Facing Akashi's words, Sanada didn't respond. He simply waited for the stiffness in his body to ease, then silently retreated to the baseline. His expression was dark, as if water could drip from it.
Only now did Sanada truly realize the overwhelming power of dimensional techniques. He had clearly given it everything he had, yet still couldn't block Akashi's return. But to give up just like that—Sanada could never accept that.
He let out a long breath, his eyes sharp as he glared at Akashi across the court. Tossing the tennis ball high, he stubbornly launched another invisible backswing paired with Fast as Wind, combining it with Black Aura to unleash Black Dragon Quadruple Strike.
Unfortunately, this move had already been completely read by Akashi. Maybe Sanada's Black Dragon Double Slash was tricky for other players to deal with. In the original storyline, even Tanegashima once said if Sanada could manage three deflections, even he wouldn't be able to block it—though that was with his power capped at sixty percent.
Still, that was already incredibly strong. After all, Tanegashima's Muga could easily intercept Byoudouin's Glowing Shot—Destruction. Only Akashi's flawless Emperor Eye, with its ability to foresee the future, could perfectly counter Sanada's technique.
"15-40!"
With another powerful play, Akashi claimed another point. But this time, he noticed a subtle change in Sanada's Black Aura. The aura of the Path of the Asura around him was also growing unstable.
'Wait… is he about to break through again? What, did Sanada borrow some protagonist aura from Ryōma?' Akashi quietly joked to himself.
Sanada seemed to notice something too. He slightly frowned, then tossed the ball high. His arm tensed with strength, and he swung down hard. With a loud bang, the ball turned into a roaring storm and shot across toward Akashi's side.
"Swift as a storm!"
As the stormy shot crossed the net, Sanada's arm moved again. Akashi, whose Emperor Eye had been following his every move, immediately noticed—but his expression briefly froze.
"This is… so he really did break through, huh~" Akashi muttered quietly.
The storm slammed into the court and bounced up sharply. The ball shimmered as it veered right, then suddenly cut left, then shot upward, then down to the lower right. Finally, under Akashi's intrigued gaze, it made a fourth deflection and flew out of bounds.
"Black Dragon Quadruple Slash!"
"30-40!"
"To be honest, Sanada, I'm pretty surprised. In just this one match, your strength has clearly leveled up. Looks like you really have been pushing yourself hard lately." Akashi couldn't help but acknowledge him.
"Hmph! I'll never slack off—no matter what the situation!" Sanada replied with determination.
"But that still won't change your inevitable defeat. From the moment this match began, it was already decided." Akashi said flatly, his expression returning to its usual coldness.
"Say that again when you actually win the match, Akashi Seijurō!" Sanada fired back, returning to the baseline to serve again.
Akashi didn't react. In truth, his Emperor Eye had seen that Sanada had swung four times, but he hadn't been sure whether Sanada could really pull off a Quadruple Slash. So he'd waited at the third deflection spot on purpose—and Sanada had actually pulled it off.
Sanada tried again, unleashing another Swift as a Storm serve. After it bounced, he swung four times again. But this time, Akashi noticed something slightly off with the fourth swing. He moved to the third deflection spot again and intercepted it with a return.
The ball struck perfectly. Looks like Sanada still couldn't fully control Black Dragon Quadruple Slash—the earlier one had been a momentary burst.
Sanada frowned, clearly frustrated that he hadn't succeeded again. But he had no time to think. Even though Akashi hadn't used a dimensional technique this time, the return still couldn't be taken lightly.
Suddenly, streaks of blue lightning flickered within Sanada's Black Aura. The silver glow around him brightened. In the blink of an eye, he appeared at the ball's landing spot. His racket, crackling with lightning, smashed into the rising ball.
The moment racket met ball, the crowd seemed to hear a thunderclap. The ball transformed into a massive orb of lightning and roared across the net toward Akashi. As it flew, arcs of electricity scorched the court beneath it.
"Lightning Ball—Thunderclap!"
"This power isn't quite on par with Byoudouin's Destruction, but it definitely surpasses an ordinary Glowing Shot. In that case, I'll give you a proper answer." Akashi said calmly, watching the incoming shot.
Instead of backing off, Akashi stepped forward and swung. The moment his racket made contact with the huge lightning ball, a brilliant light burst from its center. The original electric orb vanished instantly, transforming into a massive sphere of light that blasted toward Sanada's side of the court.
"Glowing Shot—Mana Cannon!"
Sanada stared calmly at the massive glowing ball flying toward him.
"I'm not afraid of Glowing Shots!"
He gripped his racket with both hands. Electricity surged across the strings as he swung hard at the incoming ball. At the moment of contact, a layer of plasma sparked across the glowing ball—completely different from Sanada's lightning.
In that instant, Sanada felt a massive, unimaginable force spread from his hands throughout his entire body. His bones groaned under the pressure, like they were about to break. He managed to hold on for less than two seconds before the racket flew from his hands, and his whole body was thrown backward uncontrollably.
After blasting Sanada's racket away, the glowing sphere smashed into the court. A wide section of ground cracked apart, forming a massive crater with a deep, circular pit at its center.
"Game! 5-0, Fudomine!" The umpire swallowed hard as he announced the score.
"You've gotta be kidding! That was a Glowing Shot?! Since when do Glowing Shots have that kind of power?" Marui on the Rikkai bench looked stunned.
"Getting hit by that would kill someone! Akashi-senpai is seriously scary!" Kirihara was shivering beside him.
"Gen'ichirō's Thunderclap just now already had power well beyond a normal Glowing Shot, so it's not that surprising," Yukimura replied calmly from the coach's seat—though whether his heart was as calm, only Yukimura himself knew.
Over on the Fudomine bench, Chitose teased Kite, "If your Dark Side ever reaches that level of power, even Tezuka might not be able to beat you."
"Dark Sides may look similar to Glowing Shots, but they're fundamentally different. Power isn't the point," Kite replied evenly.
"That move Akashi just used definitely wasn't an ordinary Glowing Shot. I think it's one of his dimensional techniques too," Tezuka suddenly added, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"Too bad Kintarō and Akutsu are off warming up. If Kintarō had seen that, he'd definitely be yelling his head off again," Tachibana said with a smile. Krauser beside him just glanced over silently, saying nothing—yet somehow, it felt like he'd said everything.
In the stands, Mifune was sipping his sake and shaking his head, his tone a bit amused.
"Akashi's not pulling any punches, huh? Even used that move... That Sanada kid must be feeling real rough right now."
And just like Mifune said, Sanada was definitely struggling. Never mind the numbness in his arms—the overwhelming force he'd just experienced left his mind in total disarray.
"Will I really never be able to catch up to you, Akashi?" Sanada clenched his fists and muttered through gritted teeth.
Soon, the umpire urged the match to resume. It was the sixth game—Akashi's serve. Though his Mana Cannon had wrecked the court, Akashi had aimed it to avoid damaging critical areas, so it didn't affect the rest of the match.
Standing at the baseline, Akashi looked at the silent, head-lowered Sanada on the other side. He briefly wondered if maybe he'd gone too far. But thinking of Sanada's personality, he quickly shoved the thought aside. Tossing the ball, he launched a blistering serve.
The tennis ball shot across the net at high speed, straight toward Sanada's left baseline. But Sanada stood still, showing no sign of reaction. The ball slammed into the line and bounced out of bounds.
"Ace! 15-0!"
Seeing Sanada's state, even Yukimura on the coach's bench frowned in concern. He knew Sanada wasn't the type to give up easily.
"Already given up? How disappointing, Sanada Gen'ichirō," Akashi's voice was colder than before. Without hesitation, he fired off another lightning-fast serve.
"Ace! 30-0!"
Same as before, Sanada didn't move at all. No one could guess what he was thinking. Had he really abandoned the match? Even the Fudomine members were eyeing him in confusion. Tezuka's expression even wavered slightly for a moment.
"Ace! 40-0!"
Akashi served again with the same detached look. The outcome didn't change. The audience began to assume Sanada had completely surrendered. Match point was here. The game was about to end.
At the baseline, Akashi shook his head slightly in disappointment. That last move had clearly hit Sanada hard. Tossing the ball up, he swung into another ultra-fast serve.
Just then, shouts erupted from the Rikkai bench:
"Sanada!"
"Sanada!"
"Sanada!"
"Vice-captain!"
Across the court, Sanada still hung his head. But if one looked closely, his right hand was trembling slightly. And just as the ball was about to land and bounce out again, Sanada suddenly snapped his head up. Behind him, two blood-red beams of light flared within his Black Aura.