Prince of Tennis: The Emperor's Eye

Seeing that Krauser could hit such high-speed serves, Akashi Seijurō wasn't surprised at all. Krauser's current strength was entirely the result of his own training.

Right now, Krauser had already far surpassed his original level from the source. He had firmly entered the national level and wasn't far from reaching the national peak.

Speaking of this, one couldn't ignore another feature of Akashi's system. Besides providing templates and issuing missions, the system also had powerful data analysis and simulation abilities. By analyzing the data captured by Akashi's Emperor Eye, it could calculate the fastest and most efficient training regimen.

At this moment, Krauser was ready to serve. With a sharp "ping," the tennis ball shot across the net at high speed and landed in Tachibana Kippei's court. Even though Tachibana was prepared this time, he was still a step too slow. The ball flew out of bounds.

"Ace! 30-0"

But Tachibana didn't mind much. He could already track the opponent's serve path clearly. He believed he'd return the next one.

Krauser served again. The moment Tachibana saw the ball's path, he dashed forward with explosive speed. Reaching the drop point, he swung his racket hard and returned the ball.

Krauser wasn't surprised. After all, Akashi had called him a tennis genius. There was no way he'd miss return after return. Krauser reached the ball in an instant and sent it back. The two quickly got into a fierce rally. In the end, Krauser edged out the win.

"40-0"

Tachibana was a bit surprised. He didn't expect this foreign boy to have such solid tennis fundamentals. One small lapse in focus and the point was gone. But thinking of the tennis environment overseas, he found it understandable.

On the umpire seat, Chitose Senri was quietly stunned. Someone like Tachibana, whose strength matched his own, hadn't scored a single point so far. Although Tachibana hadn't used his full techniques, it was obvious Krauser wasn't going all out either.

With Krauser's next serve, another intense rally began. They exchanged shot after shot, neither giving an inch. But eventually, Krauser found his chance.

He met the incoming ball, pivoted on his front foot, and jumped. While airborne, he used both hands to smash a heavy backhand. The ball shot past Tachibana's feet and out of bounds.

"Game! 1-0"

"That was… Jackknife! Damn impressive!" Tachibana exclaimed in shock.

Now it was Tachibana's turn to serve. He took a deep breath, adjusted his stance, then pulled out a ball and patted it. His gaze turned sharp as he said:

"Alright, warm-up's over. Time to get serious!"

He tossed the ball high. At the moment of impact, he gave it intense irregular spin. After crossing the net, the ball started to shake violently and then split into three phantom images falling in three directions.

"Abare Jishi, huh? Looks like Tachibana's going all in now," Chitose mumbled to himself.

"Kind of interesting… but only three?" Krauser wasn't fazed at all. He had long been training in multi-ball drills. Three illusions? Even three real balls would be no issue.

In a flash, Krauser's form seemed to split into three shadows. Each one reached a drop point. After swinging and missing twice, the third ball was caught by the racket and blasted back even faster.

Seeing his technique so easily countered, Tachibana's expression grew even fiercer. He struck the return again—still using Abare Jishi. This time, the ball split into four phantoms.

But to Krauser, who could handle up to eight-ball drills, this was nothing. He returned Tachibana's Abare Jishi again with ease.

The two gradually closed in at the net. The ball flew back and forth between them rapidly. But the gap in their skills and five core attributes couldn't be bridged by one technique alone. Tachibana was steadily and completely overwhelmed.

"0-15"

"0-30"

"0-40"

"Game! 2-0"

Tachibana ultimately failed to hold his serve. He looked up at Krauser with a serious expression. His long golden hair fluttered in the wind like a lion's mane.

From the sidelines, Akashi watched the scene unfold calmly.

Akashi couldn't help but mutter to himself,

"What kind of shampoo does Tachibana use? He and Krauser both have blond hair, so why does his hair move like that?"

It was Krauser's turn to serve again. Just then, the aura around Tachibana suddenly surged, and a faint dark red airflow spiraled around him. This was his other signature move—Beast Aura.

In this state, Tachibana could hold his breath and focus intensely. It was somewhat similar to Muga no Kyōchi, though without the flexible move variation. On the other hand, it consumed far less stamina. You could say it had both pros and cons.

Krauser wasn't fazed by Tachibana's state and served at high speed as usual. Tachibana returned the ball and immediately rushed the net. As Krauser shot his return, Tachibana leapt off one foot, using the momentum of his forward jump and gravity to smash the ball using the frame of his racket.

The immense power violently surged inside the tennis ball. After crossing the net, it spun wildly in the air and instantly split into nine afterimages. A total of ten ball shadows bombarded toward Krauser.

"Abare Dama!"

Krauser's eyes turned serious for the first time. But only for a moment. He quickly regained composure. While he still couldn't fully handle ten-ball drills, these weren't actually ten real tennis balls.

He sprinted toward one of the ball shadows. With a sharp strike, the hit landed cleanly—Krauser returned Tachibana's Abare Dama.

Tachibana was caught off guard that his ultimate move had been returned so easily. He failed to keep up with the ball. It bounced and flew out of bounds.

"15-0"

"That move's got real power. But no matter how many afterimages there are, the ball's shadow is always just one," Krauser said coldly.

Even Chitose was stunned. He knew just how fearsome Tachibana's Abare Dama was. Even if you knew the shadow trick, not just anyone could exploit it. He himself couldn't do it that easily.

From the sidelines, Akashi had been observing the match. He had roughly gauged Tachibana's current strength level. In short—half-step into national level. But he was already very close. Chitose was likely at the same stage.

The match resumed. Tachibana calmed himself and moved back to the baseline. He got ready to receive the next serve. But no matter how hard he tried, with that small but decisive gap in skill, he couldn't pose a threat to Krauser.

"30-0"

"30-15"

"40-15"

"Game! 3-0. Change sides!"

"Game! 4-0"

"Game! 5-0"

Very soon, the match reached match point. The score was 15-40. Although Tachibana had scored a few scattered points using Abare Dama, it did little to change the outcome. He only drained himself faster.

Now drenched in sweat, Tachibana could no longer maintain Beast Aura. But he still clenched his teeth and served again.

Krauser looked at the weakened ball, lacking both power and speed, and slowly shook his head.

As the ball flew past his feet, Tachibana collapsed onto the court. He gasped for breath.

"Game! 6-0. Winner, Liliadent Krauser!" Chitose called the match result, then immediately ran to Tachibana to comfort his friend.

Krauser calmly stepped off the court and rehydrated. Akashi walked over, gave him a pat on the shoulder, and asked with a smile:

"So? Not a bad opponent, right?"

"Yeah, not bad. He hasn't crossed that final step yet. But with your guidance, I think he'll break through soon," Krauser nodded.

"By the way, you cut corners when handling the Abare Dama. Train harder once we're back. I want you to master ten-ball drills before Nationals. Also, finish developing that secret technique," Akashi said seriously.

"Got it!" Krauser nodded.

"Judging from the looks of it, Tachibana won't recover anytime soon. You'll be the umpire for my match." With that, Akashi pulled a racket from his tennis bag and walked onto the court.

But the racket in his hand was unlike any ordinary one. It had only two strings, crossing at the center of the frame in the shape of a cross.

It was a cross-pattern racket!