Takenori Akagi: Shoot Another One!

Takenori Akagi's voice was low and hoarse, carrying a tremor that even he himself was unwilling to admit.

He hoped—desperately hoped—that Shirakawa would give him a definite answer.

Tell him that the last shot had merely been a one-in-a-billion coincidence, a joke played by God.

Because if it was not, then everything he had built over more than a decade—every bit of his understanding of basketball—would be utterly destroyed today.

The entire gym fell silent once more.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Shirakawa and Akagi.

This question was also the doubt in every one of their hearts.

Looking at the gorilla captain before him, whose face clearly said, "Hurry up and tell me this is fake," Shirakawa found it rather amusing.

Of course, he could say yes, then let the matter pass and quietly hide his accomplishments.

But...

Wouldn't that cut the satisfaction in half?

If he was going to show off, he had to see it through to the end!

If he was going to shock them, he had to shock them until they went numb!

A teasing curve rose at the corner of Shirakawa's mouth.

Rather than answer Akagi directly, he asked, "Captain, what do you think?"

"I..."

Akagi was choked up by that one question.

What did he think? He thought this was something no human being could possibly do!

But he could not say that.

As Shohoku's captain, as the team's spiritual pillar, he had to remain rational. He had to analyze the matter through science and logic.

"I don't believe it!" Akagi drew a deep breath, and his gaze became resolute again. "Basketball is a rigorous sport, built on sweat and hard work—not some luck-based circus trick! I don't believe anyone can consistently make shots from that position!"

His voice rang out with force and conviction, as if he were trying to persuade Shirakawa, though it sounded more like he was persuading himself.

"Oh?" Shirakawa raised an eyebrow, the smile on his face widening. "So, Captain, if I make another one, you'll believe me?"

"Another one?"

Before Akagi could speak, Ryota Miyagi cried out from beside him.

"Are you kidding me? Making one of those was already a miracle! How could you possibly do it again?"

"Exactly! Shirakawa, stop joking around. Just admit it was luck—we won't laugh at you!" Kiminobu Kogure hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.

In their eyes, Shirakawa was just stubbornly bluffing after Akagi had backed him into a corner.

Hanamichi Sakuragi also found his chance. He jumped out, pointed at Shirakawa, and shouted, "Hahaha! This genius was right, wasn't he? You white-haired fox are just bragging! If you've got the guts, throw another one! If it goes in again, this genius... this genius will eat three loaves of bread while standing on his head!"

"Oh? Eat bread upside down?" Shirakawa gave Sakuragi an interested look. "You said it."

With that, he ignored everyone and walked straight back to the baseline where he had stood before.

He did not even take a new ball. Instead, he beckoned to Kogure beneath the basket.

"Kogure-senpai, please pass me the ball."

"Huh? Oh... okay." Kogure instinctively picked up the ball, then hurled it over with all his strength.

The basketball traced a long arc through the air before Shirakawa caught it steadily in his hands.

Once again, he stood at the spot where he had created a miracle.

This time, there were no more murmurs or jeers in the gym.

Everyone held their breath and stared at him without blinking.

They wanted to see whether a miracle could truly happen a second time.

Takenori Akagi clenched his fists tightly, his heart pounding wildly.

He did not believe it, yet somewhere deep down, he was faintly anticipating it.

He anticipated that this boy would once again shatter his expectations and bring him an even greater shock.

As Shirakawa felt the entire gym's gaze upon him, only one thought filled his mind.

System, no problem, right? This skill doesn't have a cooldown or usage limit, does it?

[Ding! S-rank skill [Full Court 3-Point Shot]: As long as the host has sufficient stamina and his shooting form is not disrupted, the success rate is 100%. No cooldown, no usage limit. Please use it without concern.]

With the system's affirmative answer, Shirakawa was completely at ease.

He smiled.

Looking toward the opposing basket, he slowly raised the basketball.

The same posture.

The same rhythm.

Under everyone's suffocatingly tense gaze, he gently flicked the basketball from his hand once again.

"Whoosh—!"

Once more, the basketball carved an absurdly high arc through the air, one so despairing that everyone could only watch in horror.

It soared toward the sky, as though it intended to stand shoulder to shoulder with the sun.

Then, beneath everyone's gaze, it began to drop straight down.

Its target was still that tiny hoop.

"No way..."

"Again?"

"The exact same trajectory..."

Every heart leaped into every throat.

"Swish!"

Accompanied by a sound even crisper, louder, and more dreamlike than before,

the basketball once again passed cleanly through the net!

The second one!

Two consecutive ultra-long three-pointers from the far end of the court!

"..."

"..."

"..."

The entire gym fell deathly silent.

If the first shot had been a miracle,

then the second was divine punishment.

It shattered the last traces of luck and doubt in everyone's hearts, telling them one fact in the most unreasonable way possible—

This was not luck.

This was skill!

A godlike skill they could neither understand nor imagine!

"Ah—!"

Hanamichi Sakuragi let out a miserable scream, clutching his head as he squatted on the ground and muttered nonstop, "A monster... he's a monster..."

Ryota Miyagi and Kiminobu Kogure exchanged a glance, seeing endless bitterness and confusion in each other's eyes.

They felt as though all those years of basketball might have been a lie.

Kaede Rukawa's body swayed slightly.

His pride and confidence had been battered beyond recognition by those absurd, unreasonable three-pointers.

As for Takenori Akagi, he stood there blankly, head tilted up as he stared at the net still trembling slightly.

His mind was completely blank.

After a long while, he slowly turned around and looked at Shirakawa, who wore an utterly relaxed expression, with the gaze one would give a monster.

He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, countless words condensed into a single sentence.

"Who... are you?"