After speaking, Irie tossed the tennis ball high and swung his left hand. The ball shot across the court at incredible speed, and at the same time the spiritual waves around him grew even stronger.
Kite used Shukuchihō to instantaneously move to the landing point. A faint purple glow rose around him again, and in the next moment his entire figure was swallowed by darkness until it vanished completely. When the sound of the racket striking echoed, the darkness spread rapidly outward.
"Darkness, huh? But do you know what the most fundamental darkness of the universe really is, Kite-kun?" Irie's calm voice carried across as the darkness crept toward him.
From behind Irie, an extremely profound darkness began to emerge. His entire side of the court became like a void with no trace of light. Slowly, at the center of the court, a small dot so black that it shone appeared.
"Alternate Dimension—Powehi! (The Source of Infinite Darkness Creation)"
The source of infinite darkness creation.
The Dark Side that Kite had struck, along with all the surrounding darkness, twisted and warped before being completely swallowed by that tiny black point. While Kite was stunned, a yellow blur streaked past his eyes. The next second, the sound of the ball landing behind him rang out.
"15-0!"
"Yare yare~ Souta really pulled out his trump card this time, huh? That's the primordial black hole that can even devour my 'Nothing'!" Tanegashima said from the stands, a little surprised. He truly hadn't expected Irie to unleash this level of strength in a shuffle match against a middle schooler.
"Hmph! That guy Irie finally looks a little decent," Byoudouin's tone was flat, but the way his pupils shrank betrayed his shock.
"You finally showed your true self in front of others, Irie!" Oni spoke with a hint of emotion as he looked at him.
"Kid, you hid pretty deep, didn't you~" Mifune took a gulp of alcohol and spoke as though he didn't care.
"A black hole that swallows everything? That actually fits with me surprisingly well. Too bad I didn't choose that path! Japan, huh…" Ryūya finally stopped fiddling with the orange in his hand. For the first time, his tone grew a little serious.
This scene even left Akashi at the coach's bench somewhat shaken. Of course, what surprised him wasn't Irie's strength, but rather the image of his Alternate Dimension. Everyone knew that an Alternate Dimension was the external manifestation of a player's subconscious merged with spiritual power.
For example, Byoudouin's pirate represented the abyss of failure and his rebirth after crawling out of hell, embodying the truth that defeat equals death. Oni's Demon God manifested as overwhelming force born from his unmatched desire to protect.
But Irie's Alternate Dimension was something Akashi hadn't anticipated at all. He had always thought Irie's dimension would resemble something like Shakespeare, yet now it turned out that deep within him lay an unfathomable darkness. No wonder he had said this move didn't suit his outlook on life.
Thinking this, Akashi glanced toward the player bench at Atobe. It seemed Atobe's dimension was something similar as well. No wonder their playing styles were said to be strikingly alike, and even their awakened Alternate Dimensions turned out to be nearly the same type.
On court, after his initial shock, Kite quickly regained his composure. He had already heard Akashi mention Irie's mastery of an Alternate Dimension, so he calmed his emotions and immediately began to think about how to respond.
Suddenly, a memory flashed in Kite's mind—a line Akashi had once told him during a first-year match, when he had shown him the Dark Side for the first time. He still remembered it clearly.
"Kite, watch closely. This is another derivative of the Super Sweet Spot technique—Dark Side! It completely exposes the opponent's weakness!"
"The opponent's weakness, huh?" Kite muttered under his breath.
Until now, Kite had always used the Dark Side as if it were a weaker version of the Glowing Shot. Though it didn't match the Glowing Shot in raw power, it could easily strike at an opponent's weak points, and the damage dealt was no less than the Glowing Shot.
And along the way, Fudomine had rarely encountered any true strong enemies. Even when facing Yukimura, Atobe, or Fuji, it had been Akashi and Tezuka who took them on. His own opponents were simply not on the same level.
Gradually, Kite began relying entirely on the Dark Side for offense, to the point where he nearly forgot its greatest effect. Only now, faced with Irie's overwhelming power that almost nullified his Dark Side's direct impact, did he realize the truth.
At this moment, Irie unleashed another ultra–high-speed serve. His half of the court remained cloaked in a void-like starry darkness, that tiny black sphere endlessly devouring everything around it, even distorting the light itself. (Of course, this was only a scene within the mental world.)
Kite had no time to think. He instantly flashed to the landing point using Shukuchihō, his aura of the Asura Path fully exploding as it covered his half of the court in darkness. At the same time, he focused all his concentration, trying to discern Irie's weaknesses.
But for the spectators watching courtside, this was unbearably inconvenient. The court was now shrouded in two different kinds of darkness, leaving them unable to see a thing. Sometimes, spiritual power being too strong wasn't a good thing.
Only Kurobe reacted quickly, connecting the court cameras to his tablet. Electronic devices couldn't display the manifestations of spiritual power, so at least the monitor gave a clear view. Even the umpire now stared intently at the electronic screen.
As Kite swung, the ball turned into a massive sphere of darkness and shot straight toward Irie. At the same time, it felt as if an extra pair of eyes opened in Kite's mind, letting him see every single gap around Irie with crystal clarity.
But the very next second, everything vanished, even the ball disappearing without a trace. The sudden emptiness threw Kite off badly, but he forced himself to adapt, sharpening his hearing to its limits, ready to catch the ball's slightest sound.
Suddenly, the sharp whistle of something cutting the air reached Kite's ears. He instantly judged the ball's direction by instinct and ball sense, flashing with Shukuchihō to the landing spot. He swung his racket hard—only for a crushing gravity to surge through it into his arm.
Kite's expression brightened, thinking he could follow up with another Dark Side, but then the weight on his racket grew heavier and heavier in an instant, quickly surpassing his limit. The racket was torn from his grip and went flying out of bounds along with the ball.
"30-0!"
"Ne~ Kite-kun, do you know what happens after a black hole finishes absorbing all matter? Let me tell you—it gets compressed to the extreme, and then collapses into a singularity!" Irie said with a grin after scoring, dropping a quick physics lesson.
Kite slowly retrieved his racket. He didn't fully understand Irie's words just now, but he knew for certain that the unnatural heaviness he had just felt was the power of Irie's Alternate Dimension.
With Irie's dimension fully unleashed, Kite began to fall behind. Facing the primordial black hole that could swallow everything, no technique could break through his defense, while Irie's counters could easily knock the racket from his hand.
"Game! Japan Team! 1-0!"
"Game! Japan Team! 2-0!"
"Game! Japan Team! 3-0!"
In the blink of an eye, Irie had taken three straight games. But Kite did not give in. Even knowing the Dark Side was ineffective, he kept attacking without pause, trying to find a breakthrough.
During the changeover, Kite sat at the bench, drinking water while his mind raced with ways to overturn the situation. Then he heard Akashi's calm voice beside him:
"Don't think about breaking through Irie's black hole with the Dark Side. To see your opponent's weakness, you need more time."
Hearing this, Kite suddenly felt enlightened. He nodded seriously to Akashi, then strode back onto the court. On the other side, Irie also walked to the baseline, though a closer look revealed his face had grown a little pale.
The fourth game was Kite's serve. He unleashed a Big Bang serve—though ineffective against Irie, it was still better than nothing. As expected, Irie returned it with ease.
Kite immediately followed with a Dark Side, but this time he tilted his racket at an angle. The ball soared high, and darkness spread down from above to cover the court.
"Even the sky is within the range of a black hole's pull, Kite-kun," Irie said with a faint smile.
But Kite ignored him, fully focused on studying Irie's movements. Suddenly, he felt as if he had spotted something. Just then, Irie returned the ball.
"0-15!"
Kite lost the point, yet his face lit up with a rare smile. Without hesitation, he launched another Big Bang serve, the ball tearing forward with immense force.
"Still not giving up? You already have no chance of winning this match, junior," Irie said lightly as he rushed to intercept, swinging his return.
But in the next instant, Kite's aura erupted with overwhelming intensity. Just as Irie thought he was about to fire another Dark Side, a bluish beam suddenly ripped through the range of the black hole's pull, striking precisely at the baseline edge behind Irie before bouncing out of the court.
"15-15!"
"Your weakness is already exposed, Irie-senpai!" Kite said coldly after scoring.