Prince of Tennis: The Emperor's Eye

Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Perfect Coordination

At this moment, Akashi and Tezuka finished warming up and returned to the court. Akashi glanced at the scoreboard, his brows knitting slightly. He hadn’t expected Tachibana and Chitose to lose even after all that—it proved once again that when Niō was paired with a strong player, his doubles ability became overwhelmingly powerful.

Tachibana and Chitose looked at the returning Akashi with guilty, tense faces. It was their first time losing an important match, different from the match against Akutsu that had been a deliberate arrangement. Now, the situation had truly become dangerous.

Akashi’s expression was icy as he signaled Krauser to come over, then fixed his gaze on Tachibana and Chitose. The oppressive aura of the Emperor Eye’s unique pressure weighed down on them until, after a long silence, Akashi’s cold voice cut through the air:

”You two weren’t giving your all just now, were you?”

That indifferent question felt like it pierced right into Tachibana and Chitose’s hearts, leaving them silent, unable to find words.

”Our powerful record at Fudomine has made you forget yourselves,” Akashi continued, his chilling presence pressing down even harder. ”To put it bluntly, you’ve become arrogant!”

”Remember this: you don’t yet have the power to control everything. I hope this is the last time. Otherwise, hand over your spots on the regulars yourselves!” Akashi finished, then ignored the two of them. He signaled Krauser to pass his words to the entire team before turning with Tezuka to walk toward the court.

Truthfully, Akashi had already sensed it before: as the tennis club kept winning decisively, some regulars had started to become overconfident. While it wasn’t their intention, it was human nature; only a few people could maintain a humble heart.

In the original story, Sanada didn’t use Lightning or Shadow during the Kanto finals mainly because of his obsession with Tezuka. But deep down, it came down to one word—arrogance. He never truly considered Ryōma a threat, believing only Tezuka and Yukimura worthy of his full strength, bolstered by Rikkai’s consecutive national titles and his reputation as the Emperor.

Akashi hoped this defeat would wake up Tachibana and Chitose in time and serve as a warning to the others: excessive arrogance only leads to devastating consequences, just like what happened to Tokugawa in the original.

Tachibana and Chitose sat silently with lowered heads after returning to the stands. The other Fudomine regulars didn’t disturb them, as Krauser had already relayed Akashi’s words to everyone.

Meanwhile, on Rikkai’s side, Yukimura saw Akashi and Tezuka return and sighed inwardly. It seemed their plan had only half succeeded—what happened next would come down to luck.

As Yukimura pondered the upcoming lineup, both teams’ first doubles players stepped onto the court. Marui and Jackal exchanged wry smiles. They knew they had little chance in this match, but they wouldn’t just give up—this was Rikkai’s pride.

Akashi ignored their expressions and said to Tezuka beside him, ”Tezuka, get ready. You remember everything I told you yesterday, right?”

Tezuka nodded seriously without a word, his mind replaying the words Akashi had spoken to him before getting off the train the previous day.

Both sides walked to the net and bowed politely. They flipped for serve without any unnecessary words—Marui and Jackal were in no mood for chatter. This time, Akashi won the right to serve.

”The first doubles match begins now. One set only! Fudomine to serve first!” the umpire announced.

Akashi stood at the baseline, his face still cold. His immense spiritual power slowly began to spread, enveloping Tezuka. He tossed the ball and served an ordinary shot at average speed.

Marui intercepted it at the net with a quick backhand, sending it toward the right sideline. Tezuka swiftly moved to the spot and returned it, adding his domain’s spin. Akashi then rushed up to the net.

The moment Akashi’s spiritual pressure spread, Yukimura instantly sensed it and was secretly shocked. Even he knew he wouldn’t be able to resist if Akashi unleashed Yips—if Akashi used his ability to erase the five senses, Yukimura was sure he’d be completely stripped of them.

As the match progressed, Tezuka maintained his domain at the baseline, leaving Marui and Jackal with no options. Not only had they yet to reach national-level strength, but even if they had, cracking Tezuka’s domain wouldn’t be easy—unless Marui somehow awakened his Wonder Castle early.

At this moment, the spiritual energy swirling around Tezuka far surpassed what Akashi had shown yesterday when he partnered with Kite, and it was still steadily growing, continuously guiding the immense potential within Tezuka’s body.

”GAME! Fudomine! 1-0!”

Soon, with the power of his domain, Tezuka easily took the first game. Throughout the game, Akashi barely moved aside from serving, yet a fine sheen of sweat had already appeared on his forehead.

Saito Itaru, who had been watching the match from the sidelines with a relaxed demeanor, now wore a grave expression. Niō’s performance earlier had only mildly piqued his interest; his spiritual power had been decent but not enough to make Saitō take it seriously.

But the spiritual power Akashi displayed now was a completely different matter—far beyond what he’d shown the day before. Saitō could tell with certainty that no player currently at the U-17 could rival Akashi’s spiritual power, not even Byōdōin.

Saitō knew well that given Akashi’s age and still-developing body, such overwhelming spiritual power could easily backfire and harm him. That was why he looked so serious. But then he remembered Akashi’s background and finally exhaled slowly in relief.

”GAME! Fudomine! 2-0!”

”GAME! Fudomine! 3-0! Change sides!”

Before long, Akashi and Tezuka had taken three straight games. Marui had tried every technique he knew, but nothing worked, and Jackal, whose only advantage was his stamina, could do even less.

During the water break, Tezuka noticed the sweat on Akashi’s face, and it surprised him. The physical exertion from the match so far should never have caused this in Akashi.

Yukimura, on the other hand, also noticed Akashi’s state, but unlike Tezuka, he had a better idea of what was happening: it was the result of maintaining a high level of spiritual output for an extended period. However, even Yukimura couldn’t figure out what Akashi was trying to do.

As the match resumed, Marui and Jackal still had no way to counter Tezuka, who was at the peak of national-level strength. They could only keep chasing the ball in vain, yet neither showed signs of giving up or surrendering.

”GAME! Fudomine! 4-0!”

Unsurprisingly, Tezuka easily secured the fourth game. But then, a seven-colored light suddenly rose around his body—the aura of Hyaku Ren Jitoku no Kiwami.

Seeing this, Marui and Jackal grew even more frustrated; this was clearly meant to crush them completely. But what no one knew was that Tezuka himself was shocked—this state of Hyaku Ren Jitoku no Kiwami had activated on its own without his intention.

Tezuka’s eyes shifted toward Akashi at the baseline, realizing that his transformation must have something to do with Akashi. Knowing what had happened with Kite the day before, Tezuka quickly calmed down, stopped worrying, and focused back on the match.

Standing at the baseline, Akashi himself felt it was his first time using spiritual power to this extent. Honestly, he hadn’t anticipated things would turn out like this before the match. But the power of Muga was so unique that trying to guide it required an enormous spiritual toll.

”Phew... this really wasn’t easy, but I finally managed to draw out the deeper power of Muga and Tezuka’s own potential. From here on, it’s all up to him. I hope he remembers what I told him yesterday,” Akashi muttered softly as he served the ball.

Anyone who knew the original story well would now understand what Akashi was trying to do: he was guiding Tezuka to awaken the ultimate power of Muga—Ten’i Muhō no Kiwami.

Yesterday, during the Rikkai vs. Hyōtei match, Akashi had arrived just in time to see the flicker of lightning on Sanada’s leg, confirming that Sanada had indeed mastered Lightning (Rai).

Akashi knew Sanada would use this move against Tezuka to counter Hyaku Ren Jitoku no Kiwami, and might even develop the unknown shadow technique to seal Tezuka’s Saiki Kanpatsu. In the original, Tezuka’s response to Lightning was to use that incomplete move—Tezuka Phantom.

But Akashi didn’t want Tezuka to develop that technique. Or rather, he believed it wasn’t truly a technique at all, but an imperfect transitional skill between Tezuka Zone and the Ultimate Zone.

Such an incomplete move placed enormous strain on Tezuka’s arm and could impact his future career. Coupled with the fact that most of Tezuka’s techniques already carried risks of injuring his arm, Akashi could never allow him to repeat the same tragic path from the original, even if Tezuka currently had no injuries.

Another thing was Tezuka’s personality. Put nicely, it was perseverance; put bluntly, it was stubbornness. When facing Fuji, even though Akashi had strictly forbidden it, Tezuka still used Zero Shiki Serve on the last point to inspire Fuji—that was just who Tezuka Kunimitsu was.

So when Akashi watched the match between Hyōtei and Rikkai yesterday, he started thinking about this problem. If Tezuka had to face Sanada’s Lightning (Rai), and if the difference in attributes wasn’t overwhelming, simply relying on sweetspot techniques probably wouldn’t be enough—he’d need Ten’i Muhō no Kiwami.

Not only would it boost his own abilities, but it would also weaken the opponent’s attributes. Not just Lightning—even if it was Byōdōin’s savage onslaught, Tezuka could handle it. That’s how things ended up like this.

”GAME! Fudomine! 5-0!”

The match went on. After Tezuka activated Saiki Kanpatsu, Marui and Jackal had even less resistance, only able to watch point after point slip away. Tezuka’s Muga no Kyōchi kept shifting, alternating between Hyaku Ren Jitoku and Saiki Kanpatsu.

In his mind, Tezuka kept hearing Akashi’s words from yesterday.

”Tezuka! Do you find joy in playing tennis? What was your original reason for playing? Remember—don’t shackle yourself!”

”The reason I started playing tennis...?” Tezuka murmured softly.

In the stands, Chitose snapped out of his silence, hesitantly watching Tezuka’s state. He vaguely guessed what was happening but couldn’t be sure.

Akashi was still channeling his spiritual power with all his might, guiding the Muga deep inside Tezuka. Honestly, even with the spiritual power of someone who had lived two lifetimes, Akashi was starting to feel the strain, but he believed in Tezuka’s potential.

Across the net, Marui and Jackal were exhausted under the crushing pressure, knowing they were just one game away from defeat. Even though they’d expected this before the match, they still felt a tinge of frustration.

Jackal struggled to steady his breath, tossed the ball high, and hit a diagonal serve. But Tezuka didn’t hesitate at all, easily returning it.

For Marui and Jackal, nothing changed on the court. Even with Akashi barely making a move during the match, Tezuka’s overwhelming strength left them feeling hopeless.

”0-15!”

”0-30!”

”0-40!”

The match reached match point, and the Muga aura around Tezuka had grown incredibly thick. At that moment, a shift came over Tezuka’s expression, as if he’d finally realized something.

Suddenly, a dazzling blue light burst from Tezuka’s body, making Chitose jump to his feet in the stands. His voice trembled as he shouted, ”It can’t be wrong! This is the ultimate tennis only for the chosen ones—Ten’i Muhō no Kiwami!”

Even Yukimura at the coach’s bench looked utterly shocked and disbelieving. As someone who had mastered Muga himself, he knew exactly what this meant: the legendary final gate of Echizen Nanjirō’s three Muga secrets.

”Ten’i Muhō! Incredible... what’s going on with this year’s group of national-level players? They’ve far exceeded anything we imagined. It’s a pity Byōdōin’s group will have graduated in two years,” Saito Itaru said with a hint of regret.

”But... it’s not like there’s no room to maneuver. I’ll need to report this to the head coach first and see what he decides,” Saitō added thoughtfully.

Standing on court, Tezuka looked like a different person. His hair swayed despite the still air, and his whole body radiated a constant blue glow, like he’d awakened a small universe.

Tezuka’s eyes gradually grew clearer as he turned to glance at Akashi, seeing him drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. Tezuka felt a flicker of gratitude, but he knew the most important thing now was to familiarize himself with this feeling and master it as quickly as possible.

At the umpire’s urging, Jackal snapped back to reality and served. Akashi moved immediately at the net, intercepting the ball over and over, but intentionally refrained from ending the rally. Marui and Jackal realized what was happening and silently played along, connecting with Tezuka’s transformation.

Akashi, Marui, and Jackal kept exchanging shots at the net, but anyone watching closely could tell the exchanges weren’t intense. At the backcourt, Tezuka spent a moment sensing his new state, then finally moved.

In an instant, he was at the net. Aside from Akashi, no one saw how he got there. Tezuka gently lifted his arm, and the next thing Marui and Jackal heard was the ball bouncing behind them. When they turned around, the ball lay quietly on the baseline.

”GAME! 6-0! Match over! The winner: Fudomine Middle School!”