"Hey! Brat on the court! Where did you learn that Dark Side just now?!" Byoudouin suddenly stood up and roared at Kite.
Kite turned his head, habitually lifting the left side of his glasses with his right hand. His tone stayed calm as he said, "And what does that have to do with you, senpai? Or do you want to come down here and fight me yourself?"
"You've got guts, brat! Fine, then I'll destroy you completely!" Without hesitation, Byoudouin blasted a Destruction straight at Kite.
The ball carried a blinding golden light as it tore through the air toward the court. But before it could reach its target, a racket cut it off. In the next instant, an even brighter golden glow flared from that racket.
The ball was slammed back, transforming into a massive plasma-wrapped light sphere that hurtled straight toward Byoudouin. Everyone saw clearly—Akashi stood there, coat draped over his shoulders, racket in hand, eyes colder than ice as he stared at Byoudouin.
Byoudouin only gave a cold snort and tilted his head. The ball whistled past his long hair into the sky behind him. A deafening impact followed—the massive water tower near the court exploded from the hit, and torrents of water poured down like heavy rain.
"I'm the one who taught him Dark Side. You got a problem with that? Lay a hand on my people again and even you will die, Byoudouin." In the pouring rain, Akashi's voice was cutting cold.
"Akashi Seijurou!!!" Byoudouin roared his name in fury, but made no further move. Mifune had already risen, setting down his gourd of liquor on the bench.
"Shut the hell up! Byoudouin, you just broke the camp rules. Once this Shuffle Match is over, you know what you have to do!" Mifune's glare was razor-sharp as he barked the words.
Since Mifune had spoken, Akashi knew things wouldn't escalate any further. He turned and walked calmly back to the bench, though he had already written this debt into his heart. When he faced Byoudouin on court, he would make sure to settle it in full.
Only then did the trembling high schoolers around them dare to breathe again. Many of them stared at the destroyed water tower, swallowing hard, silently relieved that they hadn't done anything to provoke Akashi.
Kite looked deeply at Akashi. Even though he was sure Byoudouin's Destruction wouldn't have hit him anyway, a warm current stirred in his chest. His resolve to win this match hardened further.
On the other side, Irie wasn't pleased at all. Byoudouin's sudden outburst had stolen everyone's attention away from his performance, leaving him bitter. Still, he staggered up from the ground, unsteady on his feet, and dragged himself back to the baseline.
With the brief clash between Byoudouin and Akashi over, the match returned to normal. The third game was Irie's serve. Holding his stomach like he was in pain, he picked up a ball and managed a plain high-speed serve.
Kite flashed instantly to the landing spot. With a sharp swing of his left hand, he sent the ball spinning across the court toward Irie's right side. Clutching his stomach, Irie scrambled over. When the ball bounced, it circled around him once and spun out of bounds.
"Habu!"
"0-15!"
Maybe it was the lingering effect of Dark Side, but Irie failed to set up his Black Hole in time, letting Kite take the point with Habu.
Even Kite wasn't sure if his Dark Side had really connected. Irie's act was too convincing—every expression, every movement fit exactly how a player struck by Dark Side should look.
Byoudouin, for the first time, found his mind drifting. His thoughts slipped back to that match two years ago—the one that had cost him his life. His opponent had used the same Dark Side, driving him into the abyss. (PS: After Byoudouin was struck by lightning, he truly died. The hospital monitor showed his heart had stopped. He was one step from the crematorium.)
The following rallies, Irie never managed to recover from the Dark Side's blow. Mistakes piled up, and Kite easily secured the third game.
"Game! Second-string selection! 3-0!"
"Haa~ that was rough! I didn't think Kite-kun would be so merciless. I really suffered quite a bit there!" Before the fourth game began, Irie let out a long sigh, as if he had finally recovered.
"Once we're on court, there's no such thing as mercy. This match decides the positions for the Japan Team. Do you think I'd just hand it over, senpai?" Kite's tone was sharp and cold.
"As expected, I can't take you juniors lightly. But from here on, your Dark Side won't be hitting me again!" The gentle smile faded from Irie's face, replaced by a heavy, serious look.
"Hmph~ we'll see about that!" Kite gave a cold snort, tossing the ball high. His left arm's muscles exploded with power, and with a booming crack, the ball shot across the court like a cannon shell.
"Big Bang!"
Irie's face hardened. He moved quickly to the bounce point, gripping his racket with both hands and driving it into the ball. This time his racket wasn't blasted away—the ball flew straight back. Clearly, he had been acting before.
Kite wasn't surprised at all. He had always known Irie's true strength. His eyes narrowed, his right hand flaring with a dark glow as his left hand swung hard at the returning ball. In the next instant, the court was swallowed in darkness once more.
But Irie didn't just wait for it. His left hand blurred like an afterimage, sweeping through the air again and again. One after another, Black Holes appeared all around him, bigger and faster than anything Tokugawa had shown.
'I really still have a huge gap compared to Irie-senpai. But after playing Akashi-kun once, my strength is on a whole different level now.' Tokugawa muttered quietly as he watched from the sidelines.
Tokugawa's mindset was no longer what it had been. Akashi's crushing dominance had shown him the vastness of the world. He realized how laughable it had been to set his sights only on Byoudouin. With that understanding, his spirit had transcended, and his strength had skyrocketed.
Back on court, countless Black Holes spun around Irie, deep and endless, like they could swallow everything nearby. The moment the dark-glowing ball struck one, its power was absorbed by all the surrounding holes at once.
Light instantly returned to the court. In front of Irie, over a dozen elongated Black Holes formed a circle. At its center, a ball floated, locked tight in place, unable to move.
"Black Hole was never meant to be used alone, you know~" Irie smiled brightly at Kite, then swung his racket.
The ball reappeared at Kite's baseline, about to fly out of bounds. Kite, almost teleporting, appeared there in time. His left hand scooped upward from below, sending the ball spinning high with heavy underspin.
Irie's brows furrowed. He dashed forward, then leapt with all his strength, stretching his left arm as high as he could. But in the end, the ball still cleared his racket.
"15-0!"
"Good one! So this time you're targeting my height?" Irie landed, his face a little sour.
Indeed, his height had always been a sore spot. At only 165 cm, he stood out among the taller players, especially when walking next to Ochi. Luckily, with Ryōma and Kintarō around, he wasn't the absolute shortest anymore.
What surprised him most, though, was Akashi's height. He had expected it to match the Akashi from Kuroko's world, but it had already passed that—now at 176 cm. Of course, compared to the others, he wasn't exactly tall, but at least not too short either.