Seijuro Akashi completely panicked. All he could do was keep using the [Emperor Eye] to look into the future, then try to break through again and again by following the movements he saw there.
In his eyes, no matter how many times he looked, Miyamoto Tokima was always thrown off balance by him in the future.
But reality was completely different.
Not only could he not shake Miyamoto Tokima down, he could not even get inside the three-point line!
Seijuro Akashi pulled back beyond the three-point line, utterly shocked.
He stared at Miyamoto Tokima in panic, his face full of fear.
"Why? Why can't I get past you?!"
Seijuro Akashi roared in disbelief, as if he were on the verge of collapse.
Hearing that, Miyamoto Tokima gave a faint smile and replied:
"Because... I'm stronger than you, Akashi."
Seijuro Akashi's eyes widened, and panic began creeping into his voice. To hide it, he raised his voice even louder.
"No! Impossible! I-I'm the strongest!!!"
"I am! I am absolute!!!"
Seijuro Akashi let out an enraged roar, and the Zone in his eyes grew even more violent.
It was as if he had completely lost his mind.
Then Seijuro Akashi charged at Miyamoto Tokima like a madman, dribbling the basketball rapidly as he tried to shake him down.
But every single time, Miyamoto Tokima accurately judged which direction Seijuro Akashi wanted to break through. He never fell for the feints at all.
Seeing this, Miyamoto Tokima shook his head helplessly and muttered:
"You really won't give up until you hit a wall."
After saying that, Miyamoto Tokima reached out his hand.
Then...
Smack!!!
With the crisp sound of the steal, Seijuro Akashi's eyes went completely blank.
"H-How... how could..."
After the ball was stolen, Seijuro Akashi stood frozen in place alone, head lowered, repeating the same words over and over.
"How could... how could..."
After stealing the ball, Miyamoto Tokima did not take the fast break himself, because Shuzo Nijimura was already running ahead.
After the fast-break basket went in, Eiji Shirogane also realized something was wrong and immediately called a timeout.
"Beep! Rakuzan High School requests a timeout!"
Miyamoto Tokima stood where he was, looking at Seijuro Akashi, who seemed to be questioning his entire life. Then he decided to add fuel to the fire and said:
"Someone who shrinks back and runs away the moment they face a setback is nothing but a coward."
Miyamoto Tokima was not only saying that to the secondary personality. He was also saying it to the primary personality!
The secondary personality suddenly widened his eyes, and his pupils began to tremble slightly.
After that, Miyamoto Tokima stopped looking at Seijuro Akashi and turned to walk off the court.
Seijuro Akashi lowered his head and walked off the court like a walking corpse.
Once he came off, Seijuro Akashi sat on the bench with his head lowered, not saying a word.
The others did not know what to say when they saw him like that.
After all, this time, Seijuro Akashi's resolve had shattered incredibly quickly. He had not done anything like the mechanical sequence from the original story at all.
Because of that, the others did not have many complaints about Seijuro Akashi.
Kotaro Hayama looked at the score on the court and could not help sighing.
"So this is Kirisaki Daiichi's strength? Even missing two starters, they can still suppress us so steadily."
Reo Mibuchi wiped the sweat from his face with a towel and said:
"Kotaro, are you scared?"
Kotaro Hayama quickly waved his hands and shook his head as he explained:
"No, no, I'm just impressed, that's all."
As he spoke, Kotaro Hayama seemed to recall the first time he played against Miyamoto Tokima in middle school.
"After all... ever since that match in middle school, my mentality has become extremely stable!"
Of course it had. His signature move had been copied right in front of him during their very first exchange, and after it was copied, it was used even better than he could use it!
It was like watching someone steal your wife right in front of you, only for her to get along with him better than she ever did with you!
If he could recover from a blow like that, what did any other setback even count for?!
On the other side.
As Seijuro Akashi sat with his head lowered in silence, a voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Have you reached your limit?"
In an instant, the secondary personality arrived deep within his mind and stood face-to-face with the primary personality.
After hearing the primary personality's words, the secondary personality instinctively snapped back:
"I haven't!"
The primary personality continued:
"Actually, you know it yourself. You've already lost."
Hearing this, the secondary personality panicked at once and roared:
"I haven't lost! I'm the strongest!"
"This was just an accident. I still have a chance!"
"Just give me a little more time! I'll definitely defeat Miyamoto Tokima!"
The primary personality quietly looked at the secondary personality and said calmly:
"You know it yourself too. With your own strength, you can't defeat Tokima. Right now, you're only deceiving yourself."
"You... are nothing more than my weakness."
The secondary personality's pupils suddenly contracted, and he unconsciously took two steps back. At that moment, he seemed to understand something, and he immediately calmed down.
"What is gained through victory will be lost through defeat."
"So, the coward who ran away for all these years is finally ready to go back out?"
The secondary personality said slowly.
The primary personality smiled calmly, then raised his head and looked up. His eyes were incredibly gentle, and his smile softened as well.
"Yeah. I, this coward, really do want to go out and take a look again."
"After all, Tokima was right. Shrinking back and running away when something happens is what only a coward would do."
The primary personality slowly opened his hand and placed it over his heart.
In an instant, the faint figure of a woman slowly appeared behind Seijuro Akashi's primary personality.
She wrapped both arms around Seijuro Akashi's primary personality from behind, radiating incomparable warmth.
When the secondary personality saw this, his eyes suddenly widened. His voice trembled as he murmured:
"M-Mother?!"
After appearing, the woman revealed an extremely gentle smile. That smile seemed as if it could melt even the coldest glacier.
When the secondary personality saw her, his heart filled with indescribable warmth and longing.
In an instant, a tear suddenly slipped down the secondary personality's cheek.
He cried.
After appearing, the woman smiled gently at the secondary personality, then slowly turned into particles and faded away.
The primary personality held his mother's hand and closed his eyes, feeling that brief warmth.
After the primary personality could no longer feel his mother's warmth, tears also began to fall from his eyes uncontrollably.
"I don't want to be a coward anymore..."
"Mother..."
In that instant, both the primary personality and the secondary personality faintly heard an incredibly warm voice, as if it had come from beyond the heavens.
"Sei, you're the best. No matter what..."
"Mom loves you."
...