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

The sudden steal stunned even Nijimura Shuzo for a moment. He had clearly seen it just now, Shigure Akihito hadn't even looked behind him.

Was it the sound?

Footsteps?

Or did he predict the pass by reading the other players' movements?

But…

The interception route had been almost too precise.

Nijimura Shuzo: "..."

He didn't expect that.

This guy's defense wasn't just about those high-flying blocks.

In an official, full-regulation match beyond just 1v1s, he could even pull off this kind of surgical interception on passes?

After stealing the ball, Shigure Akihito glanced toward his own point guard.

A guy he didn't recognize.

After a brief moment of thought…

He let it go.

This was the same guy who had just gotten the ball stolen from him, despite being the team's point guard.

"Stay steady. Let's go again."

As he spoke, he dribbled the ball and raised an index finger with his free hand.

That gesture, he'd been wanting to do that for a long time.

Shigure Akihito brought the ball up the court himself.

At his side, Nijimura Shuzo shot him a glance, then looked over at their point guard jogging obediently to the frontcourt. In the end, Nijimura didn't say anything.

Clearly, he agreed with Shigure's decision.

Frontcourt.

Shigure Akihito controlled the ball at the top of the arc. The opposing point guard came in for tight man-to-man defense.

After assessing the situation at the top of the three-point line, Fukaya Reiji took the initiative, without being prompted, to move in and set a screen for Shigure.

A sideways screen, executed with impressive quality.

It effectively blocked the opposing guard, creating space for Shigure to drive.

Granted,

Shigure Akihito could break down a defender 1v1 on his own.

But if he could use a screen to conserve energy, all the better. This was a real match, after all. Even if teammates varied in strength, once they were on the court, they had meaning, they mattered.

Using the screen, Shigure easily shook his defender and slashed toward the basket!

Meanwhile,

Outside the three-point line.

After seeing Shigure go in for the drive,

Nijimura Shuzo suddenly cut as well, curiously moving toward Fukaya Reiji's side.

On the sideline,

Second-string coach Ino furrowed his brows slightly.

Nijimura's off-ball cut overlapped positioning, he should've been spacing the floor instead. But almost immediately, Coach Ino felt a flush of heat rise to his face.

Chogaku Middle School's shooting guard rushed in to stop Shigure's drive into the paint. The point guard who had been beaten earlier was also chasing back hard.

Which meant,

Shigure was now sandwiched between two defenders.

Because of Fukaya's well-timed screen earlier, Shigure didn't choose to force his way through, even though he had the skill. Instead, he wanted to return the favor, to repay Fukaya with an assist.

However, when he turned around,

Shigure Akihito felt a sudden wave of frustration.

He had clearly drawn a double team, so Fukaya Reiji should've been left wide open on the perimeter. But at some point, Nijimura Shuzo had brought his own defender right over.

Now, Chogaku's small forward was awkwardly stuck trying to cover both Nijimura and Fukaya.

One defender covering two.

And just then,

As Shigure looked over,

Nijimura Shuzo suddenly executed a sharp change of pace and direction, slipping clean past his defender right by Fukaya's side. His sharp gaze immediately locked onto Shigure.

The look in his eyes was crystal clear.

"I'm open. Pass it!"

Shigure Akihito: "..."

Damn you, Nijimura Shuzo. What kind of sneaky streetball vet move is this? You used me and Fukaya Reiji as bait?!

Whoosh!

Shigure passed the ball to Nijimura, who was now wide open just outside the arc, completely unguarded.

Well…

Maybe "unguarded" wasn't exactly fair, this open look was something Nijimura had created purely through his own movement.

He had used both Shigure and Fukaya to manipulate the defense.

That cut? Just a single off-ball stutter into a direction change.

Say what you will…

It was smooth as hell.

Slap!

Nijimura caught the ball and, almost in one fluid motion, transitioned into a shooting form. The movement was so seamless, it was borderline unreal.

But in Shigure's memory, Nijimura's three-point shot…

Well, maybe it was just a biased impression.

But during First Team practices, and even in solo matchups against senior First Team players, Nijimura had almost never taken threes.

Of course, Chogaku Middle wouldn't know that. The moment they saw Nijimura rise for the shot, their center, who had been patrolling the edge of the paint, exploded forward like an arrow.

But just as he started to move,

Right before his eyes,

A flash of orange light streaked by,

Through his legs.

The ball skipped under him with a quick bounce pass, landing cleanly in the hands of Kurokami Shinji beneath the rim.

Kurokami Shinji: "!?"

For a moment, Kurokami froze, stunned by the pass.

He quickly recovered and went up for the dunk, but the opposing power forward, rotating from the weak side, managed to get a hand in and disrupt the shot.

The ball clanged off the rim and bounced out.

Outside the arc,

Nijimura Shuzo's face visibly darkened when he saw that happen.

Until,

Boom!

The now-familiar sound of thunderous footsteps hitting the hardwood!

In the next second,

A shadow flashed in front of the rim. With a sharp slam, a single hand smacked the rebounding ball back down with brutal force!

In that instant,

Everyone on Chogaku's team froze in shock!

(End of chapter)

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