Fukaya Reiji had pushed his Ultimate Shadow to its limit.
In a blink, he broke past Midorima's defense, but even with Midorima's miracle-level physical attributes, he was still within Midorima's chase range.
Immediately
Another Ultimate Shadow feint — the Buddha Fakeout.
Step-back!
With that motion, before the eyes of everyone from Yosen, the phantom melted away and Fukaya was now outside the three-point line, ready to shoot.
Gasps swept across the stands.
Because they also
Got deceived by the phantom again!
On court.
Using the momentum of the step-back, Fukaya's body leaned slightly backward.
Combining with the consecutive Ultimate Shadow feints, he'd created a clean positional gap — naturally pulling far from Midorima!
Jump shot — a three-pointer — without a trace of hesitation!
And yet
Just as he predicted, Midorima still closed in!
Against such space, Midorima's foundation—physical ability far surpassing canon miracle levels—exploded the moment Fukaya rose, giving him shocking speed and elevation!
Everything happened in a spark of lightning.
Midorima sprang; with his height and reach, in Fukaya's peripheral view, the block was already there.
But even then, Midorima's feet were still a distance away, the block relying purely on reach and elevation to compensate for that gap.
Fukaya's pupils shrank.
He was truly strong…
Midorima.
But
You still can't reach.
Fukaya's backward-leaning three-pointer rose higher and higher.
Only at the final instant, when the ball barely cleared Midorima's reach — just past his fingertips — did he release.
A lightning-quick snap of the wrist sent the ball toward the rim.
Midorima's block missed — by two finger widths…
Then
CLANG!
Three-pointer!
A bit stiff, bouncing on the rim before dropping!
Spectators froze.
Many teams who'd played Kaijō before were stunned. Fukaya Reiji was famously strong in high school — everyone knew that…
But none expected him to be this strong.
Compared to facing them, this power felt like a completely different creature.
As for Yosen's players, what shocked them wasn't the shot — but that Midorima Shintarō failed to stop it.
After Fukaya scored, Fukui Kensuke hurried toward the unmoving Midorima, wanting to comfort him.
"It's fine, we're still ahead, h—"
But when he reached Midorima and saw his expression—he froze.
The words died in his throat.
Ever since Midorima joined Yosen, he always left the impression of icy calm, absolute control.
But just now, Midorima muttered to himself while staring at Fukaya
Expression…
Hinting excitement.
Kaijō vs Yosen
Score: 25–26
Many spectators only now snapped out of the trance caused by the phantom.
They looked blankly toward Fukaya.
The ball went in??
Too…
Unreasonable.
They clearly saw a phantom wearing Kaijō jersey #6 — what WAS that thing?!
Silence briefly filled the stadium.
Those who hadn't followed high-school basketball last year stared at the court, dumbstruck, before the noise exploded again.
"I didn't missee, right? Or was it too fast?"
"I saw it too!"
"That has to be some special technique. It tricked the eyes — like we were forced to follow the fake motion!"
"There's such a technique?"
Kaijō fans quickly tried to explain. They didn't understand the full mechanics, but they'd seen this Ultimate Shadow last year — although back then, the illusion wasn't nearly this strong.
Still
Most people remained baffled.
How could a simple fake motion deceive the eyes so deeply that a phantom lingered?
But the result couldn't be denied.
On court.
Midorima calmed down and received the ball, eyes locked on Fukaya.
Offensive threat — Ultimate Shadow, burst acceleration…
Defense — the spider technique.
As a player, Senpai Fukaya was perfectly balanced in offense and defense.
And just like the composed looks of Shiyu and Nijimura, in the second quarter, Fukaya instantly shrank the score gap to 1.
25–26…
Hoo…
Midorima exhaled deeply.
So much for conserving stamina — against Senpai Fukaya, detailed tactical fortune calculation was necessary.
Yosen offense.
Midorima advanced to midcourt.
Facing him, Fukaya held his arms loosely at his sides, wild-intensity focus radiating off him — and behind him, killing intent condensed into a spider.
Hiss!
The opening of the attack resembled the previous possession.
Under the web's tight pressure, Midorima forced space using physical strength to execute a shooting motion.
Midorima's three-point threat forced Fukaya to jump — because if he failed to block, it was an easy three.
Midorima pump-faked to draw the jump — then broke through!
But
When Midorima reached just past the arc, the next moment Fukaya was already in front of him — the two nearly collided.
Spectators were shell-shocked by Fukaya's acceleration.
"Still so fast!!"
"In pure burst speed, Fukaya is above Midorima!"
"But…"
"It doesn't last long."
"But in short-distance defense where top speed can't be held, Fukaya's burst has the advantage!"
On court.
Midorima's eyes narrowed.
Next second
He laterally shifted and accelerated.
On the other side
Liu Wei froze for a second when he saw Midorima's move, but held still.
Correct.
Natural pick-and-roll.
Timing and positioning perfect.
But
Fukaya's spider reaction speed ignored the screen completely, pivoting to block him again.
But
That wasn't the purpose of the screen.
He didn't want to bury Fukaya.
Because Rainbow Village Shuzō (Nijimura) was the one guarding Liu Wei — Midorima wasn't foolish enough to run himself into that battle.
His purpose was
The higher-percentage outcome he saw through tactical fortune.
Whoosh!
Using the screen, Midorima kept pulling laterally.
He faked a pass toward Liu Wei — Fukaya didn't bite.
But then Midorima hit him with a sudden step-back — and for a brief instant, Fukaya was delayed!
Two reasons:
That slight separation from navigating the screen
The previous possession's rim attack planted subconscious inertia
Hiss!
Step-back shot!
Fukaya reacted instantly, but Midorima's shot — nearly on the arc — was equally quick.
In that tiny window, from gathering the ball to jumping, Midorima had finished everything.
Fukaya could only explode up to contest.
But
The elevation and release made it untouchable.
Swish!
Bucket!
Midorima's first three.
Kaijō vs Yosen
Score: 25–29!
On court.
Fukaya frowned slightly.
He didn't care Midorima used the screen.
What he cared about was Midorima's decisiveness — every motion fearless, without hesitation.
The entire sequence
Almost as if he saw the conclusion first, then worked backward.
To a bystander, it seemed ordinary.
But to Fukaya, he had brushed against something huge.
And soon…
What Fukaya sensed wasn't only in Midorima's offense — it appeared in defense too.
And this time
Even the clueless spectators could clearly see Midorima's transformation.
"What kind of showdown is this!?"
"This is insane!"
"Ahhh! Again!"
"Fukaya's Ultimate Shadow and burst!"
"He's gonna—"
In another burst of phantom imagery, a shadow appeared — fans screamed!
But this time
Midorima completely read Fukaya's ability, slipped straight through the illusion, and blocked his attack route before anyone saw which motion was the fake!
Then
Tight block!
SMACK!
Clean rejection!
Although not as visually shocking as Fukaya's opening-block-grab, it was equally intimidating.
Fans stopped breathing
How could things flip so fast??
Last possession felt even match, now Midorima shut him down perfectly?!
On court.
The ball was blocked but possession remained Kaijō's.
However
During the remaining time
"2.3 seconds"
"He can't even control the ball!"
"What happened?!"
"Fukaya can't break Midorima!?"
With the clock ticking, Fukaya inhaled, then suddenly raised the ball — as if going for a desperate hook!
But
At the moment everyone thought he'd shoot — another phantom appeared!
He froze his motion at the last instant!
Then
Fadeaway!
Burst ability combined — incredibly difficult shot.
Midorima's contest should've been harder because of this
But
"20%…"
As Midorima murmured, his block clipped the edge of the ball on release.
Yosen's bench erupted:
"Beautiful!"
Amid the cheers
Midorima's voice carried clearly:
"You nearly grasped that 20% chance, Senpai… but unfortunately…"
"Capricorn-senpai"
"Today's fortune isn't favorable."
"So subtract…"
"5%."
Facing this fortune-telling lunatic, Fukaya narrowed his eyes.
Maybe this was similar to Nijimura's instantaneous mental calculations — but also profoundly different.
Midorima's…
Had become numerical precision.
END OF CHAPTER
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