"What?"
"Did… did he score? And it was an alley-oop!"
"What just happened? What did we just see?"
The crowd erupted into chatter at this sudden basket.
Not because of anything else, but because Seiho's offense had been incredibly fast. From the three-point line to a dunk, it all seemed to happen in less than a second.
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"Whoa! That pass speed is insane!"
Kise Ryouta was shocked. "I knew their passes were clean when I watched before, but I didn't expect them to be this fast!"
"It's not just the speed of the passes,"
Midorima Shintaro shook his head. "Seiho's team coordination is on a whole other level. Without that kind of chemistry, an alley-oop would almost certainly fail."
Seiho's quick attack looked magical, but it was just simple consecutive passes combined with an alley-oop.
Yet often, the simpler the attack, the more effective it is.
Alley-oops are rarely used as a standard scoring method because of the high risk. If teammates aren't perfectly in sync, the failure rate far exceeds the success rate.
Especially when opponents are under the basket, even slight interference dramatically increases the chance of failure.
But with Akashi Asuka on Seiho's side, the second type of risk was virtually reduced to zero.
As a result, a rarely used move became an absolute scoring option for Seiho.
==========
Seiho launched another offense.
Kasuga Ryuhei dribbled along the perimeter, while Akashi Asuka charged inside without the ball.
With his size and strength, even Akashi Seijuro couldn't stop him without the ball.
"You're not getting through me this time, Akashi!"
Nebuya Eikichi leapt to defend, but Akashi Asuka jumped, and in Nebuya's stunned eyes, it was as if a giant bird had taken flight, landing forcefully on his head.
BANG!
BOOM!
Two massive crashes resounded simultaneously.
The latter was obviously the slam dunk.
The first? Nebuya Eikichi being blasted across the court.
"Whoa~~~"
"The third alley-oop! Seiho is amazing, even Rakuzan can't stop them!"
"Did you see that? Nebuya Eikichi just got knocked away! That strength… even the Uncrowned Kings are no match for him."
The crowd, while impressed with Seiho's scoring streak, was even more captivated by Akashi Asuka slamming Nebuya off the floor.
Nebuya Eikichi, one of the Uncrowned Kings.
His immense strength had been fully displayed in the prior duel with Tsutomu Iwamura.
Yet even this powerhouse was sent flying by Akashi in a split second. The scene was shocking.
"You okay? Sorry, I didn't notice you just now,"
Akashi Asuka helped Nebuya up. Polite in appearance, but his words were infuriating.
"What did you say?"
Nebuya's strength was undeniable, but only compared to certain opponents.
Even pre-"Safety Line" Murasakibara Atsushi was half a tier stronger than him. How could he possibly match Akashi now?
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"Such terrifying strength!"
From the back of the stands, Satsuki Momoi's eyes widened in shock. "Even Nebuya has no way to counter him. Rakuzan has no method to stop Akashi now."
"Ah~"
Aomine Daiki lowered his eyes to the court. "He's found an attack even Akashi can't stop… but that alone isn't enough! Being good at offense won't solve the current problem."
15:25.
After three consecutive alley-oops, Seiho finally advanced on the scoreboard.
Yet as Seiho scored, Rakuzan also continued scoring.
Murasakibara crouched. "Daiki's right. Seiho is still a defense-oriented team. If they can't figure out a way to stop Rakuzan and Akashi, Asuka alone won't last long."
==========
"Not bad."
Akashi Seijuro dribbled as Kasuga Ryuhei guarded him. "As opponents, I admire your effort. But that changes nothing. Victory belongs to Rakuzan. Absolutely."
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Two glowing rings suddenly appeared in Akashi's eyes. Kasuga only heard a few dribbles, and the next moment, he was on the ground.
"Damn it! How do you stop a monster like this?"
Kasuga glared as Akashi passed by, like a king inspecting his territory.
But the very next second, another obstacle appeared, not a person, but Akashi Asuka.
Seeing him, Akashi Seijuro's expression remained unchanged. Coldly, he said,
"Useless. No one can defy my orders. Anyone who does must die."
"Kneel! Akashi!"
Akashi activated the Emperor Eye, ready to detect a weakness in Asuka.
But then he hesitated.
There was no weakness. Or rather, every part of Asuka's body was a potential weakness… because he was completely relaxed.
This feeling… is this 'Animal Instinct'…?
Having played with Aomine and now with Hayama Kotaro, Akashi was familiar with 'Animal Instinct.' But Asuka's level was undeniably higher.
"Even so… no one can stop me."
Akashi muttered, accelerating his dribble, his Emperor Eye monitoring every move. Any twitch from Asuka would trigger the Ankle Breaker.
Yet no matter what he tried, Asuka remained perfectly still…
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria