The Prince of Tennis: My tennis skills come from Naruto

As he spoke, Akutsu Jin roughly pulled the gold-embossed business card from his pocket and threw it onto the coffee table, placing it next to the contract.

"This was given to me personally by the manager of the Hyotei tennis club! Here, it's a business card, see for yourself!"

"It's written on it! There's a photo, a phone number, and an email address! How could it be fake?"

Akutsu Yuki quickly picked up the business card, which had an elegant background and a substantial feel.

It was clearly printed on it:

Yuko Fujii, manager of the tennis club at Hyotei Academy Middle School

A very clear one-inch photo was pasted on the side.

The woman in the photo has a beautiful face and an elegant yet capable demeanor. Below her are her contact details:

Contact number: xxxxxxxxx

Work email:

"Wait a minute, Ren, what are you doing at Hyotei's tennis club?!" Akutsu Yuki noticed something amiss; then she remembered the injury on Ren's left cheek...

Could it be that……

"Mind your own business! You nagging old woman!"

Akutsu Jin looked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "I just came to let you know that I'm transferring to Hyotei."

"So you don't have to ask around there later!"

After saying that, he turned around and was about to go back to his small room.

But after taking a step, he abruptly stopped.

He turned his back to Akutsu Yuki and remained silent for a few seconds.

Finally, he uttered a sentence abruptly and in a very fast, almost indistinct manner:

"Also... don't always work from dawn till dusk."

"Oh my! My little devil... my Ren is showing concern for people now!" Akutsu Yuki said happily, cupping her face in her hands.

"Who cares about you, old woman! Don't flatter yourself!"

Akutsu Jin turned around abruptly as if he had been burned, but the red mark on his earlobe stood out starkly against his pale skin.

He glared fiercely at his mother and snapped, "I just... I just don't want you to get sick from overwork! Then I'll have to take care of you! It's so annoying!"

Then she practically fled back to her room.

"Bang—!"

A deafening slam of the door slamming shut made the door panel tremble slightly.

Akutsu Yuuki stood there, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curve upwards.

She silently picked up the contract and business card, carefully folded them, placed them in the most conspicuous spot on the coffee table, and weighed them down with a tissue box.

Then, she turned around and walked back into that small, warm kitchen filled with the aroma of cooking.

He was chopping ginger with a "clack, clack, clack" sound.

Perhaps it was the spiciness of the ginger that made Akutsu Yuki's eyes slightly red, but the corners of her mouth were still turned up.

……

Five days later,

The open space in front of the Hyotei Academy tennis club's bulletin board was now completely surrounded by club members dressed in blue and white tracksuits.

"Excuse me! Excuse me! Have you finished watching what's ahead?"

"Don't push! Don't push! I can't see!"

"Let me see which group I'm in! God help me not be in Group A!"

"Oh no! My name is in Group A! And in the same group as Captain Kamiya! Help! Help! Help!"

A tall, third-year student was looking miserable, his piercing eyes exaggeratedly threatening to shed tears.

Beside him, Kikumaru Eiji's signature red hair drooped down, and he held his head, looking utterly hopeless.

"Aaaaa! How could this happen! I'm in the same group as Vice-Captain Atobe, qaq!"

This is so tragic! He and Oishi just lost to Vice-Captain Atobe not long ago! TAT

Upon hearing this, those assigned to Group C immediately cast sympathetic glances at the two.

Yuushi Oshitari looked at his name, which was third in Group A, and the image of Kamiya-kun's cunning (?) smile flashed through his mind. He strongly suspected that someone was manipulating the group assignments behind the scenes!

Because he clearly remembered that on the day the tennis club was reformed, when Kamiya invited him to come down and play, he avoided the match.

The murmurs, occasionally interspersed with a few wails, blended into a cacophony of noise.

All eyes were focused on the newly posted schedule and division table.

At that moment, Mori Jusaburo, with his short, slightly curly, wine-red hair, used his agile skills to easily squeeze to the front of the crowd like a fish.

The announcement clearly stated:

Hyotei Academy Tennis Club Intra-School Selection Tournament Phase 1 (Group Stage) Competition Rules

Article 1 Grouping and Competition Format

Grouping method: All participants are divided into three groups: A, B, and C.

Tournament Format: A single round-robin format will be used within each group, meaning that every player in each group will play one match against every other player in the group.

Article 2 Competition Rules

Match format: Each match consists of 4 games with no advantage, and the first player to win four games wins the match.

If the score is tied at 3-3, the game will proceed directly to a tiebreaker.

In a single game, if the score is tied at 40-40, the next point will directly determine the winner of the game.

Article 3 Points System

The winner of each match receives 3 points.

The loser of each match receives 0 points.

If a player forfeits before the match or is deemed to have forfeited due to injury, violation, or other reasons, that player will receive 0 points, and their opponent will be treated as the winner and receive 3 points.

Article 4 Advancement Rules

After the group stage, players in each group will be ranked according to their points.

The top five players in each group will advance to the second stage of the ranking battle.

In the event of a tie in points, the ranking will be determined by the coach based on a comprehensive assessment of head-to-head results, net game wins, total points, and other factors.

Article 5 Supplementary Provisions

The final interpretation of these regulations rests with the Hyotei Academy Tennis Club.

Any matters not covered herein will be decided upon separately by the management of Hyotei Tennis Club.

Mori Jusaburo's gaze swept quickly across the rules, then locked onto the group list posted next to it:

Group list (51 people in total)

Group A: Kamiya You (first year), Shimizu Masahiro (third year), Shinobu Yuushi (first year), Akutsu Jin (first year)...

Group B: Keigo Atobe (first year), Shu Saito (third year), Jiro Akutagawa (first year), Gakuto Mukahi (first year)...

Group C: Mori Juzaburo (2nd year), Sengoku Kiyosumi (1st year), Maeda Ryuichi (2nd year), Oishi Shuichiro (1st year)...

Note: Please obtain the specific match-up list for each player from the tennis department manager.

"I'm the first name in Group C..."

Looking at the names of the first place winners in Group A and Group B, Mori Jusaburo has reason to believe that the first place winners in all three groups are the strongest people in their respective groups.

Thinking of this, he yawned.

Well, it wasn't particularly surprising, considering the Kamiya Group's intelligence department is quite famous.

His gaze then fell upon the most dazzling name at the top of Group A—Kamiya You.

"Tsk, what a pity..."

Mori Jusaburo muttered something under his breath.

It seems there won't be a chance to face this minister during the group stage.

Although he knew that his current strength was probably not as good as Kamiya You's, sparring with such a top expert was an ultimate enjoyment and an opportunity for improvement, wasn't it?