Prince of Tennis: The Emperor's Eye

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: A Fleeting Dimensional Flash

”Using sharp observational skills to control the flow of the match? That’s a great talent, Oishi Shūichirō,” Akashi said with a hint of admiration.

On the court, Kikumaru moved more smoothly under Oishi’s direction, and their coordination grew increasingly perfect. Soon, Oishi barely needed to call out; Kikumaru could read his intentions through eye contact alone.

But just as they were hitting their stride, Tachibana’s eyes sharpened. He leapt off one foot to meet the ball and smashed it hard with the frame of his racket, sending the ball into dozens of afterimages that swept across Oishi and Kikumaru’s court like a storm.

”Abare Dama!”

In an instant, Kikumaru and Oishi were surrounded by illusions of tennis balls, unable to tell real from fake. By the time they heard the ball bounce behind them, they realized they’d already lost the point.

”30-0!”

While Oishi and Kikumaru were still in shock, the auras around Tachibana and Akutsu began to merge, a clear sign they were on the verge of entering ability synchronization.

From the sidelines, Inui Sadaharu watched nervously. He didn’t know what ”ability synchronization” was, but he had intel on Fudomine’s previous doubles match against Yamabuki. What he was seeing now with Tachibana and Akutsu looked exactly like what happened between Tezuka and Chitose back then. It had to be some kind of secret doubles technique. Oishi and Kikumaru were in danger—but first, he had to go warm up himself.

Oishi and Kikumaru noticed it too, but their thoughts were different from Inui’s. They believed this might be the legendary Doubles Synchronization they’d heard about during the training camp, which had broadened their horizons. But as far as they knew, to awaken synchronization required two partners whose hearts were perfectly aligned under extreme pressure. Tachibana and Akutsu were playing together for the first time, which didn’t fit the conditions at all.

But there was no time for Oishi and Kikumaru to dwell on it. The match continued, and with Tachibana and Akutsu’s attacks growing fiercer, even Oishi’s control of the backcourt couldn’t stop the match from spiraling out of their control. They were simply outmatched.

”40-0!”

”GAME! Fudomine! 5-0!”

Oishi stood at the baseline, his expression unchanged but his heart heavy with bitter resignation. There was no hope left in this match. He and Kikumaru had used everything they had, but it wasn’t enough. He could even sense Kikumaru’s stamina nearing its limit.

Yet despite what he felt inside, Oishi never considered giving up. He knew Kikumaru felt the same. Taking a deep breath, he served again, still keeping their Australian Formation.

Across the net, the energy around Akutsu and Tachibana grew even more unstable. The two seemed to reach a simultaneous realization. Just as Tachibana moved to receive Oishi’s serve, something flashed through his mind like lightning. His aura surged, wrapping his racket entirely in the fierce red energy of a lion. At the moment he swung, everyone on the court seemed to hear a thunderous roar!

A massive lion appeared behind Tachibana for an instant before vanishing. The ball, now glowing with deep crimson energy, shot straight at Kikumaru waiting at the net.

The moment Kikumaru’s racket touched the ball, a deafening roar seemed to explode in his ears, freezing him in place. The ball blasted his racket aside and bounced out of bounds.

”Ability Synchronization—Lion’s Roar!”

”0-15!”

Around them, the crowd erupted in gasps of disbelief. Many had seen the brief but vivid lion behind Tachibana. It was so surreal that even Akashi, seated on the coaching bench, was visibly surprised.

He hadn’t expected this. While Tezuka and Chitose had only reached the first step of synchronization, Tachibana and Akutsu had just used synchronization to create a new technique. Since it was born from synchronization, Akashi figured Akutsu must have gained a similar move as well.

Tezuka and Chitose exchanged glances, their hearts shaken. They hadn’t realized that full ability synchronization could birth such powerful techniques. They both recognized that they were falling behind in mastering synchronization.

Oishi hurried over to check on Kikumaru, more worried about his partner than shocked by the lion’s apparition. ”Eiji, what happened just now?” he asked urgently. He’d seen the lion behind Tachibana too, but his main concern was Kikumaru’s condition.

”Ōishi, I heard this huge roar right next to my ears, and I felt like I was paralyzed. My mind went blank,” Kikumaru said, still rattled.

”Eiji, how do you feel now? Are your ears okay?” Oishi asked anxiously.

”I think I’m fine now, and my ears don’t hurt or anything. It’s so weird...” Kikumaru replied, looking confused.

Hearing that, Oishi finally breathed a sigh of relief. But he understood that what Kikumaru experienced was caused by Tachibana’s previous shot.

Even Tachibana himself was surprised; he’d merely acted on instinct, but the result far exceeded his expectations. ’So this is ability synchronization,’ he thought, recalling what Akashi had once told him.

Akutsu stared at his own right hand, lost in thought, occasionally swinging his racket as if testing a new sensation.

”Players, please return to your positions and continue the match!” the umpire’s voice called out, snapping the four back to reality.

They all returned to their spots. Oishi took his place at the baseline to serve again, and Kikumaru went back to the net, though deep inside he was still haunted by the shadow of Tachibana’s earlier attack.

After serving, Oishi kept a wary eye out for another Lion’s Roar, but Tachibana didn’t seem interested in repeating it. Instead, he looked as if he was trying to grasp the feeling he’d just experienced, and his returns became noticeably more lackluster.

Akutsu kept up his fierce attacks, the black-red aura around him starting to rage violently like a ferocious beast ready to devour anything in its path. Standing at the net, Kikumaru felt a terror that seemed to pierce straight into his soul.

Under this crushing pressure, Kikumaru’s returns gradually lost precision, putting even more burden on Oishi, who was desperately holding on in the backcourt. Soon, he couldn’t keep up and started to lose points.

”0-30!”

”0-40!”

The match reached match point. Oishi took a few deep breaths before finally serving the ball. Tachibana still returned with a distracted air, but just then, Kikumaru lobbed a high ball. Akutsu’s expression suddenly sharpened. He leapt into the air, his racket wrapped in the same black-red aura.

Behind him appeared a phantom—not Tachibana’s lion, but a huge silver wolf with blood-red eyes. The phantom flashed briefly as the ball, trailing black-red energy, shot past Kikumaru and sped toward Oishi.

Oishi was fully focused, but the moment his racket touched the ball, a beast’s furious roar blasted in his ears. A wave of bloody killing intent washed over him, chilling him to the bone and freezing him in place. The ball smashed his racket aside and flew out of bounds.

”Ability Synchronization—Mad Wolf’s Howl!”

”GAME! 6-0! Match over! Winner, Fudomine Middle School!”

After the umpire declared the result, Oishi sank to his knees, gasping for breath, his entire body drenched in cold sweat. The sensation just moments ago had felt like he was on the verge of death.

Akashi stood up and began clapping with a satisfied smile. He was in an excellent mood. The techniques born from Tachibana and Akutsu’s ability synchronization clearly surpassed the national level. While they might not yet reach dimensional level, these moves were no weaker than standard world-class techniques.

Akashi believed that once they broke through to national peak or half-step world-class, they’d be able to use these techniques without relying on synchronization. That brief flash of phantom likely represented the embryonic form of their future dimensional skills, appearing early thanks to the power boost of their first synchronization.

However, once the synchronization’s novelty faded, the strange illusions probably wouldn’t appear again—unless they advanced to world-class and grasped true dimensional abilities.

While Akashi pondered the future, Kikumaru helped a still-trembling Oishi back to the team bench. Fuji and the others crowded around with concern, asking questions. Kikumaru reassured them one by one, but Oishi kept his head down in silence.

Only after Ryūzaki-sensei stepped in did everyone reluctantly move away, though worry still showed on their faces. Even Inui and Yamato, who had just finished warming up, looked on with concern.

Meanwhile, Tachibana and Akutsu left the court and found Akashi already standing up to greet them. They hurried over. Akashi looked at them with a warm smile and asked, ”How do you feel? Did you grasp the insight from that moment?”

Tachibana scratched his head awkwardly, unsure how to explain. After landing Lion’s Roar, he’d been trying to recapture that sensation, but it always felt just out of reach.

Akutsu shook his head impatiently, clearly also failing to fully grasp it. But Akashi wasn’t surprised. They were only at national level for now—mastering world-class techniques wasn’t something that could be done so easily. Of everyone, only Akutsu had truly mastered Light Strike so far.

Others might know the Sweetspot Technique, but actually unleashing Light Strike was another matter entirely. Tezuka was probably close, but with his personality, he’d rarely use it even if he could.

Once Tachibana and Akutsu returned to the bench to rest, Akashi stretched a little without bothering with a proper warm-up. His goal for the upcoming doubles match was to guide Kite’s potential, so he intended to let Kite take the lead.

After a short break, Oishi finally recovered, though his expression remained stiff. The doubles one match was about to start.

When the umpire announced the players’ entrance, a shocking sight unfolded: Akashi, wearing his jacket, stepped onto the court alongside Kite. Ryūzaki-sensei froze instantly. She’d never imagined Akashi would play doubles—wasn’t he always a singles specialist?

The Seigaku players stared in disbelief. Kawamura even thought he was dreaming. Even spectators familiar with Fudomine’s lineup were stunned.

At the net, Yamato and Inui looked at Akashi with resigned smiles. It was clear Seigaku had no chance left, but they still intended to play the match to the end—that was the bare minimum of sportsmanship.

”Akashi-kun, I didn’t expect you to take on doubles. Are you trying to follow my example as Seigaku’s captain?” Yamato joked.

This time Akashi didn’t show his usual cold demeanor. After all, he wasn’t the main focus of this match, and besides, Pseudo ZONE was part of his warm side. Smiling gently, he replied, ”I’ve been stuck in singles too long—I hardly get a chance to play. So I thought I’d change things up and experience doubles for once.”

Inui nearly choked on his thoughts: ’That’s so ridiculously arrogant... we get it, Fudomine is strong, but do you really need to rub it in?’

Yamato was stunned, then burst into hearty laughter, clearly amused by Akashi’s words. After a while, he calmed down and said sincerely, ”Well then, please go easy on us, Akashi-kun, Kite-kun.”

Akashi and Kite both nodded. The coin toss followed, and Yamato won the right to serve first. The four players moved to their positions, ready for the match.

”Now starting the doubles one match! First game, Seishun Academy to serve!”

As the umpire’s voice rang out, Akashi’s doubles debut officially began!