Kuroko’s Basketball: Before Generation Miracles, I Already Crowned

Just as Shirogane Kozo had predicted, Yamanoshima's defense had completely shifted its focus onto Shigure Akihito.

Though they didn't apply constant double-teams, at least two defenders had their full attention locked onto Shigure at all times, it was obvious they were there to intercept passes.

And then,

Nijimura Shuzo struck without hesitation!

Spotting a gap in the defense, he charged straight in without a single fake, pure, unfiltered aggression. Because Yamanoshima's defenders were tilted toward guarding Shigure, Nijimura found himself in a perfect 1-on-1 situation.

And then,

An exquisite display of "brute force" technique,

Stop-and-pop!

Mid-range jumper, swish!

Teiko widened the gap on the scoreboard.

In the next few minutes, Shigure Akihito found himself completely locked out by Yamanoshima's "tight" defense. They gave him no space, no chance to even touch the ball.

Yet, Teiko's offense never faltered.

Nijimura seamlessly inherited Shigure's mantle and showcased not only his outstanding court vision and passing but also his elite-level scoring ability.

This threw Yamanoshima's defense into disarray.

On one hand, they had to guard Teiko's No. 7 and his absurd deep-range threes. On the other, overcommitting left Teiko's No. 8 with prime isolation opportunities, or worse, open passing lanes to Ozo Masaaki under the basket.

"Oh my god…"

"Teiko's other new face this year is just as terrifying as No. 7!"

"Took you long enough to notice? He's only 175 cm and playing power forward, yet he's locking down Yamanoshima's bigs and making their shots look pathetic."

"And don't you think..."

"Don't you think his presence shows up in all the clutch moments? Bringing the ball up, assisting No. 7, anchoring key defensive plays... now he's dominating in isolation too…"

On the court,

Even outside of offense,

Yamanoshima's own attacks were clogged up like bad plumbing. With Teiko's smothering defense, they barely managed to scrape together anything. By the 8-minute mark, with 2 minutes left in the first quarter, the score was:

24–7.

A 17-point lead. And growing.

On Yamanoshima's bench, the coach's face was flushed with frustration.

First, No. 7 goes quiet... but then another monster, No. 8, pops up out of nowhere and drags them right back into the pit. Their offense stalled, their defense shredded. It was infuriating.

He wasn't blind; he saw what Teiko was doing.

Shirogane Kozo, that wily old fox, he was too cunning!

He benched the guy with insane three-point range, using him as bait, just to create the perfect scoring space for No. 8.

Drives.

Jumpers.

Passes.

To be honest,

This No. 8 from Teiko… while he didn't have the same overwhelming explosiveness as No. 7,

He was still, without a doubt, a player any coach would drool over: the ideal core.

"Damn it…"

The coach grit his teeth, cursing himself for falling into the trap. He'd played right into Kozo's hand, focusing all his defensive attention on Teiko No. 7.

But the real threat had always been No. 8!

Three-pointers… no matter how strong, could never compare to a complete offensive-general who could dictate both ends of the floor!

He'd been blinded by the shock factor of those deep threes.

"Double-team him!"

"Trap No. 8!"

The coach roared from the sidelines, decisively switching tactics.

For nearly five minutes, Teiko's No. 7 had just been wandering around near midcourt like bait. He hadn't touched the ball once. Surely his hands had gone cold by now?

There was no way…

He could still threaten them with long-range bombs, right?

Yamanoshima's players immediately adjusted their defense. The moment No. 8 got the ball, they collapsed on him. The idea was to shut down Teiko's central engine.

However, Nijimura's first response made the coach's eye twitch.

Receiving the ball on the right wing at a 45-degree angle, he calmly controlled the rock despite the trap, relying on crisp, smooth dribble moves,

Cross.

Behind.

Spin.

In-and-out.

While dribbling, he signaled to Ozo in the post.

Ozo slipped out from the scrum inside and moved up to the elbow to receive the ball. At the same moment he caught it, he noticed Nijimura's subtle eye signal.

For a second, he froze.

Watching Nijimura barge into the paint dragging both defenders, Ozo couldn't help but admire him.

Swoosh, !

Ozo turned and passed it right to a player sprinting toward him, only for that player to sharply cut again using a screen, ending up back near midcourt.

Shigure Akihito.

After more than five minutes,

Shigure finally touched the ball again.

With both defenders completely sucked into the paint by Nijimura, there was no one left on the perimeter who could rotate back fast enough.

No hesitation.

The arc beneath Shigure's feet had reached "God's Domain III." He glanced at the hoop, and fired.

"Shinzo Ichiro: Ultra-Deep Three"

His defender, Oya Shun, had been thrown off by Shigure's earlier off-ball movement and couldn't close out in time.

The ball sailed through the air in a gorgeous arc,

Swish!

Another three!

That made it Shigure's fifth triple of the game!

He raised three fingers and gave the crowd a signature Carmelo-style nod.

"He scored again! Shigure Akihito's threes are just unreal!"

"Five in the first quarter! What the hell?!"

In the stands, a fan from Tokyo beamed with pride.

He still held a grudge from earlier, when a guy from Fukuoka sitting next to him had been nitpicking every time Shigure missed.

"Yeah…"

"I gotta admit… that's insane…"

Five outrageous threes were one thing.

But what really shocked people was the fact that Shigure had the guts to keep bombing away in his first-ever national-level game, and in the first quarter no less, plus this one came after five minutes of zero touches!

His mental strength was unreal.

But in truth,

Shigure's confidence came not from bravado, but raw, hard stats.

Cold hands?

When your three-point rating is 120, the ball's going in regardless.

"I used to doubt Shigure Akihito's range... but now? Man, I'm a believer."

The Fukuoka fan humbly admitted defeat.

He had to,

Otherwise, who knows how long the Tokyo guy would keep gloating?

Tsk…

Without even realizing it, the Fukuoka fan had begun to expect that Shigure would keep draining those absurd deep threes.

But then it hit him.

A terrifying thought crept into his mind, this was just the first quarter.

Shigure had already made five.

There were still three quarters left…

How many more was he going to make?!

As he spiraled into anxiety, the Tokyo fan leaned over and snarked,

"But don't you think a lot of Shigure's threes are kind of… unreasonable?"

Quoting the Fukuoka guy's earlier complaints word-for-word.

"That's exactly why Shigure's scary, he makes the unreasonable look easy!"

The Fukuoka fan flipped instantly, praising Shigure with reckless abandon and leaving the Tokyo fan speechless.

"..."

This guy!

No shame at all!

From trash talk to fanboy in less than a quarter?!

Yamanoshima's bench.

The coach was pulling at his hair in frustration.

He hadn't shot in forever, how was his rhythm still hot?!

Back on the court,

Yamanoshima's point guard advanced the ball and dished it to Oya Shun. After a pick-and-roll, Oya pulled up, but under Shigure's smothering contest, it bricked again.

SLAM!

The coach smacked his clipboard.

Oya hadn't made a single three under Shigure's defense this entire game!

Teiko's next possession,

Nijimura eyed his defender, who was clearly conflicted. Shigure's threat had him hesitating between staying on Nijimura or rotating to help…

Nijimura made him pay.

A swift hip-turn crossover into a mid-range jumper,

Swish!

As the first quarter wound down,

Yamanoshima still had no answer.

Shigure's ultra-deep threes had warped the floor so dramatically that even the midcourt had become a threat zone. That's way too much ground for any one defender to cover.

And the speed differential was the real killer.

Play him tight?

Wide open driving lanes.

Give him space?

He'll use off-ball screens and quick footwork to create separation and bomb away.

And worst of all, his shots were ridiculously accurate.

As the quarter ended,

Even though Shigure didn't score again, the fear of his shooting pulled Yamanoshima's defense apart.

33–12.

A 21-point lead in just one quarter.

To start the second quarter, Teiko calmly sent out their entire second unit.

And even that lineup was no joke,

Former starters Nanaki Asahi (SG) and Izawa Shō (PF) now led the bench squad.

The depth was absurd.

When Shigure and Nijimura re-entered later in the quarter,

Despite Yamanoshima's starters trying to claw back, the second unit had held strong.

48–31.

The lead only shrank by 4 points.

And that was their starters against Teiko's bench.

Clearly, Teiko's first unit now had a physical advantage.

But what could Yamanoshima do? They were already behind and had no choice but to go all out, even more so when the Teiko bench had been giving everything they had, led by two ex-starters!

"..."

Too much.

Even the bench had national-level starters.

On the sidelines,

Nanaki and Izawa exchanged glances, then high-fived with sly grins.

"Heh~"

"Being on the bench kinda rocks, huh?"

Especially after Shigure and Nijimura softened the enemy, they'd subbed in at just the right time, able to play freely and effectively.

It was much easier than starting against a full-powered team.

As Teiko's starters returned, the crowd buzzed with excitement and tension. The entire gym seemed to hold its breath.

As expected, Yamanoshima double-teamed Shigure.

Meanwhile, they ran a three-man zone inside the arc.

But what surprised everyone,

Was that Teiko's No. 7 called for the ball.

Nijimura gave him a questioning look. Shigure just smiled.

"Leave it to me."

"Once I break this trap..."

"It's over."

Everyone on Teiko's side was momentarily confused.

But then they remembered,

The entire first-quarter explosion had only been possible because of Shigure's deep threat. Everything else flowed from that.

So Nijimura nodded, and passed him the ball.

Yamanoshima's double-team came in even harder now, fully committing.

And then,

Shigure Akihito made his first isolation move of the game.

Oya Shun was locked in, barking defensive signals, wary of any surprises.

Even though Shigure hadn't driven once all game,

They couldn't afford to underestimate him.

They had to treat him like a No. 8-level threat.

And just then,

Shigure cracked a smile.

[Ultimate Move: Shadow of Sendo]

"A high-level feint that creates the illusion of a phantom, disorienting the opponent and giving the user more space to operate. (Increases the strength of all abilities while active.)"

Boosted Skill: Shadow Drive – Ground Glide

"Initiate a pass fake using the 'Shadow of Sendo' effect, then transition into a low-dribble burst to blow past the defender."

In an instant,

Shigure's pass fake was so convincing that everyone thought he had already released the ball,

A phantom froze in place,

Then boom, Shigure was already through!

Across the court,

Nijimura's eyes widened.

"That was insane!"

He'd seen many things from 2.9 Shigure.

But never something like this.

Speed, bounce, shooting, all of that could be chalked up to raw talent.

But this move,

"..."

A fake that real?

The body language, the motion, it was flawless. Not a hint of delay, nothing that suggested it was a setup.

It was like watching a video cut, one frame of a pass frozen in time, then the very next, a full-speed blow-by.

Nijimura had never seen a fake this clean.

And he totally fell for it.

On the other side,

After completely breaking the double-team, Shigure calmly stepped up to the three-point line and pulled up.

Only then did the Yamanoshima defenders turn around, totally stunned.

Oya's brain almost short-circuited.

Where'd he go?!

One second he was here, next, gone.

Was that a hallucination?

What even was that "phantom"?

Did I… see it wrong?

Swish, !

The only answer was the crisp sound of a clean three.

And the image of Teiko's No. 7 holding up one hand in silent celebration.

Shigure Akihito smiled.

"Confused?"

"What, never seen an afterimage before?"

"Too scientific for you?"

Want me to introduce you to Himuro Tatsuya?"

End of chapter...

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