Kuroko no Basket: Honored One

"It vanished?!"

Kise's heart skipped a beat.

The rush of adrenaline and fighting spirit he'd felt a moment ago—

vanished like it had been doused by a bucket of ice water.

But a basketball couldn't just disappear into thin air.

If the player hadn't vanished, then the ball must've been passed.

He spun around instinctively—and sure enough, the ball was already in Seto Kentarō's hands.

Before most people could even process what had happened, Seto turned and banked in the shot.

The entire arena fell dead silent.

It was like someone had pressed a mute button on reality.

The cheers from Kaijō's fans—gone.

It was as if someone had grabbed them all by the throat.

"Wh-what just happened?!"

"Tendou passed the ball. That's all."

Akashi, watching from the stands, answered calmly.

With the Emperor Eye, he saw it more clearly than anyone else—he knew exactly what Tendou had done.

It was another variation of his move, "Dismantle".

Just like his steals, his drives, his shots—it was all built on the same foundation:

Hand speed so fast you couldn't even perceive it.

Akashi had clearly seen it—Tendou had calculated the ball's bounce after a dribble, then, at an inhuman angle and speed, whipped it into the paint before anyone could even blink.

He didn't even need to aim.

With his Six Eyes, Tendou never had to worry about finding an angle.

That brief pause?

It was nothing more than a moment to let his teammate react.

『That's one hell of a demon arm.』

『That hand speed's so insane… If I had that, I'd—wait, use it for what?』

『For what? Your hairline?』

『…Excuse me??』

The live chat, still reeling in shock, completely lost it.

Jokes aside—this wasn't just a pass.

This was magic.

The glowing trail of light, the impossibly timed release, the way the ball warped from one place to another—

It was like a dimensional rift had just opened.

And Tendou?

He turned around and calmly told his teammates:

"Mark your man."

He didn't yell. He didn't scold.

But the message was clear:

Screw up again, and you'll be riding the bench.

He wasn't actually going to bench them—

But lately, the team had been too comfortable.

One win after another. The media had started treating these violent punks like national darlings.

Their ego was showing.

And now?

It was time to remind them who they were.

...

It worked.

Kirisaki Daiichi snapped back into focus.

Kasamatsu took another tough jumper and bricked it.

Hayakawa, always alert, read the bounce and prepared to leap.

But Hara Kazuya boxed him out, hard.

"If I can't have the rebound, neither can you."

He sacrificed his own chance just to shut Hayakawa down.

Kobori stepped in to help—

Only to get subtly jersey-pulled by Seto, unable to move.

Smack!

The rebound fell right into Tendou's hands.

And he was gone.

...

Kise sprinted up, heart pounding.

Images of Tsugawa Tomoki's lockdown defense flashing through his mind.

I'll copy it. I have to.

It's the best defense I've seen.

"Tsugawa Tomoki, huh?"

Tendou recognized it at a glance.

Expression flat, he muttered:

"Still too soft."

Just past the three-point line, Tendou abruptly stepped back.

The broadcast showed his silhouette slashing downward like a swordsman—

and then, suddenly, he had created space between him and Kise.

He took another quick dribble, rose up—

and with a signature one-motion shot, launched a three.

Kise couldn't even contest.

Tsugawa's best defense meant nothing.

Swish.

Nothing but net.

One two-pointer, one three-pointer—

the lead was back to 8.

...

Kaijō's fans fell silent.

In their place, the rich-kid crowd from Kirisaki Daiichi roared in triumph.

"He brought it right back!"

"He's too strong!"

"Tendou, the leader of the Generation of Miracles—one pass, one shot, back to an eight-point gap!"

"How the hell is Kaijō supposed to win against that?!"

Even the crowd was stunned by the dominance.

It felt like Tendou could score whenever he wanted.

He was controlling the court like a god playing a game of chess.

...

"This is bad…"

"Yeah. If you're stuck chasing the score the whole time, the pressure just builds."

Seirin understood this better than anyone.

They'd been in that position before—

chasing points, time slipping through their fingers.

Even a top-tier team like Kaijō wouldn't be immune to that pressure.

They had to find a way to break through.

...

Buzz!

End of the first quarter.

Despite giving everything they had, Kaijō still trailed 25–13.

Down by 12.

Without Kise's offensive firepower, the rest of the team just couldn't make up the difference.

"So this is why Seirin lost so badly…"

Moriyama, panting and drenched in sweat, chugged water.

He'd scored 6 points in the first quarter—two threes. Not bad by any measure.

But it still wasn't enough.

"Now's not the time to admire the enemy."

Kasamatsu shot him a glare.

Of course he knew.

They needed Kise to come alive.

But until then, they had no choice but to hang on.

...

Before the game began…

Kise had made a bold claim—so wild that his teammates had trouble believing it.

"I'm going to copy all of them."

Kise wasn't just trying to surpass Tendou.

He was trying to replicate every Generation of Miracles member.

Not just one. All of them.

"It sounds amazing, but… is that even possible?"

"It doesn't matter if it's possible or not. I have to try."

Kise had already realized something.

All the skills he'd copied from players outside the Generation of Miracles—

even the very best—meant nothing against Tendou.

Lightning dribbles, lockdown defense—they all collapsed like paper.

So if he wanted to win—

He had to go further.

He had to break his limits.

"And since it's Tendou I'm facing…"

"I'll have to copy all of them."

Even if he couldn't match the Six Eyes, he would do everything in his power to close that gap.

...

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