Prince of Tennis: The Emperor's Eye

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Oishi’s Talent

Before the Kanto Tournament semifinals started, all four semifinalist schools except Fudomine were intensely preparing. Seigaku was especially troubled—Yamato had no confidence at all that they could beat Fudomine. Their only chance was to put everything into the first three matches, but even then, the odds of winning were minuscule.

According to Inui Sadaharu’s calculations, Seigaku’s chance of victory was 1%—and that was already generous. If Inui weren’t a Seigaku regular himself, they probably wouldn’t even have that pitiful 1%.

And it wasn’t just Seigaku; even Rikkai was seriously preparing for Fudomine. As for their semifinal opponent Hyōtei, to be honest, Yukimura wasn’t concerned at all. Apart from Atobe himself, none of Hyōtei’s players posed any threat.

Looking across the entire Kanto middle school scene, only Fudomine could realistically challenge Rikkai’s dominance—especially Akashi. Yukimura had absolutely no confidence he could defeat Akashi, since Akashi’s mental strength surpassed his own.

So Rikkai’s only path to victory was to win 3 matches early. If it came down to Singles One, they had a high chance of losing.

What Yukimura didn’t know, however, was that Akashi would appear in the doubles lineup this time, meaning Rikkai might not even last until Singles One.

So while Fudomine stuck to their usual training, the other schools were busy with last-minute preparations. Before they knew it, the weekend arrived—and the Kanto semifinals were about to begin.

On the day of the matches, crowds once again gathered at Midorimori Tennis Park. Everyone was excited to watch the semifinals, since the matches these past two days had far surpassed the quality of the previous weekend’s.

It was worth noting that even though Yamabuki had lost yesterday, because the Japan Youth Tennis Association expanded this year’s national tournament to include 24 schools, the top five from the Kanto Tournament would qualify for nationals, along with top schools from other regions.

For example, schools from Kyushu, Chubu, Shikoku, and Chugoku—though the ”Chugoku region” here referred only to a part of Japan, with no relation to China.

Because last year’s champion was Makinofuji from Kansai, this year’s national tournament was held in Osaka Prefecture. As a result, Osaka got one extra recommended spot, bringing Kansai’s total to 6 schools qualifying for nationals.

Speaking of which, the national tournament format was quite strange. Before the tournament, the organizers selected 8 seeded schools. These seeds skipped the first round entirely, which meant the first round was 16 schools playing to determine 8 winners, who would then face the 8 seeded schools.

But in the original story, the choice of seeds was puzzling—Seigaku’s past results weren’t impressive, yet they were seeded. One could argue it was because they won the Kanto Tournament, but Higa Middle School, who beat Shishigaku to become Kyushu champions, still had to play the first round.

Akashi and his team arrived at the park by bus, got off, and went straight to the registration desk to submit their updated lineup. After that, under the staff’s guidance, they waited by the match courts.

Before long, Seigaku’s team slowly approached. Seeing Fudomine already there, they hurried to their own bench to prepare. Yamato led Fuji over to greet Akashi with a few polite words, while Ryūzaki Sumire remained in the coach’s seat, probably still intimidated after Akashi’s bluntness last time.

Akashi paid no mind to Ryūzaki Sumire’s attitude—he’d never expected her to do anything useful anyway, and as long as she didn’t mess up his plans, that was good enough.

However, when Ryūzaki Sumire saw Tachibana and Akutsu walking out to warm up, her face stiffened. Clearly, Fudomine’s order today had changed dramatically—otherwise, there was no way this doubles pair would appear.

Oishi and Kikumaru forced awkward smiles, especially Kikumaru, who knew from reports of last week’s matches that Tachibana and Akutsu had left their opponents either unconscious or forced to forfeit. Facing them both at once made him extremely uneasy.

If Akashi knew what Kikumaru was thinking, he would have told him he was overthinking it. Although Tachibana and Akutsu had fiery tempers, as long as they weren’t provoked, they would finish the match properly.

Soon, the referee saw both pairs had finished warming up and announced the match would begin.

”Now starting the Kanto Tournament semifinals—Seishun Academy versus Fudomine Middle School! Doubles Two players, please enter the court!”

The four players walked to the net and bowed to each other. Perhaps because they had attended the same training camp, Akutsu even shook hands with Oishi and Kikumaru—though his expression was anything but friendly.

”Let’s have a good match today~” Tachibana said to Oishi and Kikumaru.

Oishi and Kikumaru only nodded stiffly, still visibly nervous. Oishi was worried about the strength gap; Kikumaru was haunted by what he’d heard about last week’s matches.

Tachibana won the coin toss and chose to serve first, so both teams took their positions. The referee announced the start of the match.

”First game! Fudomine Middle School to serve!”

Just as everyone was watching in anticipation, something shocking happened: deep red and black-red auras suddenly surged around Tachibana and Akutsu—they had clearly activated their Beast and Wild Instinct states right from the start.

Oishi and Kikumaru felt like crying inside: ’Was this really necessary? Going all out right away—did we do something to offend them? Or do they just hate us?’

Actually, this was the plan Akashi had set days ago. Tachibana and Akutsu were close to triggering ability synchronization, and this match was the perfect opportunity to test it.

Standing at the baseline, Tachibana prepared to serve. His fierce aura and golden hair made him look like a real lion, exuding immense pressure. He tossed the ball high, then swung his racket with explosive power—once over the net, the ball split into six afterimages shooting toward Seigaku’s court.

”Abare Jishi!”

Starting right away with that move, it was clear Tachibana had no intention of holding back. But Kikumaru and Oishi had grown a lot during the training camp—Kikumaru intercepted multiple shots at the net, but only hit afterimages, and thankfully Oishi was able to cover the backcourt and return the real ball.

Unfortunately, Akutsu, like a ghost, suddenly leaped up from beneath the net and smashed the ball hard, catching Kikumaru and Oishi completely off guard. The ball flew straight out of bounds.

”15-0!”

Akashi, watching from the sidelines, nodded slightly. Akutsu’s doubles had improved; he was at least beginning to cooperate. The lone wolf was starting to learn how to run with the pack.

Even though Oishi and Kikumaru could manage to return Tachibana’s Abare Jishi with their combined efforts, the difference in overall strength was just too big. No matter how good their coordination and chemistry were, they couldn’t stop themselves from losing points.

”30-0!”

”40-0!”

”GAME! Fudomine! 1-0!”

It was Oishi’s turn to serve, but this time he and Kikumaru lined up in a new formation: one in front and one behind, standing along the center of the court to form a straight line.

”An Australian Formation... and they’ve already learned it? But do they have enough chemistry to pull it off?” Akashi murmured with a small smile as he watched.

Oishi quickly served the ball, but with Kikumaru standing up front and blocking the view, Tachibana and Akutsu couldn’t read the ball’s trajectory. Just as they were about to use their explosive speed to reach the ball, the umpire’s voice suddenly rang out.

”Fault! Please serve again!”

It turned out that since Oishi and Kikumaru had only just started practicing the Australian Formation, their coordination wasn’t yet at the level it should be. Oishi unconsciously eased up to avoid hitting Kikumaru, causing the serve to fall short.

Seeing this, Oishi quickly signaled that it was his mistake, and Kikumaru gave him an encouraging look, telling him to serve without worrying.

On the second serve, Oishi didn’t hesitate, sending the ball swiftly over the net as Kikumaru nimbly sidestepped right, allowing the ball to fly through.

However, even so, Akutsu relied on his wild instinct, spinning around at incredible speed to reach the ball, twisting his body in a way no ordinary person could, and returning a sharp crosscourt shot.

Kikumaru reacted instantly, lunging left and bracing himself on one hand as he swung his racket in a backhand swipe, sending the ball as a yellow blur toward the backcourt.

”Kikumaru Beam!”

Tachibana quickly reached the landing point and returned with a topspin shot. Kikumaru leapt into the air, rotated his body 360 degrees, and smashed the ball with full force.

”Kikumaru Rocket!”

”Uh... isn’t that just a fancy way of saying a normal trick shot? What’s with these ridiculous names?” Chitose muttered from the sidelines, clearly exasperated.

Akashi chuckled silently. Lively as ever, Kikumaru had the potential to be a chatterbox on court, though he still paled compared to someone like Ibu Shinji, who would be entering middle school next year.

But Akutsu wasn’t going to let Kikumaru keep playing around. He chased down the ball and pretended to aim for a straight shot. Oishi, seeing this, rushed to the right—only for Akutsu to suddenly twist his shot mid-swing and send the ball crosscourt.

”0-15!”

This move was inspired by Akashi’s Absolute Command, using his body’s extreme flexibility to change shot direction after baiting the opponent into moving.

Tachibana then moved up alongside Akutsu, and the pair pushed forward together, putting immense pressure on Kikumaru at the net, which soon forced mistakes.

”0-30!”

”0-40!”

Seeing things slip further out of control, Oishi realized something needed to change. When Tachibana hit a powerful passing shot, Oishi lowered his racket to the ground, dragging it across the surface with a sharp sound, then struck the ball with a medium topspin high volley that soared high, tracing a parabolic arc toward the opponent’s baseline.

”Moon Volley!”

For most players, this shot would have been an immediate point. But Akutsu’s wild instinct allowed him to sense the drop point early. He spun and dashed for the baseline so fast he left afterimages behind him.

As the ball bounced, Akutsu arrived and smashed a forehand down the right sideline before Oishi and Kikumaru could even react, sending the ball screaming out of bounds.

”GAME! Fudomine! 2-0!”

In the third game, Akutsu unleashed four high-speed serves in a row, each clocking close to 190 kilometers per hour—far too fast for Kikumaru and Oishi to respond. They lost the third game outright.

”GAME! Fudomine! 3-0! Change sides!”

After the short break, they switched courts and continued the match. After serving, Kikumaru instantly rushed the net, while Oishi coordinated perfectly behind him. They kept using the Australian Formation.

But again, the harsh truth was that a single formation couldn’t bridge a massive gap in strength. Despite giving it everything they had, reality was unforgiving.

”GAME! Fudomine! 4-0!”

Kikumaru and Oishi lost the fourth game helplessly, fully realizing the enormous gulf between themselves and their opponents. The sense of powerlessness was crushing.

Meanwhile, after keeping up their Beast and Wild Instinct states for four games, the auras around Tachibana and Akutsu finally began to waver, and they both felt it clearly—it seemed the best way to test ability synchronization was in actual matches.

”Eiji, fall back!” ”Eiji, left!” ”Eiji, get out of the way, I’ll take this one!”

In the fifth game, Oishi suddenly began commanding Kikumaru’s movements, and with their remarkable chemistry, they actually kept Tachibana and Akutsu from scoring easily for a while.

On the sidelines, Seigaku’s team watched Oishi in surprise. Although Oishi had shown flashes of controlling the pace of a match before, they’d assumed it was luck. Now it was clear Oishi genuinely had a talent for it.

”I think we can call this Oishi’s Territory,” Inui said seriously, adjusting his glasses with a gleam.