After the match ended, Irie looked at Akashi, who was still wearing his jacket and walking off the court as if nothing had happened, and silently labeled him someone who must never be provoked.
"Oh my~ Akashi-kun, you really hid your strength well. Looks like you've already far surpassed a senpai like me~" Irie said with a smile to Akashi, who had just returned.
"Irie-senpai, you must be joking. Your strength could easily crush that Yamada. Sometimes hiding too much isn't a good thing~" Akashi replied with a meaningful look.
"This time, I think you misjudged, Akashi-kun~" Irie's eyes narrowed, and his smile slowly faded.
Akashi shook his head helplessly, saying nothing more. This was Irie's choice; he couldn't interfere. Just as he was about to take a break, Oni walked over, looking at Akashi seriously as he spoke:
"Kid! That aura on you can't fool me. When there's time, let's have a match."
"I'd be glad to, Oni-senpai!" Akashi nodded firmly.
Seeing Akashi agree, Oni dropped the topic, turned toward the court, and shouted loudly at Itō, who was still sitting in the stands:
"Itō, it's time to hand over your No. 2 badge!"
"You brat, don't get cocky! It's still not decided who will win!" Itō shot back fiercely, refusing to back down.
Akashi looked at Itō, silently marveling at how he could call Oni a brat while staring right at that terrifying face. It felt unbelievably out of place.
"Hmph! Since you're looking for death, I'll personally send you to hell!" Oni's expression twisted viciously; if a child saw him now, they'd definitely burst into tears on the spot.
Their match quickly began. As the former U-17 No. 1, Itō's strength was undeniable; his speed had already reached a world-class level. So, facing a power player like Oni, he felt confident.
The exchanges were fierce. Itō's strength lay in his incredible speed, completely overwhelming Kajihiro's level, creating multiple afterimages across the court. It looked like Oni was playing against an army of Itōs.
Meanwhile, Oni kept things simple: no matter how many illusions there were, he would smash them all with sheer force, each strike dangerously fierce, forcing Itō to stay on high alert to dodge.
The score kept going back and forth as both sides traded games. Akashi realized that not all third-years were weak; even Oni couldn't dominate completely. But judging from Oni's demeanor, he probably wasn't using his full strength yet.
"GAME! Oni Juujirou! 1-0!"
"GAME! Itō Hikaru! 1-1!"
"GAME! Oni Juujirou! 2-1! Change court!"
"GAME! Oni Juujirou! 3-1!"
"GAME! Itō Hikaru! 3-2!"
The two soon played five games, with Oni holding a slight lead. But it was clear neither had unleashed their true power. Then Oni made the first move.
"Warm-up's over—now go to hell! Black Tomahawk!" Oni roared, releasing his signature move. The tennis ball transformed into a massive black and red beam, shooting straight at Itō.
Itō's figure blurred as he instantly appeared in front of the incoming ball, swinging his racket with both hands, but he was instantly blown back, his racket flying from his grip. The ball slammed into the wall behind him, completely collapsing the already-damaged section.
Saitō Itaru covered his forehead, unable to watch. The court's destruction had gone far beyond what they'd imagined, especially thanks to Akashi's two Glowing Shot Mana Cannons, whose power had wildly exceeded the coaches' expectations.
As Oni kept pressing, Itō struggled more and more, unable to counter directly and forced to rely on his speed to dodge, but unable to stop the constant loss of points.
"GAME! Oni Juujirou! 4-2!"
"GAME! Oni Juujirou! 5-2!"
"GAME! 6-2! First set over! Winner: Oni Juujirou!"
"What's wrong, Itō? Weren't you going to show me something impressive? Is this all you've got?" Oni snarled, glaring at Itō.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, brat! Now I'll show you my real strength!" Itō growled, barely holding back his fury.
The second set began quickly, with Itō unleashing his full speed. His serves and returns became dramatically faster.
As the match progressed, everything around Itō seemed to slow down bit by bit. Some of Oni's returns appeared almost like slow motion to him.
"This is the Super Speed Dimension!" Akashi exclaimed in surprise.
In the original story, few could enter the Super Speed Dimension; the most famous examples were Fuji's Hikari no Kaze and Australia's Milky Milman's Tachyon Serve in the World Cup.
The so-called Super Speed Dimension meant using one's understanding and judgment to heighten all senses to their limit, massively boosting the brain's command speed over muscles until it surpassed the speed of even super-fast shots, reaching the realm of the "Super Speed Dimension."
Akashi hadn't expected that Itō could actually reach this level. But Itō's Super Speed Dimension was achieved by forcing it with sheer speed, which was very different from Fuji's Hikari no Kaze. Still, it was more than enough to deal with Oni at the moment. No wonder Itō had been so confident earlier.
"GAME! Itō Hikaru! 1-0!"
"GAME! Itō Hikaru! 2-0!"
"GAME! Oni Juujirou! 2-1! Change court!"
Akashi looked at Oni resting on the sidelines and thought silently, 'Oni should be about to use that move… Honestly, I really want to see Oni's Dimensional Space with my own eyes~'
After changing sides, Oni completely unleashed his strength. A layer of deep purple aura enveloped his body—it was the Path of Asura. With this boost, the power of Oni's shots increased dramatically, forcing Itō back into a defensive position.
After his father's guidance, Akashi understood that the Path of Asura was just a general term. Unlike the Muga techniques, each person's Asura mode manifested differently: for Oni, it greatly amplified shot power; for Akutsu, it massively enhanced reaction speed; and for Byoudouin, it hugely boosted mental power.
"GAME! Oni Juujirou! 2-2!"
"GAME! Itō Hikaru! 3-2!"
"GAME! Oni Juujirou! 3-3! Change court!"
As the match resumed, Oni's side of the court suddenly transformed dramatically, the surroundings turning dark and terrifying. Behind Oni, a massive ghostly demon shadow slowly rose—it was Oni's trump card: Dimensional Space Demon God!
Seeing the enormous phantom, Itō couldn't help swallowing hard, a feeling of fear creeping over him as the Demon God's spiritual pressure weighed down on him.
Once Oni activated his Dimensional Space, the outcome was already decided. Every time Oni returned the ball, the ghostly figure would raise a katana and slash at Itō, inflicting both physical and mental blows simultaneously.
"GAME! Oni Juujirou! 4-3!"
"GAME! Oni Juujirou! 5-3!"
"GAME! 6-3! Second set over! Total score 2-0! Winner: Oni Juujirou!"
Itō looked at Oni in utter disbelief. He had known Oni was strong, and he had heard of the Demon God Dimensional Space, but he had always believed he could match it. Only today did he realize how much he had overestimated himself; before Dimensional Space, he was completely overwhelmed, unable even to enter Super Speed Dimension again.
Oni walked over to Itō, ripped the No. 2 badge from his collar, and pinned it to his own. With that, the U-17 training camp's revolution officially ended: the first-years had won an overwhelming victory.
Every player who lost in this shuffle match would be sent by the coaches to train in the mountains. Akashi guessed that Mifune didn't plan to discard the third-years entirely—after all, players like Itō and Yamada still had some use in the World Tournament, assuming they didn't cause any more trouble.
But after today's shuffle matches, the power of the second- and third-years had been completely shattered. From now on, the first-years would call the shots in the camp, and Itō and Yamada alone couldn't stir up any waves.
Meanwhile, at the training villa in the outskirts of Tokyo, all the middle school players were training hard. Akashi had been gone for almost half a month, and players like Tezuka were a bit envious that he got to enter U-17 early.
"I wonder how Akashi-kun's doing at U-17. If he gets kicked out, that'd be pretty embarrassing~" Fuji said with a cheerful smile.
"If Akashi-kun heard you, Fuji-kun, your end would probably be quite miserable~" Yukimura replied, smiling just as sweetly.
Seeing the two of them, Sanada instinctively took a step back. From these two, he could sense an indescribable danger.
"Hmph! When that Akashi guy comes back, I'll crush him completely, so he knows how quickly I've evolved!" Atobe said confidently.
"No matter what, everything will become clear when Akashi returns. For now, let's focus on our training," Tezuka said seriously.
At that moment, the Akashi they spoke of was strolling leisurely. After the shuffle matches, he had firmly secured his No. 3 position, and no one in the camp dared challenge him anymore.
Somehow, rumors of Yamada's miserable defeat had spread, and everyone now knew of Akashi's methods. There were even whispers that he was more bloodthirsty and brutal than Tōno Atsuki, which left Akashi both speechless and amused.
Time flew by, and the day of the National Middle School Tournament was drawing closer. Akashi was almost ready to leave the camp to participate.
When Oni and the others heard Akashi was going back for the nationals, they all wore strange expressions. With Akashi's current strength, wasn't it basically bullying to have him play in a middle school tournament? But then they remembered what Akashi had told them about the current strength level in middle school tennis and felt reassured.
One more thing worth mentioning: during this time, Akashi and Oni did have a match. But no one knew the result, since it was just the two of them on the court, with no referee. Afterward, though, people discovered the court they used had been completely destroyed.
The coaches didn't stop Akashi from leaving, but they suggested he visit the back mountain before he went, saying the head coach had something to tell him. Akashi didn't refuse and, early the next morning, followed the map the coaches gave him toward the mountain behind the training camp.
But to Akashi's surprise, after following the map to its end, he found himself standing in front of a cave entrance. It looked deep inside, lit only by faint, flickering oil lamps.
Without hesitation, Akashi stepped straight into the cave. He trusted the coaches wouldn't harm him. After a long uphill path, he started to hear faint noises. As he walked further, the sounds became clearer.
"Move it! Trash! Did you not eat?"
"Useless garbage! Can't handle this little bit of training? Calling you trash isn't wrong!"
"You can't even deal with my precious pet—what's the point of your existence if you're just wasting food?"
Based on the original storyline, Akashi was sure the voice belonged to the head coach of the training camp—Mifune Nyūdō. Only he would curse people with such force.
Pushing open a hidden door ahead, Akashi entered another cave, though this one wasn't very large; he could see everything inside at a glance.
A slovenly middle-aged man holding a wine gourd was shouting loudly at a group of high school students, cursing them harshly and taking swigs from his gourd without a care for anyone's gaze.
When Akashi appeared at the cave entrance, Mifune immediately sensed someone behind him. He turned and saw a red-haired boy quietly standing there, wearing the Japan team's uniform.
Mifune instantly recognized who Akashi was—after all, he was the one who had told the three coaches to call Akashi up to the mountain. He waved his hand to the high schoolers who were training, signaling a break, and they all let out a sigh of relief, quickly sitting down to rest.
Mifune walked over to Akashi and spoke boisterously.
"So you're that kid Akashi, huh?"
"Hello, head coach! I am Akashi Seijurō!" Akashi replied politely.
"I've read your file. Having this level of skill at your age is impressive—way better than this trash!" Mifune praised Akashi, then took another big swig from his gourd.
"I heard from the three coaches that you wanted to see me, head coach. May I ask what it's about?" Akashi asked calmly, not minding Mifune's antics—he knew this was just the man's nature.
"Here's the deal. You should know the U-17 World Cup will be held in France this year, and Japan will be participating. Since you've made it onto the first team, what's your take on the World Cup?" Mifune asked directly.
Akashi fell silent in thought. In this year's World Cup, Japan actually had a chance to win it all. But fate played a cruel trick: Byoudouin injured his back saving Duke Watanabe's sister, and Japan was knocked out by France in the elimination rounds. That incident changed Byoudouin's personality, and though Japan gained Duke as a powerful ally, Byoudouin's desire to show everyone the harshness of the world came from his own guilt.
"If possible, of course I'd be honored to represent Japan in the World Cup," Akashi finally answered after a long pause.
Mifune nodded in satisfaction, but then his brow furrowed and he spoke irritably.
"I've already submitted the roster for the World Cup, but whether you'll actually get approval is still uncertain. I called you here today so you'd be mentally prepared."
Akashi nodded to show he understood. Deep down, he knew the Japan Tennis Association probably wouldn't let him compete: he was only thirteen, and this wasn't the year when middle school players were mandatory picks for the team. Most countries were still sending high school players. Even the few exceptional prodigies were at least fourteen, usually picked right at the age cutoff—and the organizers tended to look the other way in those cases. But at thirteen, Akashi knew his chances were slim.
Mifune obviously knew this too, which was why he looked so frustrated. Having a talent like Akashi but possibly not being able to field him because of his age was incredibly aggravating.
Afterward, Mifune asked if Akashi had any issues with his training, sharing some of his own past experiences. He also talked about developing and using Dimensional Space. Mifune already knew Akashi had mastered a Dimensional Space; it was unbelievable, but he'd accepted it as fact.
Two days later, Akashi packed his bags, said goodbye to Oni and the others, and officially began his journey back. At the same time, in the training villa in Tokyo's suburbs, Sakaki Tarō announced the successful conclusion of the training camp.
Whether it was Akashi or the others, they were all eagerly waiting for the start of the National Middle School Tournament. This time, who would seize the crown at the top of Japan?