"It's time to decide the winner."
As time ticked away, the final match between Shutoku and Seirin finally reached its climax.
In terms of overall strength, Shutoku was undoubtedly superior. But in this last quarter, Seirin had exploded with unexpected intensity, though, given the world they were in, perhaps it wasn't so unexpected.
After all, in Kuroko's Basketball, the power of a protagonist's "plot armor" far outshines that of Haikyuu!!.
In the original story, whenever Seirin faced the Generation of Miracles, there was never a match where they didn't perform far beyond their limits…
So even seeing Kagami Taiga completely suppress Midorima Shintaro in the final quarter didn't surprise Akashi Asuka much.
"Well then," he murmured, eyes narrowing at Midorima, "what will you do next?"
Twenty-five seconds remained.
Shutoku was still leading 98–96, a slim two-point margin. But against Seirin in their current state, such a lead was far from safe, and Midorima surely knew that.
A fully unleashed Kagami could completely nullify his three-point shots.
At this point, the chance of Midorima scoring on his own was low. Worse, if Kagami blocked him again, Seirin would immediately get a fast-break opportunity.
The two aces squared off at the three-point line…
The stadium was dead silent, so quiet that even a pin drop would have been deafening.
All eyes were locked onto them. Everyone knew this duel between aces might well decide the game's final outcome.
Tick… tick… tick…
The sound of the game clock seemed to echo inside everyone's chest. Midorima and Kagami stood motionless, their focus sharpened to the limit.
Seconds slipped by. Midorima was just about to commit a five-second violation,
Then suddenly,
He jumped, lifting the ball to shoot!
"He's going for it? But that'll never escape Kagami's block!" muttered Tsutomu Iwamura, narrowing his eyes.
Almost as if to answer him, Kagami sprang up with explosive force, soaring to Midorima's level in an instant.
"You're not getting that shot off, Midorima!" Kagami roared, a tiger in human form.
But beneath the basketball in Midorima's hands, his lips curved into a faint, confident smile.
Then,
Something happened that no one inside or outside the arena expected.
Midorima suddenly pulled the ball back, and passed it!
"A pass?!"
Whoosh!
Before anyone could even react, someone in the audience standing directly ahead of Seiho shot up from their seat in disbelief.
A tall, handsome blond with the physique of a model gaped, jaw slack, eyes wide like he'd just seen a ghost.
"No way… Kuro-chin actually passed the ball?!"
Words failed him. His face said everything.
Down on the court, Seirin's players wore identical expressions of shock, especially the phantom sixth man, Kuroko Tetsuya. His pupils trembled violently.
What the? This isn't how it's supposed to go!
Kuroko had chosen not to join any powerhouse school precisely because he wanted to prove that teamwork could defeat the Generation of Miracles.
That personal basketball could never triumph over unity.
But now?
He hadn't even done anything yet, and Midorima was already passing the ball.
Whether it was from shock or disbelief, Seirin's defense froze for a heartbeat, long enough for Shutoku to score another two points.
100–96.
"Oi oi~~ that's just brutal!"
Twenty seconds left. Four points behind. Still not hopeless, but the fear spreading among Seirin wasn't from the score, it was from Midorima's pass.
A Generation of Miracles member who had learned to cooperate… Just the thought of it was terrifying.
But there was no time left for hesitation.
No matter how their scalps tingled, Seirin could only grit their teeth and attack.
Yet Shutoku's defense was airtight.
Kagami was locked down by Midorima.
Inside the paint, Shutoku's national-level center Otsubo Taisuke held firm. Without Kiyoshi Teppei, Seirin's interior was their greatest weakness.
That left only the perimeter,
and all the pressure fell on Hyuga Junpei.
After the bitter defeat last year, Hyuga had trained hard, perfecting his "Clutch Shot" and mastering his "dual personality."
But this wasn't a matter of whether he'd miss, it was that Shutoku wasn't even giving him a chance to shoot.
After a long struggle on the outside, Hyuga finally managed to break free thanks to Izuki's screen,
He jumped, released,
Swish!
A perfect three-pointer.
100–99.
But by the time the ball fell through the net, only three seconds remained.
And the next possession was Shutoku's.
"Looks like this is it."
Not just Seiho, but even the audience had already declared Seirin's loss.
"Guess that means our next opponent will be Shutoku. Man, a Midorima who passes? That's straight-up terrifying."
That single pass had shocked not only Seirin, but also Seiho's entire team.
Akashi Asuka, however, gave them a peculiar look.
You guys sure like tempting fate, huh?
Others might not know it, but he did, whenever Seirin found themselves cornered like this, they never lost.
"BEEP!"
As the discussion continued, the whistle blew for the final play.
Shutoku's possession.
Before Seirin could even guess who the ball would go to, Miyaji Kiyoshi wasted no time passing it straight to Midorima.
Catching the ball, Midorima didn't stall for time. Instead, he immediately assumed his shooting form.
"He's still going for it?!"
The crowd gasped. It made no sense, there were only three seconds left! Running out the clock would've been the logical choice.
But not everyone was surprised.
Seiho's players, and that same blond spectator, were already nodding, as if they'd expected this.
"Even at the very end, to never give up on scoring, that's the dignity of a king," said Kasuga Ryuhei, his voice filled with respect.
"Yeah," Akashi Asuka agreed softly. Then he added, "And that's exactly why Shutoku will lose this match."
Smack!
The moment he said it, chaos erupted on the court.
The ball vanished from Midorima's hands, snatched away not by Kagami, but by Kuroko Tetsuya.
The phantom sixth man had once again demonstrated his uncanny presence.
Even his former teammate, Midorima Shintaro, had momentarily forgotten he existed.
Seizing the ball, Kuroko sprinted toward the basket. Midorima, jolted back to his senses, immediately gave chase.
"It's over, Kuroko!" Midorima shouted.
"No," Kuroko's calm reply cut through the tension. "I'm just the shadow."
In the next instant, he flung the ball forward and from behind Midorima, a blinding figure caught it mid-air and slammed it through the hoop with thunderous force.
BOOM!
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