Kuroko's… frame skip?!
"ngh…"
Kise forced his body to move, exploding forward with everything he had. He barely managed to cut in front of Haizaki again
but the next second, just like the move Kuroko once used…
This time, it wasn't a frame skip.
It switched—into a frame insert.
The Haizaki in front of him was nothing more than a reversed Misdirection after-image
his presence suddenly spiked in Kise's vision, leaving behind only a lingering phantom.
Pa!
To his side.
Haizaki Shōgo had already slipped past him with a sudden change of direction while Kise's attention was pulled away!
He burst into the paint
Boom!
Wakamatsu Kōsuke forced his way up to challenge him!
"Don't even think about it!"
Inside the key, Wakamatsu cut off Haizaki's path
but Haizaki had practically slowed down on purpose.
He stopped sharply, lifted his arm…
yet didn't shoot.
Boom!
Wakamatsu, lunging too hard, couldn't stop his momentum.
He crashed into Haizaki just as Haizaki jumped
and in mid-air, Haizaki twisted away from the block and released the shot!
At the same time he spoke calmly:
"Earth Shot."
Right then
Lightning surged in!
Aomine Daiki!!
Everyone thought Aomine would crush the shot with a terrifying chase-down block
But the next instant, Aomine's pupils contracted sharply.
Because the ball…
vanished.
Haizaki smirked.
"Too fast… too close…
and you jumped way too high~"
This distance, this height, this angle—
Of course.
Tetsuya… you really understand me.
Earth-style… Vanishing Shot.
Swish!
Aomine swung through empty air
he couldn't see the ball's trajectory at all.
And the ball went in.
The referee's whistle followed immediately.
Beeep!
"Black No. 7, defensive foul!"
"One free throw!"
Kise's expression twisted in disbelief.
That entire sequence—aside from the Earth Shot
everything else was Kuroko's abilities.
He didn't know how Haizaki was doing it…
But
With Haizaki and Kuroko's skills fused together
Even Aomine…
couldn't stop him.
In the stands
"Was that Haizaki just now using the Phantom Sixth Man's ability?"
"It has to be…"
"You could literally see after-images when he dribbled!"
"That was absolutely Kuroko Tetsuya's technique!"
The crowd stared at Haizaki, then at Kuroko—
eyes wide, minds spinning.
What did Kuroko do just now?
They didn't know the exact reason,
but it was clearly tied to Kuroko's strange, abnormal offensive play from earlier.
On the other side
Midorima Shintarō: "…"
That wasn't imitation.
It wasn't remotely imitation.
The completion level was too high.
Without Kuroko's innate low presence, even someone like Haizaki could never copy that perfectly.
Kuroko was actively enhancing his own presence.
Okayama Miracles, Rainbow Link, awakened Perfect Pass—
and now, the fourth team-buff ability…
This one came from Kuroko Tetsuya.
Meaning
Kuroko…
really went and did it.
But the price…
Wouldn't it be too much?
On the court.
As Haizaki walked to the free-throw line, Imayoshi Shōichi stepped up beside Kise, who was still frozen in shock, and tapped his back lightly.
"Oi…"
"You good?"
Kise stared at Haizaki's back.
Little Haizaki…
Akashi's…
Aomine's…
And now Kuroko's…
"No way… I've got goosebumps everywhere."
Seeing Kise's twisted, almost ecstatic grin, Imayoshi sighed.
"Hey hey hey~ calm down, yeah?"
Kise's expression froze, then slowly settled down.
Imayoshi shook his head.
Our opponent is this much trouble, and you still have energy to freak out…
Haizaki stood at the line.
In Kise's view, Haizaki was murmuring nonstop, his eyes unfocused—
performing the free throw purely on muscle memory.
Haizaki Shōgo: "…"
It still isn't merging smoothly…
I need to…
I need to sync with Kuroko's rhythm even more.
Even more…
Actively.
END OF CHAPTER
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