A wall called talent stood towering before him, and beyond that wall, what kind of scenery awaited? After watching the clash between Shigure Akihito and Shuzo Nijimura, two players his own age, Fukatani Reiji suddenly understood.
It was crystal clear now.
But
Realizing that he had once again slipped into such a defeatist mindset, Fukatani immediately shook his head.
"…Tch."
If Coach Takeuchi Katsunori knew he was thinking like this, he'd probably have him running laps until sunset.
Still, he was already in middle school now.
Too bad…
On the court.
Nijimura had managed to match Shigure's offense with tight, unyielding defense.
But within his field of vision, Shigure, already stepping into scoring range, flashed a confident grin, his momentum clearly rising.
And the moment Shuzo Nijimura saw that smile,
, he felt his chest tighten with loathing.
That damn smile again!
It always reminded him of those guys he crushed back on the neighborhood courts, the ones who kept grinning even after losing badly.
"Cut the act, Shigure Akihito!"
"Come at me already!"
"I'll, "
Whatever Nijimura was about to say was cut off, because at that exact moment, Shigure suddenly planted his foot in the paint and launched himself upward!
And not just Nijimura.
All the other freshmen and second-string players watching courtside were left utterly stunned!
Because from where he jumped, there was still a significant distance to the rim, if he could actually finish a dunk from that range, what kind of insane vertical would that require?!
Boom, !
On the court.
A heavy thud rang out from the hardwood!
Shigure took off on one leg with full power, driving off the floor with every ounce of strength.
"He's going up!"
"Shigure Akihito's first attempt at a dunk!"
"What's it gonna be?!"
"Could it be… another dunk like Nijimura's?!"
"No way, Nijimura being able to dunk as a first-year is already crazy. If Shigure can dunk from that distance... Even most third-year starters might not pull that off."
Shigure and Nijimura took flight almost simultaneously. The gap between them in midair was virtually nonexistent.
Due to his smaller frame, Shigure couldn't palm the ball one-handed, so he twisted slightly in the air, gripping the ball tightly with both hands and angling his body to shield it from Nijimura.
Nijimura reached out with everything he had, aiming to swat the shot right in front of Shigure's face!
But then,
To his shock,
At the peak of his own leap, Nijimura realized something horrifying: Shigure was still rising.
His body was still ascending!
He couldn't even touch him!
This had never happened before.
He'd lost the vertical contest, against someone his own age.
[Kiyota Nobunaga's Signature Dunk: Posterizing a defender with a high-flying, body-surpassing slam!]
And the next instant,
CRASH, !
Vertical: 100!
Dunk: 99!
At just 176 centimeters tall, Shigure Akihito completed a soaring, almost gliding slam dunk, one that completely cleared the outstretched arms of Nijimura.
At that moment,
It felt like the entire gym had been struck by a cannon shell.
The ball exploded through the net, crashed onto the hardwood, and bounced high into the air from the sheer force.
Near the baseline,
One of the Teiko players assigned to record match performance locked eyes with Shigure as he landed.
From this close, witnessing that dunk unfold,
He stood frozen, mouth agape.
"…A first-year?"
There's no way that was just a first-year!
That dunk was terrifying!
And across from him, Shigure himself, experiencing the first successful dunk of his life, was practically trembling with excitement.
The thrill coursing through him now was even more intense than when he first obtained the system… or when his stat values had increased.
The silence around him, the shock that froze the air,
It was all because of him.
This stillness…
Was glorious.
Huff…
Gasp…
Basketball that feels like science fiction.
This world is amazing!
The elation of landing your very first dunk, any player would tell you, it's unforgettable.
Shigure tried to control his expression, to stop himself from smiling.
But even as his brain told him to rein it in, his body ignored the command and instinctively turned,
, toward Shuzo Nijimura.
"Nice try!"
"You almost blocked me!"
Nijimura: "!?"
Thump…
Thump…
Thump…
As those words left Shigure's lips, the atmosphere in the gym shifted once more.
Only the echo of the basketball bouncing back and forth across the floor remained.
Everyone stared at Shigure in disbelief, then nervously glanced toward Nijimura, worried that this rookie with a notoriously aggressive temper might snap and throw a punch in response to that line.
At the same time,
In the minds of everyone watching…
The image of Shigure's near-posterizing dunk over Nijimura kept replaying on a loop.
Maybe,
Their concern was misplaced?
This player, once thought to be a technical shooter, might be just as violent a force on the court as Shuzo Nijimura…
A dunk of this caliber, showing up in a first-year skills evaluation match?
No one could've seen that coming.
Especially the assistant coaches and players who'd handled the physical evaluations earlier. Right now, they were scrambling, frantically flipping through their files.
But no matter how many times they cross-checked Shigure Akihito's results,
The numbers were the same.
In the official physical test report,
His vertical jump score was rated only a C.
Under the death-stare of first-team coach Sanada Naoto, those staff members were practically shrinking in place.
"Coach Sanada…"
"The results really did say that…"
"Maybe… maybe Shigure Akihito is just the type who likes to hide his true strength…?"