"This move actually made Byoudouin misjudge?" Tokugawa said from the stands, his tone laced with surprise.
"This is the terrifying thing about little Akashi. The stronger the opponent, the more effective this move becomes. Especially against players skilled at prediction. The only question is… can it restrain Data Tennis as well?" Irie appeared to be replying to Tokugawa, but his eyes had already shifted toward Mitsuya.
"Data Tennis has almost no effect against Akashi-kun. On that point, I have no objections," Mitsuya replied calmly.
"But Byoudouin might already be on guard. He should adjust his play quickly," Tanegashima added, still confident in Byoudouin's strength. Even so, he couldn't predict the outcome—neither Byoudouin nor Akashi seemed to be fighting at full strength yet.
Just as Tanegashima said, Byoudouin stopped relying purely on instinct to read shots. Instead, he concentrated fully, doing his best to avoid being misled by Akashi's feints.
In the mental world, the pirate and Gilgamesh clashed fiercely. But with the way things were going, the skeleton pirate was clearly being pushed to the edge, already struggling to withstand Gilgamesh's onslaught.
Facing Akashi's fierce return, Byoudouin lunged forward. His right arm tensed, racket sweeping hard against the incoming ball. It transformed into a massive phoenix that soared skyward.
"Phoenix of Egypt!"
After crossing most of the court, the phoenix suddenly dived at the baseline. But just as it was about to land, a racket intercepted. The phoenix reverted into a tennis ball, smashed away by Akashi. A yellow streak shot past Byoudouin's foot and bounced out.
"0-30!"
"Wasn't that Fuji-senpai's White Dragon? First Phoenix Return, now White Dragon—why are all Byoudouin-senpai's moves like upgraded versions of Fuji-senpai's?" Kirihara asked in puzzlement.
"Maybe it's because Fuji-buchō's moves are especially useful~" Ryōma answered offhandedly, while not far away, Fuji raised an eyebrow ever so slightly.
Soon after, Byoudouin unleashed a new technique. When Akashi lobbed casually, Byoudouin sprinted to center court, leapt high, and smashed down. The ball became a massive lion pouncing toward Akashi.
"Roar of the African Simba!"
The middle schoolers turned their eyes toward Tachibana Kippei, but Tachibana himself remained calm. If Byoudouin could create something so similar, it only proved the depth of his talent.
"0-40!"
Yet even this smash was seen through. Akashi returned with ease, sending back an ultra-fast counter. By now, Byoudouin had realized that everything he did was being predicted. No matter what world-class technique he unleashed, Akashi dismantled it instantly.
'Could he have seen my techniques before? Impossible… After the World Cup in France, I refined all my moves. Not even Mitsuya should have data on them now!' Byoudouin thought, unsettled.
But though his mind raced, his body didn't stop. He served again quickly, clashing with Akashi through their Alternate Dimensions. Even though his skeleton pirate had already been shattered by Gilgamesh countless times, Byoudouin pressed on as if unfazed.
Akashi stepped early to the landing spot. He had no intention of ending things quickly. He wanted to dismantle every technique Byoudouin had, crushing his tennis from the roots. Only then could he establish his dominance as Japan's No.1.
After several sharp rallies, Byoudouin suddenly leveled his racket horizontally and swung flat. The ball split into countless images, flooding Akashi's half of the court.
"Snake Charmer of India!"
Unlike Pirates of the American or Abare Dama, this move's illusion frequency was extremely high. Going for only the real ball would likely miss entirely. But Akashi's Emperor Eye had already seen through it.
Using multi-ball striking, his figure split into over ten afterimages, each one swinging at the incoming shadows. Shockingly, real impacts rang out in succession, and a stream of balls shot back into Byoudouin's court.
The two then exchanged in a bizarre multi-ball rally. The spectators began doubting their own eyes and ears. Luckily, it didn't last long. Byoudouin finally showed a small flaw, which Akashi had already foreseen, taking the game outright.
"Game! Second String Selection! 3-0!"
"So this is the skill you claim to have mastered while traveling the world? Too bad—I've already seen similar moves before. The 'world' you speak of amounts to nothing in my eyes," Akashi said flatly, as though it were meaningless small talk.
"Similar moves… I see! Those middle school brats, huh?" Byoudouin finally realized. The pace of the match had kept him from noticing it earlier.
In fact, both Tachibana Kippei and Fuji had already shown similar techniques during their matches. Byoudouin just hadn't cared—he saw those moves as far too immature.
"Looks like Japan Team's No.1 isn't much after all. He's totally not Akashi-senpai's match~" Zaizen Hikaru muttered disdainfully from the stands.
"No, Zaizen! Byoudouin-senpai's strength is definitely not that simple. I heard he even defeated Oni-senpai! His position as No.1 is fully deserved," Shiraishi said gravely. He knew Zaizen's nature—though not malicious, he was too quick to underestimate others.
"Akashi-kun and Byoudouin-senpai's rally looks fast, but if any one of us were in there, we wouldn't stand a chance right now," Yanagi said with equal seriousness.
"They're about to get serious," Tezuka said quietly, his words snapping everyone's attention back to the court.
On court, Akashi, though still in Alternate Dimension, didn't use Gate of Babylon. Instead, he struck an ordinary ultra-fast serve. Byoudouin's anger spiked—he felt Akashi was relaxing just because of his lead.
Byoudouin flashed to the landing spot, his left hand glowing with dazzling gold. He smashed out a Glowing Shot—Destruction straight at Akashi. But crimson lightning sparked in Akashi's eyes—he had entered the Zone.
The ball spun violently on his racket, its destructive power blasting into the back wall. The wall crumbled instantly, smoke filling the stadium.
Yet even that shot barely fazed Akashi. He sent it back at once, and Byoudouin wasn't surprised—he had expected it. Sprinting to the landing spot, he twisted his wrist strangely and struck.
The ball carried a peculiar spin, shrinking rapidly as it crossed the net. When Akashi swung to intercept, it slipped cleanly through the racket strings.
"Matryoshka of Russia!"
"0-15!"
"What's wrong? No one's used something like this against you before?" Byoudouin sneered after scoring, glaring at Akashi.
Akashi glanced at the ball, already normal again outside the court, and ignored Byoudouin's taunt. Instead, he analyzed. In the original work, there had been almost no explanation of Byoudouin's Matryoshka, so even as a transmigrator, Akashi didn't fully grasp its principle.
But the Emperor Eye had caught something interesting. Without wasting time, Akashi tossed the ball and fired another ultra-fast serve.
Byoudouin said nothing more, racing to return it. The two locked into another blistering rally.
The yellow blur flashed back and forth, and soon Byoudouin felt himself straining to keep up. With Akashi boosted by the Zone, his speed and power subtly but clearly pressed Byoudouin down.
After several exchanges, Byoudouin seized an opening and unleashed another Matryoshka. The ball shrank as it crossed the net and slipped through Akashi's strings once again.
"0-30!"
"So that's it! This move was made specifically to counter players with exceptional vision!" Akashi narrowed his eyes. In that moment, he had finally seen the principle.
It was actually simple. Players with excellent dynamic vision see high-speed objects almost like frozen frames. Byoudouin's Matryoshka exploited this, flipping perception back on itself to create an optical illusion.
On the third rally, Akashi let himself experience the Matryoshka again, confirming his thought. Likely, Byoudouin had learned it in Russia against an opponent with extraordinary sight.
"0-40!"
"Looks like you can't do anything against this one, brat!" Byoudouin's gaze turned sharper, voice edged with menace.
"It's nothing more than a petty trick. It won't change the fact that you're destined to lose," Akashi replied coldly, his tone void of any emotion.