NOVEL WEB Chapter 63: 66
"No matter what play we run… he's gonna shut it down."
Akashi's brows furrowed.In the mental battle playing out between them, he'd already simulated this possession against Kise hundreds of times… and every single outcome ended the same.
He couldn't get past Kise — not in this Perfect Copy mode.
Meanwhile, Kise was quietly celebrating inside,
"I've got this! No way he's scoring on me!"
"Hey, Kise… you remember back in middle school?"
Akashi's voice suddenly softened, tinged with nostalgia.
Kise froze for a beat. Before he could respond—
"Back when I benched Haizaki and gave you the starting spot… man, that guy threw a tantrum for days."
"Haizaki…"
Kise's heart skipped. Even after all this time, that name still got to him.
"I told him… you'd surpass him one day. And look at you now… I wasn't wrong, was I… Kise?"
Akashi kept talking like they were at a reunion BBQ instead of an interhigh final.Meanwhile, Kota—watching from the arc — realized something was off.
"HEY! Genius boy! Focus up!"
Kota shouted from across the court.
"Your future is bright, Kise… but right now… this moment… it belongs to me."
The second Akashi finished, he capitalized on Kise's split-second distraction — rifling a wicked cross-court pass straight to Mibuchi on the wing.
"CRAP!"
Kise snapped back to reality—but it was too late.
Mibuchi's release was lightning fast. No way Kise could close the gap in time.
Kaijo's last hope was Kasamatsu…But between senior pride and four quarters of intense defense, Kasamatsu was running on fumes.
Mibuchi jumped high, fully committed to a step-back, high-arching three — the Heaven and Earth fadeaway special.
Kasamatsu clenched his teeth. Being the senior leader but just standing here watching his underclassmen carry the load…Unacceptable.
"Not this time! NO WAY this shot's going in!"
Kasamatsu leapt with everything he had, practically chest-to-chest with Mibuchi, arm fully extended.
Mibuchi blinked in mild surprise mid-air… then grinned.
"Standing this close to me? Really?" Mibuchi adjusted his release point… flicking the ball high, with a loud smack as his hand slapped Kasamatsu's arm.
BEEP!!
The whistle blew before the ball even hit the rim.
The ref was already signaling three shots… wait no… AND-ONE!
But fate wasn't done trolling Kaijo yet.
Mibuchi's shot kissed the back iron… bounced high… then dropped through.
3+1
Four-point play. Rakuzan takes the lead.
Kasamatsu stared in disbelief. His brain short-circuited.
He sprinted toward the ref, shouting like a lawyer at closing arguments,
"No way! I stayed vertical! That was all ball until he jumped into my arm!"
But refs… well…Talking back to them works about as well as punching a brick wall.
The ref just waved him off like he was swatting a mosquito.
Kasamatsu didn't back down — he kept arguing — and the ref's face started twisting like he was about to blow a tech.
Kota saw it all unfolding. He rushed over and yanked Kasamatsu back by the jersey.
"Dude, if you get tossed NOW, we're gonna have to sub in one of the benchwarmers from the vibe squad!"
Kise watched, biting his lip.If he hadn't let Akashi's little trip down memory lane mess with him… this wouldn't have happened.He gave Kasamatsu a quick apology bow.
Kota waved it off.
"Save it. If we're saying sorry, Rakuzan can say sorry for being sweaty try-hards."
Kasamatsu finally lifted his head, steeling himself.
This isn't over.
Mibuchi sank the free throw like it was nothing.
126-127 – Rakuzan leads. 24 seconds left. Kaijo's last possession.
The crowd went absolutely nuts.
This was it. The final scene.
Who's gonna take the title? Rakuzan? Kaijo?
Momoi had both hands over her face, peeking through her fingers like she was watching a horror movie.
Aomine sat forward, eyes narrowed, heart rate picking up.
Kuroko sat up ramrod straight, whispering,
"Go for it… Kise-kun…"
Kagami clenched his fists, adrenaline surging.
Even Midorima — arms crossed like some stoic monk — couldn't hide the way he was digging his nails into his own forearms.
"Alright… what's your move, Kise?"
Akashi took a deep breath, barking at his team
"DEFENSE! This year's champions… WILL BE RAKUZAN!"
The energy on Rakuzan's bench exploded.That four-point play had lit a fire in them.
"Cover me on the help"
Akashi called it out, stepping up high to meet Kise himself.
His Emperor Eye burned so much it felt like a migraine, but he kept scanning, pupils twitching like crazy.
Kise wasn't much better off.
Perfect Copy was eating him alive physically.
Both players shared one thought at the same time:
"Forget overtime. Let's end this… right here, right now."
Kota inbounded to Kise, then casually drifted off like he had no responsibilities at all.
From the bench, Takeuchi could only sit there regretting he hadn't called timeout after the free throw.
Too late now. No clipboard, no plays…It was up to them.
He glanced at Kise. Then at Kota. And silently sent both of them all his remaining good karma.
Kise held the ball at the top of the key.
20 seconds left.
No movement.
No rush.
The whole gym held its breath.
"They're trailing… and he's running the clock down?That's… bold."
Akashi repositioned — setting himself just far enough to prevent a pull-up three.
Stopping Kise 1v1 wasn't realistic now…But forcing him to drive into help defense?That… he could do.
Kise saw right through it.
As the clock hit 6 seconds, he exploded left — Aomine burst-speed activation.
Even with Akashi pre-reading the drive… he couldn't keep up.
"HELP! HELP DEFENSE!!"
Akashi screamed at the top of his lungs, chasing from behind like a madman.
Hayama rushed in from the side, trying to trap. Nebuya and Mibuchi cut off Kise's passing angles with frantic closeouts.
For a second… Kobori at the low block had a clean look…But Kise didn't even glance at him.
Of course. Kise never trusted passes in moments like this.
Akashi smirked mid-sprint.In his Emperor Eye… he saw it, Kise would force a shot through two defenders… miss it… and Rakuzan would win.
On the bench, Takeuchi slammed his knee in frustration.
He saw it too.
But hey… it was Kise's choice. And with no timeouts left, even if he disagreed, it wasn't like he could stop him.
Hayama helped close the lane, shrinking Kise's space.
3 seconds left.
Kise's face tightened. He knew exactly what Akashi was expecting: That he'd force it… again.
And he would have. Except… for one person.
Kota.
If there was one guy… Kise trusted to take the final shot when he couldn't… it was Kota.
"If I can't…I'm putting my whole damn trust in you."
No words exchanged.No eye contact needed.
Just perfect, stupid twin-brain chemistry.
Kise planted hard, faked a jumper, then suddenly launched a wild fadeaway pass toward the right wing.
Flying backward, he crashed to the floor—watching through squinted eyes.
And there… standing at the very edge of his three-point range limit… was Kota.
With 2 seconds left, and nowhere else to go…Kota caught the ball, looked up… and let it fly.
From behind… Mayuzumi finally emerged from the shadows, lunging in for the block — Face contorted like a horror movie monster finally popping out at the last second.
Kota? Didn't even flinch.
Didn't even turn.
Just squared up…And took the shot.
The entire arena froze. Every eye on that one moment.
The final showdown.