From the opening tip until now, Imayoshi Shōichi had managed to maintain his trademark sly fox-like smile—but at this moment, even he looked like he was about to crack. Sweat poured down his forehead as he accelerated back on defense.
"..."
No way… seriously?
The other Seirin players can use Kuroko's ability!?
What in the world was going on?
Kuroko Tetsuya…
What exactly had the Phantom Sixth Man of the Generation of Miracles done?
He looked completely normal right now—so normal that even Imayoshi himself could see him clearly.
Wait.
He could see Kuroko Tetsuya this clearly?!
At the same time
Before Imayoshi could react, Aomine Daiki cut through the court at high speed, catching up to Kiyoshi Teppei with ease. The next second, Kiyoshi immediately remembered Kuroko's warning:
Against Aomine
You can't dribble boldly.
And the reasoning was simple.
Kiyoshi had witnessed the "Akihito-style anti-vanishing dribble breaker" clearly in last year's street match.
And the current Aomine…
possessed the exact same wild-instinct version of it.
So
He stopped on a dime!
To prevent getting stripped by Aomine's overwhelming speed, Kiyoshi used his body to shield the ball, pulling it far away from Aomine with a one-handed grab.
FWIP!
SLAP!
Haizaki burst in!
A hand-off pass!
Snatching the ball while simultaneously dragging Aomine with him!
Then, the next second
With a pass sharp enough to feel like Akashi's emperor-level precision, Haizaki sent the ball beautifully back to Kiyoshi, who faced Wakamatsu Kōsuke.
And once again
Kiyoshi vanished from Wakamatsu's field of vision!
But Aomine crossed nearly the entire three-point line-to-paint distance in one stride, turning back to defend in time.
However
This time, Kiyoshi estimated everything perfectly.
Using the heavy pressure placed on Aomine by their constant offensive pull, Kiyoshi raised the ball high—a "raise-it-to-the-heavens" power dunk stance—and slammed it downward using the huge advantage he created.
BOOM!
Two points!
"Hah!!"
Even Kiyoshi, normally mild-mannered, roared after scoring on Aomine.
"Everyone! Before the third quarter ends—tie the score! At least even the game before the fourth!"
"OOOOHHHH!"
They absolutely…
could not waste Kuroko's effort.
Kiyoshi gritted his teeth, sprinting back on defense while thinking
Defense!
Restrict Aomine as much as possible!
Even if they couldn't stop him
At least make it harder!
Give Haizaki and Kuroko more opportunities to apply their doubled defensive pressure!
Meanwhile
Imayoshi narrowed his eyes.
Ahhh… give me a break.
Seriously—Kuroko Tetsuya, you're really going all-in on this gamble.
How big exactly is the pot you're trying to win?
This was only…
the Tokyo regional round-robin final.
Two teams qualify for nationals.
Was it really necessary to go this far?
Even if Seirin lost this game…
They'd still get a nationals spot.
But he had to admit
This was the strongest challenger they had ever faced.
Under these conditions, this match had transformed into one where you couldn't win without betting everything.
How troublesome…
and exhilarating.
Kirisaki Daiichi's
(No!)
Tōō Academy's offensive possession.
Imayoshi brought the ball up without passing.
Amid the excited faces on Seirin's bench, Imayoshi suddenly pulled up—completely unexpected—dousing the bench's excitement instantly.
He was far beyond the three-point line.
Not as absurd as Midorima's middle-school range, but still at least a full step behind the arc!
Hyūga Junpei: "!?"
"Eh?!"
From that far!?
Hyūga's eyes widened.
He knew Imayoshi was not a great three-point shooter. At least compared to Sakurai Ryō, Imayoshi was far inferior.
His success rate wouldn't be high.
And from that distance? No way it would go in!
Meanwhile
Someone appeared on the stands.
A person Seirin hated
someone Haizaki hated even more
and ironically, the very reason Haizaki joined Seirin.
Hanamiya Makoto.
"Heh~"
"Idiot."
"That wasn't a question of success rate~"
"That guy gets ridiculously dangerous in moments like this~ When the game's balance is on the line—this is when Imayoshi is at his best."
SWISH
As Hanamiya spoke
Imayoshi's three dropped cleanly.
Holding his shooting pose, he smirked and said:
"I admit you guys are strong—easily the strongest challengers we've faced so far. But—"
But before he could finish
Hyūga cracked his neck.
CRACK.
A switch flipped.
His expression darkened like ink.
"Challenger?"
"Who…"
"…are you talking about?"
"You're not the #1 seed in Tokyo.
You're not national champions.
And we, Seirin, reached Nationals last winter."
"So what the hell are you talking about… you Kansai snake-in-glasses bastard?"
"Shut up and wash your neck. I'm coming for you."
Imayoshi: "?"
Does this guy…
have a second personality?
During their practice match he definitely wasn't like this.
Seirin's…
glasses captain.
Seirin's offense.
Haizaki glanced at Hyūga's state
For a moment, that look reminded him of Nijimura Shuzo's murder mode.
Though…
the power level was obviously different.
"Tch. Fine."
As Seirin's point guard, using Akashi-style passing at the top, Haizaki stared straight at Aomine and passed cleanly to Hyūga.
Only Haizaki could pass safely in Aomine's face right now.
SLAP
Hyūga caught the ball.
It didn't have the surreal "Akashi-touch" feeling Haizaki occasionally reproduced.
But he didn't need that.
His entire focus was condensed behind his glasses
radiating the intent to score a three.
"For us to go further this year…"
"In the past year…"
"I haven't stayed still! Take your stupid shot back!"
FWIP
Hyūga's upper body barely moved, but his entire figure slid backward at a shocking speed.
Fast enough
to look like there were two Hyūgas.
Imayoshi: "...!"
No!
Not speed
This was
A combination of elite step-back technique + Kuroko's misdirection frame-skip!
It wasn't just fast
It looked like time jumped.
Imayoshi lunged desperately
But caught nothing.
SWISH
Hyūga's three dropped cleanly!
"OOOHH!! THREE!!"
The Seirin bench, previously extinguished, erupted again as Koganei jumped up pumping his fist.
"Nice! Defense!"
"Stop this one!"
"OOOH!"
On the stands
Midorima's eyes moved toward Hyūga.
Compared to Kiyoshi…
Hyūga's voice carried an even stronger charisma.
Among last year's Seirin
Kiyoshi gave stability,
Izuki gave calmness
But Hyūga…
Hyūga had leadership in his spirit.
It made sense that he, not Kiyoshi, was captain.
Midorima sighed.
Just one step…
Just one step more, and he might have joined Shutoku with Murasakibara
but Shutoku failed to recruit Kiyoshi.
Murasakibara Atsushi.
Ōtsubo Taisuke.
Kiyoshi Teppei.
Himself.
Plus the promising first-year point guard the coach promised
That lineup tempted him deeply.
"What a shame," Midorima murmured.
On court
Imayoshi grimaced.
His over-spec long three plus psychological attack failed
not only failing, but flipping Hyūga's switch, completely backfiring.
Then he felt it.
From behind
A faint electric spark from Aomine's Zone passed over him.
Imayoshi: "..."
Got it~
Aomine-kun~
"Uwah!"
"Wait—Aomine didn't even jump toward the basket!?"
Next possession
Aomine broke through Haizaki and Kuroko with increasing ease.
With a casual one-hand cradle, he leapt—
but not toward the rim.
Kiyoshi's eyes sharpened.
BOOM!
He leapt to block!
He predicted Aomine's right-side fade, even adjusting further right for Aomine's absurd space-creation ability.
As expected
In midair
Aomine twisted his body, shifting from a cradle to a baseball-swing motion.
Facing Kiyoshi's block, his hair flying, Aomine sneered:
"Getting this far is impressive…"
"But"
"It's not enough!"
Aomine's body tilted farther and farther back
to a ridiculous angle
nearly horizontal.
How would he land safely?
Then
Something even crazier.
Aomine froze the ball mid-motion
stopping unnaturally before launching it again.
Nearly horizontal to the floor
he shot.
The crowd's eyes bulged.
What was that!?
What did that motion even mean!?
FWIP
Aomine released.
A high-power side-sweep shot
the ball shot forward like a beam
off the glass
SCORE.
BOOM
Aomine's monstrous core strength allowed him to land and twist upright, refusing to fall.
He then glanced toward the sidelines
at Kuroko.
Exactly.
He forced that awkward pause mid-shot specifically to break Kuroko's misdirection vision interference.
Lower accuracy?
Maybe.
But still higher than shooting completely blind to avoid Kuroko.
With this
Kuroko + Haizaki's double interference was broken.
But
By the end of the third quarter
The score barely changed.
In fact
Seirin cut the largest 8-point deficit down to 4.
Aomine couldn't be stopped
but Seirin leveraged Kuroko's reverse-misdirection empowerment successfully.
Both sides traded blows with high accuracy
and Hyūga + Haizaki's threes chipped away one point at a time.
Finally
BEEP
End of third quarter.
Seirin's bench sighed in relief.
They didn't tie the score, but—
Aomine Daiki, even with his monster stamina, couldn't maintain a full quarter of Zone again, right?
Kuroko had pushed him to his limits.
But
The moment Haizaki and Kuroko returned to the bench, Koganei's smile froze.
"Haizaki…"
"Yeah…"
"I get it. Kise, that bastard…"
"Mm."
"Tch…
Never thought Aomine would team up this much for a win."
"Teaching by example, huh…
He really is a proper monster."
END OF CHAPTER
(Some chapters in patreon are double chapters)
4 IN 1 - BE A MEMBER, GET 4 ONGOING STORIES!!
35 CHAPTERS AHEAD!!
Starting Five - Kuroko's Basketball: Before Generation Miracles, I Already Crowned
👉 patreon.com/MrBehringer