As soon as Tatsuya Himuro finished speaking, he launched his attack.
On the court, Tatsuya Himuro seemed to transform into a master of feints. Every move looked both real and illusory, making it impossible to tell what was genuine and what was a trick.
If it had been anyone else defending him, Tatsuya Himuro probably would have broken through long ago.
But the one guarding him was Ryota Kise!
And Ryota Kise's strength had been growing at an incredible pace!
So even against such lifelike feints, Ryota Kise never lost his position. He stayed steady, defending him without giving an inch.
Seeing that, Tatsuya Himuro pulled back to the three point line.
He looked at Ryota Kise, smiled helplessly, and said, "As expected, your talent really does make me jealous."
Ryota Kise's lips curved up slightly as he praised him. "You're not bad yourself. There were several times you almost fooled me."
Tatsuya Himuro smiled and asked, "Is that so?"
Ryota Kise nodded firmly. "Yeah."
Tatsuya Himuro slowly met Ryota Kise's eyes and said gently, "Then I'll attack one more time. This time, let's see whether I can fool you."
At that, Ryota Kise's gaze sharpened. He spread his arms and laughed. "Come on!"
Tatsuya Himuro dribbled the basketball, a gentle smile on his face.
Then...
Tatsuya Himuro suddenly gathered the ball, jumped straight up, and took a shooting form.
Ryota Kise froze for an instant.
'A normal shot? A fake? No, he's already in the air. It's real!'
Ryota Kise reacted immediately and jumped with him.
He sprang up in an instant, using his left hand to completely seal off Tatsuya Himuro's shooting path.
At the same time, Ryota Kise still felt a trace of doubt.
'Just a normal shot? Is he giving up?'
While Ryota Kise was still confused, Tatsuya Himuro released the ball.
The basketball left his fingertips and flew toward Ryota Kise's hand.
Then, under everyone's watch, the basketball...
passed through Ryota Kise's palm.
Ryota Kise's pupils suddenly contracted.
'How... The ball... passed through?!'
Yukio Kasamatsu was stunned too.
How could the ball pass through?
That was impossible!
After landing, Ryota Kise quickly turned his head and saw the basketball drop cleanly into the hoop.
Swish!
Ryota Kise was shocked. He turned back to Tatsuya Himuro in disbelief and asked, unable to understand it at all, "How did you do that?!"
Tatsuya Himuro only smiled gently. He gave no answer and simply turned around to get back on defense.
Seeing this, Ryota Kise knew Tatsuya Himuro had no intention of explaining. He clenched his fist and murmured excitedly, "I'm definitely going to figure out that move. Then... I'll make it mine!"
Ryota Kise looked thrilled, as though he was genuinely enjoying the match.
Yukio Kasamatsu and the others could only press their hands to their foreheads in exasperation.
There was nothing they could do. After spending so much time with him, they knew exactly what kind of person Ryota Kise was.
Everyone was still absorbed in Tatsuya Himuro's shot just now, but no one noticed that a shadow...
was slowly disappearing.
On the sidelines, Riko Aida touched her chin and murmured, "It's starting..."
On the court, Kaijō had possession.
For this play, Ryota Kise used a screen to run into an open position.
Yukio Kasamatsu reacted quickly and passed straight to Ryota Kise, letting him calmly sink the three pointer.
Possession changed.
Seirin had the ball.
Shun Izuki slowly dribbled past half court. Then, under everyone's gaze, he suddenly threw the basketball toward an empty spot.
The moment Ryota Kise saw it, his expression changed drastically.
Because... he had not noticed Tetsuya Kuroko at all!
More precisely, none of the Kaijō High School players had noticed him!
On the court, Tetsuya Kuroko's figure slowly appeared in everyone's sight. He struck the incoming basketball hard with his hand, completely changing its trajectory.
"It's finally starting! I've been waiting forever for this!!!"
Taiga Kagami's voice instantly rang across the court. Then everyone saw him suddenly charge in along the baseline.
He launched off his right foot, his whole body soaring into the air like a leaping tiger, jumping impossibly high.
Taiga Kagami caught the incoming basketball with his left hand and pulled into a tomahawk dunking motion.
Kōji Kobori had no time to react at all. He could only watch as Taiga Kagami slammed the ball into the basket with overwhelming force.
Bang!!!
The rim let out a violent crash, and the entire basket support kept shaking.
Taiga Kagami landed heavily and pumped his fist in excitement.
"That felt awesome!!!"
After holding himself back for an entire quarter, Taiga Kagami finally began to vent it all with this one play.
Tatsuya Himuro watched Taiga Kagami with a soft gaze, a faint smile still on his face.
As the Seirin players fell back on defense, the Kaijō players still had not quite recovered.
Only when Yukio Kasamatsu shouted did everyone snap back to their senses.
"Get your heads in the game! We'll answer on the next play!"
Hearing him, the others all responded at once.
"Yes!"
After answering, Ryota Kise's brows furrowed slightly, his eyes flickering.
'Kuroko's presence... is getting blurry.'
Clearly, Ryota Kise was already starting to lose track of Tetsuya Kuroko.
More precisely, as soon as Ryota Kise shifted his attention away, he could hardly notice Tetsuya Kuroko at all.
It was hard to believe. Someone who had been clearly visible at the start of the game had turned back into a shadow in such a short amount of time.
In fact, the shadow he had become this time seemed even denser.
Ryota Kise frowned deeply and thought to himself, 'What... exactly is going on?'
Off the court, Satsuki Momoi held her tablet and continued taking notes, murmuring, "I didn't expect Seirin to actually discover Kuroko's strengths."
Miyamoto Tokima sat beside Satsuki Momoi and smiled faintly. "Yes. At the very least, they're able to bring out Tetsuya's abilities. That alone proves Tetsuya wasn't really wrong to choose that school."
Satsuki Momoi nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. Seirin's actually pretty good."
...
On the court, Yukio Kasamatsu had just dribbled past half court when Ryota Kise reached out and shouted, "Ball!"
Yukio Kasamatsu looked over in confusion, only to meet Ryota Kise's determined eyes.
Yukio Kasamatsu understood at once.
Ryota Kise was... about to start pushing himself.
Seeing that, Yukio Kasamatsu chuckled softly and murmured, "Looks like our ace is about to get serious."
...
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