Chapter 47

Yanagi Renji was back home, leading the Rikkai University team in intensive preparations. If Yukimura and Sanada couldn't secure a spot in the German U-17 junior high school tournament, even the leaders of their three-peat, they wouldn't have to compete.

In order to maintain the reputation of Rikkai University and meet Yukimura and Sanada in the international arena, all the players of Rikkai University tried their best.

"Bunta!" Jackal Kuwabara sighed. "I can't keep my partner position anymore."

Marui Fumita smoothed his hair. "It's just a makeshift team, just like singles. You see which match looks like doubles. And the other team forfeits."

Jackal Kuwahara still had tears in his eyes when he heard Marui Bunta's comfort.

Niou Masaharu was already a dead fox, dragging himself into a doubles match with Atobe Keigo, his whole body exhausted.

"Don't hide, Niou." Yagyu Hiroshi held a hot towel in his hand and applied a hot compress to Niou Masaharu.

It was so hot after the game that the hot compress added another layer of heat to the heat, causing Niou Masaharu, who was lying like a dead fox, to shiver and protest repeatedly.

However, Yagyu Hiroshi remained unmoved, steadily applying the hot towel to Niou Masaharu's face, shoulders, and arms. "This is to relax your muscles and speed up recovery."

"It's not that hot, Niou-senpai. By the way, we won't lose the game and miss the chance to participate in the U-17, right?" Kirigan Akaya's face showed worry. The only clear winners in the game were Niou-senpai's group and Marui-senpai's group.

Yanagi Renji kept moving his pen, adding new possibilities of Kirihara Akaye into the data.

Aside from teammates like Marui Bunta and Niou Masaharu, who didn't need to worry about him, the team's main focus was on Akaya Kirihara. Yanagi Renji hadn't expected the pairing of Akaya Kirihara and Jin Akutsu to be so in sync this time. "What's the reason? A resonance between single-celled organisms? Violent tennis..."

"Military advisor, if you don't speak up, Akaya's brain will explode from overthinking. Puff~" Niou Masaharu looked at Kirihara Akaya who was constantly pulling his hair.

Yanagi Renji flipped through the pages of his notebook, finding the contestant summary. "Don't worry, these results are just for reference. We can't eliminate the single-digit high school contestants in just one match. Besides, we've seen the strength of the first-ranked contestant firsthand. Single-digit contestants are so inferior that they can't survive in the high school class."

As the U-17W Cup approaches, the Japanese representative players are determined, and most of them are consistent with what Yanagi Renji calculated. Among them, Ryoma Echizen was expelled from the training base for interfering in the game. Head coach Mifune Nyudo retained Ryoma Echizen's place.

The junior high school students selected are all top players from each school team. Due to the absence of Yukimura and Sanada, Yanagi Renji needs to take the lead. He rejected the invitation of senior Mitsuya Akuto to be an advisor and recommended Inui Sadaharu.

The Japanese U-17 national team will fill all the quotas, a total of 14 people, and Rikkai University has 4 people selected, which is over half the admission rate.

The U-17W Cup was held in Melbourne, Australia. Before the plane, Yanagi Renji had sent the number of Rikkai University players to Yukimura who was far away in Germany.

There is no need to worry about exposing anything. You will know as soon as you see the people at the venue.

German U-17 training base, before departure.

Ever since Kunimitsu Tezuka arrived at the training base, he has hardly practiced with any players other than Polk, as his schedule is very full.

Elmer Seyfried and Frankensteiner were practicing with Q.P. and Michael Bismarck, but Michael Bismarck was too lazy to take care of these middle school students and left it all to Q.P.

Sanada and Berti were warming up on the sidelines, while Yukimura was practicing with Dankmar Schneider on the court.

At night, Yukimura put away his tennis bag.

"Are you sure you don't want to continue? Sanada." Yukimura asked.

Genichirō Sanada stopped tidying up his racket and looked up. "Yes. The previous agreement has been reached. And Yukimura, you should have heard Renji say that what happened before is true."

"Then you should be able to see me on TV soon, Sanada." Yukimura said confidently.

After witnessing professional players and professional tennis, Yukimura had a clearer understanding of his future path.

Sanada asked in return: "Of all the clubs that have come here, you haven't been optimistic about them?"

The German U-17 training base is full of elites, and many clubs come here to place bets, so the probability of producing professional players is higher.

Sanada didn't have this idea, so he turned them all down.

"Coach Heinrich recommended waiting a little longer. Besides, Mr. Sigmund Pöppke approached Tezuka about signing a contract after Tezuka arrived. Captain Polk said the time wasn't right yet, and the truly capable clubs were still waiting. I also want to wait a little longer," Yukimura said, zipping up his tennis bag and patting it. "Perhaps after this U-17W Cup, there will be better opportunities. If I prove my worth on the court, better clubs will come knocking on my door."

Yukimura was really grateful to Sanada. There was no need to think about how hard it was to stay alone in a foreign country. Even if he had companions who were strong enough, there would still be people like Elmer Seyfried who wanted to cause trouble.

Except for some training, Sanada is basically on the same path as Yukimura, and most of the time Elmer Seyfried can only talk about it.

Sanada was still in the hospital when he saw Yukimura being so sentimental. He had agreed to come along just to help his friend. Although Sanada knew that even without Yukimura's company and help, he would still embark on this journey. "Rest early, we'll leave in the morning."

"good."

In Melbourne, Australia, after getting off the plane, Yukimura received a message from Yanagi Renji about the situation of the Rikkai University team members.

The German U-17 team roster has been finalized, and the first thing to do is to go to the assembly point.

The team is led by head coach Can Retru, and consists of four high school students: Polk, Q.P., Michael Bismarck, and Dankmar Schneider.

Junior high school students: Berti, Kunimitsu Tezuka, Seiichi Yukimura, Sanada, Elmer Seyfried, and Frankensteiner.

Elmer Seyfried and Frankensteiner, who lost the game, stayed until the start of the U-17W Cup.

After taking the players to the hotel where they were resting for the competition, head coach Kan Retru kept Polk and let the others disperse.

"Polke, I know you have your eyes on Tezuka Kunimitsu, seeing as this is the German team. There are too many Japanese players, and we need to distribute our strength reasonably. You know what to do, right?" Head coach Can Retru patted Polk on the shoulder.

Polk nodded, a complicated look in his eyes. "I understand, Coach. I'll take care of it."

Q.P. was laying out past match data and recently collected recordings of key players in the conference room. "The Swiss team, captained by current professional player Amadeus, and the French team, captained by tactician Camus, have seen some decline in strength due to the departure of one of their former team members, the Power Breaker. Spain, captained by injured player Medanore, has returned from injury, but his recovery is unclear, and his previous professional ranking was quite high. Furthermore, the American team, captained by Ralph Reinhardt, has reportedly invited the samurai Nanjiro's child to compete..."

In the German U-17 meeting room, Q.P only left information on three teams, and the American team was only mentioned briefly and put aside for the time being.

"The above is just as Q·P said. The captains and vice-captains of the teams that need attention are all here. If nothing unexpected happens, these are the information that need special attention for the semi-finals. High school students have certain experience. The information of junior high school students will be placed in the conference room after the specific game. Remember to pay attention to your opponents." Kan Retru and Polk arrived at the conference room before Q·P finished his work.

There will be a round of exhibition matches before the U-17W Cup group stage begins.

As junior high school players of the German U-17 team, except for Berti who has become a professional player, others have no room to express their opinions and only need to listen to the plans set by the coach, captain and staff.

Even Kunimitsu Tezuka, who was favored by Polk, did not have any special privileges in preparation for the competition.

After Sanada and Yukimura listened to the plan arranged by head coach Kan Retru, it was time for them to act freely.

After leaving the hotel, Yukimura felt the sunshine and air of Melbourne, Australia. He stretched out, a satisfied smile on his face. "Sanada, it's rare to have this much free time before the game. It's a good time to get together with Yagyu and the others. It won't be easy to come out later."

Sanada folded his arms and nodded. Serving for different teams required a certain level of self-awareness. While neither Sanada nor Yukimura would pass on information, neither would anyone else at Rikkai University.

Everyone dispersed, and Polk took Frankensteiner to the opening ceremony.

Dankmar Schneider and Berti then turned to busy themselves with subsequent game plans and magazine cover photo shoots.

Michael Bismarck went to chat with his friends from other national teams. Elmer Seyfried was very excited and stayed in the conference room to work hard, looking at the information of key players from various countries.

"Yagyu, Jackal."

Sanada and Yukimura successfully reunited with the two, because there was more than one team in Rikkai University, and Yagyu Hiroshi and Jackal Kuwahara arrived in Melbourne, Australia in advance as tourists.

For example, all players other than those selected for Japan U-17 are substitutes, and the order of replacement is the same, with players with strong personal strength being given priority.

Yagyu had been playing tennis for a shorter time than Roshi, a fact that would not have escaped the Japanese U-17 intelligence system, and Jackal Kuwabara had not officially partnered with anyone other than Bun for a long time.

Fourteen junior high school players are more than four times more than the three in most other countries.

Their abilities did not match the requirements, and considering Yanagi Renji's analysis, the two of them decided to go ahead and get the funds for the club activities.

"Yukimura, Sanada. It seems that they have been successfully selected." Yagyu Hiroshi saw the German U-17 team jerseys on Yukimura and Sanada.

Sanada looked at Yagyu Hiroshi and Jackal Kuwabara with a serious face: "You are too lax."

"If Yukimura Sanada were here, he might be able to analyze the factors that led to the selection." Jackal Kuwabara looked downcast. No one wanted to team up with Bunta more than him.

Yagyu Hiroshi patted the jackal Kuwabara on the shoulder and consoled him, "The military advisor analyzed the results and found that the selections favor strong singles players and specific support players like Niou. Let's not talk about the competition, I'm glad to see that you're doing well."

Yukimura smiled warmly. "Yes, it's great to be able to gather here. The upcoming matches will definitely be intense, but I believe none of the Rikkai University players will give up easily."

"Come on, Yukimura, Sanada. It is said that the German team has won the U-17W Cup for nine consecutive years, and the probability of winning this time is also high. It will be much smoother if you follow the team to win." Yagyu Hiroshi knew Yukimura's goal, and this was a good opportunity.

The group strolled along the streets, admiring the unique architecture and scenery along the way.

Jackal Kuwabara was attracted by a specialty food store and pulled everyone in. The store was filled with tempting aromas. Jackal Kuwabara packed a lot of food, which was obviously prepared for Marui Bunta.

As the sky grew darker, the Rikkai University group, who had tried many unique things, separated and agreed to reunite after the competition.