"What does this mean? Are you giving up defense… or do you think you can still catch up to me even if you move a step late?"
Akashi Asuka's defense caused Akashi Seijuro a moment of doubt, but it quickly vanished, replaced by determination. Interesting. In that case, I won't hold back.
Whoosh~
No more feints. Akashi accelerated forward, dribbling straight for the basket.
He had expected Asuka to react to his movements, adjusting at the last second, but even after breaking through, Asuka remained rooted in place.
"Another breakthrough!" Satsuki Momoi exclaimed.
"No, this one's a bit different from before," Aomine Daiki said.
==========
Akashi Seijuro hadn't yet analyzed Asuka's behavior pattern, but having broken through successfully, he prepared to shoot without hesitation.
Yet just as he was about to release the ball, an overwhelming sense of danger came from behind.
A shadow fell over him, obscuring the arena lights, like a monster from hell poised to swallow him whole.
Whoosh!
Instinct screamed. At the very last moment, Akashi yanked the ball back and, using the vision from his Emperor Eye, switched from shooting to passing, sending the ball away instead.
And at that exact moment, a massive hand descended from above.
No doubt about it.
Had Akashi taken that shot, the hand would have blocked it with absolute certainty.
"Eh? You didn't shoot! Seems like your luck is holding up!"
Asuka's voice came from behind, a hint of surprise at Akashi's last-second pass. But in the next instant, he added, "But are you really sure you want to pass it to that person? That doesn't seem like a good choice!"
"What?"
Akashi was startled and instinctively turned his head.
In that instant, reflected deep in his pupils was the image of Kasuga Ryuhei intercepting Mayuzumi Chihiro's pass.
"What? How is that possible?
"What? How is that possible?
"What? How is that possible?
The moment Mayuzumi's pass was stolen, every Rakuzan player, including Akashi, widened their eyes in shock.
Meanwhile…
Seiho launched a counterattack. As the Rakuzan players were momentarily distracted, Kasuga successfully scored.
17:25.
After the basket, Mayuzumi Chihiro, who had been guarding Kasuga in the first quarter, finally caught up. Seeing him, Kasuga smiled apologetically.
"Ah~~ sorry, sorry. I think this is the first time you've actually touched the ball!"
"You… can see me?" Mayuzumi stared at Kasuga, disbelief clear in his voice.
"What's so strange about seeing you?" Kasuga shrugged, still smiling innocently.
Beep~~~
"Rakuzan requests a timeout!"
==========
"…That Rakuzan number 5 was defeated that easily?"
Watching Rakuzan call a timeout, Satsuki Momoi blinked in disbelief.
If their guess was correct, Rakuzan's number 5 was modeled after Kuroko Tetsuya, a 'phantom sixth man.' And yet, he hadn't even made a single pass before being utterly defeated by Seiho.
It was like a dream.
Compared to Momoi's shock, the other members of the Generation of Miracles were less surprised.
Aomine Daiki said, "Not that shocking, right?"
Momoi protested, "But he's…"
Aomine scratched his head. "He's just a half-finished copy of Akashi. That Rakuzan number 5 is too stupid, he spent the entire first quarter under Seiho's calculations without noticing. This result isn't surprising at all."
This 'new-type phantom sixth man,' Mayuzumi Chihiro, may have had higher basic skills than the original Kuroko Tetsuya, but he had two fatal weaknesses.
The first was mindset. Unlike Kuroko, who fully dedicates himself to the team, Mayuzumi's playstyle was more self-centered.
This could be serious, or not, depending on how you look at it.
In the original, Kuroko's flaw was exploited by Jou Rin, but Akashi Asuka couldn't be sure he could exploit Mayuzumii's mindset in this match, psychology is hard to control during a game.
So Seiho instead targeted Mayuzumi's second weakness: his presence.
Both Mayuzumi and Kuroko had the Misdirection skill, but Kuroko became the phantom sixth man thanks not just to that skill, but also his naturally weak presence.
Misdirection + Minimal Presence.
Together, this created Kuroko's nearly-bugged playstyle on par with the Generation of Miracles.
Mayuzumi's presence wasn't strong, but only just "unnoticeable."
This level of presence, combined with Misdirection, could produce a sixth man, but far from a bug-level player.
Thus, in the first quarter, whenever Kasuga faced him, Mayuzumi would always pass decisively rather than attempt a breakthrough.
It seemed minor, but during this, all eyes in the stadium were quietly drawn to him.
Even spectators who didn't want to notice would be forced to watch, because a player even Kasuga couldn't break through was naturally attention-grabbing.
And this wasn't the Winter Cup, Mayuzumi wasn't even at full potential.
Once Misdirection was countered, Mayuzumi became useless.
"Exactly!"
Kise Ryouta added, "Compared to Rakuzan's new-type phantom sixth man, I'm more interested in the match between Asuka and Akashi earlier."
"That last pass… if I'm not mistaken, it wasn't an active pass from Akashi. He was forced to pass under Asuka's restriction."
=============
Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria