Prince of Tennis: The Emperor's Eye

"So ridiculous~ Still so obsessed with first-year rules? No wonder Seigaku is basically no different from small fry now!" Akashi went straight for the mockery, not holding back at all.

"You! Young people these days really don't know respect. Is this how your parents taught you, being so rude to your elders?" Ryūzaki Sumire was clearly angered, her tone harsh.

"Anyone who goes against my will—even my own parents can't be forgiven! Ryūzaki-sensei, let me ask you, in your whole life besides being able to brag about Echizen Nanjirō-san, do you have anything else you can show off? To be honest, with Echizen Nanjirō-san's talent, it wouldn't have made a difference with or without your coaching." Akashi stared colder and colder at Ryūzaki Sumire.

"You… you… Hmph! You're too arrogant!" Ryūzaki Sumire was left speechless by Akashi's words, clutching her chest and turning away.

All the regulars who'd been listening just shook their heads in disdain. To them, Ryūzaki Sumire's words were a complete joke. Tezuka was even more relieved he'd chosen Fudomine instead of Seigaku—otherwise, he might have ended up frustrated like Fuji.

But what Tezuka didn't know was, if he'd actually gone to Seigaku, it wouldn't have just been frustration—his entire tennis career would've been shortened, his growth would stall, maybe even regress a level, and he'd miss his best period for improvement.

On the other side, Seigaku's players saw their coach coming back with a sour face after a brief chat with Akashi, and immediately got upset. Some even started yelling about teaching Akashi a lesson, but Yamato Yūdai stopped them.

"Ryūzaki-sensei, what did you just say to their captain? You look upset!" Yamato walked over and asked Ryūzaki Sumire.

"Oh, Yamato, that kid was too much. I was being nice and trying to give him some advice, but he had no manners at all. So arrogant. Tell everyone there's no need to hold back in today's match—let's teach him a lesson." Ryūzaki Sumire still looked annoyed.

"Uh… I don't know about that, sensei. After all, they're all first-years. It's natural they don't know how things work yet. Please don't take it to heart," Yamato tried to calm her down.

"You didn't hear how that kid talked. Just do as I said—go all out. Just don't injure anyone." Right now, Ryūzaki Sumire's whole mind was set on putting Akashi in his place.

Yamato heard her instructions and could only helplessly shake his head. He glanced at Akashi, sighed, and walked over to the Doubles Two team to pass along the message.

By the way, this time Seigaku brought a few outstanding first-years to support the team. After Fuji listened to Akashi's suggestion last time, he'd found a chance to show off his strength, beating a third-year regular 6-0 without effort.

Thankfully, the senior wasn't hot-tempered and, although annoyed, didn't do anything extreme. This surprised Ryūzaki Sumire so much that she decided to start training Fuji, thinking maybe next year he could be the new Nanjirō.

Because she started to value Fuji, Oishi, Kikumaru, and others also got into her sights. So this match, Ryūzaki Sumire brought them along to let them get a feel for the competition atmosphere, planning to have them train their foundation for a year and let them represent Seigaku next year.

Even so, Ryūzaki Sumire still thought first-years couldn't be relied on, at least not when it came to attitude and experience. No matter how strong, they were still behind the upperclassmen, so she just couldn't understand how Fudomine made it to the finals.

Meanwhile, Akashi sat calmly on the bench, arms crossed, waiting for the match to begin. Just then, a long-absent system voice echoed in his mind:

"Ding! Host detected in district preliminary final. Side mission updated: Lead the team to win this district preliminary tournament. Reward: Dimensional Fragment *1. Note: Gather five fragments to unlock Insight into Another Dimension!"

"Another Dimension, huh? Nice! With that, even Byoudouin or Oni—I could take them on no problem." Akashi heard the notification and instantly felt a lot happier.

Soon, the umpire announced the start of Doubles Two. On Fudomine's side, Krauser and Kite were sent out. Seigaku sent two third-years, but one name caught Akashi's attention: Takei Kenji.

Akashi had a vague impression of that name, but for now, he couldn't recall where he'd heard it. He didn't dwell on it—after all, he'd been in this world a while and some memories were bound to get fuzzy.

During the handshake, Takei Kenji didn't even bother looking at Krauser and Kite, not even reaching out his hand, and said with pure contempt, "Tch, just a bunch of lucky first-years. Don't get cocky, brats. Enjoy your last match while you can!"

"Heh~ Akashi was right about one thing: barking dogs don't bite. You're exactly that kind of useless mutt who just barks all day," Krauser said coldly.

"What did you say? You little brat, you've got a death wish!" Takei exploded when he heard Krauser insult him, reaching out to grab Krauser's collar with his left hand and ready to swing his right fist.

"Stop it! Takei!" Ryūzaki-sensei and Yamato both called out to stop him.

But Takei's movement halted just before grabbing Krauser—not because of Ryūzaki-sensei or Yamato's intervention, but because of Kite Eishirō right beside Krauser!

The moment Takei reached out, Kite moved too, his right hand slicing sharply in a karate chop aimed at Takei's throat. Takei instinctively sensed the threat and froze. After all, Kite had practiced Ryūkyū martial arts since he was a kid.

"Move again and you die," Kite's right hand hovered in the air, his eyes icy, staring at Takei like he was already dead. Seeing Kite's eyes, Takei was overcome with pure fear.

"Both sides, stop any excessive behavior now! Or I'll disqualify you from this match!" The umpire's stern voice broke in.

"Kite, stand down," Akashi called out, ending the standoff. By now, Akashi already figured out who Takei was and why that name seemed familiar.

With the umpire's warning, both teams returned to their sides. Takei, still being pulled by his partner, kept muttering threats under his breath, refusing to let it go until another warning from the umpire finally shut him up.

The match started soon after. Seigaku's pair came out swinging, hoping to crush these so-called first-year brats, especially Takei, who kept targeting his serves at Kite's body. But the gap in skill was just too big. Forget going on the attack—they could barely return Krauser and Kite's shots at all.

Krauser frowned, easily noticing Takei was purposely trying to injure Kite. While these serves were no threat at all to Kite, Krauser's anger started to simmer.

Takei and his partner quickly lost their serve, leaving Takei even more irritated and volatile. Kite was up next to serve, but he didn't bother using Big Bang, since he didn't think these opponents deserved it.

Facing Kite's normal serve, Takei's team was slightly better than the previous pushovers—they could barely manage to return the ball—but it didn't stop them from losing points. By the second game's match point, Takei's face was twisted in rage.

After Kite served, Takei pretended to jump up for the return, but instead, as he reached the peak of his jump, he completely ignored the ball and whipped his racket straight at Kite.

"Watch out, Kite!" "Look out!" Cries of warning came from both benches, even Ryūzaki-sensei unconsciously calling out for Kite to be careful.

But Kite simply leaned back, dodging at the perfect angle, as the racket brushed past his face and smashed into pieces on the ground—a clear sign of just how much force Takei put into it.

"Oops! Sorry! Slipped right out of my hand. You okay… uh, classmate?" Takei put on a fake look of guilt, pretending to apologize to Kite.

No one was fooled—anyone with a brain could tell Takei was acting. But unless Takei admitted it was on purpose, the umpire couldn't penalize him and had to call it an accident.

"Is he insane? Pulling this kind of stunt during a match? Yamato! When we get back, make sure he gets punished. No one is allowed to plead for him!" Ryūzaki-sensei was furious. But whether it was for the sake of justice or just for losing face in front of other schools, no one could say.

With the umpire pausing the match, Krauser and Kite returned to the bench, and everyone checked on Kite. After Kite said he was fine, they finally relaxed.

Krauser walked up to Akashi, face like ice. "You don't mind what I'm about to do, do you, Akashi?"

"Go ahead. Show everyone your true tennis form," Akashi's eyes blazed with anger too.

Soon, the staff finished cleaning up the court. Takei, with a new racket and his partner, stepped back onto the court. At the net, Krauser stared daggers at Takei and spoke in a voice colder than death:

"Bereiten Sie sich auf die Hölle vor!"