Chapter 067: Everyone Stand Up, Shigure Akihito Is About to Show Off

On Teiko's bench…

Nanaki Asahi, also a shooting guard, looked on at the court with a complicated expression, sympathy flashing in his eyes as he watched Reo Mibuchi.

That guy Shigure…

With that terrifying talent of his, he's just playing by a different set of rules!

And following that explosive mid-air block by Shigure Akihito, the gym suddenly erupted into animated chatter.

"That was insane..."

"Reo Mibuchi, a middle schooler pulling off fadeaway threes, even if it doesn't quite compare to Shigure Akihito's insane range, it's still incredibly rare. But that block by Akihito... he deliberately pulled back his positioning beforehand..."

"Exactly… After getting fooled by Mibuchi's fake on the first shot, Akihito switched strategies for the second, completely ignoring the preliminary techniques like fakes, cuts, or screens. He just waited for the release, then used his beyond-middle-school-level bounce to intercept the shot mid-air, right from the three-point arc!"

"Pulling back his distance was probably to buy time for his jump and reaction. Only a guy with monster-level hops like Akihito could make that work..."

Back on the court,

After that massive block, Shigure Akihito transitioned immediately into offense.

And this time, he went from guest to host.

He drew from Reo Mibuchi's own future technique, the legendary "Heaven, Earth, and Void", and recreated a new style around what he dubbed the Stationary Gentle Three, forming a triad of counter-attacks centered around it.

Off-ball movement.

Godai Tomokazu, full-speed sprint.

He caught a pass from a teammate to trigger:

Stationary Gentle Three: Lateral Retreat Jumper

[Stationary Gentle Three: Lateral Retreat Jumper] In acceleration, catch and trigger a lateral retreat shot. Upon catching, perform a fake to draw the defender into the air, then retreat laterally and shoot from a stable base.

In that split-second of the catch…

If the defender was too far: fake becomes real, fire off a hyper-quick Stationary Gentle Three!

If the defender was too close: fake first, then execute the full retreat-and-shoot combo.

If the defender positioned just right: he'd previously needed a prep step (like a 'crescent retreat') to pull off a fadeaway, but now, using Sendo's one-step fadeaway, he could go straight into the shot.

Reo Mibuchi, who had never seen this version of Shigure Akihito before, was stunned!

Not just the types of shots…

Even the motions…

The rhythm…

Everything was different!

The only thing that remained the same, was how deadly accurate he was!

Swish!

Swish!

Swish!

Then came three back-to-back possessions,

Three consecutive three-point bombardments hammered Senzan's basket.

All of them sank!

Senzan finally managed to answer with a difficult three-pointer, Reo Mibuchi freeing himself through a series of screens and a clean pick to finally return fire.

But then, Shigure fired back again.

[Kamizō Ichirō Ultimate: Time Freeze Jumper] , A motion as smooth as flowing water, where everyone else seems frozen in time, and only he moves, only he shoots.

In essence, it resembled Himuro Tatsuya's signature style.

Back in the Winter Cup,

A simple stop-and-pop jumper.

Even Hyūga Junpei and Kagami Taiga had seen it, yet couldn't react in time.

Though the technique looked basic, Himuro's seamless transitions made it impossible to detect the shooting cue. Each movement was executed with such perfection that defenders didn't realize the shot was already in motion.

The polar opposite of Daiki Aomine's raw and unrestrained style, Himuro was the ultimate orthodox technician, polished, disciplined, and devout to fundamentals.

In that sense, he and Kamizō Ichirō, who sank 500 threes daily, shared the same spirit.

And once again, Reo Mibuchi was left slack-jawed.

"Amazing…"

"Beautiful three!"

He wasn't the only one awestruck.

In the stands,

Hyūga Junpei, Aida Riko, and Izuki Shun, all from the same school.

First-year Hyūga had only recently started basketball, but now he found himself training daily at Riko's family gym.

This summer, in August, was the first time he'd truly witnessed what real national-level basketball looked like.

No,

It might've been beyond national-level.

And that "beyond" was all thanks to Teiko's #7 on the court.

Earlier that morning, Hyūga had watched a Senzan game and thought the most beautiful shooter of his generation was Reo Mibuchi.

That guy's form…

Fluid. Powerful.

He really did look cool.

But now, it wasn't even close.

Even though Teiko's #7 kept changing his shot forms, Hyūga realized, there was only one true shooter standing at the origin of everything he aspired to.

"So cool."

"So cool."

Hyūga and Aida Riko both said it at the same time.

Then,

Hyūga: "…"

Riko: "…"

Riko awkwardly cleared her throat and began flipping through her notebook, rattling off details as if to distract herself.

"Number 7!"

"Shigure Akihito!"

"Same year as us, a first-year!"

"From Tokyo's #1 seed, with over 100 members, the basketball powerhouse, Teiko Junior High!"

"I heard he and #8 Nijimura Shuzo made the first string the day they joined, became starters within a week, and were confirmed as starting five before the Nationals even began!"

"He averaged a team-high 40 points per game in the prelims, and only needed three quarters to do it!"

"And now, even on the national stage, his performance hasn't dipped at all, it's only gotten better…"

Listening to her, Hyūga couldn't help but gulp.

Just like his failed attempts to copy Ray Allen's shooting form, no matter how hard he trained, his shooting percentage only dropped lower.

Eventually, he gave up.

Shigure Akihito…

Clearly.

Was already at a level far beyond his reach.

End of the First Quarter.

As expected.

Shigure Akihito completely torched Reo Mibuchi.

Teiko vs. Senzan , 33:16

"Well done, Shigure!"

"Too accurate!"

"From the first quarter, we've seized the momentum!"

"We've got this in the bag!"

On the bench, the team's praise for Shigure Akihito and their optimism about winning weren't premature celebrations.

Even Shigure himself was sure of it.

Reo Mibuchi…

That "Heaven Shot" fadeaway alone wasn't a real threat.

As for the "Earth Shot"…

And the later "Void Shot"...

There's no way Mibuchi could pull them off now. His current physical condition just didn't allow it.

The Earth Shot required baiting the defender into jumping, then crouching and shooting again mid-air, absorbing contact and finishing with stability for a possible 3+1.

But Reo's fakes weren't even fooling anyone to begin with.

And that was because,

He didn't yet have the high school version's height of 188cm, which was what made his fakes credible.

He lacked mid-air stability too.

Without the Earth Shot, the Void Shot couldn't exist.

Second quarter began.

Senzan came out strong in the opening two minutes, but not because of Reo Mibuchi.

In fact, it was quite the opposite.

From the get-go, he could no longer challenge Shigure Akihito from beyond the arc. He had no answer.

So Senzan shifted to an inside-focused, team-centric offense.

But if it came to that,

How could they ever hope to match up against Nijimura?

Under coach Platinum's orders,

Shigure Akihito reined himself in, and the second quarter became Nijimura Shuzo's time to shine.

That's when the opponent finally experienced what a true cornerstone player looked like, someone who lifted the entire team's offense and defense simultaneously.

The score gap climbed again at the same rate as the first quarter.

But the real problem for Senzan wasn't just the scoreboard.

It was the mental collapse of their first-year ace.

A common pitfall for most teams with hyped rookies.

"Snap out of it, Reo!"

After being shaken awake by his seniors' voices, Reo Mibuchi came back to his senses.

But the moment he looked at Shigure Akihito again, his mind spiraled.

When it came to shooting…

He had never met anyone better than himself.

Everyone called him a prodigy.

As a first-year,

He could already hit fadeaway threes.

He even named it confidently, Heaven Shot.

But in front of Shigure Akihito…

All of that…

Was an illusion.

The same year.

The same position.

And yet, the variety,

The close-range ones…

The absurd long-range ones…

An arsenal of dazzling, overwhelming three-point capabilities!

And just as he was spiraling into self-doubt again, Shigure Akihito leaned over, striking with perfect timing, words laced in venom.

"No need to look that heartbroken~"

"It's just a jersey, right?"

"How about…"

"We cancel the bet, and I give it back?"

Reo Mibuchi: "…"

This bastard!

Was that just his style, or was he deliberately trying to piss him off?

Seeing a glimmer of fire return to Mibuchi's eyes, Shigure scratched his cheek with mock guilt.

"You know, right? Three-point shooting is only a small part of my offensive toolkit..."

"So, now that you've perked up..."

"Can I start for real?"

In Mibuchi's puzzled gaze, Shigure Akihito soon showed him just how serious, and terrifying, that statement really was.

End of chapter...

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