Prince of Tennis: The Emperor's Eye

Chapter 478: Chapter 157: Clash of Fundamental Strength

”What... what just happened?!” Kirihara’s voice trembled as he recalled Q.P.’s last return.

”Don’t tell me Q.P. already absorbed Tezuka’s Radiance of Strong Heart?” Yukimura was the first to react. Seeing Q.P.’s aura now, that was the only explanation that made sense.

”Exactly,” Akashi said calmly, his golden eyes glowing faintly. ”After experiencing Tezuka’s Radiance of Strong Heart, Q.P. absorbed that power into his own body. His former ’Perfect Quality’ has now evolved into ’Ultimate Quality.’”

”Ha! ’Ultimate Quality’? In the end, it’s just a cheap shortcut!” Atobe scoffed, crossing his arms. ”There’s no way that kind of trick can beat Tezuka’s triple Radiance fusion!”

The high schoolers didn’t speak. Their eyes were fixed on the court. Tezuka picked up another ball and, without hesitation, tossed it and swung with full force.

A flash of blue streaked across the air—the ball landed in Germany’s court. But in the next instant, a burst of white light wrapped around it, sending it back toward Japan’s side at even greater speed.

Tezuka, having focused his full attention after that last exchange, reacted instantly. The moment Q.P. swung, Tezuka’s body appeared along the ball’s trajectory. His racket moved in a sharp counter.

But the instant the ball met the strings, Tezuka’s expression changed. Something was wrong. Before he could adjust, the impact blasted his racket from his hand. His left wrist went numb, then throbbed with pain.

”0–30!”

”By experiencing and absorbing all three Light of Pride radiances, Q.P. has evolved from ’Perfect Quality’ to ’Ultimate Quality.’ Now he’s nearly invincible,” Volk said from the bench, his tone heavy. ”Even if Tezuka Kunimitsu has fused the three Radiances, his base strength can’t match Q.P.’s anymore.”

”This is bad,” Mifune muttered, his brow furrowed. ”Q.P.’s base power was already higher than Tezuka’s. And with Ken Lendoll—the mastermind of Germany’s ironclad defense—guiding him, scoring won’t be easy now.”

”Germany putting their No. 2 in Singles Three was already outside our predictions,” Kurobe said grimly. ”All we can do is watch and see how Tezuka handles this next.”

”Should’ve gone with Plan B from the start,” Tsuge said after a brief pause. ”If we’d sent Duke-kun first, maybe Q.P. wouldn’t have had the chance to evolve.”

”But if we’d done that, our doubles lineup would’ve needed two middle schoolers,” Saitō countered immediately. ”If we didn’t take Germany down within the first three matches, the situation would’ve flipped against us. Byoudouin-kun might not even be able to beat Volk.”

”Stop overthinking it,” Byoudouin said bluntly, glancing at the coaches. ”Let’s just see if that kid Tezuka can pull off a miracle.”

”Game! Germany! 1–3!”

As the coaches spoke, Q.P. had already used his newly evolved strength to seize the fourth game. Tezuka’s overwhelming advantage was starting to crumble.

After winning the game, Q.P. looked down at his hands, flexing them slowly. He could feel the new power coursing through him—yet deep down, he knew this wasn’t his limit. Something even greater was waiting to be awakened.

”I should probably thank you, Tezuka Kunimitsu,” Q.P. said, his voice calm but sincere. ”Because of you, I’ve finally stepped onto the path toward becoming the God of Tennis.”

”God of Tennis, huh? Then let’s go all out,” Tezuka replied, his expression serious as he locked eyes with Q.P.

Q.P. didn’t respond. He simply turned and walked to the baseline. Tezuka bent slightly, his stance steady, as the blue light around him flared brighter.

”This kind of method... looks like that guy’s handiwork,” Nanjiro murmured, watching Q.P. prepare to serve. ”But how did this German kid even learn it? Still... things are finally getting interesting. Tezuka Kunimitsu, huh? If you can truly grasp the essence of Ten’i Muhō, you still have a shot at victory.”

Q.P., his body glowing faintly white, took his position at the baseline. Without hesitation, he grabbed a ball, tossed it high, and swung down hard. His left arm blurred into a streak of motion as his racket struck.

Two sharp impacts echoed across the court. Tezuka reacted instantly, but his body couldn’t keep up—he could only watch as the ball shot cleanly through his legs and out of bounds.

”Ace! 15–0!”

Q.P. tossed the ball again, and once more, two nearly simultaneous impacts rang through the court. Tezuka swung early to intercept, but he was still a fraction too slow. The ball skimmed off the edge of his racket, changing its trajectory slightly—but the return still failed.

”Ace! 30–0!”

”Q.P.’s putting pressure on Tezuka again,” Oni said in a low voice from the Japan bench. ”Two serves in a row, both aimed at the exact same spot!”

”It’s a clever tactic to apply pressure,” Mitsuya said with a different view. ”But Tezuka-kun’s mental focus is unshakable. Q.P.’s method might backfire instead.”

And sure enough, when Q.P. targeted the center baseline again with another blistering serve, Tezuka had already moved to block between his legs. Even for someone as composed as him, being passed through the legs twice couldn’t go unnoticed.

The ball struck his racket with enormous force, sending a heavy shock through his left wrist. His hand trembled slightly, but Tezuka gritted his teeth and held firm. The ball finally rebounded upward toward the German side.

Then, a flash of white light appeared. Q.P. had already materialized at the net, leaping high with his left arm raised. His racket came down like a hammer, sending out a blast of white air as the ball shot toward Japan’s court like a meteor.

Tezuka moved instantly to mid-court. A massive blue tornado rose around him as he met the ball on the bounce. He swung, the tornado wrapping the ball completely.

The violent impact bent his racket’s frame deeply, but Tezuka held on, using precise technique to gradually weaken the ball’s momentum. After a tense moment of resistance, he finally managed to return it.

The ball, spinning with Ultimate Zone energy, shot toward Q.P.’s open right side. But Q.P.’s movement speed now easily matched it. He appeared in front of the ball and gripped his racket with both hands, swinging forward in a full-power strike.

In the next instant, the tennis ball transformed into a colossal white beam, screaming through the air as it tore toward Japan’s side. Tezuka’s pupils narrowed, but he didn’t dodge. He tightened his stance, both hands gripping the racket, ready to counter.

The raw impact shattered every trace of spin on the ball—it crashed straight into Tezuka’s strings. His body blazed with blinding blue light, so bright it hurt to look at. He held the handle tightly, forcing all his strength into returning the shot.

Then came the sharp sound of breaking strings. Tezuka’s expression changed at once. Before he could react further, the ball ripped through his racket and smashed into the backcourt, bouncing out of bounds.

”0–40!”

Without a word, Tezuka walked to the bench, replaced his racket with a new one, and returned to the baseline. Across from him, Q.P. didn’t wait—he tossed the ball high again.

As Q.P. swung, a white radiance wrapped around his racket. A deafening blast echoed as the ball vanished midair.

But Tezuka, empowered by the three Radiances, had reached an almost superhuman level of reaction speed. He instantly read the ball’s trajectory, blue light erupting around him as he appeared at the drop point in an instant.

The moment the ball struck the court and bounced upward, Tezuka swung. Azure particles swirled around his racket, which glowed brilliantly under the stadium lights.

Dust and debris exploded upward from the ground as the ball and racket collided, completely obscuring Tezuka from view. The audience couldn’t see what happened next.

Inside the cloud of dust, Tezuka’s face twisted—his expression blank from shock. His body reacted faster than thought; his left hand instinctively released the grip. A second later, the racket spun upward through the smoke, flying high into the air.

”Game! Germany! 2–3! Change sides!”

”After evolving into Ultimate Quality, Q.P. hasn’t just boosted his tennis power,” Volk said calmly from the German bench. ”More importantly, his body—refined through Germany’s top-tier elite tennis academy—has become a perfect weapon. He’s not weaker than any power-type player now.”