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

Nijimura Shuzo: "!"

It had been a long time since he'd seen that expression, pure panic in his opponent's eyes.

In the pursuit of victory that had become more and more single-minded, he had nearly forgotten the thrill he felt on his very first day playing basketball.

That purest of desires as an individual,

"To defeat your opponent!"

That was the kind of pleasure Shigure Akihito had always embraced.

So envious…

Damn it!

Nijimura knew it clearly, something inside him had just exploded, as if a fuse had been lit.

But it wasn't triggered by any one particular play from Shigure. Not even that brilliantly deceptive fake pass into a sudden drive was enough to explain this eruption.

This started way back, from the moment they first met.

From the moment he realized Shigure's talent allowed him to break through the wall that had once stifled Nijimura himself.

Back when he still believed he could become the strongest.

But somewhere along the way…

He had deviated from that original path.

He'd been suppressing that burning, boiling jealousy all this time.

And now, it had finally burst free.

Even though the "him" of the past no longer existed, even if he now stood here consumed by this explosive fire...

Still,

Watch closely, Shigure!

Right here, on this stage!

This ability you obsess over, this dominance that crushes your opponents one by one, forcing them to recognize their own insignificance and helplessness!

The exhilaration you feel, when your enemies recoil at the mere sight of you,

And the thunderous roars of the crowd, as if the entire world is cheering your name,

Let's gamble on it!

If this shot doesn't earn louder cheers than yours,

Then I'll drop this sudden, reckless outburst.

But if I do beat you,

Then I'll chase after the version of me who once strayed from the path!

At the very least, I'll hold onto this possibility, this passion!

On the court.

From Shigure Akihito's perspective, the phantom lion behind Nijimura grew more solid by the second.

The oppressive aura surging from Nijimura's presence hit him like a wave.

This wasn't the blurred "rainbow connector" that had spanned the court earlier.

No,

This was raw, towering power, more direct and overwhelming than ever before!

BOOM!

A sonic boom ripped through the court, Nijimura's first step was blindingly fast!

In a flash,

He slithered past a Yamanoshima defender like a dragon in flight,

And burst toward the basket.

Their center and power forward stood ready, faces tense, fully prepared.

But upon seeing their wary expressions, Nijimura couldn't help but smile, just like Shigure had before.

Then, violently, explosively,

He lunged forward!

Using the momentum of his sprint, Nijimura launched off one leg, soaring high into the air!

That phantom lion behind him roared in unison, matching his sharp, feral glare!

BANG!

He clashed mid-air with the towering center and another big man.

The impact was thunderous,

CRASH!

With one beastly dunk, Nijimura flattened both defenders under the rim!

Tweet, !

Tweet! Tweet!

The referee's whistle followed swiftly!

"Yamanoshima, Number 6! Defensive foul!"

"Teiko, Number 8! Basket counts! One free throw!"

Another coast-to-coast, 1v4 rampage by Nijimura,

And despite his smaller frame, he wrecked Yamanoshima's entire interior!

Suddenly,

A tidal wave of cheers erupted from the stands!

Louder and louder, like ocean waves crashing in succession!

The roar was so deafening, it felt like the very roof of the arena might explode from the noise.

Meanwhile,

Nijimura Shuzo hung from the rim, looking down at the opponents he had knocked out of bounds.

Their empty, shell-shocked eyes reflected one truth,

In that moment when the roar of the crowd fell upon him…

He had reclaimed something,

A flicker of his true self.

CLANG!

Nijimura dropped from the rim amidst the thunderous chants.

Landing solidly, he raised a fist to embrace the crowd's energy, then turned to glance at Shigure Akihito.

Nijimura: "..."

Shigure…

You're probably wondering what the hell just happened, right?

But,

"URRAAAAHHHH!!"

"AAAHHH!!"

Watch this!

This is the real Nijimura Shuzo!

Teiko's bench.

Other than the ever-calm Hakkin Kōzō, every substitute player was stunned speechless.

On the court,

The entire Teiko team, including Shigure, immediately rushed to Nijimura.

Even their usually composed captain, Ōkura Masaaki, roared in excitement.

Utsumi Masahiko and Ebata Masatoshi playfully messed up Nijimura's hair, just like they'd done with Shigure before.

"Huh~"

"Did you just turn into Shigure, Nijimura~?"

"That was pretty badass~"

"Hahaha~"

"Let yourself go once in a while like Shigure does, Nijimura."

At Ebata's words, Nijimura suddenly smiled, then turned to the one celebrating beside him, Shigure Akihito.

"Like him…?"

"Senpai…"

"Don't get it twisted."

"The one who's going to become the strongest, is me."

Shigure: "!?"

You're kidding me!

"Sure thing. Let's see about that!"

Shigure had no idea what got into Nijimura,

Some sort of emotional breakthrough?

But strongest, huh…?

You, who lost to Aomine in your third year, want to talk big?

And seriously…

You think you're going to steal my points?

No way.

I still haven't finished my debut goal of 40 points!

But…

That Nijimura,

Was that really still Nijimura?

Recalling the lion's roar from earlier, Shigure felt a sudden chill run down his spine.

That was… kinda badass.

What followed was an unexpected shift,

A full-on scoring duel between Shigure and Nijimura.

Back on the court.

After a block, Shigure grabbed the ball and launched a fast break.

But this time, instead of pulling up from deep beyond the arc as usual, he cut inside the three-point line.

As he approached, he glanced over at Nijimura.

"Watch this~"

"When it comes to dunking, you've still got a long way to go!"

Ōya Shun: "!?"

Next moment!

[Shadow · Flying Tomahawk: A feint using the ultimate move "Shadow of Sendō," mimicking a grounded drive to bait the defender, followed by a soaring tomahawk dunk.]

Whoosh, !

Similar to his earlier Shadow · Ground Glide.

But instead of faking a pass, this time the phantom faked a drive.

While defenders chased the illusion, Shigure took flight,

BOOM!

A thunderous tomahawk slam echoed through the arena!

"What just happened?!"

"Again?!"

"This time…"

"The phantom movement was a drive?"

"So he's mastered fakes to that level, not just passes but now drives too?"

Everyone was stunned!

Even from different angles, every Yamanoshima player had been completely fooled by the fake drive.

Yamanoshima quickly tried to play keep-away from Teiko's 7 and 8.

They finally squeezed out a difficult mid-range jumper over Ebara Masatoshi.

But on the return,

It was Teiko's No. 8 again!

BOOM!

The lion behind Nijimura let out another roar as he blitzed into the paint!

The Yamanoshima power forward got utterly destroyed, no reaction, no contest.

Inside the lane, Nijimura's movements were smooth and precise, like a pre-programmed sequence.

Then, as the center rotated over to help,

Takeoff!

It happened too fast!

The Yamanoshima center reacted instinctively and rose to contest.

This time, he was ready.

His timing was perfect, and he angled his body to avoid a direct clash, trying to disrupt Nijimura's shot just enough.

He managed to block off Nijimura's path head-on, forcing him to deviate in mid-air.

He can't possibly finish this,

That thought crossed his mind.

But then…

ROAR, !

From Nijimura's eyes, the image of a roaring lion surged forward.

And in that instant,

While mid-air, Nijimura spun with an exaggerated 360-degree turn!

He evaded the block, twisted through the air, and…

Flipped his wrist!

A soft…

Finger roll!

Off the glass, in!

Silence.

The entire arena went dead quiet.

"My god! That was terrifying!"

"A 360 layup in mid-air?!"

"And his first step? That speed blew right past the perimeter defender!"

"A 360-degree spin… and he didn't even look at the rim? Did he go by feel? His control is insane."

Unreal.

Nijimura didn't even check if the ball had gone in, he landed and immediately sprinted back on defense.

But as he passed Shigure,

He lifted his eyes to meet his.

After halftime, the rhythm remained unchanged.

With just the firepower of Shigure Akihito and Nijimura Shuzo, Teiko completely overwhelmed Yamanoshima.

It became a two-man showcase.

Blocks.

Steals.

Drives.

Dunks.

Mid-range jumpers.

Except for Shigure's deep threes and Nijimura's refined defensive techniques, they were evenly matched across the board.

Every viewer, even the ones new to watching basketball, found themselves gasping nonstop at the spectacle.

Especially after No. 8 entered "beast mode", the entire court turned more feral.

Even No. 7,

Previously known for deep threes,

Now left a deeper impression with his violent dunks.

It was as if that primal energy,

That violence,

Was ingrained in human DNA.

Watching Nijimura tear through the rim with brute speed and power,

Watching Shigure create illusions with fakes and soar into the sky for tomahawk slams,

That alone was enough to set the arena on fire.

If the first half had been about elite technique…

Then the second half,

Was pure visual mayhem.

"Whoa!"

"Number 7's dunks are insane!"

"Number 8… is a monster!"

"Shigure!!"

"Nijimura!"

Their names began to ripple through the crowd.

And on the court,

Nijimura drove again.

Jumped.

Extended.

Tucked in.

Layup.

Softly, the ball climbed up the rim.

On the return,

BANG!

A volleyball-style swat from Shigure sent the ball smashing toward Nijimura.

All eyes were locked on him as he sprinted upcourt.

Just when everyone thought he was about to deliver another crushing dunk,

Suddenly, he flung the ball over his shoulder!

Then,

BOOM!

Shigure Akihito, following behind, saw the ball floating through the air…

And instinctively leapt!

CLAP!

He caught it mid-air,

And slammed it down with a thunderous dunk!

Shigure Akihito: "!?"

A sudden pass?

They were just competing to see who could score more a second ago…

But when Shigure saw the look in Nijimura's eyes,

He didn't know the exact reason…

Maybe it was the exhaustion from his "wild state,"

Maybe the mental strain had peaked,

But clearly,

The wildness had faded.

Nijimura had regained his calm.

And that alley-oop,

It crushed the last flicker of resistance in Yamanoshima's players.

Their eyes were hollow.

Their will… broken.

Tweet, !

End of the third quarter.

Teiko vs Yamanoshima: 109–49.

Every Yamanoshima player looked lost.

They still couldn't believe what they'd just gone through.

Even after giving it everything they had,

They were utterly crushed by just two players.

Over on Teiko's bench,

Everyone was in awe.

Fourth quarter.

Teiko subbed out Shigure and Nijimura.

The current lineup now mirrored last year's starters.

Why those two were subbed out was obvious:

Their prior rampage was miles beyond what the others had exerted.

Think about it…

Shigure, 44 points in three quarters.

Nijimura, 33 points in three quarters.

Meanwhile, the third-years were still fresh.

In the final quarter,

Yamanoshima's coach tried to fire up his players and adjusted the tactics to focus on three-point plays.

It worked, briefly.

They nailed a triple.

But as the game went on,

Teiko's third-years dismantled their strategy, and the gap continued to widen.

112–51.

117–54.

127–60.

Yamanoshima fought desperately.

But Teiko remained utterly dominant.

Soon,

Final score: 140–69.

No surprises.

No miracles.

Teiko Junior High claimed their first victory of the All-Japan Middle School Tournament.

A long whistle marked Yamanoshima's defeat.

But the loss didn't eliminate them.

In this 2-out-of-3 group format,

They still had a chance to beat the other team and advance to Day 2's knockout stage.

End of chapter...

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