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

Chapter 9 Official Selection List

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the afterglow of the setting sun turned the Yamabuki Tennis Club's courts orange-red.

Banta Mikiya stood on the steps, holding the form that would determine everyone's fate in his hand.

All the contestants, whether they were expectant freshmen or nervous seniors, held their breath and stared intently at the old man.

"Cough cough."

Banta cleared his throat, his cloudy eyes scanning the entire room, before he began to read.

"After two days of intense selection, the following is the list of the main players who will represent Yamabuki Junior High School in the regional preliminaries."

"The winner of the singles match in position one is Kagura Ikijin."

"The winners of the doubles first position are Tani Yoshiki and Ishimaru Kanto."

"The winner of the second singles match is Kiyosumi Sengoku."

"The winners of the doubles second position are Kentaro Minami and Masami Higashikata."

"The winner of the singles third position is Shinto Miyazaki."

"what?"

As soon as Banta Mikiya announced the starting lineup, the stadium erupted in a frenzy, with gasps of disbelief echoing throughout.

Five out of the seven regular selection spots were taken by first-year students!

Kagura Ikjin and Sengoku Kiyosumi's strength is evident to all, and everyone is convinced of their superiority.

But what makes Kentaro Minami, Masami Higashikata, and even that guy Inaki Niito who always has two green leaves on his head?

"Contestants whose names are called, come to the meeting room with me. Everyone else, please stay put."

Banta Mikiya seemed not to hear the discussions, put away the form, and spoke in a flat tone.

After saying that, he put his hands behind his back and slowly walked towards the conference room.

"Nan, Dongfang, um... how did you guys win?"

On the way to the conference room, Sengoku Kiyosumi couldn't contain her curiosity and leaned close to Minami Kentaro and Higashikata Masami, whispering a question to them.

"We were lucky. The two senior students on court number two had gone through a lot of tough battles before, and by the time they played against us, they were exhausted. We were lucky to turn the tables."

Kentaro Minami touched his nose, looking a little embarrassed.

"And you, Shinto Mikoto?"

Sengoku Kiyosumi then turned to Shintobe Inakichi next to her.

"In the singles third court... no strong seniors signed up, so the rest... I won with just a little effort."

Shintobe Inakichi awkwardly scratched the leaves on his head.

"Looks like everyone's lucky."

Sengoku Kiyosumi blinked, revealing an expression that said, "I knew it."

"..."

Hearing this, Kagura Ichijin, who was walking at the back, couldn't help but twitch his lips and reveal a helpless, bitter smile.

In the past two days, he has defeated no fewer than twenty challengers in singles court number one.

As it turned out, these teammates got promoted by luck and by taking advantage of loopholes.

Taking a team like this to the regional qualifiers... the future looks bleak.

"Bang!"

The conference room door was pushed open.

Banta Mikiya walked straight to his reserved seat at the top of the long table and sat down, his expression becoming serious.

"There are two main things I wanted to discuss with everyone here today! First, to determine the candidate for the new minister; second, to formulate the next training plan and tactical deployment."

"..."

The air froze instantly.

Guji Muxin and Ishimaru Kanto exchanged a glance, then silently lowered their heads.

According to their private agreement, whoever won the top spot would become the minister.

But who could have imagined that Kagura Ikjin would suddenly appear and snatch this crucial position away?

"Taniyoshi, Ishimaru, what do you two think?"

Banta Mikiya's gaze bypassed the group of bewildered freshmen and landed directly on the two third-year regulars.

In terms of seniority and prestige, these two are undoubtedly the most suitable candidates.

Unfortunately, there can only be one minister.

"Let's have a match, let tennis decide the outcome, and whoever wins will be the minister."

Gu Jimuxin remained silent for a moment, then raised his head with a determined look in his eyes.

"Okay, this is the fairest way, and no one will have any complaints."

Shiwan Kanjin nodded in agreement.

However, just as the two were about to clash, a calm voice suddenly broke in.

"Master, can other people also run for minister?"

Kagura Ichijin stood up from his chair, looking at Banta Mikiya with clear and serious eyes.

Yamabuki's overall strength is too weak right now. If they continue to maintain the status quo, they probably won't even make it into the top four of the Kanto Tournament, let alone the National Tournament.

To completely change this situation, a strong leader is needed.

The position of minister is of paramount importance.

"..."

When Kagura Ichijin stepped forward, Tani Yoshi and Ishimaru's expressions instantly turned ugly.

A match? Are you kidding me!

They had been defeated by Kagura Ichijin before. If the match were decided by tennis, the ministerial position would be 100% in Kagura Ichijin's hands.

"..."

Banta Kanya looked at Kagura Ichijin and fell into deep thought.

This child's ability is beyond doubt, but after all, he is a first-year student.

A minister not only needs to be capable, but more importantly, he/she needs to be prestigious and influential.

"I think we should vote! Whoever gets the most votes will be the minister, Guji, what do you say?"

Ishimaru Kanjin's eyes darted around, and he suddenly made a suggestion.

While voting is full of uncertainty, it's still better than deciding the outcome with tennis.

Moreover, not all new students will submit to Kagura Ichiren, so they are not without any chance.

"I agree, Master, let's do it this way."

Gu Jimin understood immediately.

"Okay, let's do a secret ballot. Here's paper and pen. Write down your picks."

Banta Kanya nodded, tore off seven slips of paper, and distributed them.

A few minutes later, the note was taken back.

Banta Mikiya unfolded the ballots one by one and began counting them out.

"Gujimuxin, one vote."

"Ishimaru Kanren, one vote."

"Kentaro Minami, one vote."

"Kiyosumi Sengoku, one vote."

"Kagura Ichijin... three votes."

When the results were announced, an eerie silence fell over the conference room.

No one expected the votes to be so split, and Kagura Ichijin actually received nearly half of the votes.

"Since that's the outcome, it's settled then. From today onwards, Kagura will be the new captain of the Yamabuki Tennis Club. You guys have no objections, right?"

Banta Mikiya looked at the results in his hand, remained silent for a long time, and finally spoke slowly.

Originally, Kagura Ikjin's chances were very slim, but the open and covert struggle between Tani Yoshiki Shin and Ishimaru Kanto gave Kagura Ikjin an opportunity to take advantage of.

No objections.

Gu Jimu gave a forced smile, but felt a sense of relief.

At least we won't have to fight to the death with Ishimaru Kanto anymore.

"This is fate..."

Ishimaru Kanto sighed, leaned back in his chair, and looked somewhat forlorn.

"Alright, let's move on to the second thing. This is the training plan I've drafted, and we'll start implementing it tomorrow. As for the tactics..."

Banta Mikiya took a document out of the drawer.

"Master, this training plan is too simple. It won't be very effective for us right now."

After glancing at the training plan, Kagura Ichijin shook his head immediately.

"This is my usual training program, and I recommend using this set."

Kagura Ichijin took a neatly folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it over.

深蹲50次、小腿伸展20次、半蹲跳15次、深蹲跳15次、伏地转身15次、伏地挺身15次……这密密麻麻的项目，赫然是U17集训营的训练单！