The air in the Teikō First Team Training Hall seemed to be sucked into a vacuum after Akashi Seijūrō asked, "Your phantom... can it bewilder the 'Generation of Miracles'?" Every gaze was drawn as if by a magnet toward the two figures facing off at the edge of the court—the red-haired, heterochromatic-eyed emperor and the silver-gray-haired phantom. Nijimura Shūzō stood with his arms folded, his rugged face expressionless, but his narrowed eyes burned with intense scrutiny and anticipation. Aomine Daiki grinned, undisguised excitement and a taste for spectacle gleaming in his deep-blue eyes. Murasaki-bara Atsushi stopped chewing, irritation at having his peace disturbed flickering in his purple eyes. Midōrima Shintarō pushed up his glasses, his gaze behind the lenses cold and sharp, like a recalibrated instrument. At the edge of the court, Momoi Satsuki's cherry-pink eyes were filled with tension and a trace of barely detectable worry, while the Shorthand Notebook in her hands was squeezed slightly wrinkled.
Yū stood at center court, sweat-soaked Red and White Training Uniform clinging to his gently heaving chest. Akashi's gaze was like tangible icicles, locking onto him with soul-piercing scrutiny and a lofty, emperor-like pressure. The question sounded calm, yet weighed as heavily as a thousand jun, containing absolute confidence in the title "Generation of Miracles" and the ultimate test for this newly joined "phantom."
Yū slowly raised his head, his amber eyes meeting those heterochromatic eyes. Left gold and right red, they were like a burning sun and a frigid moon existing together, unfathomably deep. He was not cowed by the invisible pressure. Instead, a calmer, sharper flame kindled deep in his eyes. He did not answer Akashi's challenge with words. He merely bent his knees slightly, lowered his center of gravity, and assumed the most standard defensive stance. Action was the best answer.
"Good." The corner of Akashi's mouth seemed to curve into an extremely faint, cold, satisfied smile. He said no more, walking slowly beyond the three-point line and picking up a basketball from a nearby rack. His movements were not fast, but carried an unhurried composure that controlled the entire situation. Each step seemed precisely measured.
"One-on-one. Five balls." Akashi's voice was calm and unruffled, yet struck everyone's heart like a cold jade chime, carrying an unquestionable air of judgment.
There were no cheers and no discussion. The entire gym sank into suffocating silence. Everyone held their breath, their eyes locked on center court. Akashi Seijūrō, Teikō's future absolute core, had actually taken the court to challenge a newcomer one-on-one?! That alone represented the highest recognition, while also being a trial full of unknowns and danger!
The whistle blew! An invisible battle erupted in an instant!
Akashi did not rush to attack. He controlled the ball steadily, his movements simple and efficient. Every dribble swung like a precise pendulum, carrying a strange, unsettling rhythm. Standing at the top of the arc, his heterochromatic eyes calmly watched Yū, as if piercing through Yū's muscle patterns and directly glimpsing the signs of his next move.
Yū concentrated completely, his amber pupils fixed on every minute movement Akashi made, especially those heterochromatic eyes. He dared not relax in the slightest. He pushed his flexibility and reaction speed to the limit, his body like the most precise spring, ready to explode in any direction.
He moved!
Akashi's left foot took an almost imperceptible half-step toward the front left, and his shoulder tilted slightly left in a nearly undetectable signal! At the same time, his right wrist, which controlled the ball, made an extremely subtle inward rotation. The basketball seemed poised to be pushed toward the front left!
"Drive left!" Yū's nerves tightened instantly! First Sense of Wildness and his defensive experience screamed warnings! His center of gravity instinctively shifted left. He pushed off with his left foot, preparing to slide over and cut him off!
Yet, the instant his weight shifted, Akashi's tiny leftward signal vanished like a phantom! His center of gravity snapped back as if yanked by invisible threads! At the same time, his inward-rotating right wrist made an outward rotation too fast to see, instantly changing the ball's trajectory! The basketball seemed alive as it shot from outside his slightly raised right knee, struck the floor at blinding speed, and went straight between Yū's instinctively spread legs! A Nutmeg Pass?!
No! It wasn't a pass! It was a Crotch Dribble past his man!
The instant the ball passed between his legs, Akashi's body swept past Yū's right side like a specter! His movement was so fast that it left behind only a crimson afterimage! The entire action was fluid, hidden, and precise to a maddening degree! It was as if he had already seen through every defensive prediction and shift of weight Yū could make!
"Between the legs?! Captain Akashi?!" Incredulous exclamations rang out from the sidelines!
Yū felt a chill beneath him as the ball passed between his legs, followed by a gust of wind sweeping past his side! He forcibly twisted his center of gravity and tried to pursue, but Akashi had already calmly laid the ball in at the basket!
"1:0." Akashi's voice held no fluctuation, as if he had merely completed the most ordinary practice drill.
Yū stood where he was, his amber pupils contracting violently! What had happened in that instant? That Fake Move signal so minuscule it was almost nonexistent... that incomprehensible timing on the Crotch Dribble... Akashi had seemingly caught the fleeting gap between his legs at the exact instant his weight shifted! This wasn't merely technique. This was... precognition?!
Second ball!
Akashi advanced while controlling the ball again. His movements remained relaxed, but Yū's nerves were already stretched to their limit. He forced himself to calm down and observe every detail of Akashi's movements even more closely.
Akashi performed a series of between-the-legs dribbles in front of Yū, keeping a steady rhythm. Suddenly, his right shoulder sank almost imperceptibly, and his gaze seemed to stab more sharply toward the right! At the same time, his right hand made an extremely subtle, short pushing motion toward the right as it controlled the ball!
"Fake move to the right?!" The lesson from before flashed through Yū's mind! He suppressed his instinct to shift right and forced himself to hold steady, trying not to be deceived by that faint signal!
Yet, the instant Yū forcibly stabilized his weight, Akashi's tiny shoulder drop abruptly became a real point of exertion! His hidden push to the right exploded! The basketball shot like an arrow, skimming past Yū's right side along the floor with a low, tearing rush of air! At the same time, Akashi's body launched like red lightning, forcing its way past him on the right!
A pure, utterly unadorned Speed Burst! It was faster than Yū's nervous system could react!
Yū's vision blurred, and the crimson figure had already left him completely behind! Akashi scored an effortless layup!
"2:0."
This time, he had exploited Yū's hesitation born from his fear of being deceived by another Fake Move, unleashing a thunderous strike! He had pushed psychological warfare to its extreme!
Cold sweat slid down Yū's spine. He felt unprecedented pressure. Akashi's offense lacked Aomine's savage power, Murasaki-bara's absolute physical dominance, and Midōrima's cold precision. His offense was filled with icy calculation, precise psychological prediction, and absolute control over his opponent's reaction limit! It was as if every step had already been written into his script!
Third ball!
Yū defended even more cautiously, backing off half a step to give himself more time to react.
Akashi did not seem to care. He dribbled slowly at the top of the arc, his heterochromatic eyes like cold probes scanning Yū's defensive formation. Suddenly, without any warning, he took an exaggerated jab step toward the front left! His gaze stabbed convincingly toward the left as well! The entire motion was brimming with intent to drive!
"Left again?!" Yū's nerves were pulled taut at once! His weight tilted slightly left against his will! But he immediately came to his senses, forcibly controlling his balance and refusing to move completely!
Yet, the instant Yū's center of gravity made the slightest ripple, Akashi's exaggerated jab step retracted like a phantom! His weight instantly returned to center! At the same time, his right wrist gave an extremely subtle twitch! The basketball did not fly in any direction. Instead, as if drawn by a magnet, it struck the floor at blinding speed and was delivered with perfect precision to a teammate—a second-year rotation player—who had suddenly cut in from the right and started toward the basket!
An assist! The teammate scored an easy layup!
"3:0."
This time, Akashi had used his lifelike Fake Move to draw all of Yū's defensive attention, then precisely caught the fleeting moment of his teammate's cut and delivered a fatal assist! A seamless shift between individual offense and team coordination!
Yū stood where he was, his chest heaving violently as sweat streamed like a brook. He felt like an insect caught in an invisible web. No matter how he struggled, he seemed to remain inside a script the opponent had woven long ago. Every movement Akashi made landed precisely on the Critical Point of his defensive reactions, leaving him exhausted and at a loss. The helplessness of being seen through completely and controlled utterly swept over him like a cold tide.
At the sideline, Aomine Daiki's amused grin faded, solemnity filling his deep-blue eyes. For the first time, he clearly realized that Akashi's terrifying nature did not lie in absolute speed or strength, but in the frightening dominance that saw through everything and controlled the entire situation. Murasaki-bara Atsushi yawned, but his purple eyes held less laziness and more seriousness. Midōrima Shintarō pushed up his glasses, his gaze behind the lenses sharp as a blade, seemingly recording and calculating every detail of Akashi's movements. Nijimura Shūzō's gaze grew even deeper. He knew Akashi was using the most direct method possible to announce his position as the future core to everyone, while also laying out the future of the "Generation of Miracles"—an embryonic empire requiring absolute control and precise operation was quietly taking shape within his cold calculations.
Momoi Satsuki's cherry-pink eyes were filled with shock and a trace of worry. The pen in her hand flew across the Shorthand Notebook, recording Akashi's suffocating control as well as the fatigue gradually emerging under Yū's immense pressure. She watched the silver-haired figure on the court, drenched in sweat yet still stubborn in his gaze, and her heartbeat quickened involuntarily.
Fourth ball!
Yū's breathing was already somewhat labored, but a still more defiant flame burned in his amber eyes. He could not be crushed! He lowered his center of gravity again, his eyes locked firmly on Akashi.
Akashi controlled the ball, still unhurried. He slowly dribbled closer, his heterochromatic eyes like bottomless icy pools reflecting Yū's tense figure. Suddenly, his upper body swayed the slightest bit to the left—so little that it could almost be ignored!
After the lessons of the previous exchanges, Yū forcibly restrained every instinctive reaction, keeping his center of gravity nailed to the spot! Like an immovable rock rooted in the ground!
Yet, the instant Yū's balance was fully stabilized and his muscles were taut to the limit, Akashi's tiny sway abruptly became a real point of exertion! His left foot shot a large step toward the front right like a striking snake! His weight boldly shifted right! At the same time, his ball-controlling right wrist thrust powerfully toward the front right! A swift, unadorned change of direction and acceleration in front of the body! A pure combination of speed and explosive power! The timing precisely caught the instant stiffness caused by Yū's "excessive caution"!
"Damn it!" Yū's pupils contracted! He forcibly twisted his body to cut him off, but his stiffness made him half a beat too slow!
Akashi swept past Yū's right side like a crimson whirlwind! He went straight for the basket! This time, he did not choose an easy layup. Instead, he sprang up one step inside the free-throw line! His body unfolded in the air, his arm raised high, carrying a cold, unquestionable majesty as he slammed the ball into the rim!
"Boom—!"
The rim groaned in pain! A brutal dunk filled with imperial presence!
"4:0!"
The score was lopsided! The emperor's majesty was unquestionable!
Akashi landed, his red hair drawing a sharp arc through the air. He turned around and calmly watched Yū, who was panting heavily and drenched in sweat. His voice remained utterly even. "The final ball."
Invisible pressure weighed on Yū's shoulders like a mountain. Four balls lost, each one as if the opponent had toyed with him in the palm of his hand! Akashi Seijūrō had used his cold, precise control to give this sharp-edged newcomer a brutal lesson called "Absolute Control."
Yū drew a deep breath, the scorching air stinging his lungs. He wiped away the sweat dripping from his chin. In his amber eyes, all his frustration, helplessness, and shock were forcibly suppressed, leaving only a calmness and focus settled to the utmost degree, like a frigid, ancient well. Slowly, with utmost seriousness, he assumed his defensive stance once more. Even knowing the outcome, he would fight to the very last moment! This was his devotion to basketball, and the answer he owed himself!
Akashi controlled the ball and slowly approached. The air throughout the gym seemed to solidify into steel. Everyone knew that this final ball would be the emperor's ultimate judgment upon the phantom.
Akashi stopped one step away from Yū. He made no flashy dribbles, merely looking at Yū calmly. Those heterochromatic eyes—left gold and right red, like a burning sun and a frigid moon—radiated heart-stopping pressure. Yū felt as if every intention behind his movements and every minute signal from his muscles had been completely seen through, analyzed, and predicted by those eyes! An icy sensation of having nowhere to hide enveloped his entire body.
He moved!
Akashi's upper body swayed the slightest bit to the left, the motion even smaller than before—almost nothing more than a shift in his gaze!
"Fake Move? Or a real drive?!" Yū's nerves tightened to the limit! The lessons from the previous four balls flashed through his mind like a reel of film! Shift left? He would get Nutmeg Passed! Stay still? He would be driven past! Shift right? He would give up an assist! He felt as if he stood at a crossroads filled with deadly traps, carefully designed by Akashi. Whichever road he chose seemed destined to be a dead end!
In the instant his thoughts struggled with lightning speed and his body fell into an extremely brief stiffness—that fraction of a second of an opening—
Akashi moved!
His movement held no warning whatsoever! It was as if a frame of time had been stolen from his body! His center of gravity slid instantly toward the front right like a specter! His ball-controlling right wrist thrust powerfully on a diagonal! The basketball hugged the floor like a precise scalpel, instantly tearing through the defensive gap created by Yū's mental struggle! At the same time, his body swept past Yū's right side in a crimson blur at a speed beyond the eye's ability to capture!
Fast! Precise! Ruthless! His timing was perfect to the slightest degree! He had seized the fatal instant when his opponent's thoughts were confused and his body stiff!
Yū's vision blurred, and the crimson figure had already appeared behind him as if by teleportation! He turned with all his strength to pursue, but Akashi had already leaped effortlessly. With a gentle flick of his wrist, the basketball traced a beautiful arc and dropped cleanly through the net.
"5:0." Akashi's voice calmly announced the result.
Dead silence.
Absolute silence enveloped the Teikō First Team Training Hall.
Yū stood where he was, panting violently as sweat streamed from his forehead, chin, and back like rivulets, quickly spreading a dark patch across the polished floor. He lowered his head, his chest heaving violently. Every breath carried a searing pain and a deep sense of helplessness. Five to zero—a complete defeat. And every ball had been lost so thoroughly, as if every step he took had been anticipated by the opponent, as if he were a controlled marionette. Akashi Seijūrō's cold control was like invisible shackles tightening around him until he could barely breathe.
Akashi walked to the sideline and took a clean towel from Momoi Satsuki, casually wiping sweat that did not exist from his brow. His heterochromatic eyes swept across the court before finally settling on the figure panting heavily at center court. His voice was calm and even, yet carried a heart-stopping penetrating force.
"Good talent. Decent Basketball IQ."
He paused, his heterochromatic pupils like cold probes, piercing straight into Yū's heart.
"But your 'phantom' is still not qualified to bewilder the 'Generation of Miracles.'"
"At Teikō, victory is absolute."
"Learn to obey. Learn to merge into my 'correctness.'"
"Otherwise, no matter how dazzling a phantom is, it will eventually be crushed."
The cold words were like the emperor's final decree, clearly branded into every person's heart. This was not merely an evaluation of Bai Ze You, but a declaration regarding the future of the entire Teikō Basketball Club—an icy empire centered on Akashi Seijūrō and governed by "Absolute Victory" as its sole principle had revealed its embryonic form in this one-on-one match.
Nijimura Shūzō looked at Akashi's back, then at the stubborn figure standing tall at center court, his expression complicated. He had seen Akashi's terrifying control and ruthless leadership, but he had also seen Bai Ze You's flame, which refused to go out even under absolute suppression. Teikō's future was destined to be anything but peaceful.
Aomine Daiki pursed his lips, a trace of barely noticeable displeasure flashing through his deep-blue eyes, but most of all there was acknowledgment of Akashi's formidable strength. Murasaki-bara Atsushi yawned, apparently having lost interest in the "crushing." Midōrima Shintarō pushed up his glasses, his gaze behind the lenses growing even colder and sharper, seemingly reassessing the weight of every variable.
On the second floor, Kise Ryōta watched with his mouth agape, shock and awe toward Akashi filling his golden eyes. "Captain Akashi... he's terrifying..."
Momoi Satsuki's cherry-pink eyes were full of concern. She watched the sweat-drenched silver-haired boy on the court, his back still straight, while the tiny mark beside the name "Bai Ze You" in her Shorthand Notebook was unconsciously traced darker and darker.
Yū slowly raised his head. Sweat-soaked silver-gray strands clung to his smooth forehead. Deep in his amber eyes, the flame temporarily suppressed by Akashi's cold words had not gone out. Instead, it burned more deeply and quietly amid the ashes of defeat. He looked at Akashi's departing back, then lowered his head to look at his own palm. The crushing defeat of five to zero and Akashi's cold verdict were all engraved into his heart like brands.
"Obey? Merge into 'correctness'?" At an angle where no one could see, the corners of Yū's mouth curved into an extremely faint yet unmistakably clear smile filled with defiance and challenge.
"My phantom... has only just begun."
He bent down and picked up the basketball that had rolled across the floor. The familiar texture beneath his fingertips carried a heavy weight. The White Phantom's dance steps would never end because of an emperor's verdict. In this icy empire built in the name of Absolute Victory, his own unique melody had only just sounded its first stubborn note.
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