Shura Divine Path

"Welcome to my domain: Shura Divine Path. Domain: The Matrix." A mysterious light seemed to flicker in the depths of Ken Kaneki's eyes.

Skill: Shura Divine Path: Domain: The Matrix

Skill Type: Conceptual Type

Skill Rank: S+ (evolvable)

Skill Trait: Big Data Prediction

Skill Effect: Collects data on all players on the court. Once data collection is complete, it forms a domain unique to the host, allowing it to capture the movements of everyone within its range and predict their actions for a certain amount of time.

Current Domain Range: 2m x 2m x 5m

Prediction Duration: 1s

Note: This skill has minor side effects until it has fully evolved.

That was right—the ability he'd snatched from Atsushi Murasakibara. And the reason Ken Kaneki had slowed the pace and taken fewer shots in the first half was to gather enough data.

"Kuso! That guy Ken Kaneki can always find a way to surprise you..." Daiki Aomine said, watching Kaneki on the court with a complicated expression.

"Ken's talent... is truly astounding!" Seijuro Akashi looked at Kaneki in disbelief. A golden glint flashed beneath his right pupil and vanished. In a voice too quiet for anyone else to hear, he murmured, "As expected, if you can see it, you can get one step ahead..."

The upperclassmen on the court had no time to join the people on the sidelines in discussing how terrifying Kaneki was. To them, he was as disgusting, nauseating, and sickening as a boss in Elden Ring.

But there was nothing they could do. The game had to go on. Koji Nishida and Taro Sugiya prepared to use the same trick again, sticking to their strategy of avoiding Kaneki on offense.

"Hasegawa, take one step forward and strip the ball!" Just as Jun Okazaki was about to catch the basketball flying toward him, Kaneki ordered Hasegawa as though he had eyes in the back of his head. Ichiro Hasegawa stepped forward on instinct, and sure enough, the ball was within easy reach.

Hasegawa made the steal and didn't hesitate. He launched a long pass straight to Kaneki. After catching it, Kaneki drove the ball hard, gathered it two steps inside the free-throw line, then seemed to float as he slammed it through the hoop. The upperclassmen hadn't even had time to form a double-team before he tore through their entire defense.

"Come on, upperclassmen!" Kaneki spread his arms, bloodshot eyes fixed ahead. His golden pupils looked eerily sinister. "Do everything you can to entertain me!"

"You bastard!" Taro Sugiya clenched his fists, his eyes seeming ready to bleed.

"That guy feels a little different from usual. Something about him just doesn't seem right..." Daiki Aomine watched Kaneki on the court with concern.

"Even if I've only known him for an afternoon, Ken-chan's still a gentle guy overall," Atsushi Murasakibara added.

Yes, Kaneki really was acting differently. He could be a little sly, but in general, he wasn't so flamboyant and aggressive. Shura Divine Path, however, was no ordinary skill. It was an advanced state reached by a basketball player who, after suffering repeated crushing defeats, poured his resentment and determination into basketball and endured hellish training.

In this state, a player could grasp an Otherworldly Domain Ball Skill unique to him, a skill often endowed with extraordinary power and effects. Take Kaneki, for example: having lived two lives and possessing immense spiritual power, with Divine Void Vision letting him perceive the effects of every move, it was hardly surprising that he had awakened a domain through Shura Divine Path.

But Shuzo Nijimura, watching from the sidelines, could no longer sit still. Kaneki reminded him of himself the year before. If the game continued like this, and Kaneki staged a humiliating comeback after holding back in the first half, beating the First String by twenty points, those players might end up like last year's upperclassmen and never want to play basketball again.

"Coach, maybe we should call off the game," Nijimura suggested, walking over to Kōzō Shirogane.

"Oh? What makes you think that?" Shirogane studied his prized student in surprise. "Isn't Kaneki doing what you did last year?"

"That's exactly why, Coach." Nijimura sounded rueful, as though something had come back to him. "I want you to call off the game even more. If we let Kaneki keep playing like this, Sugiya and the others could lose their basketball careers, their hard work and their faith in the game. Just like..."

"Just like the two upperclassmen you drove off the team last year?" Shirogane seemed to know what Nijimura was about to say.

"Yes, Coach." Nijimura lowered his head and admitted it.

"You're still so cold on the outside and warm on the inside, Shuzo. I told you, it wasn't your fault." Shirogane looked toward Kaneki on the court and sighed. "Knowing shame brings you close to courage. If someone doesn't have the courage to admit he's outmatched, or the resolve to fight back, he has no business talking about a basketball career."

Shirogane paused, then continued, "I don't know who could be good enough to defeat someone as talented as Kaneki, but it's obvious that right now, he's like a warrior who crawled out of hell. He's probably lost more times than all of you put together."

"I..." Nijimura watched Kaneki wreak havoc on the court, at a loss for words.

"Just enjoy the game. The monster's first roar after being let out of its cage is happening right now." Shirogane patted Nijimura on the shoulder and said nothing more.

By then, the score had reached 45–44. That was right: the First String hadn't scored a single point since the second half began. With overwhelming individual skill and the occasional brilliant bit of close-range teamwork, Kaneki had driven the First String back again and again, leaving them powerless to fight back.

"Are you sure you need to guard me so seriously?" Kaneki looked at the three players closing in to double-team him and spread his hands. "I don't even have the ball right now. You don't need to be so tense..."

"Cut the crap..." Nishida hadn't finished speaking when Kaneki's figure once again became as hard to pin down as a stream of scrambled data. Nishida tried desperately to keep up, but only realized Kaneki had left them far behind when he collided with Sugiya.

"This game..." Having escaped the double-team, Kaneki cut into the paint without the ball like lightning. Before everyone's eyes, he soared like a giant roc spreading its wings, caught Iizawa's pass, and hammered the ball into the hoop with a windmill dunk.

"I won." After landing, Kaneki didn't spare the defeated First String players another glance. Like an emperor, he delivered his final verdict on the game.