Unlocked! Shintaro Midorima Template!

A string of system notifications exploded in Shirakawa's mind like heavenly music.

His heart began pounding wildly, betraying him.

It was here!

Finally!

He had crushed Sendo and demolished Ryonan for this very moment!

Shirakawa forcibly suppressed the wild joy in his heart. On the surface, he still maintained that calm, unruffled expression as he followed his teammates out of Ryonan Gymnasium.

"Whew... the air outside really is fresh."

He stretched lazily and took a deep breath, as if that earth-shaking game had truly been nothing more than a simple warm-up for him.

"Shirakawa, you're seriously too good at acting!" Ryota Miyagi slapped him on the back and laughed. "We won by forty-five points! Forty-five! Aren't you excited at all?"

"Exactly! Lord Shirakawa! We beat Ryonan!" Hanamichi Sakuragi crowded over as well, his face full of excitement.

"What's there to get excited about?" Shirakawa glanced at them and said indifferently. "The opponents were too weak. There wasn't even any challenge in winning."

Everyone: "..."

If the Ryonan players heard that, they would probably cough up three liters of blood on the spot from anger.

Still, though they did not say it aloud, they all felt that Shirakawa's words seemed... somewhat reasonable.

After all, even Akira Sendoh, the genius everyone praised, had been beaten by him until he looked like a withdrawn child.

Ryonan really did seem a little lacking.

"Alright, get on the bus. We're heading back," Coach Anzai urged them with a chuckle.

The players boarded the bus home one after another.

Shirakawa found a window seat in a corner, put on his headphones, closed his eyes, and completely immersed his consciousness in the system space.

[Miracle Basketball System]

[Host: Shirakawa]

[Fused Template: Daiki Aomine - 100%]

[Unlocked Skills:]

[1. Formless Shot - S Rank]

[2. Ultra-High-Speed Dribbling - S Rank]

[3. ZONE (Pseudo) - S Rank]

[Template Awaiting Fusion: Shintaro Midorima - 10% (Partially Unlocked)]

[Skills Awaiting Unlock:]

[1. Full-Court Shooting - S Rank (Beginner)]

[Item: Emperor Eye Fragment x1 (Collect three to synthesize the complete skill)]

[Miracle Points: 5120]

Looking at the completely refreshed data on the system panel, Shirakawa felt absolutely exhilarated.

Five thousand Miracle Points!

That was a huge sum! It was enough for several high-level draws!

And there was also an Emperor Eye fragment!

That was Seijuro Akashi's signature godlike skill. It could predict an opponent's future movements—it was practically a bug on the court!

Although he only had one fragment and could not use it yet, as long as he collected two more, he would possess truly invincible Future Vision!

However, none of that was the most important thing.

The most important thing was the newly unlocked template!

Shintaro Midorima!

The number one sharpshooter of the Generation of Miracles!

His signature skill, [Full-Court Shooting], was even more absurdly overpowered than any other scoring method in basketball!

As long as he got the ball in his own half, he could shoot directly—and with a one hundred percent shooting percentage!

How the hell was anyone supposed to play against that?!

Just imagining it made Shirakawa's scalp tingle.

If he possessed the complete [Full-Court Shooting], there would be no need to play the game at all.

Win the opening tip, get the ball, then stand beneath his own basket and shoot directly.

Swish!

Three points.

The other side inbounded the ball. His team pressed full court, stole it, then passed it back to him.

Swish!

Another three-pointer.

After a few exchanges like that, the game could end immediately.

The opponents would not even get a chance to touch the ball.

This was no longer a dimensionality-reduction strike.

This was a fucking creator god playing against mortals!

"Calm down... calm down..."

Shirakawa took a deep breath and forcibly pulled himself out of his wild fantasies.

He noticed that behind the skill [Full-Court Shooting] on the system panel was a pair of parentheses containing two words—(Beginner).

"System, what does this 'Beginner' mean?" Shirakawa asked in his mind.

[ Ding! The current effects of the S-rank skill "Full-Court Shooting (Beginner)" are as follows: ]

[1. Shooting range: Limited to the host's own half.]

[2. Shooting percentage: Not 100%. Affected by the host's stamina, mental state, degree of opponent interference, and multiple other factors. Base shooting percentage: 50%.]

[3. Stamina consumption: Enormous. With the host's current physical condition, it can be used a maximum of three times per game.]

Hearing the system's explanation, Shirakawa's excited heart cooled slightly.

So it was not the complete version.

The range only covered half court, the shooting percentage was only fifty percent, and it could be used at most three times per game.

Those were still pretty major restrictions.

However, after thinking it over, Shirakawa felt relieved again.

That was only reasonable.

If he were given the complete [Full-Court Shooting] right from the start, there would truly be no way to continue playing the later games.

Besides, even the beginner version was already absurdly overpowered!

Half-court shooting range!

A fifty percent shooting percentage!

What kind of concept was that?

It meant that once he crossed half court, the entire half court became his attacking range!

How far would the opponent's defense have to spread to stop him?

They could not stop him at all!

And this was only the beginner version!

As long as he kept completing missions and raising the template's fusion rate, this skill would eventually become that truly unsolvable full-court shot with a one hundred percent shooting percentage!

"Heh heh..."

The corners of Shirakawa's mouth rose uncontrollably.

He was already beginning to look forward to it.

He looked forward to the upcoming Kanagawa Prefectural Qualifiers.

He looked forward to facing Shinichi Maki of the Hainan Team, the man known as the "Emperor."

Maki.

He wondered what kind of expression would appear on your face when you saw me standing at center court and shooting directly.

It would definitely be spectacular, wouldn't it?

With his eyes closed, Shirakawa leaned against the window, a devilish smile on his face.

The bus slowly drove into the distance beneath the lingering glow of the setting sun.

A massive storm that would sweep across all of Kanagawa, and even Japan's entire high school basketball world—

was quietly brewing.