Takumi Fujiwara vs Tomoyuki Tachi

The battle between Takumi Fujiwara and Tomoyuki Tachi is the thirtieth battle of Initial D. It also marks the first appearance of the Blind Attack.

Prior to the Battle
Both Keisuke and Takumi run the course with a time attack. Despite Keisuke being faster on the time attack and having a better car, Ryosuke summons Takumi to race Tomoyuki Tachi to take a gamble, relying on him to test him to come up with ways to overcome barriers he will have to experience and to have Tachi and the Todo school underestimate Takumi (whom he hoped to race the FD). Keisuke was shocked and irritated with Ryosuke's decision but backed off as he realized Ryosuke always has a reason for his choices. Ryosuke asks Takumi to get in his FC he brought along and he drives along the course while he talks to Takumi along the way.

After they return, Fumihiro asks Tomoyuki if they are fine with the battle starting with two cars side by side as the road was wide enough, something Tomoyuki agrees with. The now upgraded Takumi's Toyota AE86 with its new carbon fiber hood rolls out to the starting line, making the Todo school team utterly confused and baffled at the choice of the car. Todo realizes it was Project D's choice to try out something radically different than what they had planned.

During the Battle
The race begins with both cars starting off together at the start line, with Takumi capturing the lead at the very first corner. Meanwhile Ryosuke talks to Fumihiro on how Tomoyuki seems to hold an advantage over Takumi in almost every aspect, which worried Fumihiro greatly. However Ryosuke said he chose Takumi because he knew he knew Takumi has a card up his sleeve which as an experienced street racer can use against a traditionalist professional racer like Tomoyuki.

Meanwhile Tachi is surprised with the power the Eight-Six's engine and later realized he had a good suspension over rough parts of the road, but he just doesn't get the fact the point of this race, as Todo asked him to battle against Project D. Tachi felt this battle was too easy for him. During this, Todo asks Daiki Ninomiya and Smiley Sakai on Tomoyuki's racing technique if they knew he was different from them. When Smiley stated that Tachi doesn't waste any moves and Daiki stated he was naturally born to do this, Todo reveals they are all wrong and the real reasoning is hours of experience on the circuits. Meanwhile on the four snake hairpins, Seiji Iwaki and Kyoichi Sudo are watching the battle unfold, to which Kyoichi was surprised that the Eight-Six was still on the lead. As they both approached the second hairpin, Tomoyuki quickly steered inside of Takumi towards the hairpin, catching Takumi and the spectators off-guard as he takes the lead position. Kyoichi explains to Seiji it was the 'Disappearing line' technique, that is when the driver overtakes the car in lead position away from his field of view. It may seem like just cutting the corner from the inside, but its a technique used by pro racers in circuits. Since the hairpins were wide enough, Tachi was able to take a cornering line which was in Fujiwara's blind spot.

Back at the starting point Keisuke comes out of his FD and reveals to Ryosuke that he may have found the reason why he wasn't chosen for the battle. According to him the reason he was not chosen for the battle was because he got so tensed up for racing against a pro that he might have gotten into some accident. Ryosuke says while his analysis is correct, the exact reason was Tomoyuki was an orthodox racer as he was a professional. So an unorthodox racer like Takumi can actually affect Tomoyuki's race planning.

Meanwhile at the race both cars reach an uphill section, when Tachi notices in disbelief that the Eight-Six is still keeping up with him after he overtook him. he realized that the Eight-Six has better power and gear shifting system than he has expected. Both cars reach the turn around point with Tachi's EK9 Civic turning first into the traffic cone, followed by Takumi in his Eight-Six almost immediately afterwards. As they both race their way back to the goal, Takumi realizes he has a chance to pass Tomoyuki, by somehow copying Tomoyuki's technique. Both cars enter a tunnel, and as soon as Tomoyuki brakes in front of him, Takumi quickly turns of his headlights. Tomoyuki exits the tunnel and realizes he can't see the Eight-Six behind him anymore. He swerves across a corner and then he hears a faint sound coming from his right side, which he realizes was not his car. Then suddenly the Eight-Six next to him switches on the headlights, catching Tomoyuki off-guard, with Takumi taking the inside of the next corner and retaking the lead, thus revealing his new 'Blind Attack' technique. Tomoyuki was genuinely impressed by the fact that this was his first time being overtaken in a mountain pass, and that Takumi used his own technique against him. He finally realizes what Todo was trying to show him all along in this battle. As they they enter back to the four snake hairpins, Tomoyuki slightly nudges the Eight-Six at the rear side on a hairpin, causing the Eight-Six to lose control and speed momentarily, as Tachi himself states he didn't do it hard enough for Takumi to spin off, but rather a motorsports technique used to destabilize the opponent for a split second. Tomoyuki retakes the lead once again, leaving a bewildered Seiji and Kyoichi watching this battle unfold in awe.

Meanwhile Fumihiro asks Ryosuke what advice he gave to Takumi while they were in his FC, Ryosuke states he gave no advice, but rather his own strategy of the course while he took his own run. Since Takumi was the type to study and make use of other's techniques, all Ryosuke did was give him his own strategy for the course and Takumi would learn from it.

Meanwhile Takumi was desperately trying to close the gap between him and Tachi, when he shut down his headlights once again. Tomoyuki now watching this realized Takumi is using the same technique again, but states he won't fall for it this tome onwards. Meanwhile Project D and Todo School members are shocked to hear that the Eight-Six's headlights are turned off while chasing Tomoyuki, with Ryosuke realizing that this was an original technique from Takumi himself, and this was one of the reasons why he chose Takumi to the battle. Takumi now desperately chasing Tomoyuki with his headlights off is using his full concentration to focus on the EK9's headlights in front instead of its taillights to find the on the line as Ryosuke said to him earlier. Tomoyuki knows he will win the battle, but he is fully aware that the Eight-Six is still chasing just behind him. As they both reach the final corners, Tomoyuki quickly brakes and swerves to the left side of the road. Takumi quickly seizes the opportunity and comes side by side to Tomoyuki and as they both turn towards another corner, Takumi switches on his headlights once again, and they both turn towards the final corner. With Takumi taking the inside, he takes the lead by a very slight edge, completely shocking everyone in both teams except Ryosuke and Todo who slightly smile as Takumi crosses the finish line first.

After the Battle
Takumi asks Tachi on why he swerved out of his way. Tachi told him he instinctively dodged after he saw something in the road. He then states that he was just unlucky and lady luck was with Takumi today. Tachi declared Takumi the winner despite that. Ryosuke congratulates Takumi for his victory, while Tachi meets Todo and reveals to him that he finally understood what the master was trying to tell him all along when he wanted him to race Project D, something Todo was happy to hear about.

Despite Project D winning the battle, Ryosuke never posted the battle results in the Project D website and as he didn't want to affect Tomoyuki's professional racing career.

Fourth Stage

 * Don't Go Baby - Maiko
 * All Around - Lia
 * Secret Love - Nutty
 * Forever Young - Symbol

Battle Stage 2

 * Switch! - Melissa White & Ace
 * Let It Burn - Go 2

Special Stage

 * Crazy Night - Boys Band
 * Express Love - Mega NRG Man

Arcade Stage 8 Infinity

 * Nonsense Sensation - Paul Harris

Arcade Stage 8 RivalSide Info
Story arc: Todo Juku

Driver: Tomoyuki Tachi

Car: Honda Civic Type R (EK9)

Opponent: Takumi Fujiwara

Team: Project D

Car: Toyota Trueno GT-APEX (AE86)

Mission: Do not get overtaken by Rival

1-ryu Condition: Do not get overtaken 4 times

Cho 1-ryu Condition: Do not get overtaken 2 times

Course: Happogahara

Rule: Inbound

Start: Standing

Weather: Clear

Time of day: Night

Trivia



 * The gutter technique used in this battle (which is after Takumi tries the Blind Attack for the first time to overtake Tomoyouki) is exclusive only to the anime.
 * This was the last battle of the show to feature a battle with two cars starting together side by side at the starting line.
 * The anime clearly shows a random small animal jumping in front of Tomoyuki, while in the manga, it is not shown and Tomoyuki just states it to Takumi after the battle.
 * Ironically the 'Disappearing line' technique was used first by Takumi himself in his battle against Takeshi Nakazato, when he overtakes Nakazato at the five consecutive hairpins of Akina.