On the court
Imayoshi Shōichi wore a faint expression of regret.
According to their pre-game plan, they were supposed to seize the initiative by opening with a full-force assault.
That plan… had already failed.
But then again
He had expected as much.
If it were that easy, then their opponents wouldn't be the Generation of Miracles.
Just then
Imayoshi caught sight of something, and his face changed dramatically.
The usual sly fox-like squint instantly sharpened.
"...Hm?!"
Wait
Kuroko Tetsuya?!
What kind of joke was this?!
Near Seirin's baseline, Haizaki Shōgo—who had just completed a block and secured possession—suddenly passed the ball outward.
And the target of that pass was none other than
Kuroko Tetsuya.
The "Phantom Sixth Man," who in their understanding could only exert power without the ball, was now…
acting as Seirin's point guard for the opening offensive possession.
Aomine Daiki: "!?"
What the hell?
Tetsuya… shouldn't have this ability.
In their previous practice match, Kuroko was still the same as always
His passing, penetration, and shooting were all built on basic misdirection, and his "vanishing dribble" could only activate for a single instant.
It was never something he could use to carry the ball up the court.
Meanwhile
As Tōō's players were still processing the shock of seeing Kuroko bring the ball up, Haizaki smirked.
"Listen up, you dark-skinned idiot. Before I really start playing, let me show you something first…"
"The Assault Captain—Kuroko Tetsuya."
Imayoshi, acting as Tōō's point guard, immediately stepped up to defend.
In his mind, Kuroko's ball-handling shouldn't allow him to sustain misdirection.
At most, he could activate the vanishing dribble for a single burst.
He couldn't stop that move…
But if Kuroko tried to bring the ball all the way up?
Even if Imayoshi was beaten, he could just chase him down afterward.
Kuroko wasn't Midorima, after all.
There was no way he could shoot a three-pointer straight from the backcourt…
But as he thought that
The next second
Kuroko's body suddenly compressed downward, as if dropping a dimension, his eyes widening with ferocity
Then
Imayoshi witnessed something terrifying.
The Kuroko in front of him flickered
Like a glitching video disc.
One moment Kuroko was pressing the ball downward
The next blink, the ball had already snapped back into his hand.
It wasn't speed.
It was the opposite.
Judging from the time he took to move from one spot to another…
Kuroko was actually slower than the other Miracles.
The effect was more like
An animation timeline with several frames missing.
"Misdirection… Frame Skip!"
Imayoshi: "...!"
Yes
It was exactly that.
A literal frame skip.
As Kuroko entered a full dribble move, the frame-skipping became even more horrifying.
Before, Imayoshi simply couldn't see the ball's rebound
But now
Even though the movements were just normal dribbling actions…
Kuroko's repeated disappearances and reappearances made his dribbling completely unreadable.
As Kuroko advanced, the missing frames stacked on top of each other
Imayoshi felt as if he were watching layers upon layers of Kuroko Tetsuya illusions.
He didn't dare attempt a steal; the timing was impossible to read.
All he could do was block Kuroko's forward path.
And yet
Smack!
Imayoshi: "!?"
A nutmeg?!
The move in the previous frame and the movement after the frame skip simply didn't connect
There was a jarring blank space in between. No way to tell what Kuroko did.
This type of breakthrough
Was far too powerful.
And
It was Imayoshi's first time seeing Kuroko with this kind of expression.
Such intensity
So alive
Completely different from the Kuroko he saw in practice games or in middle school.
In the distance
Aomine raised an eyebrow.
He hadn't expected the "weak point" he assumed Kuroko had… to suddenly transform into the spearhead of Seirin's offense.
He glanced at Kise.
"He's yours."
Kise Ryōta nodded. "Leave it to me."
Meanwhile
Susa Yoshinori stepped in to help on Kuroko's drive.
But
Kuroko looked at him once.
Exploded forward
Dove in
Misdirection: Frame Skip—Accelerate!
Smack!
Another nutmeg
Two in a row!
Susa was blown past instantly.
From Imayoshi to Susa, Kuroko—who had kept this ability hidden until the decisive match against the Generation of Miracles
Knocked them down one after another.
But as Kuroko prepared to push deeper into the lane
An arm cut across his path.
His movement halted.
From the side, Kise spoke calmly:
"As expected of my instructor. You even fooled little Aomine. He probably never imagined you'd snap like this~"
"Kise…"
"The time I've spent overlapping with everyone is the same."
"So there's no reason"
"You can't be surprised by me!"
BOOM!
Kuroko spun, using Kise as a pivot point, rotating a full 360 degrees on the spot.
He slid past Kise's controlling arm, and during that turn
At some unknown moment
He had slipped the ball through Kise's legs.
Land—catch—burst forward.
Kise froze.
Being broken through this easily made all of his casual confidence vanish.
And after facing Kuroko's frame-skip misdirection directly
He instantly understood the true terror of the ability.
Even a basic spin move
Combined with this
Turned into a lethal weapon.
Without question
Kuroko Tetsuya was now the most unreadable weapon on the entire court.
Kuroko gauged the distance to the rim.
In his peripheral vision, he saw Aomine moving.
Facing the strongest ace of the Generation of Miracles
Kuroko's entire body felt like a volcano erupting.
Every cell in him throbbed with excitement.
The intermittent, flickering vision created by frame-skip misdirection made his movement trail shimmer like a dream.
Aomine's expression twitched in surprise.
"Didn't expect the one going wild at the start to be you, Tetsu… not Haizaki."
"Facing me—"
"You still want to break through alone?"
Meeting Aomine's eyes head-on, Kuroko realized
At some point, he had walked this far.
Smack!
Taking advantage of a skipped frame
He feinted in front
Anticipating Aomine's monstrous instincts, he immediately chained it into a pullback the opposite way
As expected
He dodged Aomine's steal.
Smack!
Lateral drag
Lowering his body
Kuroko: "..."
How incredible.
This sensation of moving the ball seamlessly, like becoming one with it
There used to be many reasons he played basketball.
But now
There was only one.
Because this
This feeling
Was the greatest joy in the world.
Exhaling lightly
Kuroko faced Aomine head-on.
In Aomine's eyes, Kuroko no longer felt like calm, unremarkable water.
Rather
He was all in.
And it was
Absolutely thrilling.
END OF CHAPTER
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