The Prince of Tennis: The Quincy of Rikkai University.

Chapter 163: The operation was successful, and the new year lottery ceremony (this chapter has a large plot span)
After a day of closed training, when everyone from Rikkai University walked out of the venue, except for Maya Yuuki, everyone looked extremely tired.

Especially Marui Bunta, his clothes were covered with countless ball marks on the front and back, and he looked extremely embarrassed.

However, seeing his expression, Niou Masaharu rarely opened his mouth to argue with him.

Because Nioh witnessed the entire process of the sparring between the other party and Yuuki Maya with his own eyes, it was no exaggeration to say that it was horrific.

With the balls hit by Maya Yuuki in front and the occasional sneak attacks from the serving machine in the back, Marui Bunta basically spends half of his training time being beaten by tennis balls.

"Marui, today's practice was very effective. You should continue to practice after returning to school."

Maya Yuuki was very satisfied with her opponent's progress today. From being unable to fight back, by the end of the training, she was able to barely return one ball in front and one behind at the same time. Marui was making rapid progress.

"Um... ah?"

Marui Bunta responded instinctively at first, but immediately realized something was wrong and looked at Yuuki Maya with wide eyes and a horrified expression.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

“…No, no problem.”

Marui Fumita sighed secretly, knowing that his days in the tennis club would not be easy in the coming period.

But he was also aware of Yuuki Maya's good intentions. She was sacrificing her own practice time to help him grow and improve.

……

After the regional qualifiers, the Kanagawa Prefecture Conference will begin.

Compared to the huge number of participating schools in the Tokyo Metropolitan Conference, the number of schools in the Kanagawa Prefectural Conference is only about half of that.

Rikkai University only used half of its regular lineup and won the county championship without any pressure.

The remaining three schools that qualified are the same three as last year.

However, it is worth mentioning that Shonan Chengcheng seems to have replaced some main players and head coaches this year. Last year, they were only at the top four in the county conference, but this year they have entered the finals.

They even scored a point against Rikkai University. Of course, the opponent won against Rikkai University's second team, and when they met Rikkai University's main team later, they were immediately defeated without any chance of counterattack.

After losing the game, Shonan's new head coach Aoi Hanamura looked a little unbelievable.

On the one hand, he was shocked that the excellent player he had trained could have lost so easily. On the other hand, he felt that the strength of Rikkai University's starting players was simply not at the level of a junior high school student.

No one cared about Aoi Hanamura's thoughts. For Rikkai University, winning the county championship was as easy as drinking water.

At the same time as the Kanagawa Prefecture Conference ended, the prefectural (metropolitan) conferences in other regions also ended on almost the same day, and one month later, the annual Kanto Conference would be held.

Before the Kanto Conference began, all the qualified school teams had basically started intensive training.

The same is true for Rikkai Nature, but there is one important thing during this period.

It's time for Yukimura Seiichi's surgery.

On that day, Yuuki Maya and other regular players stopped their tennis club training and came to the corridor of the hospital's operating room, silently waiting for the results of the operation.

Without any surprises, Seiichi Yukimura's operation was successful, but the nurse told them that they could not meet because he needed to recuperate after the operation.

The moment they walked out of the hospital gate, the stones that were weighing on everyone's hearts fell away.

"Everyone, regardless of whether Yukimura can make it to the Kanto Tournament, the championship this time will definitely belong to us."

In front of the gate, Sanada said with a serious face that he would not allow any flaws in the agreement with Yukimura to win three consecutive championships.

"Don't worry, Sanada. With us here, no one can take the championship from us." Yuuki Maya responded in an unquestionable tone. His words were also the common thoughts of the others.

A few weeks later.

It was early June, and there was still a little over a week left until the opening of the Kanto Conference.

Today is a special Sunday because there is a customary draw ceremony before the Kanto Conference officially begins.

The place for the draw would undoubtedly be at the venue of Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School, the champion of the previous Kanto Conference.

Same location, same layout.

In front of the gate of Rikkai University, the representatives of Seigaku, Tezuka Kunimitsu and Oishi Shuichiro, stood there.

"Tezuka, we are here again." Oishi Shuichiro said with emotion.

"Yes, that's right." Kunimitsu Tezuka nodded. Last year, they also came here to draw lots.

Looking at this familiar building, Tezuka Kunimitsu was thinking that this year, Seigaku's goal is definitely not just to reach the semi-finals.

Then, after Tezuka and Oishi went in, not long after, Atobe Keigo and Oshinobu Yuushi, representatives of Hyotei, also stopped and stood in the position where Tezuka and the others had just been.

"Tsk, I'm in this unpleasant place again."

Keigo Atobe has been in a bad mood recently. This year's Hyotei's road to promotion is not as smooth as last year, but has encountered many problems.

At the Tokyo Metropolitan Conference, they encountered a conspiracy from the Fudomine Junior High School, which came out of nowhere and they had never heard of. They were shut out in the first three games and lost the game shamefully with a score of 3-0.

As a result, they lost the Tokyo Metropolitan Tournament championship and were even kicked out of the top four of the tournament.

In the end, they could only advance to the Kanto Conference as the fifth seed through the revival match, which was a situation that they had never imagined before Atobe Keigo came.

What made him even more uncomfortable was that Seigaku, who was defeated by him last year, was now more powerful than Hyotei this year.

Seigaku, which was advancing rapidly all the way, defeated St. Rudolph Junior High School, Yamabuki Junior High School and some unknown junior high schools, and successfully won the Tokyo Metropolitan Tournament championship, replacing Hyotei as the number one seed in the Tokyo division.

"Alright, Atobe, the metropolitan meeting was just an accident. It was our fault that we didn't send out our main force in that match."

Oshitari Yuushi knew how Atobe Keigo felt at the moment and could only speak to comfort him again.

"Phew, you're right. Everything Hyotei lost before will be regained at the Kanto Conference."

"Let's go in."

Atobe Keigo breathed a sigh of relief and his mood slowly calmed down. The most important thing at the moment was the drawing ceremony.

This time they didn't even need to look at the signposts. After turning a few corners skillfully, they arrived at the venue of the lottery ceremony.

After the door opened and entered, many representatives from schools had already gathered in the venue.

They sat in the seats with their school names on them and waited for the lottery to begin.

In the seat of Rikkai University.

Genichirō Sanada and Maya Yuuki were sitting there. They had sensed each other the moment Atobe came in.

The two sides just made eye contact and greeted each other without any brief verbal exchange.

Half an hour later, representatives from all participating teams arrived and the draw ceremony officially began.

(End of this chapter)