The fifth game was Tokugawa's serve. He walked to the baseline, took a deep breath, and tossed the ball high. With a sharp strike, the ball shot toward the opposite court at extreme speed. At first glance, it looked like nothing more than a regular super-fast serve.
"Senpai, aren't you going to use your Rainbow Serve anymore?" Ryōma laughed as he ran toward the landing spot.
As soon as he got there, golden light surged into his right hand. He swung his racket with his left, and at the moment of impact, dazzling light burst from the racket's center. The ball turned into a massive sphere of light and blasted toward Tokugawa.
"Glowing Shot!"
"Still not giving up? I already said it—your racket can't withstand the force of a double-layered Glowing Shot!" Tokugawa frowned, his tone cold as he spoke to Ryōma.
In a flash, he moved in front of the glowing ball. Golden light filled his right hand as he swung with his left, another burst of blinding light exploding from his racket. The impact shook the court, cracks spreading across the wall behind him as dust billowed. Tokugawa not only returned Ryōma's Glowing Shot but also stacked his own force on top of it.
The massive light sphere roared back at Ryōma. Yet his smile didn't waver—instead, he looked eager. Gripping the racket with both hands, golden light erupted from it as he braced himself.
The moment his racket met the blazing ball, a terrifying shockwave coursed into his hands. Still, Ryōma refused to let go. The blue radiance around his body grew stronger, gradually overwhelming the golden glow of the Glowing Shot.
But his resistance didn't last long. His racket flew high into the air, unable to endure. Even so, Tokugawa's returned Glowing Shot had lost almost all its power, the warped ball landing weakly at the backcourt before bouncing out.
"15-0!"
"Now you understand, Echizen Ryōma," Tokugawa said slowly after scoring.
"Heh~ Tokugawa-senpai! But this time, my racket is still perfectly fine~" Ryōma picked it up and smugly pointed it at Tokugawa.
Tokugawa's eyelid twitched, though no one noticed. He had no rebuttal, so he turned coldly toward the baseline. Ryōma, meanwhile, still wore his cocky grin.
"I see. I think I've figured out how Akashi-senpai hit such a powerful Glowing Shot," Ryōma muttered quietly as he watched Tokugawa's back.
At the baseline, Tokugawa grabbed another ball and tossed it up. Another super-fast serve rocketed across. Ryōma, unbothered, rushed to the spot, golden light blazing in his hand as he prepared a Glowing Shot.
But something was different this time. Not only did his right hand shine gold—his entire body glowed golden, the blue particles around him swelling even more. His racket, gripped in his left hand, struck fiercely, sending the ball wrapped in brilliant light across the net.
Tokugawa moved instantly, aiming to counter with his own Glowing Shot. But as he struck, a powerful shock jolted his left hand numb. He tightened his grip, only to feel a sudden looseness.
The ball had punched straight through his racket, continuing toward the wall. It buried itself deep, only a sliver of yellow surface left visible.
"Glowing Shot—Hope!"
"15-15!"
"That brat actually developed the Glowing Shot to this depth!" Akutsu sneered from the players' bench.
"That ball just now was just like Taira-senpai's Bakyuun!" Oshitari Kenya said in shock.
"No! That shot's power was far greater than the Baikyuun!" Shiraishi corrected, face grim.
Even Byōdōin frowned from the stands, his gaze heavy on Ryōma. He knew well the gap between his own Destruction and a regular Glowing Shot. The Glowing Shot he had mastered back in his third year of middle school. But Destruction—that was the very first alternate-dimension technique he grasped in battle against Oni.
In truth, an ordinary Glowing Shot only counted as a world-class move, still weaker than true alternate-dimension techniques. Only when it evolved further could it reach that level. Byōdōin had Destruction. Ryōma now had Hope. And Akashi had Mana Cannon.
Though these three moves were all alternate-dimension techniques, their focus was completely different. Destruction spread the force of the Glowing Shot outward, causing wide-area damage to the opponent. Hope concentrated power at a single point, allowing it to pierce a racket with ease. Mana Cannon compressed all its force tightly, then exploded in a single instant.
Put simply, Destruction was area damage, Hope was piercing damage, and Mana Cannon was critical damage. In terms of sheer destructive force, Destruction and Mana Cannon far surpassed Hope. But in actual match practicality, the three were about the same—assuming the players' strength was equal.
"Already grown this much? Maybe our match won't be far off, little one," Ryōga said softly as he watched Ryōma on the court.
By now, Tokugawa had walked to the sideline to switch to a new racket. For the first time, his expression was extremely serious. To be honest, Ryōma's strength had far exceeded his expectations. Tokugawa had to admit that unless he brought out his true ability, there was no way he could defeat Ryōma in this state.
At the baseline, Tokugawa served without hesitation. Ryōma grinned and once again unleashed Glowing Shot—Hope. Tokugawa tried to return it, but ended up breaking another racket.
"15-30!"
But Tokugawa seemed determined to go head-to-head with Ryōma. He insisted on countering Hope with Glowing Shot, so he fired off his fourth serve, eyes locked on Ryōma across the net. Ryōma clearly understood his intent and sent the return back with Hope.
"15-40!"
The outcome was predictable. Staring at yet another pierced racket, Tokugawa's expression finally showed understanding—he had figured out what Ryōma's Hope really was.
When Tokugawa served a fifth time, Ryōma again answered with Hope. But this time, the aura of Shura around Tokugawa flared higher. His arm whipped quickly through the air, and then—a golden-lit ball was suddenly frozen in midair by a black vortex.
"Black Hole!"
"So you finally brought it out? This time, I'm definitely breaking through!" Ryōma's grin grew even brighter as he saw Tokugawa unleash Black Hole.
Tokugawa wasted no time. He swung at the suspended ball, its piercing force completely swallowed by the Black Hole. When he struck it back, part of the absorbed power was returned to the ball.
Ryōma rushed forward and fired Hope again, but against Black Hole, the shot was useless. Unless his five attributes completely crushed Tokugawa's, he had no way of breaking through that defense.
What followed stunned the crowd. Ryōma kept firing Glowing Shot—Hope, trying to crack Black Hole. Tokugawa calmly deployed Black Hole again and again, intercepting and returning every shot.
Finally, after several rallies, the stacked force on the ball reached its limit. When Ryōma tried to unleash Hope once more, the ball blasted his racket right out of his hand, leaving his left arm numb.
"30-40!"
"I have to admit, I underestimated you earlier, Echizen Ryōma. But now that I've used Black Hole, the match is already decided," Tokugawa said coolly, eyes fixed on him.
"Oh? Then I'll just smash straight through your Black Hole!" Ryōma, though down a point, showed no less spirit than Tokugawa.
"So Irie even passed this move on to Tokugawa? How thorough… but Tokugawa's body isn't the same as Irie's!" Byōdōin sneered from the stands.
"To use Black Hole this quickly… So Echizen Ryōma is the junior you acknowledge, Tokugawa?" Oni muttered quietly as he watched the two on court.
"40-40! Deuce!"
"Japan Team takes the lead!"
"Game! Japan Team! 3-2!"
Against Tokugawa's Black Hole, all of Ryōma's attacks were nullified. Even his Radiance of Love had no effect on Tokugawa in Shura Mode. It only boosted his own five attributes and potential, but it wasn't enough to find a breakthrough.
"Game! Japan Team! 4-2!"
"Game! Japan Team! 5-2!"
In the next two games, Ryōma tried all kinds of different techniques, but every one was blocked by Black Hole. In the end, he was forced to rely on Glowing Shot alone, but its results were minimal. After all, even Byōdōin, in the original, hadn't been able to find a real solution against Tokugawa's Black Hole—only ways to stall.
The eighth game was Ryōma's serve. Sweat streamed down his face from the heavy exertion earlier, but his eyes were still unwavering. Today, he was determined to break Tokugawa's Black Hole.