The U-17 first-string players walked along the training camp's mountain path, each with their own expression. The recent expedition had ended poorly due to some pointless infighting, and now three coaches stood ahead waiting for them.
"You've all worked hard. But let me ask, where did Byoudouin-kun go?" Kurobe Yukio asked with a frown.
"Boss said he's going to travel the world looking for greater breakthroughs. We don't know where he's wandering now, but he said he'll meet us in France for the World Cup~" Toono Atsukyou spoke up directly.
"Che! Such insolence. With all the senpai here, what right do you, a first-year, have to speak?" a third-year wearing a No.5 badge snapped.
"Hah? Sounds like you're asking to experience my execution. I'll grant your wish right now!" Toono Atsukyou pulled a racket from his backpack.
"You can try. With Byoudouin gone, no one can protect you now!" At that moment, No.2 Itō Hikaru snarled, face full of hostility.
"All of you, quiet! This is not the time to fight. Go get ready and then prepare to face the second-string's challenge," Kurobe Yukio said coldly.
"Hmph! What a waste of time. When have those second-string guys ever dared to challenge us?" Itō scoffed dismissively.
Now that Byoudouin had left to roam the world, Itō felt that only Oni could stand against him in the training camp. And since he'd successfully set up Byoudouin during the expedition, he had grown even more arrogant.
Most of the first-string players were upperclassmen. Even Toono Atsukyou knew not to act too boldly; without Byoudouin's presence to keep things in check, he'd be in trouble if he went too far.
Though in the original story Toono was brutal, bloodthirsty, and violent, he wasn't stupid—far from it. He was keenly aware of who he could afford to offend and who he absolutely couldn't. Even Kimijima Ikuto needed middle schoolers' help to deal with him.
"Well~ the situation's different this time. Once you get into the camp, you'll understand. Anyway, the head coach issued a new rule: any first-stringer who is challenged cannot refuse. Otherwise, they're immediately kicked out of the camp," Saitō Itaru explained slowly.
"Alright, top ten players, head back to the dorms. Your shuffle matches are tomorrow. The bottom ten, get ready to face challenges from the second-string. That's all," Kurobe Yukio finished arranging.
The first-string players had no choice. With the head coach's direct order, they couldn't resist. The three coaches present were reasonable—so long as you didn't completely cross them, they wouldn't cause trouble. But the head coach was a different story; he could throw them out at any moment.
Meanwhile, on Court No.1, everyone was prepared to go after the lower ten members of the first-string. Kimijima Ikuto stood in front of the group and said calmly:
"Those of you confident in your abilities, go challenge the first-string. Except Toono Atsukyou and Mitsuya Akuto—they're not our targets. Irie, this time you'd better take it seriously!"
"Of course I'll be serious. But I'm just too weak, so I'll have to challenge No.20…" Irie said with a depressed look.
Everyone was immune to his words by now; only an idiot would take him seriously. They began thinking about which first-string opponent they'd challenge, including Akashi himself.
Seeing no one responding to his words, Irie pouted and muttered, "This is why I hate familiar faces. They never give me a chance to put on a good act. But those upperclassmen should let me practice my performance nicely…"
And so, the players on Court No.1 scattered to look for their opponents. Of course, many chose to stay behind, knowing their limits; even if they won a challenge, they couldn't hold their position, so they'd rather wait for tomorrow's shuffle matches.
Ten minutes later, the sounds of matches rang out from empty courts throughout the camp, signaling the start of the challenges against the first-string. Meanwhile, Toono Atsukyou strolled around leisurely—no one challenged him. First, his tennis style was too dangerous, and second, he was still considered part of the first-year group. It wasn't time for infighting yet.
Akashi stood before a high schooler wearing a No.11 badge, a playful smile curling at his lips. He hadn't expected to run into the player ranked 11th directly—but it was perfect. If he beat him, his side mission would be complete and his Dimensional Space would awaken.
The third-year Akashi stopped was named Yabuki Jo. He had thought no one would dare challenge him—after all, he was a true national-level peak player, and the second-string knew his strength well.
But seeing the fresh-faced boy before him, Yabuki was confused. Who was this kid? Why had he never seen him before? And it looked like this boy was here to challenge him. When had a newcomer joined the second-string?
"Brat, who are you? Why have I never seen you before?" Yabuki couldn't hold back and asked directly.
"You don't need to know who I am. The only thing that matters is whether you'll hand over your No.11 badge willingly, or if I'll have to crush you and take it myself," Akashi said bluntly, not wasting time.
"Insolent! How dare you speak to a senpai like that? Looks like you need a lesson to understand what it means to respect your seniors!" Yabuki was furious at Akashi's words.
"If you want to die so badly, I'll oblige. Let's start the match. I'll let you serve first so we don't waste my time," Akashi said coldly.
A moment later, an agonized scream echoed across the court. Akashi stood in place, staring coldly at Yabuki, who was clutching his ankle and rolling on the ground, his face showing no hint of sympathy.
"No one can look down on me. You were too arrogant."
After speaking, Akashi walked over, planted his foot on Yabuki's chest to stop him from rolling, then tore the No.11 badge from his collar and pinned it to his own. With that, he turned and left without another glance.
Half an hour later, figures began to gather at the training camp plaza, each wearing a badge showing their first-string ranking. But none of the original upperclassmen were present—everyone was a first-year.
This sight shocked Toono Atsukyou, who had been waiting there. Beside him, Mitsuya Akuto looked calm, as if he had expected it all along, and when he spotted Akashi, a charming smile appeared on his lips.
"When did you all become second-string? And now you've beaten the original first-string members too?" Toono asked in disbelief.
"Do we need to report to you about what we do?" Kimijima Ikuto responded coldly, his impression of Toono terrible—he thought brutes like him had no right to play tennis.
"Kimijima! Have you grown tired of living? I'll execute you right now!" Toono's face twisted with rage.
"Move aside. You're in the way," an icy voice came from behind Toono. He turned angrily to see a towering white-haired player over 220 centimeters tall—Ochi Tsukimitsu.
"Ochi, do you want to try my execution too?" Toono glared up at him viciously.
"Enough, Toono! This isn't the place for your nonsense!" a roar rang out as Oni's massive figure stepped in front of everyone.
"Tch." Seeing Oni arrive, Toono clicked his tongue in annoyance but said nothing further—he had no intention of being "educated" by Oni.
"Long time no see, Akashi-kun~" Mitsuya greeted with a smile as he walked up to Akashi.
"Long time no see, Mitsuya-senpai," Akashi replied with a smile of his own.
Their conversation caught Toono's attention. He turned to look at Akashi and saw a handsome face he had never seen before.
But with Oni's intimidating presence, he didn't dare cause trouble. Still, since this kid called Mitsuya "senpai," he must be a middle schooler—even younger than Mitsuya—yet he had made it into the training camp and claimed a first-string spot. It seemed Toono would have to find an opportunity to properly "take care" of this junior.
At that moment, nine players stood on the plaza: No.11 Akashi Seijurō, No.12 Ochi Tsukimitsu, No.13 Toono Atsukyou, No.14 Kimijima Ikuto, No.15 Ōmori Ryūji, No.16 Kaji Futa, No.17 Mutsu Yūma, No.18 Mutsu Yūho, and No.19 Mitsuya Akuto.
Only No.20 was missing, but Akashi realized Irie Kanata was the one challenging No.20—so it made perfect sense. Irie must be dragging things out with his usual performance; he never got serious until the last moment.
Twenty minutes later, Irie finally staggered over, looking completely disheveled. His uniform was covered in dust, his hair was a mess, his face was dripping with sweat, and he looked utterly exhausted.
Seeing Irie in that state, Akashi couldn't help giving him a thumbs-up in his mind. His dedication to acting was unmatched; to go this far to hide his strength was impressive.
"Sorry…for keeping everyone waiting…it's just…the opponent was too strong, but I managed to scrape by with a win…" Irie panted heavily as he spoke.
Everyone present, including Toono, looked speechless. Was there really a point in acting like this? While almost no one knew Irie's true strength, any No.20 first-stringer stood no chance against him—it was pure one-sided domination.
Saitō Itaru stepped out of the monitoring room with a megaphone and announced:
"Alright, the first-string challenge matches are over. Congratulations on officially becoming members of the Japan U-17 representative team. Tomorrow, the top ten shuffle matches will begin. Anyone may challenge the first-string top ten. Oni-kun, you can also join—it's time for you to reclaim a spot in the first-string."
Oni nodded without hesitation. Now that things had reached the final stage, he had no intention of holding back—this time he would kick those useless players out of the first-string lineup for good.
Right after Saitō Itaru's announcement, a voice rang out in Akashi's mind.
"Congratulations, host, for completing the side mission and becoming a member of the Japan representative team. Reward: 2 Dimensional Shards! Detection shows the host has collected 5 shards in total. Would you like to activate the Dimensional Space?"
"Activate!" Akashi responded without hesitation, instantly connecting with the system to open the Dimensional Space—he had been waiting for this moment.
"Drawing Dimensional Space template, please wait…"
Hearing the system's words, Akashi froze. Another template? His Akashi template fusion wasn't even complete yet—he was only at 98.7%. Was the system about to throw him a new template now?
"Ding! Drawing complete. Template integrated into host's mind. Dimensional Space activated. Details as follows!"
Dimensional Space Name: King of Heroes—Gilgamesh
Current State: Heroic Spirit
Dimensional Space Abilities:
1. Omniscient Observer (once Dimensional Space is active, all five attributes receive a certain boost)
2. Divinity (Gilgamesh possesses the highest divine affinity among Heroic Spirits, massively enhancing the power and resistance of mental-force tennis techniques)
Dimensional Space Techniques:
1. Gate of Babylon (a powerful all-purpose technique that absorbs all the energy from the ball upon impact, then fuses it with mental force to create projections of various Noble Phantasms, returning the power with multiplied force; note: absorption has an upper limit—balls far beyond the host's strength cannot trigger this skill)
2. Enuma Elish (only unlockable upon achieving a flawless Emperor Eye; allows instant discernment of every technique's effect, rendering all opponent's moves transparent)
3. Ea, the Sword of Rupture (currently locked; host must discover how to unlock)
Akashi stared silently at the system's information. He had imagined countless possibilities but never considered the system would give him a template like this. Where had it even gotten a Gilgamesh template? And was it really okay to have Gilgamesh as his Dimensional Space?
Akashi in Kuroko no Basket was already arrogant enough, but compared to Gilgamesh, he was downright humble. Gilgamesh was the ultimate egotist, calling everyone mongrels and acknowledging no one—not even the gods.
But…would the system force him to act like Gilgamesh? That would offend everyone far worse than Black Akashi ever could—he'd never know peace again. As he worried, the system suddenly spoke up.
"The Dimensional Space template differs from the character template. The host doesn't need to imitate Gilgamesh's behavior to increase fusion. Once the character template reaches 100%, simply maintaining Akashi's personality will allow the Dimensional Space to develop naturally."
Akashi finally understood: even when his fusion hit max, he had to keep acting as Akashi to strengthen the Dimensional Space—basically, the system wanted him to become the true Akashi Seijurō.
Just then, Irie appeared beside Akashi, giving him a light shove that snapped him out of his thoughts. Irie teased him with a mischievous grin:
"What's wrong, Akashi-chan? Are you so happy about becoming first-string that you're spacing out?"
"I'm fine, thank you for your concern, Irie-senpai. I was just thinking about something personal for a moment," Akashi replied, setting aside the Dimensional Space for now.
Irie said nothing more, but his eyes swept Akashi up and down, a flicker of surprise and doubt in their depths. Feeling uneasy under Irie's gaze, Akashi asked:
"Irie-senpai, why are you looking at me like that? Is something wrong?"
"I just feel like you seem…different from before, but I can't quite put my finger on it," Irie mused, stroking his chin.
"There's nothing different. By the way, Irie-senpai, why did you suddenly change how you address me?" Akashi quickly shifted the topic, knowing Irie's insight surpassed even Atobe's and fearing he'd sensed something.
"Oh, that? Don't you think calling you like this makes us sound closer?" Irie answered with a cheerful smile, dropping the previous line of questioning.
When Akashi returned to the dormitory, he found his roommate was Mitsuya Akuto. It was clearly an arrangement by the coaches—after all, Mitsuya was the only familiar face Akashi had when he first arrived at the camp.
"The coaches wanted me to look after you, but it seems like you don't need that at all~" Mitsuya said with a playful smile.
"Please take care of me from now on, Mitsuya-senpai," Akashi replied with a smile of his own.