Aoi Kunisaku was completely speechless as he stared at the boy in front of him.
That the boy had Wild Instinct was surprising, sure.
But the level of it…
If he had to use a metaphor, Aoi Kunisaku's Wild Instinct was a bloodthirsty black panther. The kid's? A harmless house cat. And not even a normal one—a stubby-legged one.
Yeah. That's about the level of difference.
Aoi Kunisaku stared with dead fish eyes at the overly confident boy in front of him. He couldn't even be bothered to comment anymore.
The boy started his move.
He immediately unleashed what was supposed to be Aoi Kunisaku's "Super High-Speed Dribble."
Ugh…
Technically, the move did resemble a Super High-Speed Dribble.
But the speed…
Watching the flashy but sluggish motions, Aoi Kunisaku was already done with it.
He couldn't bear to look.
At this point, he was starting to think the kid was doing it on purpose—mocking his technique.
He casually swung out his arm.
Smack—
Aoi Kunisaku cleanly stripped the ball from the boy's hands.
The boy froze in shock. He tried to recover quickly, but Aoi Kunisaku had already vanished from sight.
Bang—
The next instant—
Aoi Kunisaku was already at the rim, throwing down a clean dunk.
The boy stood there blankly, staring at Aoi Kunisaku hanging from the rim. His eyes were dazed.
Then came the third round. And the fourth. Same story.
Aoi Kunisaku shut the boy down completely. No matter what the boy tried—whether it was mimicking the "Super High-Speed Dribble" or "Formless Shot"—Aoi Kunisaku blocked them all with ease.
When it was Aoi Kunisaku's turn to go on offense, the boy just stood there like an idiot. He couldn't react to anything.
Final round.
Aoi Kunisaku stood right in front of him, slowly bouncing the ball. His breathing was steady. His whole vibe was calm, like still water in a well.
The boy, on the other hand, looked deadly serious. Sweat poured down his forehead, dripping one after another. His chest heaved up and down, his breathing all over the place.
The contrast between the two couldn't have been starker.
The boy's mind was nearly blank.
Any confidence he had in beating Aoi Kunisaku was completely shattered by now.
Bang…
Bang…
Bang…
Suddenly, the sound of the ball stopped.
Next moment—
Whoosh—
All the boy saw was a blur.
Aoi Kunisaku vanished like a blue flash of lightning.
"What…?"
Every muscle in the boy's body tensed instantly. He knew Aoi Kunisaku had probably already passed him. He tried to turn quickly to follow.
But his steps stiffened.
As he whipped his body around, his feet didn't keep up.
They tangled under him.
He lost balance and went crashing backward.
Thud…
The boy hit the ground hard, flopping down in the most pitiful way.
Aoi Kunisaku casually made his way back under the basket. He jumped up lightly and threw down a one-handed dunk.
Bang—
The ball slammed cleanly through the net.
Step…
Landing back on the court, Aoi Kunisaku muttered without looking back, "So weak it's painful to watch."
At this point, he couldn't even be bothered to complain about the kid imitating his moves anymore.
If speed wasn't part of it, then sure, the imitation wasn't bad. Against ordinary players, maybe it'd work.
But that was it.
From Aoi Kunisaku's perspective, the kid's so-called "Super High-Speed Dribble" and "Formless Shot" had only the outer form. No speed. No intent.
Not even a watered-down version.
Let alone using those to fight him—even slightly stronger players wouldn't find them effective.
"If that's all you've got, then I'm done here," Aoi Kunisaku said flatly.
With that, he turned and started walking off the court without another glance.
The boy sat there, blankly watching Aoi Kunisaku walk away.
Then he stood up slowly, forcing himself to push down the frustration. "W-Wait!" he called out.
Aoi Kunisaku stopped.
He tilted his head slightly and glanced back at the boy out of the corner of his eye, saying nothing.
The stare alone made the boy's back go cold. He swallowed hard, then quickly said, "I'm a player from Takamizawa High School's basketball team. Our match is tomorrow. I may have lost this one-on-one, but please go easy on us tomorrow. Also… my name is—"
Before he could finish, Aoi Kunisaku had already turned and walked away.
The boy stood there, staring at Aoi Kunisaku's fading silhouette. "Eh? He just left…?"
He slumped and let out a sigh. "Lost again… I thought I'd finally beat him this time. But no… Where did I go wrong?"
Truth was, if he hadn't used "Super High-Speed Dribble" and "Formless Shot," Aoi Kunisaku might not have lost interest so fast.
It wasn't that Aoi Kunisaku couldn't stand people copying his techniques.
It was that both "Super High-Speed Dribble" and "Formless Shot" relied on certain traits to truly work.
Those traits were speed—pure agility.
Without inhuman speed, mimicking the moves was pointless. It just looked awkward, and it created openings instead of results.
Like that one-on-one just now.
Aoi Kunisaku barely broke a sweat dominating the kid. Even pulling out Wild Instinct didn't help him. And it was the lowest-grade kind, too.
To Aoi Kunisaku, this whole thing was just a brief detour.
He didn't care what the kid said.
As for tomorrow's match?
He'd already tuned that part out completely.