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Hyotei is the uncrowned king of Tokyo.

Yamabuki is known throughout the Kanto region for its doubles, while Seigaku occasionally produces several promising singles players. The two schools are evenly matched and often engage in fierce battles in the Metropolitan Tournament.

This year, Yamabuki took second place, and Seigaku was relegated to third. Next year, Seigaku will take the top spot, and Yamabuki will fall behind.

Such incidents have occurred repeatedly over the past decade or so.

Therefore, it is common knowledge in Tokyo that Yamabuki and Seigaku are at odds.

However, outsiders only know one side of the story, not the other. The conflict between the two schools can actually be traced back much further.

That was more than twenty years ago.

At that time, both Banrou and Ryuzaki Sumire were still young.

That year, Sumire Ryuzaki led Seigaku, a team with the samurai Echizen Nanjiro, and had a strong lineup, making them the team with the best chance of winning the national championship.

She is full of fighting spirit and hopes to add a glorious chapter to her life's work by leading a team to the top of the national championship.

Seigaku lived up to expectations, advancing triumphantly and successfully making it into the national competition.

Just when everyone thought Seigaku would win the national championship this year, Ban-ro suddenly appeared out of nowhere with Kuwaji Junior High School.

The two schools met in the semifinals.

As a result, Seigaku lost all their matches except for the singles match where the samurai Echizen Nanjiro won.

Seigaku's most likely chance to win the championship ultimately fell in the semi-finals, while the national championship that year was won by Banra and Kuwaji Junior High School, thus beginning the feud between the two.

Later, Banro took a position at Yamabuki High School, becoming a direct rival of Seigaku. The two schools have been competing openly and covertly ever since.

It started two years ago.

With the addition of players like Tezuka Kunimitsu and Fuji Syusuke, Seigaku has been overshadowed by Yamabuki. If it weren't for Seigaku's serious lack of doubles, they probably would have qualified for the National Tournament this year.

That's why Banla is so eager to fix Yamabuki's singles weaknesses.

Fortunately, Kitahara Akira appeared just in time!

Kentaro Minami looked at his companion, who had sat up slightly, and knew without guessing what he was thinking, so he said:

"Brother, Sengoku and I will be keeping an eye on the matches between Muromachi and Kazuma. We'll leave it to you, Kitahara."

"Eh?"

Upon hearing this, Sengoku pointed to himself and asked, "Do I have to go too?"

"Actually... I wanted to watch Kitahara's match!"

"Then I'll have to trouble you two."

The old man had a kind smile on his face, his hands behind his back, and said with a grin.

Sengoku sighed helplessly, "Fine..."

Ten minutes later.

"The match is about to begin. Please bring your players to the stage."

"Akira Kitahara of Yamabuki Junior High School in Tokyo versus Kaoru Kaido of Seishun Gakuen!"

As the announcements from the stadium faded, the area outside the stadium was already packed with people dressed in all sorts of colors.

Besides the original audience, the sudden influx of people was either drawn by the famous rivalry between Yamabuki and Seigaku, or they wanted to gather information about their next opponent.

The rest were some journalist friends.

Because this round of competition will determine the top eight players in this rookie tournament, each newspaper has sent reporters to be stationed at eight different courts in an effort to obtain firsthand information.

Inoue Mamoru, the writer of the tennis monthly magazine, was assigned here.

"Inoue-senpai, which side do you think has a better chance of winning?" Shiba Saori asked.

Because of Echizen Nanjiro, Inoue Mamoru emotionally hoped that Seigaku would win, but based on the available data, he said in a deep voice:

"Yamabuki!"

......

"Kitahara Akira's chances of winning are 85%!"

"That's what Inui Sadaharu said."

"Ah-Gan, how could you boost someone else's morale!"

Kikumaru angrily poked Inui Sadaharu's back, while Oishi frowned, feeling that it was inappropriate to undermine Kaido's confidence at this time.

Tezuka and Fuji remained silent, knowing that Inui was not the type to speak without reason.

As expected, Inui Sadaharu continued:

"So if Kaido wants to win, he needs to seize the remaining 15% chance."

Kaidou tightened his headscarf: "Senior Inui, what should I do?"

"No one in this tournament will be able to counter Kitahara Akira's super-fast serve."

Behind Inui Sadaharu's glasses, a series of cold data seemed to flash by as he continued his analysis, "So you need to give up your opponent's serve."

"Give up the serve?"

Kikumaru suddenly interrupted Inui again, "Isn't that just like Aihara's first place in the previous two matches, and Midoriya Middle School's?"

"They still lost in the end."

Kaidou frowned. Giving up was the word he disliked the most.

Inui Sadaharu shook his head: "Kaido is different from them."

"Besides his super-fast serve, Kitahara Akira also has a powerful topspin serve. Players like Aihara and Midoriyama can't withstand that strong topspin, but Kaido is different."

"Having mastered the 'snake shot' and other high-spin curveballs, Kaido was able to handle Kitahara Akira's strong topspin attacks relatively easily."

He looked at Kaido Kaoru, his voice rising slightly.

"So Kaido, you need to keep using snake shots to move Kitahara Akira around during your service games, and use long rallies to wear him down as much as possible."

"Endurance combat, that's your forte!"

"If you can drag the match out to an hour, your opponent's serve quality will drop, and your chances of winning will reach over 60%!"

Kaido memorized Inui Sadaharu's tactics and nodded emphatically.

"I understand, Senior Qian!"

Finally, Sumire Ryuzaki gave Kaidou a hard pat on the back, giving him strength.

"Go, Kaidou!"

......

Soon, the broadcast started again.

The two stood in front of the net.

Kitahara Akira sized up Kaidou Kaoru across from him. Just like in the anime, he had a green headscarf with white stripes, dark skin, and a thin but wiry build. He exuded a gloomy aura.

"Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you!"

After shaking hands, the two players guessed who would go first. As the racket fell to the ground, it was Kitahara Akira's turn to serve.

! !

Kitahara Meiichi gets the right to serve.

Whether it was the opponents, the referee, or the spectators, everyone on and off the field tensed up, and no one dared to lose focus for even a moment.

"I won't give up, I'm determined to return this serve!"

Kaido stood behind the baseline, keeping a close eye on Kitahara Akira's movements. He did not intend to completely follow Inui Sadaharu's plan; the word "give up" did not exist in his dictionary.

"I'm betting my pride, built on ten years of refereeing experience, that I'll definitely see where the ball lands this time!"

The referee, wearing a sun hat and seated on the high chair, was completely focused and showed no sign of letting up, determined to regain the dignity he had lost in the upcoming match.

"Don't blink!"

"That's Tokyo's top hitter's serve! We absolutely can't miss it!"

The audience members below the stage had their eyes shining with excitement.

Many of them came because of Kitahara Akira's reputation, pushing and shoving, desperately craning their necks forward, all wanting to get a better look.

next second.

The umpire took a deep breath and shouted, "It's Kitahara Akira's serve!"

The stadium fell silent.

Everyone instinctively held their breath.

Tap! ... Tap! ... Tap! ...

The sound of the tennis ball bouncing on the ground was incredibly clear, as if amplified tenfold.

Swish!

Kitahara Akira bent his knees and tossed the tennis ball into the air.

All eyes were fixed on the tossed tennis ball, no one daring to blink, their nerves taut.

Before everyone could get ready.

Bang! !

A dark shadow fell, and a thunderous explosion resounded throughout the stadium!