Prince of Tennis: The Emperor's Eye

Chapter 393: Chapter 72: Niō’s Plan

At the same time, on another court, Amadeus frowned when he received news of the Japan Team’s victory over France in the Doubles Two match. He already knew that any team with Byoudouin in it wouldn’t be simple, but seeing Japan actually win the first doubles match with such a dominant score made him raise his guard even more.

After all, even Switzerland hadn’t finished their first match yet. In fact, their Canadian opponents had already taken the first set—but that was all part of Switzerland’s deliberate match strategy.

When Omagari and Yukimura returned to the bench, the team broke into applause. Taking the first win and suppressing France’s momentum early on was a huge boost for Japan.

”Didn’t expect you to grasp the Second-Stage Alternate Dimension so quickly! Keep it up, Yukimura Seiichi. The future of the Japan Team rests on you guys~” Oni said with a proud smile.

”Thanks to that match with Oni-senpai—it gave me a lot of insight,” Yukimura replied with a light smile.

”That’s your own talent and effort. It has nothing to do with me,” Oni said seriously, shaking his head.

Soon, the Doubles One match was about to begin. Coach Mifune, for once, wasn’t carrying his sake gourd. Watching the two players about to take the court, his eyes were filled with anticipation.

”Next up—Doubles One! France: Edgard Delacroix (third-year high school) and Jonathan Saint Georges (second-year middle school)! Japan: Kaji Kazena (third-year high school) and Niō Masaharu (third-year middle school)! Players, please enter the court!”

Edgard Delacroix (right) and Jonathan Saint Georges (left).

At the referee’s announcement, the four players walked onto the court. During the pre-match handshake, Niō noticed something—the French high schooler’s attitude toward his younger teammate was far from friendly. Niō made a mental note of that small detail.

Then came the coin toss. Whether it was Niō’s subtle trick or pure luck, no one knew—since the World Cup coin toss was handled solely by the referee—but Japan won the serve.

”The match will be best of three sets! Japan Team to serve first!”

Niō strolled to the baseline, his eyes locked on Jonathan across the net while replaying the opponent’s data in his mind. A sly grin crept across his face.

”Data tennis, huh? That’s right up my alley. Puri~” Niō chuckled softly, tossing the ball high.

With a sharp thwack, the ball shot toward the far-right baseline at incredible speed. Jonathan panicked but still managed to dash to the landing spot, barely getting his racket on it.

The return floated high. Kaji’s figure blurred into the air, and with a powerful swing, he smashed it down hard. The ball sliced through the air, slammed near the center line, and bounced out of bounds.

”15–0!”

”Hey! What was that return? You just gave them a free smash!” Edgard barked furiously at Jonathan.

”I’m sorry! The serve was too fast, I couldn’t react in time...” Jonathan stammered apologetically.

”Yare yare~ if Akashi-kun hadn’t given me your data, I might’ve fallen for this little act. You two should’ve let Irie-senpai handle this kind of performance,” Niō muttered under his breath, watching their little display.

When the two French players returned to position, Niō tossed up another serve—again, a blazing fast one. But this time, Jonathan was ready. He moved quickly and managed to return the ball.

However, Kaji streaked across the court like a silver flash. The moment the ball crossed the net, it was already coming back. Neither Edgard nor Jonathan even saw how he’d hit it.

”30–0!”

”What’s this? Is this really the strength of the world’s number three team?” Kaji said, pushing back his wavy hair with a smirk.

”Tch! Don’t get cocky, curly-head!” Edgard spat back, annoyed.

”Hmph! And what right does a spiky-head like you have to comment on my style?” Kaji retorted just as sharply. Maybe it was because their hair colors were nearly the same that they paid extra attention to each other’s hairstyles.

Before the two could start bickering outright, the referee quickly stepped in to warn them. They cooled off a bit—but few noticed that in the backcourt, Jonathan’s gaze had turned sharp and focused, watching Niō and Kaji closely.

The data collector, Jonathan, was already at work.

Niō fired off a third high-speed serve. This time, Edgard returned it easily, showing off his incredible footwork and reaction speed. But Kaji wasn’t about to lose in terms of speed.

His body flashed like a streak of silver light, wrapping around the oncoming ball. A burst of golden radiance followed as the ball slammed near the baseline. Jonathan didn’t even have time to move.

”40–0!”

”Tch... useless idiot!” Edgard snapped at Jonathan with open frustration.

When Edgard returned Niō’s fourth serve, he immediately rushed the net. But Kaji was already there—he redirected the ball to the opposite side, sending it flying away from Edgard’s running path.

”Impulsive personality, confident in his speed... a performance-type player, huh?” Jonathan muttered softly as he sprinted toward the ball.

Kaji was about to intercept the return when Niō suddenly appeared at the net. Holding the racket in his left hand, he sliced the ball lightly. The spin instantly killed most of its force, sending it drifting slowly toward the net.

But instead of clearing it, the ball oddly stopped right on top of the net, rolled along it to the right, and finally dropped onto the French side of the court.

”Trick Play—Tightrope Walking!”

”Game! Japan! 1–0!”

”Oh? Is Niō copying my genius move now? But why hasn’t he transformed into anyone yet~?” Marui said from the stands, puzzled.

”Knowing him, Niō’s definitely cooking up some kind of scheme,” Yagyū replied calmly, pushing up his glasses.

Jackal nodded in agreement. As Niō’s teammates at Rikkai, they knew his trickster nature well—he never did anything meaningless on court.

”That guy Niō’s being too careless! He could’ve just morphed into Tezuka or Atobe and taken the game cleanly,” Sanada said from the bench, frowning. But his words immediately drew Atobe’s sharp glare.

”You still don’t get Niō’s personality, Genichirō. You’re way too uptight~” Yukimura said with a soft chuckle.

The second game began with Edgard’s serve. He stood at the baseline, tossed the ball high, and slammed it hard toward Niō’s open right side.

Niō dashed to the landing spot, swung his left hand, and sent a baseline drive straight across. Jonathan stepped sideways and intercepted, his eyes darting toward the gap between Niō and Kaji as he whipped his racket through the air.

But what he saw was only Kaji’s afterimage. In the next instant, Kaji was already in front of the ball, his right hand flashing with a blur of silver light. The ball streaked past Jonathan, hitting the backcourt floor with explosive force.

Luckily, Edgard made it in time. Gripping his racket with both hands, he fired back with a powerful shot, the impact creating a gust of air that roared toward Kaji. He was clearly trying to overpower him.

Unfortunately, that kind of raw strength meant nothing to Kaji. In a blink, he was in front of the ball again. His racket flashed, and a golden streak tore through the French side’s defense.

”0–15!”

”I see. So he’s trained his power as well—he doesn’t have the usual weaknesses of speed-type players,” Jonathan muttered, continuing his quiet analysis.

Edgard’s second serve was also easily returned by Kaji. This time, Edgard followed it up to the net, and the two began trading blisteringly fast volleys like a singles rally.

Niō watched from the backcourt with an amused grin, while Jonathan kept furiously collecting data on Kaji. Both sides had their own goals—but it didn’t matter. The point still went to Kaji, whose superior speed overwhelmed them.

”0–30!”

On the next rally, Niō joined the fray, though he only used standard tennis to back Kaji up, never showing any special moves. That made Jonathan focus even more of his attention on Kaji.

Edgard tried to prolong the rallies, buying time for Jonathan to gather more data. But the pace of the match turned one-sided. Kaji moved like lightning, tearing through France’s defense point after point.

”0–40!”

”Game! Japan! 2–0!”

The third game was Kaji’s serve. His eyes gleamed with excitement. He’d thought the world’s number three team would be much tougher—but apparently, they weren’t that impressive after all. Since that was the case, he didn’t plan to hold back.

Kaji tossed the ball high, his form blurring into motion. The ball turned into a streak of light, shooting over the net and slamming into the back-left corner of the French court. Just as it was about to bounce out, Edgard barely reached it.

From that position, he should’ve only been able to hit a crosscourt shot. Kaji narrowed his eyes and moved left—but the next instant, Edgard forced a straight-line return instead.

”What!?”

Kaji immediately changed direction to chase, but Niō was already there. With a swift swing of his left hand, he struck the ball—clang! The ball smashed against the iron post at the right side of the net.

Using the rebound’s momentum, it suddenly changed direction, dropping fast onto the front court and bouncing out before the stunned Jonathan could react.

”Trick Play—Iron Post Strike!”

”15–0!”

”This is doubles, you know~ If you focus too much on Kaji-senpai, you’ll regret it. Puri~” Niō said with a grin, looking at the two French players.