Right now, the U-17 training camp's central plaza was completely silent. All the high school players stared at Matsudaira collapsed on the ground. Many of the first-years couldn't believe their eyes. Some who were more well-informed had heard of a Rikkai player who could transform into other people, but they never imagined it was literally true.
As a few high schoolers stood stunned, Akashi suddenly noticed in the corner that Otori Chōtarō was handing two tennis balls to a pair of high school students. Akashi vaguely recognized them—they were the unlucky pair who had blocked Seigaku at the camp gates in the original timeline.
"What do you think you're doing, Otori Chōtarō!" Just as Otori kindly passed over the balls, a cold voice rang out behind him.
"Aka... Akashi-senpai! I...!" Otori turned and saw Akashi behind him. For a moment, he didn't know what to say and could only stammer.
"Remember this! There won't be a next time! There's no room for sympathy here, and definitely no mercy! Otori Chōtarō!" Akashi stared at him with icy eyes.
"Y-yes! I got it!" Otori shrank back unconsciously, intimidated by Akashi's gaze.
"If you're gonna scold someone from my team, shouldn't you say something to me first, huh? Akashi!" Atobe's voice cut in from the side.
"This is U-17, not Hyōtei! Once Otori Chōtarō joined this camp, he stopped being a Hyōtei player. Here at U-17, strength is everything! You know that, Atobe! Listen up. From now on, my orders are absolute! No one gets to argue!" Akashi glanced indifferently at Atobe, then turned and walked off.
"Tch~ Akashi Seijūrō! One day, I'll surpass you for good!" Atobe grumbled as he watched him leave.
At the same time, the mood in the plaza grew more and more tense. Some of the high school first-years even began to surround the middle school players. Just as Akutsu was about to explode, a loud roar echoed across the square.
"All of you get the hell back! Haven't you embarrassed yourselves enough already?!" Oni Juujirō stormed in, exuding crushing pressure, followed by Irie and Tokugawa.
"O-Oni-aniki!" The high schoolers instinctively glanced at Niō, only backing off after seeing he was still in his spot, not transformed.
"Alright~ Oni! Don't be so scary! Remember, we came here to see little Akashi! Oh yeah, long time no see, little Akashi!" Irie stepped forward to defuse the tension and waved toward Akashi.
"Hmph! I'll deal with you trash later! Akashi! The coaches are looking for you—I'm just here to pass on the message!" Oni gave the group of high schoolers a frustrated glance before turning to Akashi.
"Got it. I'll leave things to you then, Oni." Akashi gave a calm nod and started walking toward the coaches' office.
Behind Oni, Tokugawa's gaze suddenly turned sharp as he stared at Akashi approaching him. Because of their height difference, Tokugawa appeared to be looking down on him.
In that instant, Tokugawa felt the world spin. A hand suddenly pressed firmly on his shoulder. His legs went weak, and before he knew it, he dropped down and landed flat on his rear.
"Let me give you a warning. The only ones allowed to meet my eyes without lowering their gaze are those who submit to me. No one else, no matter who they are, is allowed to look down on me! You're... too arrogant!" Tokugawa looked up and saw Akashi's heterochromatic eyes staring at him without a shred of emotion. His black jacket fluttered behind him like a cape.
The cold-hearted Akashi.
Akashi didn't even glance at him again. He just stepped over Tokugawa and kept walking toward the coaches' office. It wasn't just Tokugawa—Oni and Irie both looked slightly surprised. They'd always known Akashi could be cold, but he usually came across as polite and composed.
"Who the hell is that guy?" Tokugawa muttered as he got to his feet. His face could no longer maintain that cold expression.
"Akashi Seijūrō! The strongest middle schooler in history. Oh, right! I think I forgot to tell you—he used to be No. 3, you know!" Irie replied with a bright smile.
Tokugawa's pupils contracted instantly. He knew exactly what being No. 3 meant. The nearby first-years who overheard were stunned too. They may have been weak nobodies, but they still knew about the rankings in the First String. They'd even witnessed the matches themselves.
"Oh? Looks like you've been kicked out of the First String, old man. Did your skills drop off? I was hoping you'd give me a good fight!" Akutsu suddenly noticed Oni wasn't wearing his ranking badge and taunted him immediately.
"Tch! You little punk again! You'll see whether I've dropped off or not soon enough. Let's hope you're still crawling after I'm done with you!" Oni fired back without hesitation.
"Hah? Don't order me around, old man!" Akutsu's face twisted into a feral grin.
"You're super interesting, red-haired ossan! Hey! Hey! Let's play a match!" Tōyama Kintarō suddenly jumped out and shouted at Oni Juujirō.
"Hmm? That jacket... are you one of Akashi-kun's people? If that's the case, I don't mind testing your strength for him. But not right now—I've got other things to deal with. You middle school brats, go with the staff to the dorms and settle your luggage first," Oni said with a forced smile that looked worse than crying, then turned to speak to all the middle schoolers.
"So you're their boss, huh? I'd like to see what high school power really looks like too," Echizen Ryōma appeared in front of Oni without warning, pointing his racket at him.
"Ryōma Echizen, right? Don't rush—your time will come," Irie Kanata said with his usual smiling face.
"Oh? What court are you on, senpai?" Ryōma shifted his gaze to Irie.
"Me? Court 3. Oh, and Oni is Court 5," Irie said meaningfully.
"Is that so? Looks like this place is gonna be more fun than I thought." Ryōma pressed down his cap, a grin of interest forming on his lips.
As for Tokugawa, Ryōma completely ignored him. After all, Tokugawa's pathetic display in front of Akashi left Ryōma totally unimpressed. No doubt, Akashi had once again shifted the original timeline's course like a butterfly effect.
Thanks to Oni's appearance, the middle and high school players didn't clash in the end. But even the first-year high schoolers could now tell—Akashi wasn't just a former No. 3, even other middle schoolers seemed unusually close with Oni and the others.
Led by the staff, everyone arrived at the dorms and headed to their assigned rooms. Except for the First String, most rooms were four-person dorms. The third-years from middle school all wordlessly pulled out their U-17 uniforms from their backpacks and changed, leaving their underclassmen in stunned silence.
"Why do the Captain and Inui-senpai have the U-17 uniform?" Ryōma asked as he rejoined the Seigaku group, a bit puzzled.
"That's because we're already part of U-17~" Fuji Shūsuke replied with a cheerful smile, clearly enjoying Ryōma's shocked expression.
"So it really was like that, huh? No wonder we barely saw the upperclassmen around during our first year," Momoshiro muttered to himself off to the side.
Soon, all the middle schoolers had filed out of the dorms. The training camp's schedule for today was simple—get familiar with the facilities and layout. In the afternoon, they might randomly pick one or two people for a match to test middle schooler strength.
Since it was close to noon, the group followed the staff to the cafeteria. That's when they noticed Akashi was already there waiting, now wearing a U-17 uniform too. But his looked different—more elaborate in its design. (Note: official First String uniform.)
At that moment, Akashi waved to the staff, who quietly took the hint and exited, leaving only the middle schoolers inside. Akashi's voice was cold as he began speaking:
"I know some of you are confused, but I don't have time to explain. Here's the situation: ever since we arrived, the camp has unofficially split into two camps—middle schoolers and high schoolers. While the high schoolers have numbers, most of them are trash, not worth mentioning. Only a handful are worth watching."
"I'm sure many of you already picked up on that, so I won't dwell on it. Let's talk goals. Soon, I'll arrange a team-based court shuffle match between middle and high schoolers, followed by the official First String ranking tournament. My requirement is simple—at least half of the top 10 in the First String must be middle schoolers. Did everyone hear that?" Akashi said seriously.
Fuji, Yukimura, Atobe, and the others all wore grim expressions upon hearing this. Meanwhile, Ryōma, Kintarō, and the like seemed a bit lost, but they didn't ask questions for now. They just nodded along with their seniors.
"Good. For those who still have doubts, ask Fuji, Shiraishi, or Yukimura after training. Now, let's eat. That's all." With a nod from Akashi, everyone began their meal.
Before coming to U-17, Fuji, Yukimura, and Shiraishi had already expected this—once inside the camp, they'd have to follow Akashi's lead. After all, this was a place where strength ruled. Even Atobe could only swallow his frustration in silence. They just weren't strong enough to challenge Akashi yet.
Lunch ended quickly, and after a short rest, everyone gathered in front of the bulletin board to check the afternoon schedule. Suddenly, Kikumaru shouted toward Ryōma:
"Chibi! Look! You've got a match this afternoon!"
Everyone turned toward the sound. On the notice board, it read—Random Rotation Match: Echizen Ryōma vs. Irie Kanata!