With a whoosh, like a gust of wind blowing past.
Yuuto in front of Kuroko turned fiercely behind him just like that.
Immediately after.
From the undefended basket came the sound of the basketball entering the net.
No blood-pumping dunk; Yuuto just simply placed the ball into the net.
The ball went in.
The gap between the two teams was expanding rapidly; Seiho was dominating the court.
"Actually blocked it?!"
"This... only used it once."
Seirin's people felt their whole bodies turning cold.
The spirit before the game was being defeated bit by bit by Yuuto.
The opponent's figure felt unattainable, standing before them like an omnipotent god.
Riko Aida hurriedly walked to the central technical table and called a timeout.
If they continued playing like this, the game would collapse soon.
Kagami returned to the bench, his face unprecedentedly solemn.
"I'm starting to understand what you said, Kuroko. Such a monster isn't something the current me can defeat alone."
His mind was now full of Yuuto's unrivaled figure.
Defense, offense, even passing were so perfect.
The opponent seemed born to play basketball, a genius meticulously crafted by God to distinguish the distance from mortals.
Such a person would be hard to find even on the street courts of the US.
"But we are not alone."
"Yeah."
Kagami quickly adjusted his state, taking water from a teammate to replenish fluids.
But Riko Aida.
Looking at the sweating rate on his body, her face became even more solemn.
When facing Kaijo, Kagami's sweating rate wasn't this abnormal.
She couldn't imagine how much pressure Kagami was under matching up against Yuuto.
"Kuroko, just asking, does Yuuto know the weakness of Misdirection?"
"He knows."
As expected.
Riko Aida put away the trace of luck in her heart.
Makes sense.
After all, they were teammates a year ago; how could he not know Kuroko's weakness?
This way, after the second quarter, until the end of the third quarter in the second half, Kuroko could only rest on the bench.
They had to wait for Kuroko's skill CD (cooldown) to recover.
"Since it's like this, we absolutely cannot collapse in the second quarter."
"Use that, Kuroko!"
"That?" Junpei Hyuga and the others looked confused.
"From now until the end of the second quarter, we will use Kuroko as the main scoring point!"
"Eh?"
"Ehhh!!!"
Several people were stunned first, then shocked.
"But if we do this, Kuroko's Misdirection..."
"We don't have the right to think about the second half."
Riko Aida had made up her mind.
Tactical changes were nonexistent; they played so fast, yet still couldn't poke through Seiho's iron wall.
Survive the second quarter safely first, then they would be qualified to consider more.
"Kagami!"
"Got it. I will fully cooperate with Kuroko."
Kuroko was right; this wasn't a one-man game.
...
Decades of seconds passed; the game continued.
Seirin's ball.
Still that V-formation standing.
Seiho's defensive formation also didn't change, still the iron barrel-like 2-1-2 variant zone defense. It looked like Seirin was surrounded by a pack of wolves.
However, in the past ten-plus minutes of the game, Seiho's defense line could be described as impregnable.
"Not making changes? What are they planning?" Midorima frowned.
Stubbornly attempting to tear open Seiho's defense with quick passing at this time was wishful thinking.
"True. Ah-Yu's correction of their tactics has probably reached a point where it can't be corrected anymore, right?" Momoi was originally quite expectant.
Wanted to find valuable intelligence from other teams.
Now it seemed Seirin didn't seem to have any other ideas.
Then.
The ball went to Kuroko's hands.
"Eh?" Momoi and Midorima froze simultaneously. "Letting Kuroko-kun face Ah-Yu?"
This was too bold; wasn't it courting death?
On the court.
Junpei Hyuga and Izuki Shun simultaneously pulled away their defenders, then gave the ball to Kuroko.
At this moment.
One step inside the top of the three-point arc, Kuroko was holding the ball facing Yuuto directly.
"Is this... Vanishing Drive?" Yukio Kasamatsu obviously saw Seirin's intention.
In the previous practice match, they used a similar tactic, letting Kuroko break through Kise directly.
"Is there really no way to solve this move?"
"I can't think of one for now." Kise scratched his head awkwardly; he was broken through by Kuroko several times in that match against Seirin.
Thump thump thump~
The basketball hit the floor again and again, bouncing back into Kuroko's hand.
In front of him.
Yuuto's expression was calm, terrifyingly composed.
"Can he really do it?"
"Even if he does, won't it be corrected by Yuuto's ability?"
Kagami thought about it many times in his heart...
Yuuto's Weakness Correction seemed limitless.
Whenever they painstakingly advanced a step, Yuuto would silently take a step forward too.
Such ability was extremely torturous.
But looking at Kuroko's eyes, he didn't doubt him.
an invisible tacit understanding formed between the two, connecting them.
In the next second!
The new Light and Shadow combination moved simultaneously.
The moment Kuroko started, Kagami broke into Yuuto's field of vision at the fastest speed and assumed an attacking posture.
Players.
Are creatures that will consider all threatening factors once on the court.
Especially facing the opponent's Ace, you can never ignore their existence.
Yuuto was no exception; his gaze involuntarily looked at the enemy most threatening to him.
Even if his reaction was extremely fast, there would be a moment of distraction.
As long as Kuroko seized this moment, he could disintegrate Yuuto's defense line.
At that time, Seiho's airtight defense would also crumble.
Riko Aida watched the court nervously. Her goal was to break the defensive core Yuuto, then pierce Seiho's iron wall.
She watched the coordination between Kuroko and Kagami; it was even more tacit than against Kaijo.
Yuuto was distracted; his attention was dispersed by Kagami. Kuroko also successfully seized this moment, accelerating to sweep past Yuuto's side.
"Success!!"
Riko Aida almost jumped up.
As long as this most important step could be completed, Seirin's choices would increase next.
Junpei Hyuga, Taiga Kagami, Izuki Shun, Mitobe Rinnosuke could all become Kuroko's passing targets.
Or even, Kuroko finishing the offense directly.
Without Yuuto's sweeping, the others in Seiho couldn't stop Kuroko's passing.
But...
"ROAR!"
Just when Seirin thought they succeeded, a violent beast nature suddenly erupted from Yuuto's body.
Like a beast suppressed for a long time, finally breaking out of the cage.
Without any warning, extremely abrupt.
In a trance, Seirin's people seemed to see a Tyrannosaurus Rex opening its bloody mouth toward them, biting over.
Then.
They also saw the motionless Yuuto's body take a step back following Kuroko's movement, simultaneously swinging his right arm down.
Snap!
...
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