Prince of Tennis: The Emperor's Eye

Chapter 7: Chapter 7: The Fall of the Child of God

Akashi didn’t care about the noise from the crowd. He raised his right hand and gave it a shake. It was still completely numb, without the slightest sensation. Honestly, with Akashi’s immense spiritual strength, Yukimura’s Yips had no way of affecting him. He just didn’t use his mental power to resist on purpose. He wanted to experience for himself what this so-called technique really felt like.

”Didn’t expect Yukimura-kun to have a technique like this. Not bad. But if it’s just the loss of touch, it doesn’t really affect my chances of winning. My victory is absolute.”

”Oh? Akashi-kun, you’re still that confident? Then let me see if you can keep it up.”

Yukimura served again. The ball carried mental ripples as it flew straight to Akashi’s baseline. But Akashi still didn’t try to shake off the stolen sense of touch, even though it would’ve been easy for him.

Relying on his usual Emperor Eye observation of his own body and his muscle memory, Akashi managed to return and control the ball’s landing point even without touch. They started rallying again, neither giving ground. But even Akashi couldn’t instantly adjust to the disconnected sensation. Yukimura snatched another point.

”30-40”

”Looks like things aren’t going as smoothly as Akashi-kun said~”

Yukimura was honestly startled that Akashi could keep up a rally so long without touch. When he saw Akashi didn’t reply, he didn’t press it. He just served again.

”40-40, deuce!”

After two balls, Akashi had fully adapted to his current swing state. His returns started to grow sharper. With the Emperor Eye’s support, he regained his control of the match.

”Deuce, Akashi leads!”

”Game! Akashi Seijurō! 2-0!”

On the sidelines, both Sanada and Tezuka were stunned. Especially Sanada—he had personally experienced Yukimura’s Yips.

Back when he lost his sense of touch, he couldn’t stop messing up. He couldn’t even serve properly, let alone control returns. Yet Akashi had only lost 3 points before adjusting, then turned around and suppressed Yukimura again. That was totally beyond expectation.

Yukimura lost his service game. He was surprised but not shaken. He knew this was just the beginning. Even if Akashi could play normally without touch, once his next technique was triggered, it would end things. At that point, forget competing—just staying standing would be hard enough.

It was Akashi’s serve again. Fully adjusted now, he wasted no motion and fired off a high-speed ball straight to Yukimura’s court. Yukimura, returning it, increased the mental energy attached to the ball even more. He was no longer holding back. His entire aura surged with unrestrained spirit force. His goal was simple—force Akashi into YIPS as soon as possible.

”15-0”

”30-0”

Even against Emperor Eye’s overwhelming advantage, Yukimura still couldn’t break through directly. But his continuous returns had layered the mental force enough. As Akashi went for another return, he suddenly noticed the light around him begin to dim. His field of vision narrowed.

’What’s this? Visual loss starting? Even Emperor Eye’s vision can be shut down? Mental power really is too mysterious... But fine. Let me fully experience your ability, Yukimura.’ Akashi thought silently.

While Akashi still carried that attitude of ”experience,” the focus in his eyes started to vanish. Then his sight went completely dark. Akashi was now plunged into total blindness. He couldn’t see anything. The tennis ball swept past his feet and flew out of bounds.

”30-15”

Yukimura looked at Akashi, who stood frozen in place, his eyes no longer focused. He said calmly:

”Seems like your sight’s gone too, Akashi-kun~”

”So this is your tennis? Not bad. But Yukimura Seiichi... you’re far too arrogant!”

After speaking, Akashi once again served the ball with perfect precision. Even without sight or touch, his tennis instincts remained. He could still judge the ball’s position using only his remaining sense of hearing. But with Emperor Eye disabled and two senses stripped, even Akashi’s performance dropped significantly.

”30-30”

”30-40”

Yukimura took two quick points using Yips. He further deepened the spiritual invasion, aiming to strip Akashi’s final sense—hearing.

As Akashi served again, Yukimura wasted no time launching another mental assault. Each return he hit carried eerie spiritual ripples. Gradually, the sound in Akashi’s ears began to fade. Then, total silence. He stood there, unmoving, blank.

”Game! Yukimura Seiichi! 2-1!”

”Looks like your hearing’s gone too, Akashi-kun~”

As Yukimura’s voice fell, the audience erupted. Everyone craned their necks, faces full of confusion and disbelief. They just couldn’t understand—how could a tennis match strip away touch, sight, and hearing? It made no sense.

Yukimura ignored the chatter. As the umpire called for a court change, Akashi still didn’t move. Yukimura signaled to Sanada on the sideline. Sanada understood immediately and helped guide Akashi to the other side of the court. As they walked down together, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of sorrow for him.

Now it was Yukimura’s serve. He didn’t hesitate. The serve crossed the net and shot out of bounds after hitting the ground. Akashi didn’t move.

”Ace! 15-0”

Right now, Akashi felt like he was trapped in endless darkness. He couldn’t see, hear, or feel anything. He was losing even his sense of self.

’So this is the world after Yips? No... only three are gone. Taste and smell remain. Still, it’s terrifying. Judging from Yukimura’s spiritual energy, this might be his limit. Alright then. I’ve experienced enough. Time to let Yukimura feel what defeat really tastes like.’

”Game! Yukimura Seiichi! 2-2!”

Yukimura closed out his service game easily. Every point was an ace. After all, with Akashi just standing still, not scoring would’ve been harder. But just when Yukimura thought the match was decided, something unexpected happened.

A massive wave of spiritual power erupted from Akashi’s body. It instantly shattered Yukimura’s spiritual binding. The lost senses began to return one by one. Focus returned to his eyes.

”So this is your tennis? Nothing special. Your defeat was inevitable.”

Yukimura stared at him in disbelief. He couldn’t accept that his trump card had been broken just like that. But feeling the oppressive wave of spiritual force from Akashi, he finally understood. Akashi’s mental strength was above his own. He must have walked into Yukimura’s trap on purpose. Thinking that, Yukimura gave a bitter smile. ’So he was right... I really was a little full of myself.’

At this point, Yukimura had nothing left. His spiritual energy was nearly depleted, maybe even overdrawn. To speed up the Yips, he had poured in everything. Now, he couldn’t even enter Muga no Kyōchi. Though it appeared to drain stamina, it still needed mental strength to activate.

As the match resumed, Yukimura was completely outmatched. Under the Emperor Eye’s sharp observation and the clear five-dimension gap, Akashi took control again. The outcome was obvious.

”Game! Akashi Seijurō! 3-2!”

”Game! Akashi Seijurō! 4-2!”

”Game! Akashi Seijurō! 5-2!”

”Game! 6-2! Match over, winner: Akashi Seijurō!”

The crowd burst into thunderous applause. But what they didn’t know was that the boy who finished the match still draped in his jacket would soon become a legend. Under his lead, a miracle era would begin for the world of junior tennis in Japan.