatives, 1st String NO. 2 Takahashi Yanichi!"

Shiraishi said, "Right, although Takahashi belongs to the 1st String, he is still a middle schooler and should be categorized into the middle school team."

Momoshiro, who did not hear his name from the Coach, felt a bit dejected; he carefully recalled the entire list and exclaimed, "14 spots, and Rikkai alone occupies 7!"

"That's occupying too many spots! That's a bit ridiculous!"

Fuji, who was to the side, said, "But the strength of the Rikkai members is indeed powerful!"

"From the perspective of the coaches, there is no problem with letting the strong be selected for the list."

Oishi pointed at himself and said, "I'm actually on the list too?"

"Eiji isn't on it?"

Fuji said with a smile, "Only the two of us from Seigaku made it onto the list."

"Oishi, be more confident; there must be a reason you were noticed by the Coach."

Then Fuji said with some dejection, "If only Tezuka and Echizen were here, then we from Seigaku would have four people selected."

Unlike the gradually sinking mood of the Seigaku group, Kintaro to the side said very excitedly, "Great!"

"Now I can participate in the World Cup!"

A few days later.

Australia.

On a bus, Kirihara said very excitedly, "We've come to Australia."

"I heard that the kangaroos here are a local specialty! I really want to go see them."

Marui, sitting next to Kirihara, saw a dessert shop by the side of the road, his eyes shining as he said, "Pavlova, Lamingtons!"

"These are all representative desserts of their country; I really want to go try them."

Sanada Genichiro in the front answered sternly, "You two are truly too lax!"

"We are here to participate in a tournament, not to play around."

Takahashi responded while playing a game, "Sanada, that's where you're wrong."

"Both competition and relaxation must be balanced; combining work with rest and knowing when to be tense or relaxed is what allows us to go further!"

"Kirihara, Marui, it's fine. Once we rest at the hotel later, we'll go relax a bit."

Sanada turned his head and watched Takahashi's fingers sliding rapidly across the game console; black lines could not help but appear on his face, daring to be angry but not daring to speak!

Fuji to the side smiled and said, "So this is the host site of the U17 World Cup! It feels like I'm dreaming!"

A low voice rang out.

"What you are going to witness later is not some beautiful dream, but hell."

"In this tournament, you will deeply recognize and experience the terror of the world!"

The one speaking was none other than the captain of the Japan Team, Byodoin Houou.

Once these words were spoken, the entire bus went quiet.