Chapter 251: The Anticipated Match, Data Unmeasurable 

"How was it?" 

On the platform above, Inoue turned to look at Tokugawa and Oni. 

"Hmm…" 

Oni pondered for a moment before speaking in a deep voice, "His abilities are all above average. In terms of strength… he's already at the level to challenge the top ten in the first string!" 

Tsumabuki is strong. 

At least for the top players in the second string and the lower twenty of the first string, Tsumabuki can hold his own against them. 

However. 

When facing Ishikawa, it was as if he was a puppet, completely controlled by the latter. This shows that Ishikawa has undoubtedly secured a place among the top ten in the first string. 

"Moreover." 

After a pause, a thoughtful glint flashed in Oni's eyes. "From the match just now, it's clear he hasn't even shown his full strength." 

"That's right." 

Tokugawa nodded in agreement. 

From this newcomer, he sensed a hint of unease. 

"He's a promising talent." 

Inoue smiled. "The coaching staff will definitely focus on nurturing him. But I was thinking… maybe we should test him?" 

"Test him?" 

Hearing this, Oni and Tokugawa raised their eyebrows. 

Oni asked, "What do you mean?" 

"Test his strength and then bring him into our training sessions." 

Inoue shared his thoughts. "After all, such a talented player is bound to catch that guy's attention. In the entire U-17, only you can stand up to him." 

"Hmm…" 

Oni stroked his chin, pondering for a moment before nodding. 

Inoue was right. 

The rules of U-17 are far more brutal and survival-of-the-fittest compared to the outside world. The coaches' authority only holds some weight for players below Court 5. 

Above Court 5, and even among the first string representatives, the players act recklessly and without restraint. 

And as the leader of the first string, the current No. 1 in U-17, if that guy takes an interest in Ishikawa and decides to personally intervene, things could get messy. 

Rather than waiting for that to happen, it's better to bring Ishikawa into their faction now. 

That way. 

If that guy tries to target Ishikawa, he'll have to think twice about Oni's strength! 

Of course. 

As Inoue said, Ishikawa can't just casually join their trio. 

"How about we arrange a match in a couple of days?" 

Oni looked at Inoue. "Either you or I will take him on. Tokugawa's new ability isn't fully mastered yet, so it's not suitable for him to fight recklessly." 

"Agreed." 

Inoue nodded. "It's settled then." 

The two reached a consensus. 

But when they turned to look at Tokugawa, they noticed his gaze was fixed on the court below. 

"Tokugawa…" 

The two were startled, then followed his gaze to see that Tokugawa was watching Ishikawa, who had just left the court. 

At that moment. 

Their eyes met, and an indescribable tension filled the air. 

After a while. 

Both looked away, and Tokugawa turned to the other two. "Senpai, I have a feeling… there will be a match between him and me." 

"Huh?" 

The two exchanged glances, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes. They knew Tokugawa's intuition was always accurate. 

And. 

As his strength grew, this phenomenon became even more pronounced. 

"So, what do you plan to do?" 

Oni looked at Tokugawa, his expression serious. "What you need to do now is focus on strengthening your strength before your match with that guy." 

"And you know this." 

Oni's gaze grew even more stern. "The power of Asura is terrifying. Ordinary people can't withstand it." 

"I know." 

Tokugawa nodded. "I'll do my best to avoid a match with him. As for the rest, I'll let things take their course." 

After saying this. 

He turned his head and glanced once more at the black-haired boy. 

"Congratulations, Ishikawa." 

On the other side, after Ishikawa left the court, Mouri and Hara greeted him. Mouri smiled and said, "Now all three of us are players of Court 3." 

"We can train together from now on." 

Hara also nodded with a smile. 

During his time at Rikkai Middle School's tennis club, Hara had been quite diligent in his training. But after moving up to the high school team, where there were no strong players and the captain, Hiranishi, was often absent, Hara had slacked off. 

Ishikawa, however, was clearly a training fanatic. 

This reminded Hara of his junior captain back in middle school. With someone like Ishikawa pushing him, Hara believed he could regain his former training intensity in U-17. 

Mouri felt the same. 

Compared to Hara, he had a clearer understanding of Ishikawa's strength. Ishikawa was on par with players like Echizen Nanjiro, far beyond what Court 3 could contain. 

Training with Ishikawa would undoubtedly accelerate his growth. 

"By the way." 

As if remembering something, Mouri glanced at the three figures walking away in the distance and asked curiously, "Do you know those three?" 

"First time meeting them." 

Ishikawa shook his head, then said to the two, "But they're very strong. Also, U-17 is a deep pool. Don't let your guard down." 

"Got it." 

The two nodded in unison. 

After that, the three walked to the edge of the court to observe the matches in other courts. 

Taking this opportunity, Ishikawa opened his system interface. 

[Ding!] 

[Player defeated elite player Tsumabuki, gained 3,800 EXP.] 

[Ding!] 

[Player's court rank has increased. Based on the level of improvement, you have gained 13 skill points and 22,000 EXP.] 

"Oh?" 

Ishikawa was slightly surprised. 

The shuffle matches offered such generous rewards. This was equivalent to the EXP he'd gain from playing ten matches against someone of Tachibana's level. 

The 13 skill points were also enough to level up one of his basic techniques to level 8! 

In other words. 

With his system cheat, Ishikawa could easily raise his strength by another level if he wanted to. 

But as he had thought when creating his character at the start of the game, he was a cautious and steady person. 

Unless absolutely necessary. 

He wouldn't reveal this trump card! 

[Ding!] 

At that moment. 

The system chimed again. 

[Player has completed their first shuffle match, triggering a hidden quest: Proof of Identity.] 

[Proof of Identity: Crossing the gates of hell is just the beginning. As a newcomer, you must prove your worth in U-17 with even greater strength.] 

[Quest reward: Unknown.] 

"Prove myself, huh?" 

Hearing this, Ishikawa raised an eyebrow slightly. 

The system's judgment aligned with his thoughts. In a place like U-17, Court 3 was still just a place for small fry. 

Compared to the other courts, it was just a slightly bigger pond of small fry! 

"Hmm?" 

After checking the quest, just as Ishikawa was about to exit the interface, he noticed that his daily quests had also changed since arriving at U-17. 

Back at Hyotei, as his level increased, the EXP from daily quests had reached around 500. 

Now. 

It had tripled to 1,500. 

This made leveling up even easier for Ishikawa. 

Of course. 

The difficulty of the quests had also increased threefold. 

"Looks like I'm destined to be a training maniac." 

Ishikawa complained inwardly, but a smile appeared on his face. 

Daily training had already become a part of his life. Moreover, after joining U-17, his goal wasn't just to become a member of the first string. 

The inevitable shuffle matches in the future. 

And the players in Japan's U-17 who were close to or had already reached professional level! 

These factors made him not dare to slack off in the slightest when it came to training and improving his strength. 

Once again, Ishikawa felt the pressure mounting. After watching the shuffle matches for half an hour, he started training with Mouri and Hara. 

"Huff… huff…" 

In the blink of an eye. 

Two hours passed. 

In one of the training areas, Mouri and Hara were lying on the ground, gasping for breath. 

They had never experienced such high-intensity training before. 

"This guy… he's a monster…" 

The two looked at the figure not far away, who had just finished resting and was now starting pull-ups again. 

Earlier, they had joined Ishikawa's training out of curiosity. At first, they thought his intense training routine was just a joke. 

But soon. 

They were shocked. 

However, they were already in too deep and had no choice but to grit their teeth and keep up. In the end, they were completely exhausted. 

"Hey, Mouri…" 

Hara turned his head and looked at Ishikawa, who was still training. "If I'm not mistaken… you know Ishikawa's true strength, don't you?" 

"True strength? I guess so." 

Hearing this, Mouri shook his head. "During the Kanto Tournament, I happened to run into him. I saw a very intense match." 

"The Kanto Tournament?" 

Hara was surprised, then nodded. "That's right, he's from Hyotei. Hyotei is one of the top teams in Kanto. I also heard that Hyotei won both the middle school and high school national championships this year." 

"Wait." 

As if remembering something, Hara asked in confusion, "With his strength, he should've been able to play in the national tournament, right? But I didn't see him in this year's nationals." 

"Uh…" 

Hearing this, Mouri's expression turned strange. 

He wanted to say that it was Ishikawa who led Hyotei's middle school team to win the national championship. 

And. 

Ishikawa was only a first-year middle schooler. 

But seeing Hara's confused expression, a mischievous thought crossed his mind. He wanted to see Hara's exaggerated reaction when he found out Ishikawa's true identity, so he decided not to reveal it. 

"Senpai." 

At that moment. 

Ishikawa walked over. "You've rested enough. It's time for the next training session." 

"No…" 

"Wait…" 

The two spoke at the same time, instinctively showing resistance. 

"No." 

However, Ishikawa's expression turned serious. "There's still an hour until lunch. We can't waste it!" 

"But…" 

The two wanted to argue, but under Ishikawa's cold gaze, they felt a sense of fear. 

This had nothing to do with strength. 

It was the guilt they felt from being called out on their laziness. 

"You three!" 

Just as the two were about to reluctantly agree, a familiar voice called out from nearby. 

Whoosh! 

The three turned to see Saotome, dressed in a white lab coat, walking over with a smile. 

"Do you have some time?" 

"Yes, yes, yes!!!" 

Mouri and Hara immediately nodded like they had found a lifeline. 

Saotome smiled and said, "Then come with me." 

"Uh… Coach Saotome." 

Mouri asked cautiously, "What are we doing?" 

"Nothing much, just some data testing." 

Saotome replied. "The coaching staff will use the results to create a suitable training plan for you." 

"That's good." 

Mouri and Hara exchanged glances, both sighing in relief. 

After that. 

The three followed Saotome to a specialized training area. There, several staff members in black jackets were holding professional equipment. 

Through a series of tests—sprints, jumps, shuttle runs, push-ups, pull-ups, and more—the three's data was collected. 

"The results are in." 

In a room on the second floor of the platform, Takizawa looked at the updated data and said, "Let's see how these kids measure up." 

The five-dimensional data system. 

This was a universal template used by U-17 training bases worldwide. 

Based on the players' performance, suitable data was inferred, and then training plans were tailored accordingly. 

This was also the core of Germany's elite training system, which had dominated the U-17 World Cup for eight consecutive years. 

Japan's U-17 was simply following suit. 

"Huh?" 

But the next moment. 

When Takizawa saw Mouri and Hara's data, he thought there was a mistake. Frowning, he said, "Is the equipment malfunctioning? These two's data is so low?" 

On the computer screen. 

The two's average data was barely at 3. 

Mouri's total five-dimensional score was 15, while Hara's was only 14. 

At this level, they shouldn't even be in Court 5, let alone Court 3. 

But. 

During the morning matches. 

Mouri and Hara had defeated Suzuki and Washio from Court 3. They had witnessed the matches themselves, and there was no way the results were staged. 

"What about Ishikawa's?" 

Takizawa looked over, only to find that Ishikawa's total five-dimensional score was 20. While that was decent, it was impossible for him to have defeated Tsumabuki 6-0 with that level of strength. 

"There's definitely a problem." 

Kurobe seemed to realize something. He quickly pulled up the surveillance footage from the training area where the three had been earlier. 

"Huh?" 

When he saw that the three had trained non-stop for two hours after the match, with Ishikawa not taking a single break, both of their expressions changed. 

"The data is inaccurate." 

Kurobe shook his head. "Mouri and Hara's total five-dimensional scores are around 20. As for Ishikawa's strength…" 

As he spoke. 

He continuously typed on the keyboard, adjusting the three's data. 

"Wait, what are you…" 

Takizawa, who was standing beside him, saw the final adjustment Kurobe made to Ishikawa's data and was stunned. 

On the screen. 

Under Ishikawa's five-dimensional data, it clearly read: [Unmeasurable]! 

"How is this possible?!" 

Takizawa stared at Kurobe, who replied with certainty, "He didn't use his full strength in the match against Tsumabuki!"