The Prince of Tennis, Talent Replication

Chapter 34 Lottery Results

"Hey, Atobe, are you really not going to the lottery?"

Ootori Chotaro stood at a street pavilion and made a phone call to Atobe Keigo's mansion.

"Stop nagging."

Atobe Keigo's voice remained as clear and cold as white jade, never losing its aloof essence. Hearing Ootori Chotaro's question, he neither answered yes nor no, but instead asked:

"Chōtarō, I heard you've obtained the secret to the powerful serve. How's that going?"

"Hyotei will win this time."

After a moment of silence, Feng Changtaro showed neither humility nor much joy, but rather a calm and resolute determination regarding victory.

"..."

Atobe Keigo was drenched in sweat, the secret training of the past few days had made him even more dashing, and the confidence on his face, along with the mole on his face, showed that his strength had reached a level that even he himself acknowledged.

Listening to Chotaro's words, he thought to himself, "Isn't this just common sense?"

Having seemingly secured the Kanto Tournament, the image of Natsume Tsukiya suddenly flashed into his mind, and he abruptly hung up the phone.

The venue for the Kanto Tournament draw.

Tezuka Kunimitsu and Oishi Shuichiro from Seishun Academy arrived earlier.

"Oishi, this looks like the place," Tezuka Kunimitsu said, staring at the sign at the entrance.

"Tezuka came here last year too, I wonder what the result was this year?"

Oishi Shuichiro looked up at the building in front of him and smiled with narrowed eyes.

Tezuka Kunimitsu's mind gradually recalled what happened last year: Seigaku's captain Yamato was defeated by Hyotei's Atobe. Although he had also defeated Hyotei's former captain, Seigaku ultimately lost to Hyotei.

What will this year be like?

"No matter the outcome, we must give it our all."

Tezuka Kunimitsu always used this standard answer.

"Hey, why are you all wearing such sour faces? You'll lose your good luck if you do that."

The two Seigaku students turned their heads. The person who spoke had a playful expression on his face. He was wearing a white shirt and had his hands in his pockets, which looked somewhat comical. His orange curly hair made him look even more casual.

Senseki Sekisumi of Yamabuki Middle School.

"It's Lucky Sengoku from Yamabuki Junior High," Oishi Shuichiro greeted him after recognizing him.

"That's right, that's right, it's me. This time, thanks to my incredible luck, Yamabuki will definitely draw the best fortune slip."

He raised his hand in greeting and said with a grin.

"Sorry, you don't need to draw lots to feed Senkoku!"

Kentaro Minami interrupted Kiyosumi Sengoku.

"Huh? What? Why?" Sengoku Kiyosumi looked completely bewildered, as if she didn't know anything about the world.

"It's very simple."

Kentaro Minami explained, counting on his fingers:

"Rikkai University, the champion team from Kanagawa Prefecture, Seigaku University, the champion and runner-up teams from Tokyo, our Yamabuki Junior High School, and Rokkaku Junior High School, the champion team from Chiba Prefecture, have already been selected as seeded teams. Didn't you know?"

"Ah, what?" Sengoku Kiyosumi sighed dejectedly, hanging his head because he couldn't use his lucky power.

"What? Oh, he really doesn't know?"

Shuichiro Oishi was very surprised.

"It's really lame not to know this kind of thing."

The sounds of voices and footsteps mingled together and rang out behind them, sounding somewhat jarring.

"..."

Sengoku Kiyosumi turned his head to look and said:

"So, you've come too?"

Kippei Tachibana glanced at Kunimitsu Tezuka, then turned to Kiyosumi Sengoku and said:

"This year's Kanto Tournament has sixteen teams. The seeded teams will not meet before the semifinals. In order to maintain the balance of the teams' strength, the four seeded teams will be divided into four regions. This is common sense."

"...is that so?"

Sengoku Kiyosumi scratched his head and chuckled awkwardly.

"I heard Akutsu left the team?" Tachibana Kippei's gaze was fixed on Sengoku Kiyosumi.

Kentaro Minami:

"Although Akutsu has left the team, our team has become more united."

"When it comes to unity, we're the better ones," said Akira Kamio.

"Even though Akutsu is gone, we still need to settle the score with the Metropolitan Assembly, don't we?"

Tachibana Kippei's gaze was firm. In the tournament, Fudomine faced off against Yamabuki Middle School. Due to injuries to Fudomine's main players, they were forced to withdraw from the match, and the lucky Ginka also got a big surprise.

"I'm really looking forward to playing against you guys."

Sengoku Kiyoshi still has that same handsome appearance.

"Let's go." Tezuka Kunimitsu turned his head.

Conference Venue—

Many people came from the sixteen schools.

"Inoue-senpai?"

Zhisha swayed her shapely buttocks, her cropped jacket pressed against the camera, and scanned the entire room before exclaiming in surprise:

"Rikkai University didn't come to the lottery after all!"

"....Um."

Inoue Mamoru pondered for a moment, then scanned the area as well, and indeed saw no sign of Rikkai University. He sighed and said:

"This is the king of Rikkai University!"

"That's too arrogant."

Saori Shiba complained that every time she went to Rikkai, she felt shrouded in arrogance. The condescending atmosphere made Saori Shiba very uncomfortable.

"because...."

Inoue Mamoru glanced at the list in his hand, then looked at the stand on the stage and said:

"Rikkai is the champion team of Kanagawa Prefecture. As a seeded team, their position is fixed. They are in position number one. It seems that it doesn't matter to Rikkai who draws position number two. Rikkai is determined to win three consecutive national championships, so it doesn't matter who their opponents are. They are confident that they will win. In that case, coming here is just a waste of time..."

Listening to Inoue Mamoru's long-winded explanation, Shiba Saori pouted, "Isn't this still arrogance?"

"Mr. Inoue."

A person walked in through the back door and greeted them first.

"Oh, it's Inui from Seigaku."

Inoue Mamoru turned his head, glanced at Tezuka Kunimitsu and Oishi Shuichiro in front of him, and asked in confusion:

Why weren't you with Tezuka and the others?

"Oh, they're here on official business."

Inui Sadaharu shifted his gaze from Tezuka Kunimitsu's direction, adjusted his glasses, and said:

"I'm just here to gather intelligence."

"Inoue-senpai, it seems the Hyotei people haven't arrived yet."

Shiba Saori glanced around and saw that the seats at Hyotei were still empty, with no one sitting down.

"Oh~"

Inoue Mamoru and Inui Sadaharu both turned their gazes toward it, and indeed it was true!

The two were also puzzled.

Why isn't Hyotei there?

To be honest,

Sadaharu Inui came here specifically for Hyotei.

If it weren't for Natsume Tsukiya

He doesn't have time to come here.

Inoue Mamoru was no exception.

However, his motivation was not simply curiosity.

He needs more material to boost magazine sales.

"Crunch~"

The door on the other side opened.

Two people walked in.

Inui Sadaharu was the first to look over and immediately recognized, "It's Natsume Tsukiya from Hyotei, and..."

The other person was Hiyoshi Waka, but since Hiyoshi Waka rarely played in matches, he couldn't recognize him and had to flip through his notebook.

"It really was him," Shiba Saori exclaimed in surprise.

Looking at that smiling guy,

Honestly, he's kind of handsome.

just,

Shiba Saori was immediately puzzled.

That guy was so persistent in wanting to have tea with me, and I even dressed up specially for him, but he acted like he had amnesia and wouldn't mention it at all. It's so infuriating.

Thinking of this,

Resentment welled up in her heart, and Shizusa couldn't help but pout, glaring at him from afar.

"Yeah, it really isn't Atobe Keigo."

When Inoue Mamoru saw Natsume Tsukiya, he was once again certain that the leadership of Hyotei had changed hands.

now,

Could this be considered his first public appearance representing Hyotei?

In the previous loser's bracket revival match, although Natsume Tsuki was already the de facto captain of Hyotei, few people outside knew it.

now,

His calm and composed sitting at Hyotei was a formal announcement of this important message to the outside world.

The richness of Inoue Mamoru's inner world remains unknown to outsiders.

but,

The surprised looks of the crowd lingered on the unfamiliar faces of Natsume Tsukiya and Hiyoshi Waka.

"The representative from Hyotei, where have I seen him before?"

"have no idea."

"Those who came to draw lots all claimed to be representatives of their respective schools, but these two represent Hyotei?"

"Isn't Atobe Keigo the captain of Hyotei? Why isn't he here?"

"Hyotei is really a strange school..."

Discussions erupted one after another.

Shuichiro Oishi called out softly:

"Tezuka?"

It has a hidden meaning.

Tezuka Kunimitsu hummed in agreement. As fellow members of the Tokyo team, they were formidable rivals. Tezuka Kunimitsu had been paying close attention to Atobe Keigo, but now that he was nowhere to be seen, he had many doubts in his mind.

As the runner-up team in Kanto last year, they naturally attracted a lot of attention. The fact that the person who drew the lot was not Atobe Keigo left dozens of schools puzzled.

...

"Kanagawa Aihara Daiichi Junior High School!"

The names of the teams began to be read out on stage.

"yes!"

The captain of Aihara First Middle School glanced at the empty seat at Kanagawa Rikkai Middle School and walked onto the stage.

"Number 12!"

The number was posted in position twelve.

"Next up, Tochigi Kyoyo Junior High School!"

"yes!"

"Number 11!"

The number is being posted.

Yinhua Middle School Office:

Domoto: "Suzuki, it's almost our turn. Anything is fine, just don't draw number 15."

Faced with Domoto's whispered instructions, Suzuki sat askew, his eyes fixed on the words "Seishun Gakuen" (Seishun Academy), the seed team, and replied in a low voice without turning his head:

"Is it Seigaku? Leave it to me!"

"Next up, Tokyo Ginka Junior High School!"

"Yes, I'm here!"

Suzuki stood up and walked onto the stage.

Standing in front of the lottery box, amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, he closed his eyes, rubbed his hands together vigorously, let out an "Oh~~" sound, took a deep breath, and shouted:

"Okay, let's go!"

He reached into the box, grabbed a number tag, and handed it to the tagger without even looking at it.

"Number two!" the marker read out the number inside.

Upon hearing this, Suzuki immediately became excited, waving his arms and shouting:

"Great! Number two, it's number two! They're in a completely different group than the others!! I'm going to show them the reborn spirit of Yin Hua~~"

His tone was filled with the excitement and confidence of someone reborn.

"Idiot, look carefully before you speak!" Domoto said, propping his head up with one hand and muttering to himself.

Suzuki turned his head and saw that the opponent for the first stop of the second round was Kanagawa Rikkai Middle School!

"What?"

He was immediately surprised, and his head started buzzing.

The thought of a stomachache popped into my head...

"Next..."

The drawing of lots was conducted in an orderly manner.

Everyone is paying close attention.

Especially the members of Seigaku.

"Next up, Fudomine Junior High School."

Ju Juping stood up and walked over.

"Fudomine? Never heard of it. It's probably some kind of unknown middle school."

There are always those high schools that rely on luck rather than real ability.

"However, the game will reveal whether someone is good or bad."

A piercing sound rang out all around.

This infuriated Akira Kamio, who gritted his teeth in anger.

Ju Juping remained calm, saying, "Let them say what they want."

"Number Five!"

Just as Juju Ping returned and sat down, the voice on the other end began to read:

"Tokyo Hyotei Academy!"

All eyes suddenly turned to Hyotei's seat.

Two unfamiliar faces.

"Atobe from Hyotei still hasn't arrived."

"Yeah, why send two newcomers?"

"Isn't this against the convention rules?"

.....

Looking around, Natsume Tsuki also stood up.

Saori Shiba and Mamoru Inoue, among others, were all watching.

Inoue Mamoru: "It's finally Hyotei's turn. Shizuka, take some good photos."

"Understood, Inoue-senpai!"

"Click click click!"

Natsume Tsuki glanced at the empty seats at Rikkai University, walked onto the stage, and reached into the lottery box.

Keigo Atobe drew Seigaku, so which school will I draw?

There were only a few sheets of paper left, so I randomly picked one and handed it to the recorder.

"Number Seven, Hyotei Academy!"

When the recorder read it out, all eyes turned to the scoreboard.

Shuichiro Oishi looked at Tezuka:

"Tezuka?"

Tezuka Kunimitsu breathed a sigh of relief.

The recorder placed number seven opposite Yamabuki.

"Unexpectedly, this year's runner-up team in the capital tournament is facing off against last year's champion team."

Inoue Mamoru was secretly pleased, at least Hyotei wasn't going up against Seigaku.

"Yamabuki and Hyotei?"

Everyone looked toward Yamabuki Junior High School with sympathy.

"What bad luck."

Sengoku Kiyosumi said dejectedly:

"How come we're facing Hyotei in our first match! White isn't my lucky color today, I'm so unlucky!"

Natsume Tsukiya smiled, satisfied with the result.

Very good, Rikkai University number one.

No. 5 Immovable Peak

Mountain No. 8 blows,

They are all strong teams.

It's a bit of a shame that they didn't end up facing off against Rikkai.

It doesn't really matter, since we're going to fight anyway, it doesn't matter who we fight with.

The final opponent will undoubtedly be Seigaku.

Kippei looked at the unfamiliar face not far away with a strange expression, then glanced at the battle map set up on the stage, thinking to himself, "I might run into Hyotei!"

Akira Kamio: "Captain Tachibana, we might run into Hyotei."

Sengoku Kiyosumi poked her head out like a ghost, "Hey, are you saying we're going to lose to Hyotei?"

"With your strength, it's hard to say," Kamio Akira said bluntly. "Unfortunately..."

"What are you regretting?" Sengoku Kiyosumi pressed.

Kippei glanced at the two Hyotei members who were about to leave and said:

"You guys better not lose to Hyotei."

"That's right, we haven't settled that score yet," Akira Kamio added.

"Then let's try our best to defeat Hyotei." Sengoku Kiyosumi smiled.

there,

The two reporters followed after they left.

Turning my head, I found that Inui Sadaharu was also following.

"Don't worry, I'm just collecting some necessary information, it won't disturb your interview."