Prince of Tennis: The Emperor's Eye

Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Tachibana Kippei’s Rampage

After the match ended, Yōhei and Kōhei walked off the court looking dejected. They stood in front of Hanamura-sensei, and Yōhei spoke apologetically:

”I’m sorry, sensei! We lost and couldn’t get a good start!”

”I’m really sorry. You’ve put so much effort into us, but we still let you down!” Kōhei said with the same guilty look.

”It’s alright. After all, you two haven’t been playing tennis for very long. The effects of training can’t show in such a short time. Just keep working hard, and soon you’ll surpass your opponents~” Hanamura-sensei said gently. She didn’t want her masterpieces losing confidence.

The brothers nodded gratefully before heading to the end of the bench to rehydrate. Meanwhile, Krauser and Kite returned to their bench with barely a drop of sweat, calmly resting and recovering their strength.

Akashi could feel that Krauser’s Wirbel Taufe had gotten much stronger. It looked like it could already pose a threat even to players at the national level. That last shot must have been an intentional test.

Just then, Tachibana Kippei and Chitose finished warming up and swaggered onto the court, heading to their seats without even asking about the doubles two result. In their minds, there was no chance of losing.

But Josei Shonan’s doubles one was a surprise to Akashi. He thought it would be Kiriyama Daichi and Ōta Shō like in the original, but then remembered they were probably still in elementary school right now—that explained it.

Instead, doubles one featured Kajimoto Takahisa and Shinjo Reiji. Akashi recognized them from the anime’s original characters with a bit of screen time, especially Shinjo Reiji, who had beaten Ryōma so badly—though he ended up worse off himself.

Once the referee announced the start, both sides met at the net to bow. Kajimoto and Shinjo didn’t taunt them like the Tanaka brothers did, but Shinjo still said:

”I’m Hanamura-sensei’s most perfect masterpiece. I’ll prove it to everyone in this match!”

Tachibana and Chitose just smiled and didn’t take it seriously. Seeing their indifferent attitude, Shinjo’s face darkened. He couldn’t stand anyone belittling his sensei’s hard work!

Kajimoto placed a hand on Shinjo’s shoulder, shaking his head as a sign to calm down. Since they won the toss, Kajimoto stepped up to the baseline to serve.

”First game, Josei Shonan to serve!”

Kajimoto stood at the baseline, tossing the ball high and bending backward so far his head almost touched the ground, forming an arch. Then, using explosive core strength, he snapped up like a spring and smashed the ball with his racket.

The ball flew over the net at incredible speed, landing in the opposite court. Even Akashi raised an eyebrow—it was close to 190 kilometers per hour. That was impressive for a first-year, though his potential still seemed limited.

Tachibana dashed to the landing spot in a blur, returning the serve with ease. He had experienced serves like this countless times during training with Akutsu, so he felt no pressure at all.

”No way!” Wakato Hiroshi shouted from the sidelines. In their team, no one could return Kajimoto’s serve, and he thought it was unbeatable. He couldn’t believe Fudomine’s doubles one returned it so easily.

Hanamura-sensei was also shocked. If Tachibana were a third-year, she could accept it, but seeing a first-year return Kajimoto’s serve so effortlessly felt almost unreal.

Kajimoto was still stunned when Shinjo rushed to the ball’s landing spot, barely catching up and returning it with a textbook-perfect form.

Chitose looked surprised too. Tachibana’s return was top-quality, but Shinjo had managed to return it. Chitose decided not to use his Kamikakushi technique yet, wanting to see how long they could keep up.

As the rally went on, Tachibana and Chitose started noticing something strange about Shinjo. He kept using the same posture to return, but the power of his shots varied unpredictably, making it hard to read.

”Interesting... let’s see if you can handle Kamikakushi~” Chitose said with a playful tone. Maybe he’d been around Akashi too long, because even he was developing a mischievous streak.

When Chitose hit his next shot, he added a special spin. The ball shot over the net, then suddenly vanished midair before reappearing at the baseline and flying out of bounds.

”Kamikakushi!”

”0-15!”

”Yōhei-nii, Yōhei-nii, did you see that? Fudomine’s guys play with so many weird tricks!” Kōhei exclaimed, eyes wide.

”I saw it. But those are just flashy moves. Sensei always says the most important thing in tennis is basics. As long as we keep training, we’ll surpass them soon enough,” Yōhei replied, unfazed.

Many spectators weren’t surprised at all; they’d followed Fudomine since the district tournaments and were already used to the players’ unusual techniques.

Shinjo’s face darkened as he stared at the ball that had landed out. His temper was clearly worse than in the original, where he kept calm even when Ryōma broke his Mirage Shot—only exploding when Ryōma insulted Hanamura-sensei.

Kajimoto served again with his powerful, flexible motion, but even Chitose easily returned it this time. He had no intention of playing around anymore and used Kamikakushi immediately, giving Shinjo no chance to set up his Mirage-style returns.

”0-30!”

”0-40!”

”Game! Fudomine! 1-0!”

When it was Tachibana’s turn to serve, although they barely managed to return the ball, it didn’t help their situation at all—they kept losing points. Even though Kajimoto and Shinjo had decent skills, against two national-level players, the gap was just too big.

”Game! Fudomine! 2-0!”

”Game! Fudomine! 3-0!”

”Game! Fudomine! 4-0!”

With Chitose’s four Kamikakushi serves, they easily took four games. Everyone on Josei Shonan’s side looked shocked, especially Shinjo, who could no longer suppress his anger and decided to ignore the coach’s orders, preparing to use his trump card.

After Kajimoto fired another powerful serve, Shinjo secretly gathered his strength. When Tachibana returned the ball, Shinjo dashed to the landing spot, made a strange cross-armed pose, then swung his racket with fierce power at the ball.

”Deep Impulse!”

Seeing Shinjo’s move, Hanamura-sensei jumped up in shock, her chest heaving—she hadn’t expected Shinjo to ignore her ban and use that technique.

On the other side, as Chitose reached the landing spot and saw the ball spinning wildly on the ground, he instinctively felt a hint of danger, though not enough to truly worry him.

Sure enough, as the ball bounced up, it curved slightly around Chitose’s racket and shot straight at his face. His eyes narrowed sharply, and he jerked his head to the side just in time to dodge the ball.

”15-0!”

”Reiji! Stop it right now! Who gave you permission to use that move!” Hanamura-sensei shouted angrily from the sidelines.

”I’m sensei’s most perfect creation. I won’t let anyone look down on you. I have to win this match!” Shinjo said coldly and firmly.

He was ready to accept getting scolded after the match, but he would keep using Deep Impulse to bring victory to his sensei.

Kajimoto looked at Shinjo in surprise. He knew about this move and had seen it make a third-year upperclassman so scared he quit tennis completely. But sensei had strictly forbidden Shinjo from using it in matches.

Akashi’s smile slowly faded. That shot reminded him of the original story, where Chitose nearly lost an eye. Fortunately, Chitose had dodged quickly. Akashi had warned him long ago to watch out for shots aimed at his face.

Tachibana looked back at Chitose and, seeing he was okay, sighed in relief. Then he turned around, a deep red aura rising around him, his face fierce as he glared at Shinjo and said each word slowly:

”You want to play violent tennis? Fine! I’ll join you!”

Shinjo didn’t care what Tachibana said. As long as he used Deep Impulse, he thought they’d never return it. But he was about to pay dearly for his ignorance.

Kajimoto served again, and Chitose easily reached the spot and returned the ball. That last dangerous shot hadn’t rattled him at all; with his current skills, such cheap tricks couldn’t hurt him.

Shinjo once again set up for Deep Impulse and smashed the ball as it flew toward him. This time, the ball dropped in the forecourt, clearly aimed at Tachibana.

Tachibana then made a move few had ever seen. Balancing on one foot, he bent his other leg upward, then suddenly leapt into the air just as the ball bounced up. Without hesitation, he slammed it with the frame of his racket, sending the ball exploding into nearly 20 phantom shadows that stormed toward Shinjo.

”Abare Dama!”

Shinjo stood frozen as the storm of ball images closed in. He had no idea what to do—he’d never seen anything like this before. Before he could react, searing pain hit his face, and his vision went black.

From Kajimoto’s perspective, Shinjo was engulfed in countless ball images. One ball smashed into Shinjo’s right cheek, sending him flying backward before crashing heavily to the ground, unconscious.

”Match suspended!” the referee called out urgently.

Hanamura-sensei was the first to rush onto the court, followed by Josei Shonan’s players. Akashi stayed seated, showing no sign of concern—he thought it was already merciful not to destroy Shinjo completely with a Light Strike.

Hanamura-sensei shouted Shinjo’s name repeatedly, but he didn’t respond. Seeing this, she could only call for a stretcher.

As Josei Shonan’s players scrambled around, Shinjo was carried off the court, probably to the tournament’s medical room. Hanamura-sensei returned to her seat, looking at Akashi with hesitation, as if wanting to blame him—but saying nothing would hurt her team’s morale even more.

”Hanamura-sensei, do you have something you’d like to say to me?” Akashi finally spoke first, his face icy cold.

”Akashi-kun, I know Reiji was wrong, but knocking a player out cold—isn’t that going too far?” Hanamura-sensei asked, no longer holding back.

”Hmph! If you want to play violent tennis, you’d better be ready to get knocked down. You should be grateful Shinjo’s opponent wasn’t me, or I’d have sent him straight to hell myself,” Akashi replied with a face devoid of any warmth.

”You!...” Hanamura-sensei started but fell silent, slumping back in her seat.

Since Josei Shonan’s player couldn’t continue, the doubles one match ended at 4-0, with Fudomine winning. Josei Shonan had only one chance left.