As Ishida Gin and Kabaji activated Ability Synchronization, a blue, six-armed, three-headed phantom briefly appeared behind them—only to vanish the next second. The tennis ball turned into a massive golden beam of light and blasted straight toward the opposite court.
"You've got to be kidding! Don't think you can win like that! A true man fights fair and square! Winter of Danji!!!" Danji roared and charged straight into the beam, unleashing all his strength once again.
"Don't be reckless, Danji! Something's off about this one!" Ban Rikiya shouted in warning, but it was already too late.
Danji's face twisted as he gripped his racket tight. The enormous impact jolted his arms with intense pain, but he didn't back down even an inch. His teeth clenched as blood slowly began to seep from his gums.
A moment later, a thunderous crash rang out, and the entire court on Danji and Ban Rikiya's side was swallowed in thick smoke. Everyone's view was blocked—even the umpire couldn't make a ruling right away.
As the smoke gradually cleared, all eyes turned to the court. Ban Rikiya was seen running frantically toward the back. In front of him, Danji was kneeling on the ground. Behind him, massive cracks stretched across the wall.
Danji's face was covered in blood, both arms limp and hanging unnaturally in front of him. His condition was grim. Ban Rikiya rushed over, his voice trembling with concern.
"Danji! Danji! Are you okay? Say something!"
"Didn't… think… in the end… I'd still… fail to block it… this match… you win… Ishida-kun…" Danji murmured weakly before collapsing forward. Ban Rikiya caught him just in time, but Danji had already lost consciousness.
"15-0!" The umpire finally called out the score.
"No need to continue, umpire. Danji's unconscious. We forfeit the match," Ban Rikiya said with a bitter smile.
"Due to the Japan Team player being unable to continue, Second Army wins! Score 4-3!"
Ban Rikiya lifted the unconscious Danji onto his back, then removed the badges from their collars. Stepping up to the net, he addressed Ishida Gin and Kabaji.
"Here. You've earned these."
After handing over the badges to Ishida Gin, Ban Rikiya turned toward the sidelines. But just then, a cold voice cut through the air.
"Even if you die on the court, you're not allowed to forfeit. You really are worthless trash. In that case, go die! Execution Method—Firing Squad!!!"
With those words, a tennis ball spun violently through the air, aimed straight at Ban Rikiya's forehead. He couldn't react in time while carrying Danji—but then, golden hair suddenly swept in front of him, and a fierce shout rang out:
"Abare Dama!!!"
The attacking ball instantly burst into countless afterimages, flooding the court as they shot toward Toono Atsukyou. Caught off guard, Toono couldn't respond in time—then a sharp gust of wind grazed past his face, whipping his long purple hair into the air.
"Tennis isn't your outlet for violence! If it's violent tennis you want, I'll take you on!" Tachibana Kippei's entire body radiated a searing, flame-like energy as he glared at Toono with savage intensity.
"You little punk! You've got a death wish! Looks like I've got one more for execution today!" Toono shouted furiously, raising another tennis ball, ready to attack.
"Stand down, Toono! Now's not the time for your nonsense!" Kimijima suddenly appeared in front of Toono, shouting sharply.
"Get out of my way, Kimijima! Or I'll execute you too!" Toono growled, not backing off one bit.
"Try it and see what happens," Kimijima replied, his eyes dark and dangerous.
"Shut the hell up, all of you!!!" a voice bellowed suddenly from the court's loudspeakers—it was Mifune.
Moments later, Mifune staggered out onto the high platform, sake gourd in hand. He leapt down with a flip, landing hard enough to crack the ground beneath his wooden clogs. But Mifune didn't seem fazed at all.
"Toono! Get your act together! Or I'll send you straight to the back mountain!" Mifune barked, glaring at Toono with brute force in his tone.
Toono still looked furious, but he didn't say another word. He just gave a reluctant flick of his racket. As much as he hated it, he wasn't in a position to defy Mifune—after all, even his boss Byoudouin wouldn't dare provoke Mifune directly.
"And you too! Tachibana-kun! Get back to your team!" Mifune barked, now turning his eyes to Tachibana Kippei.
Tachibana gave a calm nod and bowed slightly to Mifune before turning back toward the player seats. As he passed the coach's bench, he heard Akashi's cold voice.
"If you can't stand Toono's tennis, then teach him what real tennis looks like in the next match."
"I got it," Tachibana replied plainly, nodding once before returning to his seat.
With Mifune's sudden entrance, both the middle school and high school teams fell quiet. Seeing the situation settle down, Ishida Gin and Kabaji stepped off the court with the two badges. On the way past the player bench, Ishida exchanged a high five with Shiraishi, then walked into the stands and patted his younger brother Ishida Tetsu on the shoulder in reassurance.
Kabaji, meanwhile, quietly returned to Atobe's side, resuming his role as his loyal follower. Atobe looked pleased with Kabaji's performance and couldn't hide the pride on his face.
"Didn't expect the high schoolers to drop two straight matches right from the start~ Looks like that kid's classmates are stronger than I thought," Ryūga said with amusement, casually tossing an orange in his hand.
Byoudouin, however, stayed uncharacteristically calm. There was no rage or menace on his face—just a focused stare fixed on Akashi across the court, his thoughts unreadable. Oni stood beside him, arms crossed and silent.
Mifune swaggered his way to the First String's bench. Dissatisfied with how poorly the monitors captured match details, he had come down to watch in person. The two earlier matches had already challenged his assessment of the middle schoolers' strength.
"What the hell are you all standing around for?! Hurry up and get the next match started, you bastards!" Mifune bellowed, clearly annoyed at the delay.
"The third doubles match will now begin! Representing the Japan Team: No. 15, Mutsu Yuma, and No. 16, Mutsu Yuho. Facing them from the Second Army selection: Inui Sadaharu and Yanagi Renji! Players, please enter the court!"
Noticing Mifune's temper rising, the umpire hurried to announce the next match. At his words, the Mutsu brothers stood and walked toward the court in perfect sync.
On the other side, Inui and Yanagi exchanged a glance, a trace of confidence flickering in their eyes. Somehow, they'd managed to read each other's gaze—maybe it was just the kind of bond only data tennis players shared.
"Let's go, Professor," Inui said with a smirk.
"Ah, I understand, Doctor," Yanagi replied calmly.
"Yare yare~ so it's you two after all. Let's see how far your data's improved," Mitsuya said from the bench, smiling as he watched them walk on.
The four players met at the net and shook hands. Mutsu Yuho was the first to speak.
"You two aren't even from the same school, right? And yet you think you can challenge us?"
"Yeah, I figured we'd be facing Kite and Krauser instead," added Mutsu Yuma.
"Data says our win probability in this match is…" Inui ignored their taunts and spoke flatly.
"100%," Yanagi finished for him, voice calm but loaded with provocation.
"Data tennis again? One Mitsuya was annoying enough, and now there are two more! Fine. Let's see what you've got," the Mutsu brothers said in unison after exchanging a glance.
As the umpire called for the coin toss, Yanagi suddenly spoke.
"Based on behavioral logic and predictive data modeling, there's a 94% chance you'll call heads."
Right as he finished, Mutsu Yuma signaled to the umpire—choosing heads. He froze for a moment, stunned. His eyes shifted to Yanagi. The match hadn't even started yet, and his move had already been predicted. Even Mitsuya hadn't done that before.
"And factoring in the coin's launch strength, combined with wind speed and humidity levels at the venue… there's an 82% chance the coin will land tails," Inui added calmly.
Sure enough, the umpire announced tails—Second Army wins serve. A sense of unease stirred within the Mutsu brothers.