The Prince of Tennis: The Quincy of Rikkai University

Chapter 53: A small test, the semi-finals are coming
A week passed quickly, and soon it was time for the second round of the Kanto Conference.

The schools that made it to the second round naturally prepared emergency tactics during this week, trying their best to make up for the weaknesses exposed by their opponents in the first round.

During this week, Rikkai University basically used all of its practice time on honing its skills and tactics, and then spent time increasing its physical reserves and recuperating.

At noon, in the rest area of ​​the conference venue, all the members of Rikkai University who had arrived at the venue were taking a lunch break.

Their game today was assigned to the afternoon, so they basically spent the morning watching games in other divisions.

"Ha——I'm so sleepy, Marui-senpai."

Kirihara Akaya yawned lazily, gently rubbed the back of his neck, and continued sleepily: "I feel that the other schools in the Kanto Conference are just so-so. I thought I would see many powerful schools."

"Stupid Kirihara, that's because you are in Rikkai University. Have you ever thought about it from another perspective? Try it if you are a player from another school." Marui Fumita rubbed Kirihara Akaya's seaweed hair hard and scolded him.

After hearing what Marui Bunta said, Kirihara Akaya followed his train of thought and focused his attention on the school they were going to play against next.

When Kirihara Akaya thought about facing the Big Four of Rikkai University plus Marui-senpai and the others, his hair stood on end and he started sweating profusely: "Hiss, I feel a chill down my spine when you say that, Senior."

"Hmph, Kirihara, you have to remember that no matter what kind of competition it is, you can't be careless."

Genichirō Sanada looked at Akaya Kirihara solemnly and taught him, "Even if the school is not as strong as ours, we will not underestimate the opponent, but will go all out to win the game. This is the style of the Rikkai University Tennis Club."

"Uh... I'm sorry, Deputy Minister, I said the wrong thing." Kirihara Akaya's originally relaxed expression immediately fell.

"Okay Sanada, Kirihara didn't mean to say that." Yuuki Maya changed the subject. In his opinion, this was not something worth worrying about and there was no need to invest energy in discussing it.

"Speaking of which, Kirihara, how is your Akame status under control? Did you do as I told you?"

Yuuki Maya asked. In the week before today, the other regular players had their own training tasks, and Yuuki Maya specifically told Kirihara Akaya about this matter.

"It's very difficult, Yuki-senpai. I have been consciously trying to control it these past few days, but it's still very difficult." Kirihara Akaya was also quite distressed when asked about this.

Ever since that day when Yuuki Maya told him that if he couldn't control his Akame state freely, he would always be restricted by this shortcoming and his strength would be limited.

Kirihara Akaya believed what Yuuki Maya said because he knew it himself.

But knowing is one thing, and being able to do it is another.

Every time Kirihara Akaya actively entered the Akame state, his sanity would plummet and he would be unable to effectively control his manic emotions.

"Keep working hard, but in this case, until you have effective containment, you are not allowed to actively use it in the game unless it is absolutely necessary."

"Understood." Kirihara Akaya nodded in agreement.

Maya Yuuki actually thought about whether she should let Kirihara Akaya use Akame endlessly, so that she could slowly adapt to him and gradually control him.

But he didn't dare to gamble, for he was afraid that Kirihara Akashi wouldn't be able to hold on until that time and would completely turn into a mentally ill patient with a split personality.

Moreover, in his opinion, there is no rush now and success will come if he takes it slow.

In the distance, two figures slowly walked over. They were Yanagi Renji and Yagyu Hiroshi.

"Puh, how's the data collection for this morning's game going?" After seeing these two people, Niou Masaharu immediately stood up from lying under the shade of a tree and asked.

"Thanks to Yagyu's help, everything went smoothly." Yanagi Renji said with a smile. "Don't worry, I'm glad I can help." Yagyu Hiroshi said calmly, and then slowly walked to Niou Masaharu's side and sat down to rest.

There were two matches in the morning, one was between Hyotei Academy in Tokyo and Itoshima Junior High School in Kanagawa, and the other was between Rokkaku Junior High School in Chiba and Midoriya Junior High School in Saitama.

Now that Yanagi Renji has returned, it means that both games are over.

"The Hyotei team led by Atobe has slightly different members this year than last year. There is an additional singles player named Kabaji Takahiro. However, because his opponent was too weak, I didn't collect any of his skills. However, I still recorded his basic data."

"As for Liujiao Middle School, there hasn't been much change since last year. It's still the same group of people. It doesn't look like their strength has improved much. It's possible that they've hidden some of their strength."

Yanagi Renji briefly told others about the two games in the morning and then made a summary.

"Generally speaking, the two teams that have entered the semi-finals are still the same as last year. The only difference is that at this time last year our semi-final opponent was Yamabuki, but this year Yamabuki has already been eliminated in the first round."

"After listening to Yanagi Renji's analysis, Genichirō Sanada said in a deep voice, "So that means our opponent in the top four this year will be Seigaku?"

"Aigaku's opponent in the quarterfinals is Kasumi Fourth Junior High School in Chiba. If nothing unexpected happens, they should be able to stop Aigaku from advancing to the semifinals." Yanagi Renji said in an affirmative tone.

"I understand. The afternoon's Seigaku match will be left to you," Genichirō Sanada instructed.

"Well, leave it to me. It just so happens that my previous data is still a little lacking. Although I have Yuki's retelling, it is better to go again and see it with my own eyes."

In the afternoon match, Renji Yanagi did not need to play, and Akaya Kirihara replaced him as the third singles player.

The lunch break passed quickly, and half a day later, the remaining two quarterfinal matches of the second round of the Kanto Conference in the afternoon were about to begin.

Rikkai University's opponent in the second round is Kyōyō Junior High School from Tochigi, which is much stronger than Aihara Daiichi Junior High School in the previous round.

Kyoyo Junior High School is a regular at the Kanto Conference. The current captain, Keita Nakazato, has players who have reached Kanto level, and the strength levels of the other members are also very average.

However, this kind of strength can only be regarded as a warm-up exercise for Rikkai University.

After less than an hour of competition, the results of the three matches were:

Jiaoyang Middle School VS Lihai University Affiliated Middle School

D2 Hamamoto Okabayashi (0-6) Nioh Yagyu

D1 Odagiri · Itari (0-6) Marui · Mori

S3 Middle Village (0-6) Kirihara

With a total score of 3-0, Rikkai University easily defeated its opponent and advanced into the semi-finals.

And an hour after their game ended, the result of the remaining game was announced.

Seigakuen from Tokyo defeated Kasumi Fourth Junior High School with a total score of 3 to 1.

At this point, the top four teams of the Kanto Conference have all been announced, namely Tokyo Hyotei Gakuen, Tokyo Seishun Gakuen, Chiba Rokkaku Junior High School, and Kanagawa Rikkai University Affiliated Junior High School.

And tomorrow, the semi-final match between Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School and Seishun Gakuen will take place.

(End of this chapter)