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Ikei received the ball but did not attack Teiko's basket. Instead, a scene that shocked everyone unfolded.
The opposing power forward turned around and charged towards his own basket.
"What's going on? Why is he running towards his own basket?"
Everyone was puzzled, and the Fukuyama team was even more bewildered. The point guard called out Ikei's name, trying to get him to stop, but Ikei seemed not to hear.
He dribbled to his own basket, leaped, and slammed the ball home.
Bang...
The screech of the rim announced two points for Teiko.
"Ikei, what are you doing?" Fukuyama's coach roared angrily.
The substitute players also looked at their power forward with grim expressions.
They didn't understand why he would do this.
Hayama Kotaro was also drawn by the commotion.
When he turned around, he nearly coughed up blood.
He was fighting tooth and nail, yet his own teammate was scoring for the enemy.
Wait…
Hayama Kotaro noticed something. "Ikei, why are you wearing Teiko's jersey?"
Hearing Hayama's question, the others noticed it too. Everyone looked at the power forward and realized he was wearing Teiko's number 95 jersey.
"Number 95... Isn't that Ryu jersey number?"
Everyone scanned the court and realized that Ryu was gone.
At that moment, someone in the stands pointed to another spot on the court. "Look, isn't that Fukuyama's power forward over there?"
Everyone turned to look. On the court, there were now two identical figures: one was the real Ikei wearing Fukuyama #9, and the other was an identical Ikei wearing the Teiko #95 jersey.
"What on earth is going on?" The Fukuyama team was completely dumbfounded.
Just then, the "Ikei" in the Teiko jersey transformed back into Ryu.
The Teiko bench was stunned.
Momoi Satsuki blinked her beautiful eyes in disbelief, her head full of question marks.
"Hey, hey, hey... is that a transformation jutsu?" Nijimura Shuzo's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Coach Shirogane Kozo stroked his chin, lost in thought.
When Ryu returned to his half of the court, Akashi, Midorima, Murasakibara, and Aomine gathered around him.
Ryu simply smiled and said, "Don't worry too much. This is one of my abilities; I call it 'Illusion'. It allows me to create an illusion of anyone, including their physical appearance and their moves."
Hiss... Everyone gasped. This was far too overpowered.
"Ryu, then you're invincible!" Aomine Daiki exclaimed.
Ryu shook his head. "Not quite. This move can only replicate people within a certain range of my own capabilities. If someone is beyond my limits, I might mimic their appearance, but I can't perfectly execute their moves."
However, what he didn't mention was that his "Data Basketball" ability could assist his "Illusion" to accelerate the process.
These two abilities were perfectly complementary—practically cheating.
After the conversation, Teiko took their positions.
This time, Fukuyama passed the ball directly to Hayama Kotaro from the baseline.
The point guard even specifically checked Hayama's jersey first; the previous incident had shattered his worldview.
The entire Fukuyama team was now suspicious, terrified of passing the ball to an imposter.
As a result, their offensive speed slowed down considerably.
When Hayama Kotaro tried to break through, he found himself unable to get past Aomine.
"Three!" Zzzzt… A yellow lightning bolt flashed, but this time, it failed. Aomine Daiki remained firmly in his way.
'What's going on?' Hayama Kotaro frowned.
He realized Aomine was different; his aura and movements had evolved.
He sensed an aura similar to his own "Wildness."
Snap…
A crisp sound signaled Hayama's dismay—Aomine had successfully stolen the ball.
Whoosh…
A blue figure flashed past.
Aomine swept past Hayama and dribbled toward Fukuyama's basket.
Hayama and the rest of the Fukuyama players chased him, surrounding him from all sides.
Aomine was in grave danger, but when they were less than a meter away, he made a move that shocked the arena.
He leaped, clearing the baseline and flying behind the backboard. From out of bounds, he gently tossed the ball upwards. The basketball arced over the backboard and dropped perfectly through the hoop.
The arena erupted.
"Wow! Does anyone even shoot like that?"
"That's so cool! I have to try that!"
"Three guys couldn't stop him. Teiko is just too strong."
Akashi, Midorima, and Murasakibara were also spurred on.
They had joined the club together, but now Aomine and Ryu were pulling ahead.
Their skill had clearly surged.
None of them wanted to be second best.
They decided right then to practice even harder, or they would be left far behind by these two monsters.
The second quarter truly cemented Aomine Daiki's place in everyone's memory.
Throughout the entire quarter, Aomine initially fought Hayama Kotaro to a standstill, until finally completely dominating him.
Aomine's unrestrained streetball style and his unconventional shooting methods were a feast for the eyes of the audience.
And then there was the ever-present Niou Illusion.
Besides Aomine Daiki being troublesome, the most important factor in this quarter was that Ryu would frequently transform into one of Fukuyama's teammates.
Several times, points were conceded due to Fukuyama players making misplaced passes to the "fake" teammate. The Fukuyama team was thoroughly suffering.
As a result, Teiko went from trailing Fukuyama by single digits to leading by double digits.
The second quarter ended with the score at 42-27.
When the third quarter began, Ryu transformed into Aomine Daiki. Having two "Aomines" on the court nearly suffocated the Fukuyama team.
The terrifying power of Ryu was finally revealed.
On the sidelines, Shirogane Kozo muttered to himself, "Truly a rare gem."
An assistant coach spoke up beside him, "Coach, are you talking about Aomine Daiki?"
Shirogane Kozo smiled kindly. "Aomine Daiki is indeed a gem, and not just him—Murasakibara Atsushi, Midorima Shintaro, and Akashi Seijuro are all geniuses who appear once in ten years, even a century." He paused, then continued, "And Ryu is a genius among geniuses."
The coach's words completely shocked the assistant, who hadn't expected such a high opinion of the five starters.
The match finally ended under the onslaught of the "two Aomines."
The final whistle blew, and Teiko emerged victorious.
The final score was Teiko 116, Fukuyama 37. Teiko had defeated a top-tier team by a margin of three times the score.
The instant the match ended, a mission notification appeared before Ryu and Karupin.
During the preliminaries, each victory earned 5,000 Cat Energy; now, in the knockout stage, each victory earned 10,000.
Ryu didn't look closely at the notification because they were immediately surrounded by a large group of reporters.
Countless cameras and microphones hemmed them in. While Aomine, Midorima, and Murasakibara were visibly flustered, Ryu was alright.
He was relatively thick-skinned and answered the reporters logically and confidently.
As for Akashi Seijuro, who had received an elite education since childhood, dealing with reporters was as easy as breathing. He rattled off standard answers effortlessly, earning Ryu's admiration. Eventually, Shirogane Kozo dismissed the reporters, and the group boarded the bus to return to school.
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