"Next time, I will completely shut you down, Midorima."
Yuuto dropped these words and walked leisurely across half-court.
Bluffing?
No!
Midorima didn't feel he understood Yuuto well enough, but he knew clearly that Yuuto wasn't the type of person who liked to bluff.
Shutoku's off-ball screen tactic had likely already been corrected by him.
Little did he know, Yuuto skipped that troublesome option and chose to solve the problem at the source—Midorima.
Beep~
The second quarter ended.
Seiho scored a high 30 points in a single quarter, leading Shutoku 59:48 by 11 points at halftime.
Shutoku ultimately failed to keep the deficit in single digits.
Facing Yuuto's drives and shots, plus those pervasive passes, Seiho blossomed in multiple areas. The storm-like offense left Shutoku breathless.
Yuuto's scoring dropped slightly in the second quarter; he scored 15 points, bringing his halftime total to 35 points. But his assist count reached 5.
Converting these 5 assists into 10 points meant a halftime contribution of 45 points, higher than Midorima's halftime 36 points.
This gap was almost exactly the current point difference between the two teams.
Locker room.
Shutoku players seized the time to rest.
Masaaki Nakatani squatted in front of the players with the tactical board to explain the second-half deployment.
"The situation of the match has completely exceeded our game plan."
"Trailing by double digits at halftime isn't the result I wanted, but since it happened, we can only accept it."
"We won't change centering our scoring around Midorima, but we need to enter the next phase."
Midorima scored a game-high (second high) 36 points in the first half. It couldn't be said that Shutoku's offensive strategy failed.
The reason they trailed by so much was entirely because they couldn't stop Seiho's Number 10.
Under Yuuto's leadership, Seiho achieved an overall shooting percentage of 90% in the second quarter.
This was why Shutoku trailed by double digits.
Nakatani hadn't expected Yuuto to evolve to this extent after not seeing him for a year.
On offense, he mastered space; on defense, he seized time.
He interpreted for everyone what it meant to be a two-way player!
But he wouldn't give up easily, firmly believing that the power of the team surpasses the individual.
"Trust our preparation, trust the teammates beside you. Our preparation for this match definitely exceeds those rich boys from Seiho. We will win!"
That's right.
Their preparation for the match absolutely surpassed Seiho High School.
This team.
From the coach to the players, there wasn't a single person who didn't "do everything humanly possible!"
Midorima acknowledged everyone in Shutoku from the bottom of his heart. He was genuinely happy to have come to such a team.
Halftime lasted over ten minutes. After Nakatani finished speaking, he handed the time over to the players themselves.
Midorima subconsciously grabbed today's Cancer lucky item (the ruler?), discovering three tiny cracks on it that were hard to see with the naked eye.
Probably caused by an accidental collision.
...
The second half began.
Still Seiho's possession.
Right away, Yuuto held the ball facing Midorima directly. Kazunari Takao assisted from the side as always.
However, the moment Yuuto moved, the data changes in Takao's body told Yuuto that Takao was guarding against his pass.
"You're still too naive." Yuuto turned into a golden light and charged straight into the Shutoku paint.
No pass; he chose to attack himself.
"Damn it, was I completely seen through?" Takao gritted his teeth. It was too late to chase.
He could only watch helplessly as Yuuto, staring down Midorima, scored with a Mirage Shot.
13-point gap!
"It's almost like Akashi-kun... another kind of absolute prediction!" Momoi felt a stormy wave in her heart.
Perhaps.
This wasn't the true Emperor Eye; Yuuto couldn't make absolute predictions like Akashi.
But now, he possessed absolute suppression against players other than Akashi, who possessed the Emperor Eye.
How did he do it?
She thought of Yuuto's wide field of vision with no blind spots, and she thought of his ability to see through the specific data of players' bodies...
Wait, body data?
Could it be...
"What's wrong, Satsuki?"
"I think I know how Yu predicts the actions of opponents and teammates so precisely!"
Wide field of vision without blind spots, the ability to see changes in player body data at all times, and finally that unreasonable correction ability.
Although different from the Emperor Eye seeing the future directly.
Yuuto could know the opponent's high-probability next move through data, and with timely correction after failure, achieve complete defensive and offensive reading!
Not as precise as the Emperor Eye, but broader than the Emperor Eye.
Because Yuuto's vision covered the entire court.
"Can something like that really be done?"
"Others might not be able to, but if it's Yuuto, it's entirely possible."
Riko Aida was worthy of being a coach with a unique eye.
She suddenly recalled the last match against Seiho; in the end, it was Yuuto who reminded her that Kagami's ankle had a problem.
...
Since Yuuto could see changes in player body data in real-time, coupled with his own extreme cognitive ability...
At this point, even if Yuuto did something inconceivable, Riko Aida wouldn't be too surprised.
Because Yuuto's existence itself was shocking enough!
On the court.
Shutoku continued to use Midorima as the core, building tactics around him.
But this time.
It wasn't the off-ball screens of the first half; they added many variations.
One had to admire Shutoku's preparation for this match.
Targeting Yuuto's abilities, they researched several cracking methods.
Kiyoshi Miyaji set a high screen for Midorima. The latter moved laterally and took a hand-off pass from Kazunari Takao.
And he calmly dribbled one step around Takao's back, using his teammate as the best obstacle to block Seiho's pursuit.
...
Thus.
A not-so-great opportunity lay before Midorima.
For most three-point shooters, even national-level shooters like Junpei Hyuga, this wouldn't be considered a great opportunity.
But for Midorima, it was completely sufficient.
He only needed a release time as short as a single breath to score.
However, Yuuto didn't even give Midorima that chance to breathe.
Under Shinsuke Kimura's gaze, Yuuto in front of him suddenly dissipated like a bubble.
By the time he spotted Yuuto's figure again, the opponent had appeared on his other side, killing his way toward Midorima's position like a ghost.
"Phantom Step (Dream-like Bubble)? He can do it even off-ball?" Kimura felt a chill in his heart and hurriedly warned, "Watch out, Midorima!"
Screech~
Sneakers rubbed against the floor, making a piercing sound.
Almost the instant Midorima gathered the ball to jump, Yuuto flashed into existence.
"I said, next time I will completely shut you down."
Smack~
Yuuto extended his hand like lightning for a swipe. Before Midorima could make any further moves, he felt his hands go empty; the basketball had left his control.
"And I keep my word."
As soon as the words fell, Yuuto exploded with speed, snatching the ball and sprinting toward the frontcourt.
Seeing this scene.
Even Midorima could no longer remain calm.
He gritted his teeth hard and chased after that black figure.
But three seconds later, he suddenly felt his feet slip. His body completely lost its center of gravity, and he fell heavily to the floor.
Beside him, Yuuto, radiating golden light, swept past at extreme speed, ending the possession with a tomahawk dunk.
...
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