We're the ones who're gonna win this!
Their drive to win isn't like most people's
Okay, Fudomine! This battle is gonna determine the victor!
I'll stop them.
We'll play Mizunofuchi Intermediate after lunch, huh?
Yeah
Tezuka and Fuji!
Are you scouting the opponents together?
Did I hit it on the mark?
By the way, Tezuka I hear you didn't play against Gyokurin.
Wasn't it actually you couldn't play?
Let's go, Fuji.
Hold it.
Let me see your arm. There must be a reason.
Let go.
He didn't even flinch!
T-Tezuka Just you wait and see.
FUDOMINE 6 6 5 KAKINOKI 0 0 2
Game and match Fudomine.
That can't be!
That team wasn't like this!
FUDOMINE
What?! Kakinoki lost?! That can't be!
They were candidates for the Metropolitans!
But it's true, Momo!
It's up on the match schedule.
Hey, that's right... I wonder where Ryoma is?
That's not what I was!
It's okay, it's okay.
So who do we play in the finals?
Fudomine Middle School.
They're not even seeded!
Fudomine?
Aren't they the ones who weren't allowed in the matches last year?
I see! So that's why they were turned away last year!
You're a big help!
It's great to have a friend at the newspaper!
Talk to you later!
Refused entry to matches
The current team captain, Kippei Tachibana
At that time an 8th grader
Due to an incidence of violence
Violence, huh?
I just went to watch the Fudomine match.
It's a completely different team than last year
With the exception of the team captain,
they're all 8th graders, all new on the A team.
The key is the team captain, 9th grader Kippei Tachibana,
who is also acting as their coach.
And a completely unknown 8th grader
beat Kakinoki's Kuki, 6 - 2.
It's not a given that we'll win this tournament.
Seigaku's got nothing to worry about from these new kids!
Seigaku's gonna win this!
UmHorio
Come on! Let me talk!
No way Seigaku's gonna lose to those unseeded kids!
Hey, Horio!
What is it, already?! Geez, you're a pain
F-Fudomine!
You're Tezuka from Seigaku, right?
That's right.
I'm Tachibana, the Fudomine team captain.
Let's play a good match.
Yeah.
Oh, what a surprise! I thought we were in for it!
They look tough.
What's wrong with you?
My knees buckled!
That guy in the back!
He's not even looking, but he's keeping that ball going!
AmazingFudomine!
That Echizen! He's trying to stir up trouble!
No!
What with playing doubles and then sitting out,
he looks like the stress is getting to him.
A seventh grader, huh?
Let's go.
You still have a ways to go.
Looks like this is gonna be fun, huh, Shinji?
Yep.
Okay, listen up!
The team you'll meet in the finals is Fudomine.
They're not like the teams you've met so far.
Yes, Ma'am!
Here's the finals lineup!
#2 Doubles is Fuji and Kawamura. Gotta take it!
#1 Doubles: Oishi and Kikumaru.
#3 Singles is Kaido! Don't lose this one!
#2 Singles is Ryoma. Give it your best shot!
And #1 Singles will be Tezuka.
Ryoma is finally debuting in singles!
Way to go, Ryoma!
The finals will be between Seigaku and Fudomine
Seigaku's got this one in the bag.
It's the #1 seed against an unseeded team.
This is a one-set match. Mr. Sakurai of Fudomine to serve.
It's finally starting!
Come on! You're a newsman! Surely you can find that out!
Oh! Mr. Inoue!
Isn't he going to watch the finals?
No, not at all
I'd just like to ask you a few details about
when you quit as advisor to the Fudomine tennis team
Hello? Hello?
I guess that's a no comment.
Mister? Are you a reporter for a tennis magazine?
How could you tell?
I heard you say on your cell phone
that you were Mr. Inoue of the monthly magazine, Tennis Pro.
Yeah
You're investigating the Fudomine team.
Do you know something?
They're a really strong team.
The Fudomine team is like this soda.
Doesn't look like much from the outside, but there's huge power hidden inside.
They're truly amazing.
Wait! What's your name?
An Oh, and I wouldn't open that up right away
Yeah! Now I'm on fire!
What a return!
Sakurai!
Thirty - Fifteen!
They're tough!
How is it they're unseeded if they're this good?!
Heavy topspin!
They're really good!
Fuji Shusuke is in #2 Doubles
That's not what you figured on.
No, I thought he'd be up against Shinji in #2 Singles.
Don't worry. They seem to be having fun.
You're probably right.
Isn't that their captain?
Captains don't usually leave during a match.
That's a surprise!
He must be pretty confident
if he doesn't think he needs to stay and watch.
They took us lightly, didn't they, Tezuka?
A service ace!
Forty - Fifteen!
Want some?
No, thanks.
You're Fudomine's Tachibana, right?
You all are like the bubbles in here.
A girl gave this to me and she said that.
I wonder what it means
And?
Please don't get your guard up.
I may be a reporter, but I don't work for a scandal rag.
I'm just a reporter with a tennis magazine.
There's something I'd personally like to know.
About the violent incident last year
Here!
What a terrific rally!
That Fudomine pair is really persistent!
Don't tell me our guys are gonna lose?!
Fuji and Kawamura are being pushed back!
They keep getting the ball back! I hate that type!
It's a battle of patience.
The side that can throw the other's equilibrium off is the side that will win.
I promise I won't write about it.
Then why?
I want to know... the secret to your team's strength.
I'm a reporter for a tennis magazine.
I don't write about anything but tennis.
The girl who gave me this told me...
Like this bottle, it hides amazing strength inside.
She said Fudomine is different than they look.
I'm wondering if last year's violent incident doesn't have
something to do with your strength at tennis?
Somehow I think it does Am I wrong?
That you punched out your advisor,
which caused you to be taken out of the District Matches
That's all I know And I don't care about that.
Mr. Inoue
Huh?
Do you promise me you won't write about it?
Yes
SIX MONTHS EARLIER
You want to play matches as new kids?
When did I promise anything like that?
You said if we played our senior teammates and we won,
we'd be put on the regular team.
Well I don't know
You're still just first-year kids.
You should be happy just picking up balls.
Yeah? What is it?
I've just transferred to this school.
I'm Kippei Tachibana. I'm in the 8th grade.
Kamio!
Don't go tattling to the advisor, you hear?!
You better learn this team is a vertical society!
It was unforgivable.
With an advisor who wouldn't do anything,
and senior teammates with no skills but big heads,
the poor seventh graders who only wanted to play tennis,
were being treated abominably.
Pick up those balls! Quit lazing around!
Here!
That's not the spirit!
Get running! 20 times around the field!
You're the ones who'll be running.
What?!
Tachibana, you've got...
...some nerve!
Play a match against me.
What?
And if I win, you'll run 20 times around the field.
That's stupid Who'd want to do that?
If anyone thinks he's better than me, step forward!
All the seventh graders are boycotting?
Making a new team?
The one behind the whole thing is Tachibana.
Hey, Tachibana!
Last time we cut you a lot of slack, but you just don't get it!
Don't anybody lay a hand on them!
You kids are such a pain!
A new team!
Until next spring, you'll happily spend your time picking up balls!
You little brats!
After all, the seventh graders started the fight, didn't they?
Wait! Tachibana!
You're a failure as an instructor!
Incident at Fudomine Middle-Schoolers Get Violent
And you were the very one who said not to touch them!
Ah, shut up! After that, you guys all got into it!
Look sharp, guys!
We're applying to make a new team!
You think they'll say okay?
We'll hang in there until they do!
We're shooting for the Nationals!
Nationals! Nationals! Nationals!
I see.
The worthless advisor and all the upperclassmen left the tennis team.
So, that incident is the cause of your strength
I'm glad I found out.
No
Huh?
That was nothing more than an opportunity.
We don't care about what happened in the past.
We're just not going to lose to anybody, no matter who it is.
That's all.
That was quite a smash!
I wouldn't say that
Really?
It's about time for Seigaku to start their counterattack.
Excuse me...
Fudomine
Their team captain came back.
He did that on purpose
Huh?! On purpose?!
What do you mean?
It's an excellent strategy.
During an important match, their captain leaves the court.
And that causes a distraction creating pressure.
We're the ones who're gonna win this!
Their drive to win isn't like most team's
Okay, Fudomine!
This battle is gonna determine the victor!
I'll stop them!
It didn't bounce!
What was that?!
It just skidded along the ground!
That's one of the three best counter shots Fuji has.
He calls it, the Swallow Return.
TheSwallow Return?
He uses his opponent's topspin on the ball
and adds even more spin in the same direction
by means of a heavy slice counter shot.
He might be a problem to us...
This genius...Shusuke Fuji...
Well! Where have you been?!
Mr. Inoue!
This match
Seigaku might not win this one
Hi, I'm Shusuke Fuji.
Taka and I are playing Ishida and Sakurai from Fudomine.
With my Swallow Return the match should be ours,
but Fudomine is coming back with a devastating weapon
Are we in big trouble? Watch out for these guys!
Next on The Prince of Tennis: To Each His Own Battle!
Taka, you're so