"This is going to be a hassle~ I'll have to call the medical team again~ I'll go greet Akashi-kun first!" Saitō Itaru muttered helplessly as he walked toward the monitoring room door, but just as he was about to leave, he bumped his head on the door frame with a loud "thud." The other two didn't even turn around—they were clearly used to it.
"Isn't that Byoudouin's Destruction? How does he know that too?!" Tsuge Ryūji said in shock.
"So it's true… but that's fine," Kurobe Yukio said softly, then picked up the radio next to him and ordered,
"Call the medical team and give those trash players some basic first aid, then send them down the mountain. They're no longer qualified to stay in the camp!"
After firing the Glowing Shot, Akashi ignored the wails ahead and kept walking calmly forward, making the high schoolers hiding and watching on both sides break out in a cold sweat—thankfully they hadn't attacked.
Not long after, Akashi saw a small plaza up ahead. This had to be the place the loudspeaker mentioned earlier. Saitō Itaru was already there, holding his head in pain and standing in the center, obviously waiting. Akashi walked up calmly.
"Hello, Akashi-kun! I'm Saitō Itaru, the mental coach here. Welcome to the U-17 training camp!" Saitō Itaru greeted Akashi with a smile, extending his hand.
"Hello, Saitō-sensei! I remember seeing you at the Kanto Tournament a few days ago," Akashi replied lightly, shaking his hand.
"Oh? Akashi-kun actually noticed me?" Saitō Itaru said with surprise.
"Uh… with your height, Saitō-sensei, it's hard not to notice, right? By the way, on my way here, I took care of a few pests. That's not a problem, is it?" Akashi suddenly remembered the trash players from earlier.
"Of course! Don't worry about that at all—they're just trash. Anyway, let's head inside. Your room is already prepared, and you can get some rest first," Saitō Itaru said casually.
Originally, they had planned a small test, but after seeing Akashi unleash a Glowing Shot, they gave up on the idea—it was completely pointless now.
Akashi nodded and followed Saitō Itaru toward the dorms. Along the way, Saitō Itaru gave him a brief rundown of the camp rules and explained the court assignment system.
Since Akashi was joining U-17 mid-session, he could challenge any court below No. 10. The opponent would be chosen by the coaches. If he won, he'd take his opponent's place on that court; if he lost, he'd start from Court No. 16 and climb up from the bottom.
When they reached the room, Saitō Itaru told Akashi he could rest for a while. In the afternoon, there would be a personal shuffle match just for him to determine his starting court.
Akashi nodded to show he understood, and Saitō Itaru turned and left. Akashi then began to look around the room.
It was a double room with two beds. The left bed was empty, and the right bed had neatly folded bedding that looked like it hadn't been touched in a while. It seemed his roommate wasn't at the camp now.
If Akashi had to guess, his roommate was probably out on an overseas expedition. As for who it was exactly, he had no idea. But anyone going on an expedition had to be an official team member, so it was possible Akashi even knew them.
Although the World Cup was held every two years, each country's ranking used a points system instead of just World Cup results. Of course, placing well in the World Cup added a huge amount of points, but expedition matches were another important way to earn points.
As Akashi rested in his room, news started spreading throughout the camp. Many high schoolers heard that a first-year middle school student was joining today, and they found it hard to believe.
Some first-year high schoolers were just surprised, but second- and third-years were definitely unsettled. Mitsuya's arrival not long ago had already annoyed them—though since Mitsuya was a third-year middle schooler, it was only about half a year early, and with Oni's intimidation, they'd grudgingly accepted it.
But now, a first-year middle school kid had shown up. Were they treating the U-17 camp like a kindergarten? This was supposed to be the high schoolers' territory, and this clearly broke the unwritten rules. The second- and third-years were already starting to plan how to deal with this little brat.
This time, even if Oni stepped in, he wouldn't be able to stop them all. And as for the three coaches, they'd never cared about them anyway—so long as they didn't break any core rules, the coaches couldn't do anything.
This was the current state of Japan's U-17: the first-year high school players and the second- and third-years had split into two factions, each annoyed by the other. But with Byoudouin and Oni among the first-years, the second- and third-years didn't dare act rashly.
Honestly, this hierarchical mindset about respecting seniors had been completely twisted and carried over from middle school to the U-17 camp. If Byoudouin weren't busy right now, Oni alone wouldn't be enough to fully suppress them.
On a court without any cameras, Oni Juujirou and Irie Kanata were practicing together. Irie, still smiling as always, asked,
"Oni, did you hear? A first-year middle school kid is joining today. I think some people won't be able to sit still~"
"Hmph! A bunch of clueless trash! For someone this young to get in, they'd need permission from that person up on the mountain. There's no way they're just some ordinary brat—those fools are asking for trouble," Oni said with disdain.
"As expected of Oni-kun~ sharp as always. Since that's the case, how about we ask Tanegashima to come along and join the fun? I'm curious what kind of kid could make the one on the mountain recruit him early," Irie said with a smile.
"Yeah! And I'll take the chance to teach those trash players a lesson," Oni agreed after thinking for a moment.
Meanwhile, Akashi had already picked up his bedding and other essentials and changed into the U-17 uniform. It was clearly tailored for him, fitting perfectly. Seeing that it was almost lunchtime, he left his room and headed toward the dining hall, following the camp map.
When he arrived at the dining hall, Akashi saw many players already eating inside. He didn't pay them any attention, got his meal, and found an empty seat to start eating.
Right then, many people in the dining hall looked over at Akashi with all sorts of expressions: gloating, annoyed, contemptuous, even cruel—basically all unfriendly.
A blond-haired guy at the next table couldn't help standing up with two buddies in tow. They swaggered over to where Akashi was eating. The blond smirked and said,
"Hey, brat! Are you lost? This isn't some daycare. Need me to call your mommy?"
The two with him immediately burst out laughing, and even some others watching quietly chuckled—it looked like bullying a first-year middle schooler was their favorite pastime.
Akashi calmly set down his utensils, raised his head, and let the unique pressure of the Emperor Eye wash over the blond as he stared him down, then slowly spat out a single word:
"Scram."
The blond instantly looked like he wanted to explode, but for some reason, when he met Akashi's gaze, it felt like his soul froze. His face turned bright red as he stood there like a clown, unable to speak.
Seeing this, the two behind him tried to rush Akashi, and a few others around them looked ready to jump in too. But suddenly the entire dining hall fell silent as three people walked in through the entrance.
The one in front was tall and broad-shouldered with long, fiery red hair. To his left was a boy with curly blond hair and glasses, his baby face looking about the same age as Akashi. The last one had short white hair, dark skin, and was yawning like he'd just woken up.
It was Oni Juujirou, Irie Kanata, and Tanegashima Shūji. When everyone in the dining hall saw Oni, they all lowered their heads and fell silent. Even the blond and his friends scurried back to their seats.
This dining hall was specifically for players on Court No. 10 and below. No one expected high-ranked players like Oni and Tanegashima to show up here—it shouldn't have been possible.
Even Irie, who was on Court No. 5, shouldn't have been in this dining hall. That's right—at the moment, Irie was staying on Court No. 5, not yet among the official top ten. Truly worthy of his reputation as a master actor.
Oni and his group ignored everyone's reactions, picked up their lunch, and walked straight over to Akashi, sitting down with him. It was obvious they'd come to protect him.
Irie looked curiously at the boy in front of him and asked,
"You must be Akashi-kun, the new member joining today, right?"
"Yes, may I know how to address you, senpai?" Akashi answered with a polite smile, fully aware of their intentions and greeting them warmly in return.
"I'm Irie Kanata, and this is Oni Juujirou—don't be fooled by his looks, he's actually a first-year high schooler just like me~ and next to you is Tanegashima Shūji, also a first-year," Irie said with a grin as he introduced them.
"Irie-senpai! Oni-senpai! Tanegashima-senpai! Nice to meet you, I'm Akashi Seijurō!" Akashi greeted them politely.
"This afternoon is your shuffle match. How do you feel? Confident?" Oni asked directly.
"Thank you for your concern, Oni-senpai. I don't think there'll be any problem. Trash like them won't even touch my shots," Akashi said disdainfully.
"Ara~ you're really confident~" Tanegashima praised him in his Kansai accent.
Even Oni nodded slightly. He appreciated Akashi's attitude—facing trash should mean crushing them completely. But he still had to watch out for certain people who might use dirty tricks against Akashi.
Despite Oni's fierce appearance and habit of yelling about sending people to hell, he was actually very gentle. He trained tirelessly to become Japan's best tennis player for the sake of his orphanage siblings' dreams and always looked out for his juniors, like Tokugawa and Momoshiro.
"Then after your shuffle match this afternoon, come find us, Akashi-kun. Let's catch up on the current middle school scene~" Irie said with a smile.
"I will, Irie-senpai!" Akashi nodded. He had already planned on getting in touch with Oni and the others, so he was happy they approached him first.
Nothing else happened in the dining hall after that. With Oni there, even if you lent the second- and third-years some courage, they wouldn't dare make a move.
Before long, lunchtime ended. Akashi picked up his racket and headed to the designated location to wait for his shuffle match. He had just told the coaches he wanted to challenge Court No. 10, which didn't surprise Kurobe and the others. They quickly found him an opponent—a third-year high school player.
Oni's group accompanied Akashi to the court, and a crowd of high schoolers from all grades gathered after hearing the news. The groups quickly split into two camps: most first-years stood with Oni's side, while the second- and third-years stood on the opposite side.
At that moment, Kurobe Yukio's voice rang out from the court's loudspeaker.
"Now starting Akashi Seijurō's personal shuffle match. His opponent is Suzuki Shinji from Court No. 10. Both players, please enter the court!"
Akashi didn't hesitate and walked straight onto the court. From the crowd stepped a third-year student—his opponent, Suzuki Shinji.
The umpire was already in place and announced both players' names before letting them decide who served first.
"No need, umpire. Let that brat serve first. I don't want people saying I bully the weak," Suzuki said mockingly.
The umpire didn't argue and awarded the first serve to Akashi, then announced the start of the match.
Standing at the baseline ready to serve, Akashi heard mocking laughter coming from the second- and third-year spectators.
"Look, that little brat even tries to look serious as he serves. He'll probably start crying and run away any second now!"
"Heh! If he gets on his knees and begs, maybe Suzuki will let him off easy~"
"I really don't get what the coaches are thinking. This match is a complete waste of my time. If it weren't for wanting to see the brat cry, I wouldn't have bothered coming."
"Who knows~ those coaches are getting more useless by the day. Letting a first-year brat into the camp is pathetic!"
Just then, Oni Juujirou let out a thunderous roar.
"Shut up! Trash! Do you all want to go to hell?!"
"Hmph! Oni! Don't get cocky! When our captain gets back, you'll get what's coming!" a third-year yelled back at Oni, but then fell silent. The rest also quieted down.
Akashi looked around the court and thought, 'This is even worse than I expected. It won't be long before a full-blown revolt breaks out here.'
Without another thought, he tossed the ball up—he wasn't going to waste time. He unleashed a high-speed serve. Suzuki only saw a blur before hearing the ball bounce.
"15-0!"
The older players watching looked stunned. What had they just seen? That brat's serve was unbelievably fast—none of them could follow it.
"Incredible! That serve must've been over 225 kilometers per hour! Looks like Akashi-kun really is something special~" Irie said excitedly, like he'd found a priceless treasure. Even Oni was a bit surprised, a smile creeping onto his face—though it looked more terrifying than anything.
The rest of the match was one-sided. Aside from serving, Suzuki never touched the ball again. The entire match lasted barely 10 minutes before it ended.
"Match over! Akashi Seijurō wins and moves up to Court No. 10. Suzuki Shinji drops to Court No. 16," Kurobe Yukio's cold voice announced through the loudspeakers.