While everyone still didn't understand what Duke and Byoudouin meant, Duke suddenly let out a loud roar. Veins bulged on his foreBoss as his muscles swelled and expanded rapidly.
Then came the sound of fabric tearing. His Japan Team uniform ripped apart completely, leaving only the cuffs around his wrists. The rest of the fabric fell in tatters to the ground.
Exploding clothes—Duke.
This was one of the trademarks of pure power players: Exploding Clothes! Aside from Duke, Switzerland's Albert Federer could also do it. Oni's strength was immense, but it was different from Duke's explosive bulk. Because of that, Oni never experienced this effect.
Of course, with Oni's personality, even if he could, he'd never do it. After all, for Japanese players, this was at least a little embarrassing. But Duke, raised in France, didn't care at all.
"My god! What the hell is he doing?!" Kirihara stared blankly at Duke on the court, his voice trembling.
"Heh~ truly shameless," Kite spoke calmly, though his eyes flickered with something strange.
"This… really is hard to put into words…" Yukimura admitted, clearly baffled. None of them had ever seen anything like this before.
"Sensei, can you do this too?" Konjiki Koharu's eyes sparkled as he looked expectantly at Ishida Gin.
"Uh… sorry! I can't," Ishida Gin answered, a bead of cold sweat forming on his foreBoss. He pressed his palms together in silence—there was no way he'd do something this humiliating.
While the middle schoolers were shocked by Duke's Exploding Clothes, the match had already resumed. Akutsu didn't care about Duke being shirtless; he never paid attention to that kind of nonsense anyway.
But Akutsu clearly felt the change. Duke's shots now carried far more power. Even Akutsu no longer dared to block one-handed, otherwise his racket could get blasted away at any moment.
"Duke Homerun!!!"
The bare-chested Duke roared. His right arm muscles looked like steel as he swung his racket with full force, launching a forehand.
The ball ripped through the air like it broke the sound barrier, a white shockwave trailing as it smashed into Akutsu's half. Akutsu didn't dare hold back and gripped his racket with both hands to meet it.
The impact surged through his arms, driving his whole body back step by step. His shoes carved two black streaks across the court surface, showing just how powerful Duke's shot was.
But Akutsu didn't hold on long. A crack suddenly formed where the grip met the frame of his racket. In the next instant, it snapped in half. Caught off guard, Akutsu lost balance and rolled backward before finally steadying himself.
"30-15!"
"This is why Duke is called the King of Destruction! His strength is only one part. What's most terrifying is his natural ability—Destruction!" Akashi said calmly from the coach's bench.
"Eh?! You mean that wasn't just Akutsu's racket breaking from the strain?" Kikumaru asked in shock.
"Akutsu's power and skill are definitely top level. His body's flexibility too—we all know it's outstanding. The chance of such a break is very low. So what Akashi-kun said is most likely true," Fuji replied gravely, eyes locked on Duke.
Hearing this, unease rose in the middle schoolers' hearts. But the Fudomine players showed no worry at all. They believed Akutsu would soon figure out how to deal with it.
The match gradually swung under Duke's control. Even after Akutsu switched to a new racket, Duke's Homerun shattered it in an instant. Fortunately, thanks to Akashi, Akutsu didn't need to worry about the cost of replacements.
"40-15!"
"Game! Japan Team! 1-0!"
Relying on his Destruction ability, Duke quickly took the first game. Akutsu only frowned slightly, not caring much. As he switched to a new racket, Akashi spoke to him:
"I think it's about time you show some real skill, don't you? Trading blows with Duke Boss-on isn't exactly wise."
"Don't order me~ I was just testing his strength earlier! The match starts now!" Akutsu shot back, then strode onto the court with his new racket.
It was Akutsu's service game in the second set. As he stood at the baseline, his aura suddenly shifted. A silver glow wrapped around his whole body, making Byoudouin and Tokugawa both turn their Bosss toward him.
"Hmph! Another brat who's mastered the Path of Asura!" Byoudouin muttered with displeasure, though inside he acknowledged Akutsu's strength. Anyone who could grasp the Path of Asura was no weakling.
As Akutsu tossed the ball high, five phantom figures appeared behind him, each taking a different serving stance. With Akutsu himself, there were six in total, every one ready to strike.
"Eighth Consciousness!"
"This is… Boss's Asura Path! Impossible!" Duke's eyes went wide, struggling to believe what he was seeing. But by then, the ball had already left Akutsu's racket and slammed into the right baseline corner, bouncing out of the court.
"Ace! 15-0!"
On the players' bench, Byoudouin's fist clenched tight. Akutsu had clearly chosen the same path as him, and it looked like he'd already mastered Eighth Consciousness. That was completely beyond his expectations.
Faced with six attacking stances, even Duke couldn't instantly tell the true ball path. And since reading opponents wasn't his specialty, he was momentarily at a loss.
"Ace! 30-0!"
"Ace! 40-0!"
"Game! Second String Selection! 1-1!"
Using the deceptive power of Eighth Consciousness, Akutsu smoothly held his serve. But he knew it wouldn't last long. On that last serve, Duke had already begun adapting, ignoring three of the false images outright.
'Good thing I've already seen this move from Boss before. Otherwise, this match might've turned dangerous!' Duke thought to himself.
Since Akutsu's Asura Path was aligned with Byoudouin's, it was obvious that Byoudouin could use Eighth Consciousness too—and his version was far stronger than Akutsu's.
Duke served quickly, focusing all his attention. As Akutsu reached the ball, his form split into six once more. With the sound of a clean strike, he blasted a down-the-line shot.
This time Duke read it correctly, but the angle stopped him from hitting a Homerun. He could only slice it back with his backhand. But as the ball returned, Akutsu once again split into six figures under Eighth Consciousness.
Duke instantly dashed right, but the ball streaked past his left side instead, clipping the sideline and flying out of bounds. His prediction was wrong.
"0-15!"
"Akutsu actually used Eighth Consciousness to seal off Duke-senpai's Homerun! As expected of you," Chitose said with admiration.
"Go for it, Jin-chan! Don't let that destruction old man outshine you!" Kintarō cheered loudly from the sidelines.
"Stop calling me Jin-chan, you idiot!" Akutsu turned and roared at him.
"Old man, huh… not a bad nickname," Duke chuckled when he heard Kintarō's shout.
But soon Duke launched another serve, and the two clashed fiercely again. Though Duke was adjusting to Eighth Consciousness, his read accuracy was still too low in such a short time. The score began to tilt in Akutsu's favor.
"0-30!"
"0-40!"
"Game! Second String Selection! 2-1!"