Kuroko no Basket: Honored One

After safely storing his two newly acquired items, Tendou returned to drawing from the prize pool.

As usual, it was mostly attribute points—

But at this rate, even once he entered college, he could easily push his overall rating past 90.

Then he drew something new:

[Thunderclap Flash] – First Form of Thunder Breathing, and the most difficult to master.

Skill Effect: Channel all energy into a single point and unleash full power. Increases max speed by 30%.

(Note: Using this skill increases the risk of leg injuries.)

Thirty percent.

Tendou's eyes lit up.

A 30% boost—to maximum speed, no less.

It shattered the limits.

This was a powerful skill.

He was already the fastest dribbler in the nation—

So fast, in fact, that even his body sometimes struggled to keep up with the ball.

Even when he pushed himself to match Aomine's burst speed, he still couldn't completely catch up to his own dribbling.

But now… things might be different.

This skill increased max speed by 30% after reaching peak speed.

That meant once he hit Aomine-level velocity, he could still go 30% faster.

As for the risk of injury?

Tendou didn't even bat an eye.

With his steel body boasting 99% injury resistance, that kind of side effect barely even registered.

Still…

"Why do all these skills feel like slash attacks?"

"Am I becoming Kuroko no Basket's first Sword Saint?"

He muttered to himself.

Sukuna's Dismantle and Cleave were slash-based.

Thunderclap Flash was another slash-type, reliant on ultra-high-speed movement.

Looking at it that way, it almost seemed like the Six Eyes were made to support these kinds of extreme abilities—

Giving him the vision required to execute them flawlessly.

"Let's try it."

Tendou looked toward the door, bent his knees, and braced himself.

He exhaled—and from his mouth came a crackling electric hiss.

His leg muscles tensed, his eyes locked forward—

Like a bomb about to explode.

Next second—

"Thunderclap Flash!"

Whoosh—!

Tendou blurred into motion, vanishing like a flash of light.

And then—

BAM!

A loud crash echoed as the nation's top high school player slammed face-first into the gym doors.

It was very loud.

No mistaking it.

"Damn it—this thing's way too hard to stop!"

Tendou clutched his nose and sat up.

"Breaking limits really isn't that easy!"

It was impossible to control.

That burst had gone beyond his body's capacity to maintain balance or react.

A sprint at 130% of his max speed was simply too much—even Aomine wouldn't be able to handle it.

But just moments later, Tendou was beaming again.

The harder it was to control, the more excited he became.

"If I can master Thunderclap Flash – Sixfold… or even Eightfold…"

Tendou started laughing to himself—blood dripping from his nose, looking absolutely ridiculous.

But still laughing.

Yup—he had to train seriously first.

...

The national tournament was over.

And now… summer break had arrived.

Tendou didn't waste a single day.

He dedicated himself to mastering Thunderclap Flash.

He quickly realized that when he triggered max speed, no matter how hard he tried, his body couldn't decelerate naturally.

That was the price of breaking his limits.

But then he came up with a new idea:

What if he activated Thunderclap Flash without using Aomine's top-speed burst?

At 99 speed, but staying just under that ultimate sprint threshold?

He'd only boost himself 10%—

But it would still be faster than normal, and much easier to control.

"Thunderclap Flash!"

"Twofold!"

Standing on an outdoor court, Tendou exhaled a bolt of crackling breath.

Then—

He transformed into thunder.

In the blink of an eye, he shot toward two obstacles placed ahead of him.

In an instant, he passed them both—

So fast it looked like he'd crossed them simultaneously.

"Developing Thunderclap Flash – Twofold in just one week… not bad, right?"

He landed cleanly and transitioned straight into a jump shot.

As the most difficult and elusive of the Thunder Breathing forms, reaching Twofold in just a week was honestly pretty impressive.

Tendou thought for a moment—then shook his head.

"It's fine. I've got the whole summer."

There was no need to rush.

He had plenty of time to refine it further.

Then—

He turned toward the other side of the court.

"Thunderclap Flash!"

He activated the skill at full force, breaking the limit with a 30% burst of max speed.

At the same time, he made sure his dribbling could keep pace with him.

While sprinting, he slashed forward using Dismantle.

Under the watchful eye of the short-tailed cat, Tendou seemed to cross half-court in a single stride.

His speed was terrifying.

"This kid's actually pretty smart," the cat thought, nodding in approval.

In just a week, Tendou had not only unlocked the Twofold version of a new ability—

He had also integrated it seamlessly with his existing skillset.

That kind of coordination showed elite-level talent.

Even though his player rating still showed 99, Tendou's actual performance had already surpassed it.

It was like Michael Jordan.

Jordan's official rating was 99—

But so were many others.

The difference was, Jordan's 99… was not the same as everyone else's.

...

While Tendou was gleefully training, his phone suddenly rang.

It was his agent.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Tendou, where are you right now?" the agent asked, clearly in a hurry.

There was a major brand offering him a commercial gig.

A full 30-second spot scheduled to air on prime time TV in Tokyo.

For a teenager?

This was the chance of a lifetime.

Tendou was about to be on national television.

And that meant… a whole new wave of opportunities would come his way.

After all, his looks were simply outrageous.

Even his agency boss was basically a fangirl.

"I'm in Tokyo," Tendou replied casually.

The agent nearly choked.

Of course he was in Tokyo.

Where else would he be—on the moon?

"You're at your usual court, right? Don't go anywhere! I'm coming right now. Big job. Huge exposure."

And before Tendou could say anything—

click.

The agent had hung up in a panic.

Tendou stared at the screen, then smiled and shook his head.

Lately, his agent had been giving him that pitiful puppy look all the time.

As Tendou's performance in the national tournament had exploded, so had the interest in him.

Even though he rarely accepted modeling jobs, brands still fought to book him.

Some thought he was playing hard to get.

But the reality was—his popularity was just too high.

And his looks?

They matched—if not outshone—most top models.

By comparison, Tendou was the whole package: high value, low cost.

A typical newbie model earned 4,000–5,000 yen an hour—

So a single shoot would be worth maybe 20,000 yen.

But Tendou?

His first shoot had already paid him 400 dollars.

Now?

His rate had tripled or quadrupled.

A single shoot could earn him tens of thousands of yen.

Depending on the job, it could be even more.

But money wasn't an issue for him.

To Tendou, modeling was just a fun way to kill time.