The Prince of Tennis: From Data-Driven Tennis to the Pinnacle of His Career

Tokyo, an old apartment building.

The morning sunlight pierced through the thin clouds, barely squeezing through the somewhat dusty window, casting dappled light onto the tatami mats.

Kagura Ichijin woke up groggily and reached out to grope around on his pillow for a while.

I glanced at the alarm clock; the hands pointed to 8:30.

He sat up abruptly, quickly washed up, picked up his tennis bag, and left his "home" of less than 50 square meters.

Passing by the convenience store at the alley entrance, he skillfully grabbed two red bean breads and a carton of milk, paid for them, and hurried toward the bus stop.

He won his match against Kadowaki Satoru yesterday, and today's match is the semi-final.

"Ding-dong."

With the crisp sound of coins falling into the coin box, Kagura Ichijin boarded the bus bound for the Midori Forest Tennis Park.

The carriage was somewhat empty, so he went straight to the last row and sat down by the window.

"Buzz!"

The engine roared low, and the scenery outside the car window began to rush past.

After putting down his tennis bag, Kagura Ichijin closed his eyes to rest.

Today his opponent is Yukimura Seiichi. Although he has the system's help, he knows very well that he must be in better shape to face an opponent of that level.

"Sizzle!"

After an unknown amount of time, a sudden screech of brakes broke the silence of the carriage.

The inertia caused Kagura Ichijin's body to lurch forward, almost hitting the seat in front of him.

The car stopped and showed no signs of restarting.

Kagura Ichijin opened his eyes, frowned slightly, and looked out the window. He saw a long line of red taillights on the road ahead, surrounded by cars that were stuck in traffic.

"Is there a traffic jam?"

He glanced at the electronic timetable at the front of the carriage, then closed his eyes again.

The semi-finals start at 10:00, and it's not even 9:00 yet, so there's still plenty of time.

However, as time ticked by, the horns outside the car window blared incessantly, but the traffic remained completely still.

More than half an hour later, Kagura Ichijin finally couldn't sit still any longer and got up to go to the driver's seat to ask.

"There has been a car accident ahead, and the traffic department is closing the road to handle it. It will probably take a while."

The driver shrugged helplessly.

……

Time passed anxiously in this agonizing wait. After what seemed like an eternity, with a slight jolt, the bus finally started moving again.

Kagura Ichijin glanced subconsciously at the electronic timetable at the front of the carriage; it was already past ten o'clock.

Half an hour later, when Kagura Ichijin arrived at the Midori Forest Tennis Park, the Jr. tournament had already ended.

It turns out he wasn't the only one who was unlucky; apparently, the player who was supposed to face off against Genichiro Sanada was also late because of traffic.

In order to avoid wasting time, the organizers decided to hold the finals ahead of schedule.

The final result was no surprise—Yukimura Seiichi defeated Sanada Genichiro and lifted the championship trophy.

At the registration desk, Kagura Ichijin truthfully explained the reason for his lateness to the event organizers and returned the racket that had been with him for over a week.

"Kagura-kun, this is the prize for the top four."

A staff member handed me a brand new tennis racket with the Jr. tournament's exclusive logo printed on the handle.

"..."

Kagura Ichijin took the racket, swung it twice casually, and the frustration in his eyes was instantly replaced by a hint of surprise.

This feels even better than the one he used before!

Although ownership belongs to the event organizers, he has lifetime usage rights as one of the top four contestants.

This is a godsend for him right now.

Satisfied, Kagura Ichijin said goodbye to the staff and prepared to leave the park.

"Bang!"

Just as he was passing an open-air court hidden by bushes, a dull and powerful sound of a ball being struck entered his ears.

Kagura Ichijin paused. This sound was wrong; it was definitely not the kind of quality that an ordinary amateur could produce.

He pushed aside the bushes as if possessed and looked toward the source of the sound. Soon, three familiar figures appeared before him.

Watching Tezuka Kunimitsu, Sanada Genichiro, and Yukimura Seiichi acting as temporary referees, Kagura Ichijin felt a sudden surge of joy.

Is this the "private competition" after the Jr. tournament?

"Bang!"

On the court, Genichiro Sanada roared and swung his racket with both hands, striking as if drawing a sword.

"Bang!"

Across from him, Tezuka Kunimitsu remained expressionless, a cold glint flashing beneath his glasses.

He lowered his wrist slightly, then swung his racket forcefully, precisely pressing the tennis ball onto the baseline.

"Game, Tezuka Kunimitsu, 4-1!"

"Huff... huff..."

Genichiro Sanada braced himself on his knees, panting heavily, sweat dripping from the brim of his hat, his fingers gripping the racket trembling slightly from the exertion.

He had already played two intense matches with Yukimura at the Jr. tournament, and now he was facing Tezuka Kunimitsu, who was here to challenge him. His stamina was almost completely depleted.

"Game, Tezuka Kunimitsu, 5-1!"

……

"Game, Tezuka Kunimitsu, 6-1!"

……

"Match ended, 6-0, 6-1, Tezuka Kunimitsu wins!"

"..."

Seeing Sanada Genichiro completely suppressed, or even utterly defeated, Kagura Ichijin subconsciously gripped his new racket and silently recited the system's commands.

Genichiro Sanada (Sixth grade elementary school student)

Speed: 3

Power: 3

Stamina: 3

Spirit: 3

Technology: 3

Total: 15

Tezuka Kunimitsu (Sixth grade of elementary school)

Speed: 3

Power: 2.5

Stamina: 2.5

Spirit: 3.5

Technology: 5

Total: 16.5

Looking at the five dimensions of Sanada Genichiro and Tezuka Kunimitsu, Kagura Ichijin made up his mind to increase the intensity of his training.

He will be entering junior high school in eight months, and these three people in front of him will become his biggest competitors in the future.

"Tezuka-kun, Sanada isn't in good shape. Let's fight next."

Yukimura Seiichi took off the coat draped over his shoulders, picked up his racket, and walked onto the court. His tone was still gentle, but it carried an undeniable air of dominance.

Then, as if remembering something, he turned his head to look at Kagura Ichijin, who was watching the battle.

"Kagura-kun, if you want to continue with that semi-final match that didn't happen, you might have to wait a little while."

"No need, losing is losing. Only the weak make excuses."

Kagura Ichijin shook his head and simply found a step to sit down.

He then took out red bean bread and milk from his tennis bag, and started eating them without a care in the world.

"……All right."

Yukimura Seiichi raised an eyebrow in surprise, seemingly quite appreciative of Kagura's composed attitude.

Once he was certain that Kagura really didn't intend to compete, he signaled to Sanada to act as the temporary referee.

"Bang!"

A new round of war has broken out.

"15-0!"

……

"15-15!"

……

"Game, Seiichi Yukimura, 1-1!"

……

"Game, Seiichi Yukimura, 2-2!"

"..."

Seeing Yukimura Seiichi and Tezuka Kunimitsu locked in a protracted battle, Kagura Ichijin silently recited the system's commands once more.

Yukimura Seiichi (Sixth grade elementary school student)

Speed: 3

Power: 2

Stamina: 2

Spirit: 5

Technology: 4.5

Total: 16.5

"Game, Seiichi Yukimura, 3-3!"

……

"Game, Seiichi Yukimura, 4-4!"

……

Just as the match was reaching its climax, a discordant roar suddenly erupted.

"Hey! Who gave you permission to eat here?"

Kagura Ichijin was taken aback and turned his head to look. He saw a park ranger wearing a dark blue uniform and a red armband on his arm rushing towards him with an angry expression.

The administrator glanced around and saw the scattered beverage bottles and snack bags left by someone on the ground. He immediately flew into a rage and pointed at Yukimura Seiichi, Sanada Genichiro, and Tezuka Kunimitsu, yelling at them.

"And you lot! Do you just litter after you finish eating? Are you treating this place like a garbage dump? Where are your parents?"

"..."

Kagura Ichijin reacted extremely quickly. He swiftly stuffed the bread bag and milk bottle in his hand into the side pocket of his tennis bag, zipped it up, picked up the bag, turned around, and ran wildly in the opposite direction.

His problem isn't actually that big, but it's different for Yukimura Seiichi, Sanada Genichiro, and Tezuka Kunimitsu. If they get caught littering in Japan, they'll face fines.

"Sanada, run!"

Yukimura Seiichi reacted instantly, grabbing his and Sanada's tennis bags and running after Kagura Ichijin.

This is a blind spot for surveillance cameras. If I get caught, I'll definitely be blamed for "littering"!

"Wait for me!"

Genichiro Sanada hadn't recovered from the match when he was forced to join the fleeing army.

At this point, it was obvious whoever got caught was in trouble, but fortunately, there was still Tezuka Kunimitsu as a target.

But after taking two steps, he glanced at the scene out of the corner of his eye and his face instantly turned ashen.

That bastard Tezuka Kunimitsu actually ran away too, and judging from his agile steps, he was clearly much faster than him.

"..."

After running a long distance, Kagura Ichijin was panting heavily and was about to stop and look back to check the situation.

When he turned around, he saw that Yukimura Seiichi, Tezuka Kunimitsu, and Sanada Genichiro were following closely behind him.

Further away, the angry administrator was still relentlessly pursuing them.

"Those three bastards."

Cursing his bad luck under his breath, Kagura Ichijin had no choice but to grit his teeth and speed up again.

I don't know how much time passed, but as my legs felt as heavy as lead and my breathing became a rapid, bellows-like sound, the roar behind me finally disappeared.

Kagura Ichijin then dared to stop, leaning against a large tree and breathing in the fresh air.