The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 22: The Inter-High Tournament! An Unlucky Drawing?!

The Inter-High tournament, the biggest high school competition in Japan. Being held twice in a year, in June and November, all the high schools from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the southern part of Japan would fight for the glory of being the number one in the country. Of course, talking was easy, but the process to reach the top was grueling.

Hakodate Nishi was lucky, because Hokkaido didn’t really have a lot of high schools that were interested in joining the tournament. That meant the first phase was non-existent, and they were able to compete in the second phase already, the prefecture tournament. However, for those who came from a big city like Tokyo, Osaka, or Yokohama, they would have the city-level tournament selection first, which brought the difficulty to a new level.

Then, after the prefecture tournament was over, came the national tournament, where the host would be determined a year before. Last November, the winter tournament was held in Fukuoka, one of the warmest parts of the country. Then, in the next June, the tournament would be held in Osaka, one of the biggest football cities in the country, with three top teams competing in the top level: Gamba Osaka, Cerezo Osaka, and Vissel Kobe.

That was the stage that all the players yearned for, with all the scouts from all over the country—maybe even from abroad—came to witness their talent. If they were lucky enough, even if their team failed to win, maybe one or two scouts would notice and fancy their style, recommending them for a trial in the professional club.

That could definitely be a game-changer, especially for those who wanted to continue their career in the football world yet didn’t come from the professional team’s youth club.

"BUT!" Kumiko slammed the whiteboard on the front loudly, making everyone yelp in shock. "That phase is still so far away from us, and before that, we have the Sappotani High to pass through first! You still haven’t forgotten the painful lesson they gave us last September, right?!" Her eyes scanned throughout the entire room coldly.

The atmosphere dropped instantly as painful memories rushed through everyone’s brain. Some were downcast with depressed chuckles escaping through their mouth, while the others clenching their fists angrily from that nightmarish experience.

Higo himself just stayed quiet. He used this fact to mock Makino and the three other senpai yesterday, and he witnessed their violent reaction firsthand, showing how badly that game affected them. While sometimes he could be a jerk, Higo also knew that he wasn’t an asshole who couldn’t read the atmosphere here, and since he wasn’t part of that team, the best he could do was to shut his mouth and let them get angry first. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Unfortunately, this time, we are not as lucky as last year," Kumiko sighed solemnly, as the screen on the wall turned into a huge tree that anyone could recognize.

"This is the tournament’s tree, and as usual, Sappotani was the top-seeded team of the tournament," She pointed at the team on top of the tree. "And us... Here." She slid her finger slowly until it was on the team that she had already highlighted beforehand.

As the runner-up of the winter tournament last November, it was clear that Hakodate Nishi’s place in the drawing was quite high. However, they didn’t have that rich history that put them straight behind Sappotani. No, that honor was for the old and historical school like Esashi High, which they beat a few days ago, or Yamanote High, which suffered from failure last year.

In the end, the organizer put Hakodate Nishi as the third-seeded team of the tournament, a respectable spot for a young team that started to emerge to the surface. However...

"Four is fine! Hell, even five is okay! But how in the hell are we unlucky enough to be the third-seeded team?!" Makino had his jaw dropped, having to hold back the urge to curse out loud.

"Oh, God... No! Does that mean we are going to meet them faster?!"

"Mama... I don’t want to do this anymore..."

Higo was dumbfounded when the depression reached a new level in this room. It was as if they were about to meet Shinigami itself, which was confusing, because none of the information he heard gave any indication of what was here.

He looked around confusedly, but seeing that no one could give him an explanation, the boy finally turned to the most reliable person here.

"Kumiko-chan, explain to me what is going on here?!" He asked in panic.

"It is nothing..." Kumiko also couldn’t escape from the wave of depression here. "It is just... The third-seeded team is on the same side of the tree as Sappotani as the top-seed, and we will have to fight against them before the final in this tournament..."

That was the crux of the matter. In the tournament last year, they managed to reach the final because they managed to avoid Sappotani, the Shinigami of the Hokkaido prefecture, until that last stage. Now, there was a huge chance that they wouldn’t be able to reach the same feat, what with them having to face death itself this quickly.

Of course, this was a huge chance to have revenge after the match last year, and since they had already declared that they wanted to reach the national tournament, they knew that the game against Sappotani would happen sooner or later.

However, it was one thing to boast about revenge, but when the death itself was already in front of them, they all started to fold like a wet paper.

"So... What should we do next? We cannot let them wail in this pitiful state, right?" He asked hesitantly.

If he were the main character, Higo would’ve started his talk-no-jutsu already, boasting about not giving up or some shit like that, showing off his shamelessness like crazy. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the aura to do that, and while the boy was still new to this sport, after a short research, he found that Sappotani was a powerhouse team not only in Hokkaido, but also in the whole country.

Saying something like they would be able to win as long as they didn’t give up would only make him stupid and clueless, and Higo still loved his reputation and didn’t want to ruin it for nothing.

"You are right, we cannot let them be drawn in this state." Kumiko shook her head strongly, banishing all the negative thoughts inside her head. "Okay, everyone! Enough of this already! We still have a long way to go to meet them again, so before that, let’s take a small step forward first, starting with the first round of the tournament next week!"