"Don't tell me… he can catch up?"
Akashi Asuka did not press in close to defend Akashi Seijuro.
Instead, he intentionally widened the distance between them.
He knew all too well how the Emperor Eye worked, the closer the opponent, the more terrifying that eye's predictive power became.
And that was also why Akashi dared to shoot a three-pointer here,
first, because of the distance, and second, because he had absolute confidence in his release speed.
But the moment that overwhelming presence surged toward him,
Akashi's shooting motion froze.
Whoosh!
The ball left his hand and flew, not toward the basket, but straight into Mibuchi Reo's hands.
"No breakthrough again… another direct pass?"
After receiving an unusual pass twice in a row, even Mibuchi and the others realized that something wasn't right.
But even so, Mibuchi did not hesitate to shoot.
"It's coming."
Seeing Mibuchi receive the ball, Kasuga Ryuhei immediately focused at full capacity.
Don't rush. I have to identify which shot he's using before I try to block.
He stared not at the ball, but at Mibuchi's center of gravity.
At a moment like this, watching the ball meant nothing.
The Uncrowned King, Yasha—Mibuchi Reo.
This man possessed three distinct shooting forms.
Swoosh!
But the moment Mibuchi shot, Kasuga was still a step too slow.
"So fast… this one's the Heaven Shot!"
The Heaven Shot was a direct fadeaway jumper.
At 188 cm tall, Mibuchi's fadeaway release placed him out of reach for most high school defenders.
Kasuga was already at a height disadvantage, and his reaction had been a fraction too slow.
By the time he raised his hand to block, the ball was already flying through the air and into the hoop.
17 : 28.
"As expected of one of the Uncrowned Kings… even with Asuka's intel, keeping up with his tempo is seriously difficult."
Kasuga wiped the sweat running down his face, quietly shaken.
At the same time, Mibuchi Reo was also watching Kasuga with new wariness.
He wasn't watching the ball… what exactly was he looking at?
==========
The score difference once again widened to over ten points.
Next possession.
Asuka moved back to the basket. Kasuga dribbled near the three-point line.
He prepared to repeat the same setup, but suddenly, a shadow appeared in front of him.
"You won't be getting another shot this time."
It was Akashi Seijuro.
Under the pressure of the Emperor Eye, Kasuga found himself completely unable to find even a single opening to break through.
Forget a shot, even a pass was hard to make.
Kasuga was still smiling, but his eyes no longer held any cheer, only the endless sweat sliding down his face revealed his struggle.
After a moment,
He exhaled lightly.
"Seriously… looks like the gap between us and you monsters is still too big. Fine then, let one monster deal with another monster."
Whoosh!
He threw a behind-the-back pass.
Even Akashi blinked in surprise.
A behind-the-back pass wasn't some fancy technique, it was actually less efficient than a normal pass.
But here, there was one reason to use it:
To prevent the Emperor Eye from predicting the passing cue.
Tsugawa Tomoki received the ball and immediately tried to shoot,
, but just before the release, Hayama Kotaro lunged forward, cutting off the shot.
Tsugawa's expression changed.
He scanned the court, and only then noticed,
At some point, everyone on Seirin's side had been locked in by one-on-one defense.
==========
"Tsk tsk… seems Seirin really prepared a lot to counter the Emperor Eye."
Aomine Daiki's voice was unreadable, as if recalling his match against Seirin.
But at that moment, Kise Ryouta spoke in surprise:
"A full-court man-to-man defense? To prevent Asuka's alley-oops, they're not even letting them attempt a shot?"
"No, that's impossible."
Midorima shook his head.
"No defense can prevent all shots. Besides, Seirin doesn't need to shoot. They just need to pass to Asuka."
The court fell silent.
They couldn't understand what Akashi Seijuro was trying to do,
Until Murasakibara, who had just finished his chips, said lazily:
"Akacchi is probably trying to disrupt their passing. Even alley-oops need accuracy."
"Ah, so that's it!"
Everyone suddenly understood.
Alley-oops required extremely high coordination.
Seirin only succeeded because Asuka minimized the margin of error.
But if the other players' passes were disrupted,
the whole strategy weakened.
"That's our Akashi~ Only he would think that fast."
Kise scratched his head in admiration.
Sometimes, he really wondered what Akashi's brain was made of.
But,
Aomine suddenly narrowed his eyes at the court.
"Is that really enough? Can that alone stop that guy?"
==========
On the court,
Tsugawa was still facing Hayama.
He had attempted multiple break-throughs already, yet not a single one succeeded.
No matter how strong Seirin was offensively, defense was not their strong point,
and yet Tsugawa still couldn't get past them.
Finally,
Tsugawa gathered the ball in and sighed.
"Seriously… you guys really thought of this much… but, "
A faint smile curved on his lips.
"You're underestimating our guy way too much."
=============
Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria