Prince of Tennis: The Emperor's Eye

Chapter 222: Chapter 32: The Returning First String

As Akashi’s words fell, his right hand swung the racket down hard toward the net, and the Gilgamesh phantom behind him shot a golden arrow high into the air. A massive, illusory magic circle slowly appeared in the sky.

Several enormous golden lances appeared in the air at the same time, merging with the tennis ball into a gigantic golden holy spear that came crashing down toward Tokugawa.

In Tokugawa’s terrified gaze, the golden holy spear slammed into the ground. A massive mushroom cloud of dust rose on the court, and an overwhelming phantom flood instantly covered the entire arena. Tokugawa could only struggle in the raging waters before slowly sinking into the depths. (These events all occurred within Tokugawa’s mental world.)

”Game! 6-0! Match over! Winner, Akashi Seijurō!”

As the umpire’s voice rang out, all illusions around Tokugawa vanished. Everyone saw him kneeling on the court, drenched in sweat, clutching his throat and gasping for air as if he had just nearly drowned.

”Have you seen the vastness of the world, Tokugawa Kazuya? You’re still too weak. Catch up quickly, or you have no right to set foot on the world stage.” Akashi glanced coldly at the kneeling Tokugawa, then turned to walk toward the sideline, the coat draped over his shoulders snapping in the wind.

As Akashi passed Oni and Irie, both men gave him a grateful nod. They now understood—Akashi hadn’t needed to use his Dimensional Space for the last two points, but he had done it to broaden Tokugawa’s horizons.

With Tokugawa’s defeat, the shuffle match between Court No. 1 and Court No. 3 was essentially decided. In Court No. 1, only Tokugawa and Tanegashima were exceptional; the others were at most national-level players.

In the players’ area, Kite and Krauser exchanged a glance, then stepped onto the court in unison. Across from them, Ayase Tatsuya and Kimura Shunsuke wore bitter expressions—they had no confidence they could win.

”Next is the doubles two match—Court No. 1’s Kimura Shunsuke and Ayase Tatsuya versus Court No. 3’s Kite Eishirō and Liliadent Krauser! Players, please enter the court!”

”After watching Akashi’s match, I feel my long-lost fighting spirit rising again~” Kite said with a playful tone.

”They’re just rejects. No need to take it too seriously—save your energy for the main event later.” Krauser’s lips curved into a wicked smile, his tone full of disdain.

”Is that so? Fine, let’s just warm up a bit then.” Kite nodded in agreement.

During the match, Kite and Krauser didn’t go out of their way to humiliate the two third-years. After all, they hadn’t offended them, and this was just an internal shuffle match. Not many people shared Tōno Atsukyou’s obsession with execution; even Krauser and Kite weren’t like that.

Kimura and Ayase tried their best to win one for Court No. 1, but against Kite’s all-court Shukuchihō, they had no way to break through. Adding in Krauser’s occasional use of Wirbel Taufe, the number of times their rackets were knocked from their hands was unusually high.

”Game! 6-0! Match over! Winners, Kite Eishirō and Liliadent Krauser!”

The doubles two match ended quickly and without suspense, even with Kite and Krauser holding back. It was clear that Fudomine’s current members all had U-17 first-string strength—at least top ten level.

Next came singles two, which was even more one-sided. With Akutsu stepping onto the court, Shibazaki Takumi’s will to live almost vanished, but the shuffle matches didn’t allow forfeit—doing so risked expulsion from the camp.

”Next is the singles two match—Court No. 1’s Shibazaki Takumi versus Court No. 3’s Akutsu Jin! Players, please enter the court!”

”Hurry up and start the match. I don’t want to waste time!” Akutsu said coldly to the umpire.

”Uh... but the serve choice—” the umpire hesitated.

”Doesn’t matter.” Akutsu waved impatiently, heading straight to his baseline, clearly letting the opponent serve first.

Throughout the match, Akutsu didn’t even use his Wild mode. Relying only on his overwhelming five attributes and a body so flexible it didn’t seem human, he completely smothered his opponent. His shots came from angles no one expected—something even Kintarō couldn’t match.

Although both Kintarō and Akutsu had top-tier natural talent, their strengths lay in different areas. Akutsu’s main advantages were his extreme flexibility and explosive power, while Kintarō’s were his natural brute strength and seemingly endless stamina.

Of course, they shared one similarity—an animal-like sharp instinct. The fact that both had mastered Wild mode proved it. Maybe that was why Akutsu treated Kintarō differently from everyone else.

”Game! 6-0! Match over! Winner, Akutsu Jin!”

With that, the team shuffle match between Court No. 1 and Court No. 3 came to an end. The members of Court No. 1 all wore disappointed expressions, though the result was something they had expected.

”Attention players! Based on the results of the team shuffle match, all members of Court No. 3 will be promoted to Court No. 1, and all members of Court No. 1 will be demoted to Court No. 3! That is all!” Coach Kurobe’s voice came clearly over the broadcast.

At this point, nearly all the middle schoolers had taken over Courts No. 1 and No. 2, completely pushing the high schoolers down. Of course, there were still a few middle schoolers who didn’t fit in and remained on Courts No. 5 and below, such as Mizuki Hajime, Hirakoba Rin, and Tennen Hikaru.

”Even though I knew this would happen, seeing it with my own eyes still feels a bit unreal. I bet if Byōdōin-kun hears about this, he’ll lose his mind again~” Saitō Itaru said helplessly from the high platform as he watched the middle schoolers below.

”Survival of the strong, elimination of the weak—that’s the rule of the camp. The high schoolers were simply outclassed,” Kurobe replied casually, sipping his coffee.

”Speaking of Byōdōin, aren’t they supposed to be on their way back?” Tsuge Ryūji suddenly asked.

”According to the staff traveling with them, they should be close. They’ll be back at the camp today or tomorrow,” Saitō replied after thinking for a moment.

”Then we’d better get ready. This was Akashi-kun’s proposal along with the head coach—we can’t take it lightly,” Kurobe said, standing up and addressing Saitō and Tsuge.

Meanwhile, on the highway to the outskirts of Tokyo, a bus cruised steadily along. On board sat a group dressed in the Japan representative team uniforms—it was the U-17 first string.

At the very back of the bus were several unfamiliar faces. They weren’t in representative uniforms but in U-17 training gear—Court No. 1 players, temporarily added by Mifune to fill numbers, since several first-string members had not participated in the recent overseas expedition.

”Heard the camp’s brought in a bunch of middle schoolers this time~” Ōmagari Ryūji drawled lazily.

”Tch, I have no idea what the coaches are thinking. What’s the point of middle schoolers? Other than that brat Akashi, the rest probably wouldn’t last long in my executions,” Tōno Atsukyou said with a cruel smile, his tone full of disdain.

”That’s exactly the problem with a brute like you—no brains. Did you forget the middle schoolers who came here with Akashi-kun last year? Their talent’s way beyond yours,” Kimijima Ikuto said with a cold smirk.

”What did you say? Sounds like you’re itching to experience my execution methods,” Tōno glared at him.

”Heh, I’m not afraid of you. Honestly, the coaching staff has no taste—pairing me with someone as crude as you is a crime against my beauty,” Kimijima shot back without backing down.

”Both of you shut up! You’re loud as hell!” Byōdōin Houō barked from the front row.

”Hmph, middle schoolers? Worthless. Even Akashi is just a slightly stronger piece of trash. This world’s cruelty is something those brats can’t handle,” Byōdōin said coldly after silencing them.

”I think Akashi-kun’s not that simple. You’d better not underestimate him, boss,” Watanabe Duke muttered in warning.

Byōdōin waved him off dismissively without replying. On the other side of the bus, a young man in a black hoodie under a Japan team uniform smirked playfully as he tossed an orange in his hand.

”Akashi Seijurō, huh? Sounds interesting,” he murmured softly.