[You easily countered Momoi's predictions.]
[Momoi looked at you with joy, thinking you were truly amazing.]
[She liked boys like you who were unpredictable, yet whose minds were so simple they only contained basketball. This contrast fascinated her.]
[Under your leadership, Seiho began to gain the upper hand. Naturally, Aomine Daiki wouldn't agree to this.]
[He took over the ball early on, and you two engaged in a soul-shaking battle.]
[The result of the great battle was that you had the last laugh.]
[However, his progress still brought you quite a shock.]
[The defeat a year ago made Aomine Daiki pick up basketball training again. This year, his physical condition was at its peak; he could completely be regarded as the Aomine Daiki from the movie Last Game.]
[This meant his current strength was already enough to crush college-level players, surpassing some of the Dragon Team's (Jabberwock) starters.]
[Your duel was comprehensive.]
[From two completely opposite basketball styles to a clash of Wildness, and finally fighting all the way until both entered Demon Mode/Zone!]
[Your confrontation dazzled the fans. There weren't endless tactics like Shutoku's, only a pure contest of numerical values (stats/attributes).]
[Fans sighed with emotion, "It's hard to see such pure basketball nowadays."]
[Both of you scored over 60 points, but in the end, the Seiho team you led won the victory, also securing the top qualifying spot in the Tokyo district.]
[After the regional qualifiers ended, you gained half a month of time.]
[With numerous participating teams in the Tokyo district, you were the region that finished the qualifiers the latest.]
[You began practicing Nash's "Pass Without Warning" (Invisible Pass).]
[You discovered this pass was truly difficult.]
[Nash's pass wasn't strong just because it was fast, but because his pass had no preparatory motion (wind-up).]
[It was as if a player skipped the dribbling step while driving and suddenly completed a pass.]
[After returning home, you walked into Sora's room. Sora was watching a TV drama with gusto while snacking.]
[You forcefully commandeered her computer. She instantly panicked. In the struggle, you inadvertently clicked on a file, and then some sounds that make people blush came from the computer.]
[Sora turned to stone on the spot. You looked at her with a strange expression. Her head steamed under your gaze, as if she had entered Demon Mode.]
[Finally, she broke the jar (gave up/acted recklessly), put her hands on her hips, and said, "If I don't study hard, will you praise me after every time we finish?"]
[You felt what she said made sense...]
[You closed the video that accelerated your heartbeat and started searching online for videos of the Dragon Team (Jabberwock) matches.]
[At this time, Nash had already joined the Dragon Team. While searching, you also saw some news about him. He was hailed by US media as "The Magician," with an arrogant personality looking down on any player weaker than himself.]
[At the same time, he was a five-star high school recruit in the US, one of the most talented players of his generation. However, shortly after entering college, he suddenly left. When he reappeared, he had already joined the Dragon Team.]
[You knew the reason.]
[Nash himself was an extremely rebellious player who looked down on anyone weaker than him. As a result, in the NCAA, he encountered guys stronger than himself—and quite a few of them. So he gave up on himself and went to play street basketball.]
[Simply put, he wanted to be number one, but his strength didn't allow him to become the leader in the talent-filled NCAA, so he ran to the Dragon Team to be the boss.]
[You closed the news and started watching his matches, trying to learn the Pass Without Warning from them.]
[The evolved Left Eye of God made it easier for you to understand Nash's passes.]
[You constantly replayed his passing motions and discovered that the reason Nash's passes were so swift was that he didn't use his wrist to generate force, but his fingers.]
[Because he used five fingers to exert force simultaneously, the amplitude of his pass was extremely small, just like dribbling. By the time the opponent reacted, the pass was already completed.]
"Fingers generating force?"
Yuuto raised his hands and looked at them.
Wasn't this a coincidence? His Lightning Dribble was also a technique using fingers to generate force.
"If I master the Pass Without Warning and use it with the Lightning Dribble, it will be incredibly deceptive."
[You thought of the Lightning Dribble, which also uses fingertips to generate force.]
[You observed a few more times, recording all of Nash's passing postures in your mind, then went to practice.]
[Sora stomped her feet in anger watching your retreating back. Leaving such a beautiful moment to go practice? She glared in your direction and said, "Just go marry your basketball!"]
[Half a month passed.]
[You still failed to master the Pass Without Warning. This is a skill that demands considerable talent, and clearly, you lack talent in this area.]
[But you have plenty of time. You decided to grind this skill to death until you master it.]
[The flames of the Nationals were reignited. You followed the team to Kyoto.]
[Unlike the regional qualifiers, the main tournament of the Nationals adopts a zonal draw.]
[As the top seed of the Tokyo district, you were placed in a different bracket from Teiko (likely meant Rakuzan/Akashi) and Tōō.]
[The advantage of being a top seed is reflected here. Seiho is in the first tier of all drawn teams, so the opponents you met in the first round were the lowest tier, making it easy.]
[In the round of 64 to 32, you didn't disappoint the fans and advanced easily.]
[Advancing just as easily were Rakuzan, Tōō, Yosen, and Kaijo.]
[Teams possessing the Generation of Miracles and you encountered no sniping in the first round.]
[The same went for the round of 32 to 16. You defeated an opponent from the Aichi district with a huge 48-point lead.]
[Many fans from Okushirazome came to this match, but they didn't come to cheer for their hometown team; they came to cheer for you.]
[Even your opponent today ran over to cheer for you after losing, telling you to win the national championship.]
[For the first time, you didn't know how to face the opponent you defeated.]
[In the round of 16 to 8, the war escalated further. You encountered the Kanagawa powerhouse, Kaijo High School. It could be said that from this position, the Nationals truly began.]
[Because in the eyes of fans, this year's Nationals, and the next two years, would be a battle between those six geniuses.]
[This time, you wouldn't let accidents happen again.]
[As soon as the game started, you took over. At the same time, you informed your teammates of the intel on all Kaijo players except Kise in advance.]
[Therefore, after the start, you maintained suppression over Kaijo, establishing a 12-point lead in a single quarter.]
[In the second quarter, you played steadily, continuously expanding the lead. Seeing the point difference widen to an irreversible number, Kaijo teammates disregarded being seen through by you and forced shots that missed, but Hayakawa Mitsuhiro secured rebounds, giving Kaijo second-chance points.]
"...Isn't this just like Tōō vs. Kaijo?"
Yuuto looked at the text, his hand tapping the armrest of his chair.
The clash between Kaijo and Tōō was just like this.
The entire Kaijo team fought for time for Kise, trying hard to keep the gap within 15 points, waiting for Kise's copy to complete before counterattacking.
However, the current Kise wasn't the original Kise; he had already lost to Yuuto a year early.
"Of course, I'm not Aomine either. I won't wait for you to finish powering up like that idiot Aomine."
...
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