Prince of Tennis: The Emperor's Eye

Chapter 66: Chapter 66: A New Idea

Right now, Wakato Hiroshi was completely frozen. The tennis ball in front of him looked like a falling meteor, coming straight at him. But Akutsu still held back and didn’t hit Wakato directly.

The ball flew past Wakato, smashed into the ground, and instantly created a hole about one meter in diameter. The impact sent Wakato flying, crashing into Josei Shonan’s player bench.

But after hitting the ground, the tennis ball didn’t lose momentum. It kept moving toward the chain-link fence ahead, and behind that fence was a large group of spectators—including the girls who had just been cheering for Wakato. If the ball hit them, it would’ve been a huge accident.

Just before the ball could slam into the fence, a racket blocked its path. When the ball touched the racket, it spun wildly, trying to break free, and the massive impact turned into a gust of wind that blew toward the spectators behind the fence.

Several girls had their skirts blown up, screaming as they tried to hold them down. Finally, the ball’s power dissipated, and it fell from the racket—held by Akashi, wearing his jacket draped over his shoulders.

Only then did the surrounding crowd start to snap out of their daze. One by one, they looked in horror at the deformed, blackened tennis ball, then at the hole on the court, a feeling like being in a dream creeping into their minds.

Hanamura Aoi finally came to her senses, quickly stood up, told others to check on Wakato, and hurried to the umpire’s chair. Standing before the umpire, she spoke up:

”Umpire! Josei Shonan forfeits this match!”

After confirming multiple times, the umpire agreed to Hanamura’s request. Honestly, he didn’t want to stay there any longer himself. Who knew how middle school tennis matches had gotten so dangerous these days?

Hanamura returned to the bench with a dazed look. She had heard abroad that sometimes, after matches between top-ranked pro players, the court looked like it had been bombed. She never believed it—until she saw it with her own eyes today, which shattered her worldview.

After checking with the medical staff who arrived on the court, Hanamura learned that Wakato was mostly fine, just suffering a mild concussion, which left him a bit delirious and rambling nonsense.

The umpire then announced the match result: with Josei Shonan forfeiting, Fudomine won 5-0, with an overall match score of 3-0, becoming the first team to advance to the Kanto semifinals and securing a spot in the national tournament.

But when the spectators saw the scores of the three matches, they couldn’t help but feel a chill down their spines. The first match’s 6-0, followed by 4-0 and 5-0, represented a knockout and a forfeit, respectively.

Akashi glanced at the chaos unfolding around Josei Shonan and didn’t bother with post-match formalities. He simply led his team away from the court. Since they’d finished earliest, they could check out other matches. But Rikkai was definitely crushing Yamabuki, so there was nothing to see there, and Hyōtei’s match was even less interesting. So Akashi headed straight for the Seigaku vs. Rokkaku Junior High match.

When Akashi and his team arrived at the court, some spectators recognized them and were surprised—why were Fudomine’s players here? Didn’t they have a match today too?

Akashi ignored the murmurs, walked to one side of the court, and looked at the scoreboard: 6-3, 6-4. It seemed Seigaku had won both doubles matches, and now the third singles match was about to start.

But what puzzled Akashi was Rokkaku’s ”Old Man,” who was like a hidden master. Rumor had it that Byoudouin’s understanding of Shurado was thanks to him. Yet Rokkaku’s team was always middling at best—barely better than filler schools, even with their special rackets.

At that moment, Yamato noticed Akashi’s group arriving. Although surprised they’d already finished their match, he told Ryūzaki Sumire before walking over to greet Akashi. For Yamato, the idea of Fudomine getting eliminated was simply impossible.

From Yamato, Akashi learned Seigaku’s Doubles Two were Inui Sadaharu and Kawamura Takashi, Doubles One were Kikumaru Eiji and Oishi Shūichirō. Rokkaku’s Doubles Two were Itsuki Marehiko and Kurobane Harukaze, and Doubles One were third-years Andō Shino and Yada Takashi. The upcoming Singles Three match would be Saeki vs. Fuji Shūsuke.

Looking at the two players getting ready, Akashi found it amusing—yet another pair of rivals with a bond. But Rokkaku stood no chance; Saeki’s skill level was nowhere near Fuji’s. Right now, Saeki probably didn’t even have Kanto-level ability.

As the match began, it unfolded just as Akashi predicted. Saeki couldn’t put up any resistance at all. Even though Fuji never used any techniques, sticking only to basic tennis, he completely overwhelmed Saeki.

After Fuji won four games, Saeki finally used his sharp eyesight to read some of Fuji’s hitting patterns, barely managing to predict a few shots. But it didn’t change the inevitable.

The match quickly reached match point, and Fuji ended it beautifully with a Hōō Gaeshi, winning 6-0. From Akashi’s perspective, it looked like Fuji had just completed a warm-up.

But Saeki saw it differently. Thanks to Fuji’s superb acting, Saeki simply felt there was a skill gap—not an insurmountable one—since he had at least gotten a few points.

With that, Ryūzaki Sumire finally let out a relieved breath. Seigaku had secured a Kanto semifinal spot and a ticket to nationals. From here on, they’d do their best—though even Ryūzaki felt they didn’t have much chance against Fudomine.

After the match, Fuji comforted Saeki a bit, then walked over to Akashi and Tezuka Kunimitsu, smiling as he greeted them. But then his eyes opened and he spoke with a serious expression:

”Next week’s match, we at Seigaku will give it our all—we won’t go down without a fight!”

Akashi smiled and nodded but didn’t say anything. After all, for Fudomine, there was no possibility of losing—Seigaku’s defeat was already set in stone.

At that moment, word spread among the crowd: Hyōtei had won as expected, securing their ticket to nationals just like Fudomine and Seigaku. But as for Hyōtei’s match against Rikkai next week, Akashi didn’t hold out much hope for them.

Then Akashi suddenly thought, Seigaku and Hyōtei really were fated—this Kanto Tournament would probably end with them fighting for third place again. He wondered what kind of expression Atobe would have then.

Soon, everyone noticed that Rikkai’s match still wasn’t over, so they decided to head together to Rikkai vs. Yamabuki’s court. When they arrived, they found that Singles Two was about to start.

Surprisingly, Rikkai had lost Doubles Two. After checking around, Inui Sadaharu returned with the details: Yamabuki had set a trap in Doubles Two, fielding their veteran national-level pair Sakata Kuri and Fujii Hikaru. After the training camp, both had made slight improvements.

Their opponents had been Marui Bunta and Kuwahara Jackal. The match was fierce, but Yamabuki’s experienced pair emerged victorious in the end, winning 7-6—it went all the way to a tiebreaker. Maybe Marui’s stamina couldn’t keep up, leading to Rikkai’s loss.

But in Doubles One, Rikkai sent Niō Masaharu and Yanagi Renji—one a master of deception, the other a national-level data tennis specialist. Minami Kentarō and Higashikata Masami had no chance, getting utterly crushed 6-0.

That’s right—Yanagi’s ability had finally reached national level after the training camp. Now, Rikkai’s main lineup already had four national-level players. Although Marui and Jackal’s individual strength was a bit lower, they were still a genuine national-level doubles pair.

As for Niō, his skill had reached the peak of Kanto level, and combined with his unique talent, even many national-level players might struggle against him in doubles.

Simply put, Rikkai’s current strength far exceeded what they had at this point in the original story. And in the original, even with weaker strength, they still won nationals—showing just how talented they were.

Unfortunately, with Akashi here now, Rikkai could forget about taking the national championship. The title would only belong to Fudomine.

The earlier Singles Three match had been Sanada vs. Sengoku, and the result was obvious: Sengoku lost miserably 0-6. Even though he’d improved greatly from the training camp, against Sanada—who not only had national-level strength but also mastery of the Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain principles—he stood no chance.

Now Singles Two was about to start: Rikkai’s player was Mōri Juzaburō, while Yamabuki sent Shindō Ineki. But he was a doubles player forced into singles, and it was clear Mitsuya’s departure had severely weakened Yamabuki. This match’s outcome was already decided.

Sure enough, Shindō soon lost even more miserably than Sengoku. Aside from his serve, he never even touched the ball—clearly, Mōri wasn’t holding back this time. Most likely, Mōri just wanted to finish quickly and rest.

With Rikkai and Yamabuki’s match concluded, the Kanto semifinals lineup was finalized: Fudomine, Rikkai, Hyōtei, and Seigaku. Seigaku’s advance to the semifinals had some luck—they avoided facing any of the top three schools until now.

After all, Seigaku only really had Fuji and Inui worth watching. Oishi and Kikumaru were decent in doubles but only at the Kanto level at best.

But Inui was a different story—perhaps thanks to Mitsuya’s advice, he had focused intensely on physical training during the camp, rapidly improving his five attributes. It was said that even back at Seigaku, he continued training at more than double the intensity of his teammates.

When Akashi saw that all matches were done, he didn’t bother greeting anyone from Rikkai and directly led Fudomine’s team away. He was already thinking about their upcoming semifinal against Seigaku and what lineup he wanted to experiment with.

The next day, in the Fudomine tennis club’s meeting room, Akashi was arranging the lineup for next week’s semifinal—a result he’d come up with after thinking it over all night.

Doubles Two: Tachibana Kippei, Akutsu Jin

Doubles One: Akashi, Kite

Singles Three: Tezuka

Singles Two: Chitose

Singles One: Krauser

When everyone heard that Akashi himself would play in Doubles One, their faces were filled with surprise. Until now, Akashi had never played doubles—they’d always felt it was a waste of his talent.

But Akashi ignored their surprise and even mentioned he would also play Doubles One in the final, though with a different partner. Then he looked seriously at Kite, his tone softer than usual as he asked:

”Kite, how’s your sweetspot technique coming along?”

”I’ve fully mastered it, but I’m still a bit short of pulling off Light Strike,” Kite answered calmly, without hiding anything.

”I see. But sweetspot technique can lead to more than just Light Strike. I have an idea I’d like to test—this time in doubles, I need your full cooperation, no resistance,” Akashi said, his gaze deep and piercing.

Kite nodded seriously; he had complete faith in Akashi’s insight and abilities. Akashi wouldn’t suddenly choose to play doubles without a reason.

Though Kite always acted normal, he clearly knew he was the weakest among the regulars. Akashi worried this awareness would eventually affect Kite’s mentality, so he planned to use pseudo-ZONE to guide Kite’s potential directly, helping him break through to national level—because Akashi had thought of a move perfect for Kite.

That move was the signature technique of Switzerland’s team captain in the original story, Alexander Amadeus—a technique on par with Light Strike but its polar opposite: Dark Strike!