Prince of Tennis: The Emperor's Eye

As the ranking matches ended, everyone's final standings were clear based on their points. Akashi smiled as he carried the jewelry box with the badges inside and walked up in front of everyone, speaking slowly:

"Now, please come up and take your own badge."

Tezuka was the first to step up and picked up the No.2 badge. After that, everyone else came up one by one and took their badges. Akutsu looked at the No.6 badge in his hand, veins popping on his forehead, his face full of frustration and anger.

He never imagined that except for his match with Kite, he lost every other match. Especially against Tezuka, that familiar feeling of helplessness almost drove him mad. What made Akutsu even more uncomfortable was knowing that Kite was basically in the same boat as him—both of them hadn't been playing tennis for long.

In contrast, Kite calmly took his No.7 badge. If it weren't for that icy look in his eyes, you'd almost think he didn't care about the ranking at all.

"Alright, now everyone go train on your own courts. Regulars, come with me to the meeting room. That's all!" Akashi saw that everyone had their badges and gave the order.

"Yes, Captain!"

As Akashi and the others started heading toward the meeting room, a sudden voice echoed in Akashi's mind from the system:

"Congratulations, Host. You've become the tennis club's strongest player. Hidden mission complete. Reward: 10% fusion progress. Current fusion rate: 93%. Absolute Ball Sense awakened. When fusion hits 100%, the virtual second personality will activate."

Akashi was stunned hearing the system's voice, but his feet didn't stop moving.

'So there was a hidden mission, and I got more fusion progress. Not bad, not bad. But what's with this virtual second personality? Don't tell me I'll get a split personality like Akashi in Kuroko no Basket?' Akashi felt a little uneasy and immediately asked the system in his mind.

"System, explain—what is the virtual second personality?"

"Beep! Special situation detected, so an answer will be provided. The virtual second personality is a special energy body generated by the system. The host can fuse with the virtual personality when needed. During the fusion period, the Emperor Eye becomes perfect, ZONE ability gets upgraded to phase two, and the fusion time depends on your stamina. After fusion, the system will generate another virtual second personality."

After the system finished explaining, Akashi finally understood. He had actually been worried, since in Kuroko no Basket, Akashi ended up with split personalities, and he was afraid that following this template would cause the same for him. Turns out the system wasn't that insane.

In short, it's basically a power-up state—like Ashura Path—buffing all of his abilities. Looks like he needs to reach full fusion as soon as possible. Even though his five main stats had already reached world-class, most of it was due to his double-life mental stat being sky-high.

His real overall strength probably still couldn't match the likes of Byoudouin Houou and Oni Juujirou from the original story, and he might not even be able to beat Tanegashima Shuji, since his four Void abilities were just too tricky.

It looked like Akashi had been thinking a lot, but not much time had actually passed. Soon, everyone had reached the meeting room and sat down in their spots, waiting for Akashi to speak.

Now that Akashi had gotten over his thoughts, seeing everyone was ready, he spoke up with a serious look:

"Right now, our tennis club is finally stable. Next, I'll be giving you all further training plans. Also, I hope everyone can master Sweetspot Technique and Multi-ball Rally before Nationals. It'll be a huge help in your tennis career going forward."

Tachibana, always straightforward, asked:

"I know about multi-ball rally—Krauser's been practicing it. But what's Sweetspot Technique?"

"The sweetspot means the earliest contact point on the racket, the spot that causes the least damage to your arm, and the place where the ball gets the most power with the least effort. Where all three overlap is called the Super Sweetspot." Akashi explained.

"Also, the glowing ball I hit in front of you a few days ago—I call that Light Strike, and mastering Sweetspot Technique is the foundation for Light Strike." After explaining Sweetspot, Akashi explained the principle of Light Strike, since besides Krauser, everyone else was curious but hadn't asked yet.

After hearing Akashi's words, Tezuka and the others all recalled the first day the tennis club was founded, the ball that shone like the sun. Now they knew it had a fitting name—Light Strike. At the same time, they got even more interested in Sweetspot Technique.

Suddenly, Chitose seemed to remember something. He glanced at Akashi and Akutsu with hesitation, but finally asked:

"Akashi, that cross-shaped racket you used before, and Akutsu, you've also been using one to train lately—is that how you master Sweetspot Technique?"

Akashi looked at Chitose with approval, then replied:

"That's pretty much it, but to be exact, the cross-shaped racket isn't just for practicing Sweetspot Technique—it's more to help you get the feel for the perfect contact point of the Super Sweetspot. I'll have a custom one made for each of you. Once you've mastered the Sweetspot Technique, you can use it to practice the Super Sweetspot skill."

"As for the multi-ball rally training, Krauser has already shown it. When you can handle serves from five ball machines at the same time, you can start practicing multi-ball rallies in pairs. Once all of you can do a ten-ball rally smoothly, you'll have a basic grip on the training."

Everyone nodded seriously at those words, even Akutsu, who now fully understood his own shortcomings. He knew the only way to surpass everyone—including Akashi Seijurō—was through relentless training.

"Also, during the match just now, I got a notice from the principal. Next Monday, a tennis magazine reporter will visit our club for an interview. If you get interviewed, feel free to say whatever you really think. Don't worry about irrelevant factors," Akashi said, full of confidence.

"Lastly, the regulars' uniforms have already been made and will be delivered to your homes tomorrow morning. Remember to wear them next Monday, and make sure to put on your badge too. If you want to practice tennis over the weekend, you can go to the Seishun Tennis Club—I've already talked to them. That's all!" Akashi waved to signal the meeting was over.

The next morning, all the regulars received their new uniforms from Akashi. The main color was black, and the design looked a bit like the U-17 Germany team's uniform from the original, but there were clear differences. The back of the uniform had "Fudomine" in big letters, and below it, "FUDOMINE" was printed in English.

Everyone was really satisfied with the uniform, thinking it looked cool. Tachibana and Chitose even put theirs on right away and went to practice at the Seishun Tennis Club.

Monday came quickly. When the other club members saw the sharp-looking uniforms, they were full of envy—especially that shiny badge on the chest, which made things look even cooler.

While everyone was training, the principal walked in with a middle-aged man in a striped shirt and found Akashi, who was guiding everyone. The principal greeted Akashi with a big smile:

"Akashi-kun, sorry to interrupt your training. This is Inoue Mamoru, an editor for Tennis Monthly. He scheduled an interview with the tennis club last week. Why don't you two get to know each other?"

"Akashi-kun, nice to meet you. I'm Inoue Mamoru. I'm really glad I could come to Fudomine's tennis club today for this interview. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!" Inoue Mamoru smiled as he shook Akashi's hand.

Akashi smiled back warmly and shook his hand too, saying, "Inoue-san, it's honestly our honor that you're here to interview us. After all, Tennis Monthly has pretty high sales."

Akashi was very familiar with this reporter—in the original, he showed up a lot and was a very experienced, professional tennis journalist who'd been following junior high tennis in Japan for years. You could say, besides Akashi the isekai traveler, Inoue Mamoru knew the scene the best.

"You flatter me, Akashi-kun. Would you mind if I take a bit of your time for a short interview first?"

"Sure, no problem. Let's talk in the meeting room. Principal, would you like to join us?" Akashi said with a smile.

"No, no, I have other business. Akashi-kun, I'll leave Inoue-san in your care." The principal apologized and left the clubroom.

Inoue Mamoru followed Akashi into the meeting room, and when he saw the fancy décor and the high-tech screens and computers, he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"Honestly, Akashi-kun, this is the most high-tech tennis club meeting room I've ever seen."

"Thank you for the compliment, Inoue-san. Please, have a seat," Akashi replied warmly.

"Thank you. Well then, let's start the interview. First, can I ask, Akashi-kun, what do you think about Fudomine's tennis club being rebuilt?"

"Actually, rebuilding the tennis club was my idea from the start. If I was going to set up a tennis club, I wanted it to be the best, so my teammates could enjoy the most professional training and care."

"I see. I'd heard a little about your background, Akashi-kun, so it's not too surprising. But for a first-year to become club captain, that's really rare."

"It's not just me. In our club, including myself, all the regulars—and even most of the members—are first-years," Akashi said calmly.