"There must be a limit to this ability."
Akashi didn't believe that anyone's rate of improvement could be so fast and without limits. He opened his Emperor Eye, predicting everything through Yuuto's body. The clear "future" was presented before him.
It was still the absolute ball control that made people sigh, a testament to his being born to play basketball. Akashi showed that he could score whenever he wanted.
"Get out of my way, Yuuto!"
"Bang, bang, bang~"
After several close-range skirmishes, Yuuto's physical balance was once again destroyed. This time, he even seemed to trip. Under the horrified gaze of the Homi Academy team, Yuuto's body uncontrollably began to fall toward the ground. In a daze, they didn't see Yuuto falling, but a pillar suddenly collapsing.
"Captain!"
"Yuu!"
They shouted in tension, yet... in the instant he was about to fall, Yuuto twisted his other foot like an action movie star. This twist allowed him to turn before he fell, stabilizing his balance and center of gravity, and simultaneously accelerating to chase behind Akashi. He was like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, opening his jaws toward Akashi.
"Give up the ball, Akashi!"
Yuuto exploded with full speed, sticking close to Akashi, who instantly felt a prickling sensation on his back. Then, he felt Yuuto's powerful body squeeze against him. Akashi managed to pass the ball to a teammate just before his body lost balance due to the squeeze.
"Akashi... he..."
The Teikō players showed expressions of disbelief. Again. Akashi's offensive initiative had been largely neutralized by Yuuto. Why "largely"? On one hand, Akashi was forced to pass the ball by Yuuto, which was an excellent defensive play. But on the other hand, Akashi made a good pass, preventing Homi Academy's defensive crisis from escalating. Hence, it was only "largely" successful.
Everyone on the scene could see Yuuto's desperation. His offensive stats were still only assists, with no points scored. But his influence on the game was expanding! Yuuto had repeatedly forced Akashi to pass the ball and completed many help defense plays. Even though he looked a bit disheveled on the surface, having been crossed by Akashi a few times, their influence on the situation was almost equal.
"Swish!"
The ball still went in. Aomine crossed two players, including the chasing Yuuto, and sent the ball into the hoop with an incomprehensible posture. Yuuto landed and wiped the sweat from his brow, shouting, "Better teamwork!"
He seemed completely unaffected by being almost tripped by Akashi.
"Yes!" His teammates responded unitedly.
Turning back, Yuuto's score didn't increase, but he created opportunities for his teammates on offense time and time again. After Haizaki and Kuroko executed a cross-screen, Aomine and Kise instantly switched on defense. And when Kuroko faced Kise instead of Aomine.
"Pass!"
Yuuto took a step back, wrapping the ball behind his back and instantly passing it.
"He's more composed!"
Akashi's expression was cold. Ever since the time he intercepted Yuuto's pass, Yuuto immediately corrected that weakness. Every time since, Akashi could not intercept Yuuto's pass. The quality of this pass was low. Logically, the defenders should have enough time to recover.
But... Kuroko didn't care whether the opponent's defense was in place or not. His current Phantom Shot could ignore defense.
"Swish!"
Kuroko's shot hit again. The ball passed under Kise's armpit and entered the hoop in a very unreasonable way.
"Even though I know, I don't know how to defend it," Kise felt a headache coming on. He already knew the secret of the Phantom Shot, but how to defend it was another matter.
"This is terrible, my heart is pounding so fast."
Joining Teikō for so long, this was the first time Momoi had witnessed such a tense game. Even last year against Homi Academy, she hadn't had a similar feeling. But... the game was only fun like this.
On the ensuing possession, Kise used off-ball movement to shake off Haizaki, and Akashi spotted him and delivered a precise pass. Kise feigned a drive to the inside, but waited until Haizaki closed in, then used his speed to retreat to the three-point line, gathered the ball, and jumped to shoot.
...
"Sky-High Shot!"
Kise hit a three-pointer with a high degree of difficulty. Far away in Kyoto, Mibuchi Reo's mood was complex. His signature shot was nothing special in front of these geniuses; they used it whenever they pleased.
"I can lose to anyone but you, Haizaki!" Kise landed and stared intently at Haizaki. They instinctively repelled each other because they both possessed similar abilities.
"This player..."
"What is it, Coach?"
"Nothing."
Takenouchi Genta now looked at the court as if watching a treasure trove. Every player was a once-in-a-million genius. Even Kise Ryōta, who seemed not yet on the same level as Aomine, Yuuto, and Akashi... if things continued this way, he might surpass everyone one day. Mimicry itself was a form of learning, meaning he was constantly progressing!
Turning back, Yuuto assisted Haizaki in hitting a return three-pointer. Haizaki's body seemed to dissipate like a mirage, retreating to the three-point line and shooting with the same motion.
And, "It was plagiarized." Kise really wanted to expel the memory of Haizaki's shot from his mind, not wanting to be disrupted by the opponent's rhythm. But he couldn't do it.
"I will steal everything about you, Ryōta!" Haizaki delivered a statement befitting a villain.
"Come and try if you can."
The two were locked in a rivalry. The two players, whose abilities were jokingly described by netizens as "copy-paste" and "cut-paste," suddenly butted heads.
A three-point rain suddenly began on the court. Both teams chose to trade three-pointers because within the three-point line, there stood a monster with a terrifying defensive radius. In this rhythm, both teams scored points incredibly fast. But in this tense scoring race, Yuuto's Weakness Correction talent had silently activated again and again.
At this moment, he was truly like a dormant lion. No one knew when he would suddenly burst out. Akashi just had that feeling. This opponent would not be content to be a supporting player for the entire game.
...
Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"