Inside the Ultra-Speed Dimension, Kaji stared at the albatross soaring slowly toward him and let out a cold, disdainful laugh. In the next instant, his figure blurred, and the ball was smashed back across the court. Time resumed its normal flow the moment his racket made contact.
Just as Kaji thought he had secured the first set, Jonathan suddenly flashed in front of him, intercepting the ball cleanly. A streak of light shot toward the open space on Kaji's right.
"You really did aim for the left sideline again. I told you—your shots are way too predictable!" Jonathan said smugly as he returned the ball.
"Damn it!" Kaji cursed under his breath. He was about to re-enter the Ultra-Speed Dimension when the world around him suddenly shifted. The court vanished, replaced by a vast ocean, and he found himself standing on the deck of a sailing ship. He immediately realized what was happening.
Across from him, the two French players hadn't yet figured it out. A moment later, a sharp dagger pierced straight through Edgard's chest. The ball passed cleanly between them and landed hard on the baseline before bouncing out of play.
"Game! 6–4! First set complete! Winner—Japan Team!"
"When did Niō learn to use Phantom Alternate Dimension?!" Tōno exclaimed in surprise from the Japan bench.
"It's not just Alternate Dimension… there's even a hint of Divine Path of the Asura in it," Oni said, frowning deeply as his sharp gaze fixed on Niō.
"Hmph! What's so shocking about that? That brat's already been reborn under my special training!" Coach Mifune barked, clearly proud as he heard the others whispering behind him.
By now, Niō had dropped his disguise and returned to normal, walking back to the bench with Kaji. Everyone's eyes were locked on him, curiosity written all over their faces, making Niō feel a bit uneasy.
"Niō! You were actually able to copy an Alternate Dimension? Then you must've been holding back during the Shuffle Match! That's far too careless!" Sanada snapped immediately.
"Puri~ That was just to help Fuji-kun develop his Synchronization~," Niō replied with a mischievous grin.
"Ah, so I ended up becoming your excuse then, Niō-kun~" Fuji said with a serene smile, though a strange glint flickered behind his half-closed eyes.
While the middle schoolers surrounded Niō with questions, Kaji sat quietly beside him, head bowed in frustration. He couldn't bring himself to meet the eyes of Coach Mifune or Byoudouin. His performance in the latter half of the first set had been downright terrible.
But Mifune didn't scold him again. He'd already said all that needed saying—temperament and composure were issues only a player could fix on their own. The upcoming second set would show whether Kaji could adapt and improve.
Meanwhile, on the French bench, Camus glanced at his two players as they rehydrated. He said nothing more than a calm, simple line: "Go all out." Then he leaned back in his chair, expression unreadable.
"Edgard-senpai... I've collected almost all the data I need on Byoudouin, but that middle schooler called Niō might still have more up his sleeve," Jonathan said seriously.
"Hmm. You're probably right. So... you know what to do, right?" Edgard asked, giving him a pointed look.
"Ugh... fine! For the sake of France's victory, I'll do it—but make sure you draw me well, okay?" Jonathan sighed, clearly conflicted but eventually nodding in reluctant agreement.
A few seconds later, strange noises began coming from the French bench—anyone listening would've thought something indecent was going on.
"That tickles!"
"Don't move!"
"But—"
"Quiet! You talk too much!"
The rest of the French team looked completely unfazed. To them, this scene was routine. Whenever Edgard began painting on Jonathan's face, it meant they were truly getting serious.
Across the court, Akashi watched everything unfold with calm, thoughtful eyes.
I've always wondered... how exactly does this 'face-paint hypnosis' work? It doesn't just trigger trance states—it can even alter behavior and personality. Could it be that Jonathan already has multiple personalities? Akashi pondered silently.
His mind drifted to Spain's Antonio da Medanoré. Akashi remembered that Medanoré was also suspected of having dual personalities. The original accounts were vague—some even hinted he might have a twin—but Akashi found that unlikely.
From what he knew, Medanoré kept meticulous daily records of his actions and words, as if to communicate with someone else—clearly his other self.
After all, in cases of split personality, the two identities often exist completely separately, with no shared memory between them. Medanoré fit that description perfectly. The supposed "twin" storyline was probably just a symbolic way of describing his two selves.
But there was another person Akashi found suspicious—Tokugawa.
Medanoré's injury might have been Tokugawa's doing. And Tokugawa's obsession with "righteousness" as his guiding principle for the Japan Team… it all pointed to something deeper.
In Buddhist thought, "Shura" and "Ashura" represent two sides of the same being—good and evil, light and dark. Akashi's eyes sharpened. Tokugawa's Alternate Dimension wasn't truly Asura... it was Shura. So doesn't that mean he might have another form—another Dimension... or perhaps another personality entirely?
The realization deepened Akashi's gaze.
Tokugawa, sitting on the bench, had no idea Akashi was now quietly doubting his very mind. His eyes were fixed on Niō, filled with complicated emotions. He hadn't expected Niō to replicate Byoudouin's power to nearly sixty percent accuracy.
The three-minute break ended quickly, and under the umpire's signal, the second set was about to begin. But as the two players from the French team stepped back onto the court, everyone was stunned—Jonathan's entire aura had completely changed.
Not only that, but even his appearance looked different. The glasses were gone, streaks of war paint now lined his face, and his hairstyle was slightly altered. Akashi could only sigh inwardly. Even in the world of Kuroko no Basuke, Akashi's own hair didn't change when his personality did.
Jonathan's transformed self
"Come at me, whoever you are—even if you're Byoudouin himself, I'll return every shot you send my way!" Jonathan taunted the moment he saw Niō.
"What did you just say? Don't think painting your face makes you hot stuff, French brat!" Before Niō could respond, Kaji snapped back sharply.
"Painting?! You dare call my greatest masterpiece a doodle?! Looks like the lesson I gave you earlier wasn't enough~" Edgard flared up instantly at Kaji's remark.
Seeing tempers rise again, the umpire hurried to intervene. Thankfully, both sides remembered there was still a match to play, so they turned away with scowls and returned to their respective halves of the court.
The first game of the second set began with Kaji's serve. As he stepped up to the baseline, Niō's figure suddenly wavered—and in the blink of an eye, "Sanada" appeared before everyone.
This time, the entire audience clearly saw Niō's transformation process, so no one questioned whether it was a substitution. Still, countless spectators stared in disbelief; most had never witnessed anything like it before.
"As expected, he switched again! Looks like all the data Jonathan just collected was for nothing. What a pain..." Edgard muttered with a frown.
"You said you'd return all my shots? Fine then—let me be the one to drag you into the pit of defeat!" "Sanada" said coldly, his expression stern as he faced Jonathan.
Preparing to serve, Kaji suddenly felt an odd wave of exhaustion. For a moment, he sympathized with everyone who'd ever partnered with Niō from Rikkai. After all, who else had to deal with their teammate changing into a different person mid-match?
Shaking off the thought, Kaji tossed the ball high and struck it cleanly. The ball rocketed across the net at high speed.
As Edgard rushed toward the landing point, his racket began to trace elegant arcs in the air. When he struck the ball back, a cheetah materialized, sprinting at lightning speed toward the opposite side of the court.
Kaji instantly activated the Ultra-Speed Dimension. In his slowed perception of time, the world moved at a crawl, and he easily returned the ball.
"Speed alone won't save you! I've already analyzed your shot pattern—it's useless, high schooler!" Jonathan cackled as he appeared in front of the ball, smashing Kaji's return with a powerful forehand.
"Then try predicting this one! Swift as lightning!"
"Sanada," his entire body crackling with electric light, flashed to the front court. Raising his racket high with both hands, he brought it down in a fierce strike.
The ball twisted violently, streaking across the court like a bolt of lightning. But Jonathan didn't even move to block it—Edgard suddenly leapt from behind him, his racket carving intricate movements in the air. The Arc de Triomphe reappeared, intercepting "Sanada's" Swift as Lightning with a blinding burst of energy.
"You used that move back in your match against Australia, didn't you? You really think you can win by underestimating Jonathan's data?" Edgard sneered, his racket whipping through the air. A massive motorcycle roared to life and charged toward "Sanada."
But behind "Sanada," a towering mountain rose up like a solid wall. The motorcycle slammed into it and shattered like glass. "Sanada" intercepted the ball effortlessly.
"Immovable as a mountain!"
The ball's power and spin rapidly weakened, until nothing remained. Taking advantage of the soft rebound, "Sanada" tapped a short shot, the ball floating gently over the net before descending.
"Calm as a forest."
But Jonathan, as if expecting it, moved swiftly and scooped the ball back up. Just as he and Edgard began to relax, a flash of silver streaked past them—the next moment, the sound of the ball striking the ground echoed from behind.
"15–0!"
"Don't get so full of yourself! The data you collected only reflects sixty percent of my speed. Against absolute speed, no matter how simple the shot, you'll never be able to return it!"
The silver light faded from Kaji's body as he spoke coldly, his piercing gaze fixed on Jonathan.