Prince of Tennis: The Emperor's Eye

Chapter 486: Chapter 165: Japan Team’s Huge Advantage

The fourth game was Dankmar’s service game, but he didn’t head to the baseline right away. Instead, he walked over to Bertie’s side. The two of them whispered to each other for a moment, and only then did Dankmar move to the baseline.

Without any hesitation, he tossed the ball up. The next second, a huge impact sound rang out as the ball, carrying powerful momentum, flew toward the Japan Team’s court. Mōri immediately sprinted to the landing point. After the ball hit the ground and bounced up, he gripped the racket with both hands and met it head-on.

”Mōri-kun’s strength training still needs more work. The opponent isn’t even a power-type player, yet he’s struggling this much to return it,” Mifune-sensei said from the Japan Team bench, his tone clearly dissatisfied.

”Yes, head coach! I’ll personally design special strength training for him later,” Tsuge Ryūji-san replied at once from behind Mifune-sensei.

Completely unaware that the coaches had already set their sights on him, Mōri was now launching a fierce attack on the Germany Team together with Ochi. The chemistry they had built at the U-17 training camp made their offense flow smoothly and naturally.

That said, Dankmar’s defensive ability was no joke. As a qualified professional player, staying calm under pressure was essential. On top of that, Germany was famous for its iron-wall defense, and Volk was the same type.

However, once Ochi activated his mental assassination, Dankmar’s movements clearly slowed down. Even with Bertie covering from the side, openings inevitably appeared.

”0–15!”

”0–30!”

”15–30!”

”15–40!”

”GAME! Japan leads! 3–1!”

With Ochi’s mental assassination supporting them, the two smoothly took the fourth game. Dankmar felt a bit annoyed about it, but he didn’t say anything, since this was all part of Bertie’s plan.

The fifth game came, and it was Ochi’s turn to serve again. He didn’t hold back at all, firing off Mach Serves at extreme speed. This time, even if Dankmar wanted to return them, he simply couldn’t, and could only stand there helplessly and wait for the umpire’s call.

”ACE! 15–0!”

”ACE! 30–0!”

When it was Bertie’s turn to receive, Ochi unconsciously tightened his grip on the ball with his left hand. On the surface, his expression was still cold and emotionless. He quickly tossed the ball up and made a powerful serving motion.

The next instant, the ball slammed into the ground on Bertie’s left side and quickly bounced out of bounds. Throughout the entire exchange, Bertie didn’t show any sign of moving at all, making Ochi start to wonder if the previous return had just been a coincidence.

”ACE! 40–0!”

Without overthinking it, Ochi tossed the ball again. After two nearly overlapping impact sounds, the ball was already behind Bertie. He seemed completely unable to react, standing there blankly.

”GAME! Japan leads! 4–1! Change courts!”

In his heart, Ochi had already concluded that Bertie’s movement in the first game had been a coincidence. He walked toward the bench with Mōri. Among everyone present, it was likely only Akashi Seijurō who noticed Bertie’s unusual action just now.

At the exact moment Ochi struck his Mach Serve, Bertie’s pupils had actually shifted slightly along the ball’s flight path. The speed was simply too fast for ordinary people to notice. Even Atobe and Irie probably didn’t catch it, but Akashi’s Emperor Eye saw it all perfectly clearly.

”Get ready. Your Mach Serve will probably get returned soon,” Akashi said calmly from behind just as Ochi sat down on the bench.

Ochi paused for a moment after hearing Akashi’s words, then coldly nodded to show he understood. Beside him, Mōri looked a bit incredulous. It wasn’t that he doubted Akashi, but it was hard to imagine what method the opponent could use to return Tsukimitsu-san’s Mach Serve.

”Akashi-kun’s judgment is rarely wrong. Ochi, when it’s your turn to serve again, don’t let your guard down. And Mōri-kun, your wrist strength is way too weak, isn’t it? Don’t always think you can rely on sleep mode to deal with matches!” Mifune-sensei added at just the right moment.

”Well, well, I got it, Mifune-sensei!” Mōri replied casually. His tone sounded a bit perfunctory, but Mifune-sensei knew Mōri had taken the words to heart. After all, Mōri had stayed at Shitenhōji before, so his way of thinking was always a bit different from normal people.

On the players’ bench, Shiraishi and Ishida Gin had no idea why, but they suddenly felt like sneezing. Both of them managed to hold it in. The situation of the match was excellent right now, and everyone was in a good mood.

The ninety-second changeover passed quickly. When the four players returned to the court, the flow of the match hadn’t changed much. Bertie’s serves still couldn’t really affect Ochi, while Ochi’s mental assassination was giving Bertie and Dankmar quite a headache.

Logically speaking, as professional players, the two of them should have top-tier mental resilience and shouldn’t be affected by mental assassination. But at some point, Ochi’s mental assassination had become increasingly strange, and there even seemed to be traces of Yukimura’s influence within it.

Akashi’s involvement didn’t just cause the middle school players’ strength to skyrocket. Many high school players were indirectly affected as well and achieved breakthroughs in strength. Oni Juujirō was the most obvious case, and Ochi was the same. Not only had the top speed of his Mach Serve increased, even his mental assassination had become stronger through exchanges with Yukimura.

”GAME! Japan leads! 5–1!”

Before long, Ochi and Mōri took another game. This made the Japan middle school students in the stands cheer loudly, along with many other spectators supporting Japan.

However, on the Japan Team bench, Akashi, Byōdōin, and Oni showed no joy at all. The three of them knew very well that as the No. 1 doubles pair of this tournament, the opponents’ strength could not possibly be this weak.

The seventh game was Mōri’s service game. When he reached the baseline, Bertie was already ready to receive. As the sound of impact rang out, the ball flew straight into the Germany Team’s court.

With a single slide step, Bertie reached the landing point. His body tilted at a sixty-degree angle as his right hand drove the racket upward in a large side pull, instantly giving the ball extremely strong spin.

After crossing the net, the ball made a huge turn in midair and flew toward the left back corner of the Japan Team’s court. This was clearly another ultra-powerful topspin shot, which could also be called a super curve ball.

When Kaidō saw this scene from the stands, shock flashed through his eyes. Even he couldn’t hit a snake shot with such a sharp angle unless he used the Cyclone Snake, yet Bertie’s movement just now was clearly an ordinary snake ball.

Although Mōri’s lateral movement was excellent, he had already started moving toward the front court. Ochi, despite his long strides, also found it difficult to rush back from the front court to chase the ball. Fortunately, at the last moment, Ochi managed to reach the back corner in time.

As Ochi swung his racket, he twisted his body so that his front faced the Germany Team. His bangs shook violently, revealing a gap that exposed those cold, emotionless eyes.

A powerful surge of mental force burst out at once and rushed straight toward Bertie, who had already reached the net. Mental assassination activated instantly. But in the next second, what shocked Ochi was that Bertie had his eyes closed.

Seeing Bertie about to play a drop shot, Mōri immediately moved sideways at full speed to try to intercept it. But who would have thought it was a feint? Bertie suddenly bent down into a crouch, and Dankmar abruptly appeared behind him, swinging his racket and blasting out a powerful crosscourt shot.

Mōri instinctively reached out to block it, but when the ball smashed into the tip of his racket, a sharp pain shot through his grip. He loosened his hold by instinct, and the ball continued on, slamming into the corner before bouncing out of bounds.

”0–15!”

”It looks like I was right. Your so-called mental assassination needs eye contact as a medium to activate, doesn’t it?” After scoring, Bertie opened his eyes and smiled at Ochi, though his gaze deliberately avoided meeting Ochi’s eyes the entire time.