"Even Tsugawa couldn't stop him!"
Seirin was shocked.
Currently one of the nation's best perimeter defenders, and he'd been beaten that easily. Just how high was the basketball level over in America?
"His style is very similar to Yuuto's."
"Yeah. Every move is fundamentals upon fundamentals, but the execution is so fluid, the quality so high."
"Completely different from Aomine's formless approach—this is an orthodox, fundamental-based king's basketball."
Aida Riko was surprised to see a player with a style resembling Yuuto's.
"But..."
Smack!
The moment she spoke, Yuuto moved from near the free-throw line.
People only registered a single step, yet he'd already closed the distance to Himuro completely.
In his pupils, a crimson dead point flickered.
Yuuto's hand shot forward at blinding speed, like a viper striking its prey.
That dead point—Yuuto had identified it over a month ago.
"Precisely because he's so similar to Yuuto, he has no hope whatsoever." Kiyoshi Teppei finished the thought.
"This is what they mean by 'learn from me and live, imitate me and die.'" Akashi observed the court serenely.
If Himuro hadn't encountered Yuuto, he might have blazed an even more brilliant path.
But his opponent wasn't the Generation of Miracles or Kagami Taiga. It was Yuuto.
Whoosh!
In an instant, Yuuto stripped the ball and transformed into a streak of light hurtling forward.
Himuro spun to give chase.
His talent wasn't actually weak. In the original story's battle between Yōsen and Seirin, he'd only lost to Kagami by a hair.
But as before—he and Yuuto were too similar.
If I can just delay him slightly...
Himuro was crystal clear on this point.
Two players of the same style competing came down to pure hard power—no shortcuts.
Because whatever he knew, his opponent knew too.
In such a duel, he'd probably be crushed quickly. But delaying just enough for Murasakibara to recover? He was confident he could manage that much.
He'd overestimated himself.
Hummm...
Golden light blazed from Yuuto like a sun.
One step right with the ball, then his body swayed dramatically left—skipping an entire large movement in between.
Lightning-fast action, explosive like Aomine, creating this impossible tempo.
"So fast!!!"
Himuro's heart lurched. Compared to a month ago, the Yuuto before him was incomparably stronger.
He couldn't even react. The instant his center of gravity shifted, his opponent seized the opening and blew past in one breath.
This was what Akashi meant by controlling time.
Those who possessed the Demon Eyes or Emperor Eye could always seize these fleeting moments.
Yuuto continued accelerating, a human sun plunging into Yōsen's paint.
Thump!
He gathered and leaped in one step. His body glided rapidly toward the rim.
Then—
A dark shadow rocketed skyward from behind him, enveloping him completely.
Himuro's delay hadn't bought much time, but Murasakibara's reactions were too fast, his legs too quick.
Those long limbs covered ground faster than any guard—two steps where others needed four.
Yuuto's eyes shifted.
Murasakibara noticed those eyes and felt an ice-cold chill.
And—
He also saw Kasuga's reflection in Yuuto's pupils.
The next second, the King of Seihō's basketball simply vanished.
No warning. Even someone with Murasakibara's reflexes, at point-blank range, couldn't track when Yuuto released the ball. He only noticed Yuuto's fingers twitch.
Whoosh!
The ball flew to Kasuga on the right wing.
Kasuga seized the moment, catching and shooting without a millisecond of hesitation—that Murasakibara's reaction speed was just too terrifying.
Sure enough—
Almost simultaneously, as the ball left his fingertips, Murasakibara's sky-blocking hand swept through the air—just barely missing the shot.
Swish!
The ball went in, but Kasuga's heart still couldn't calm down.
This was no joke.
"One second of hesitation, and that gets swatted into the stands. What a monster."
His heart pounded.
This Generation of Miracles center was basically the natural predator of Seihō's style.
They lacked sufficient long-range shooting.
Without Yuuto, they'd probably be getting massacred by Yōsen right now.
"Those two idiots." Araki wanted to stomp her feet watching from the sideline.
Unlike what she'd seen on film, Seihō's players were shooting the instant they touched the ball.
Catching and releasing without the slightest hesitation.
This change was almost certainly related to that streetball game.
That Lion King had definitely run targeted drills with the other Seihō players.
Even more fatal was Himuro.
Their sharpest blade had barely done anything before being neutralized.
Back to the action—
Fukui received Coach Araki's instruction and tried to force the ball inside.
But just as he attempted it—a soul-piercing gaze swept over him.
Pupils radiating blue light, bound by twin crimson rings—eerie and mysterious, as if they could see through to his very soul.
Just one look drove him back. He didn't even have the courage to make the pass.
"...Give it to me!"
Himuro came to receive, then resumed attacking Tsugawa.
He caught the ball and immediately faked a shot. The convincing motion nearly lifted Tsugawa off his feet, but he barely managed to stay grounded.
"Close one—almost jumped!" the sunny defender exclaimed.
"Then never jump!" Himuro's demeanor turned even colder. One dribble, another pump fake.
This time—
He went up. Even with Yuuto's intel support, Tsugawa couldn't completely distinguish real from fake.
A vertical jump shot.
The setup for the Mirage Shot.
The basketball he released seemed to become intangible, carrying three phantom arcs as it sailed toward the rim.
But—
Smack!
A hand appeared once more, plucking the "intangible" ball from mid-air.
"Yuuto!!?" Himuro's heart lurched.
Even prepared for it, he still felt like his heart had shattered.
But it wasn't over.
Yuuto, having snatched the ball from the air, immediately hurled it upcourt.
Too fast!
Seihō's tempo was simply too fast!
Araki had long since dropped her wooden sword.
Right now, Seihō's pace was accelerating with each possession. Every fast break made her heart skip—creating advantageous numbers situations over and over.
This rendered two of her proud towers completely useless.
Kasuga sprinted at the head of the break.
Fukui chased right alongside him.
But he was quickly thrown off by Kasuga's deceptive running angles. Kasuga took two huge strides from the free-throw line, elevated, and floated up a runner.
But then—
A dark silhouette rocketed up from behind, rising and engulfing him completely.
Smack!
What?!
Kasuga looked back in shock. It was Murasakibara.
"This guy—wasn't he just in the paint a second ago?!"
...
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