"Eh!!! That's it? Already over? No way~ I'm not done playing yet! I don't care, let's keep going!" Kintarō shouted in protest when he heard the match was ending, immediately starting to throw a tantrum.
"Kintarō! Get off the court right now, don't waste everyone's time!" At that moment, Krauser's cool, crisp voice came from the sidelines into Kintarō's ears.
The still-rolling-and-pouting Kintarō suddenly froze, stiffly turning his head. There stood Krauser, arms crossed, gaze calm, her long golden hair swaying slowly in the breeze.
Kintarō stiffly walked off the court bit by bit. He still wasn't happy inside, but he didn't dare show a hint of it on his face. Tachibana Kippei, watching Kintarō's expression, quickly hid behind Chitose to laugh.
"Attention, all players! Per the head coach's instructions, all 25 middle schoolers in the losing group will now move to Court 2! Original Court 2 members—Tezuka Kunimitsu will drop to Court 3, the rest will drop to Courts 4 and 5. The detailed list will be announced later! That's all!" Kurobe's voice suddenly rang out from the loudspeaker.
"Your wrist isn't actually injured at all, is it?" Akashi asked as he looked at Tezuka approaching from the other side.
"No. That last shot from Tōyama really did exceed my limit," Tezuka replied calmly.
Akashi didn't believe him for a second—after all, the Emperor Eye was no ornament—but he didn't press further. He just nodded and walked with Tezuka and the others toward Court 3.
Still, the match had revealed something interesting to Akashi: that fleeting Wild Instinct aura around Kintarō in the final moment. It reminded him of someone from Kuroko no Basket—a certain Uncrowned King whose wildness was just like Kintarō's, even sharing a similar name: Hayama Kotarō, the Wild Leopard.
But Akashi quickly tossed aside such random thoughts and began thinking about the afternoon's team shuffle matches. Honestly, in Court 1, aside from Tokugawa and Tanegashima, there wasn't much worth paying attention to.
"I hear Court 2's already been taken over by those middle schoolers who came back. You better win this afternoon—I don't want to get dropped to Court 3!" In Court 1, Tanegashima leaned lazily on the railing, speaking in a relaxed tone to Tokugawa beside him.
"Tanegashima-senpai, does it even matter which court you're on? You're a regular after all," Tokugawa replied coldly.
"Now, now, don't say that. I'm in Court 1 now, you know. Besides, the coaches didn't even put me in for the afternoon match," Tanegashima said with a shrug, looking innocent.
"Don't worry, Tanegashima-senpai. Until I defeat Byoudouin, I won't allow myself to lose to anyone," Tokugawa said with firm determination.
"Yare yare~ as long as you're happy," Tanegashima muttered with a shake of his head.
Meanwhile, Ryōma and the others were happily training on Court 2, but soon heard about the upcoming afternoon team shuffle match—between Courts 3 and 1, no less. The excitement in the air was impossible to hide.
When the morning training ended, Ryōma's group finished lunch as quickly as possible and headed straight for Court 1. This afternoon's match would feature Akashi himself, and Ryōma was eager to see how much of the gap between them remained after his hellish special training.
When they arrived, they found the area already packed with players. Even the few remaining First String members had shown up early. On top of that, the coaches—usually holed up in the office—were now seated on the high platform, clearly taking this match very seriously.
The reason wasn't so much the team shuffle match itself as it was Akashi's personal draw. Everyone wanted to see just how strong Akashi had become, and Tokugawa made for an excellent opponent.
As the crowd bustled around the court, Tokugawa entered slowly with the rest of Court 1. At the back, Tanegashima hopped into the stands, sprawled out with his head propped up, showing not a shred of a substitute's self-awareness.
In his mind, this shuffle match had nothing to do with him. Unless Akashi's side had a sudden bout of food poisoning, he and Oni were purely spectators—being on the roster was just for show.
"Well then, good luck in the match, Tokugawa-kun!" Tanegashima called out from the stands, waving to Tokugawa and the others.
Tokugawa only frowned slightly and said nothing. First, the chances of Tanegashima playing were practically zero. Second, as a First String regular, Tanegashima wasn't someone he had any grounds to criticize.
Before long, Akashi arrived with all the members of Court 3. Once inside, everyone not participating in the match headed straight for the stands, eager to watch.
When everyone was in place, the umpire immediately announced the start of the match. Both sides stepped to the net for the handshake. Tokugawa looked at Akashi and said,
"I know you're the former No. 3, but you shouldn't be here to challenge me! My only opponent is Byoudouin!"
"Challenge? Don't flatter yourself. I'll show you what an absolute difference in strength really means," Akashi's tone was ice-cold. His heterochromatic eyes glowed with a strange light that made the pressure on Tokugawa spike instantly.
"Hurry up and start the match! Talking to this bunch of trash is a complete waste of my time!" Akutsu snarled, his expression ferocious.
No one except Tokugawa reacted with anger. They all knew exactly how terrifying Akutsu was—he could hold his own against Oni back in his second year and had even destroyed an entire court during one match.
"I'll make you take that back," Tokugawa said, locking eyes on Akutsu.
"Hah? You got a death wish, trash?" Akutsu's bloodlust erupted, his gaze locked on Tokugawa.
"Enough, Akutsu. Talking's pointless. He'll realize soon enough just how ignorant he is," Akashi cut in, stopping Akutsu before he lost control. Without even glancing at Tokugawa, Akashi turned and walked away. The others followed him, not even bothering with the handshake.
'That aura just now… I've only ever felt it from Oni-senpai and that man! What's going on here?!' Tokugawa stared at Akashi and Akutsu's backs, unable to calm his thoughts.
"Uh… we'll now start the Singles 3 match: Court 1's Tokugawa Kazuya versus Court 3's Akashi Seijurō. Players, please take the court!" The umpire clearly had no idea what to say—he couldn't afford to offend either side—so he simply announced the match.
Just as Akashi was about to step onto the court, Oni's voice came from behind him.
"Akashi-kun! I hope you'll go easy on Tokugawa. He's very talented, and he's one of our key fighters for the future."
"Yeah, I'm asking you too, Akashi-kun!" Irie's voice joined in.
Akashi turned to see the two of them looking at him with concern. He gave a cold nod.
"I know. This match is just to make him see his own strength clearly. Blindly challenging Byoudouin will only make him look overconfident. I'm not going to completely destroy him. I already told you—I'm not like Byoudouin."
"Ah, sorry, maybe we were overthinking. Then we'll leave it to you," Oni and Irie both nodded back.
Tokugawa stepped onto the court, his expression a mix of complexity and seriousness. Strangely, as he faced Akashi, a faint feeling of fear crept up inside him—something he couldn't understand and found absurd.
At the umpire's signal, the two began the toss. As Akashi expected, he lost the serve again, making him suspect the system was messing with him. Even Tezuka had at least won the serve once at the Nationals.
"One set match! Court 1 to serve first!"
Standing at the baseline, Tokugawa calmed his scattered thoughts. His eyes sharpened as he looked at Akashi, tossing the ball high. With his left hand gripping the racket, he smashed down hard, sending the ball speeding into the opposite court.
Just as Tokugawa was about to see how Akashi would respond, a blur streaked past his vision, followed by the sound of the ball hitting the ground behind him. The umpire called the score.
"0–15!"
"If that's all you've got, then after your serve, you'll never touch the ball again," Akashi said flatly, his terrifying aura radiating outward, his face devoid of emotion.