On the court.
Ibu Middle School's captain, Inomaru, was standing far beyond the three-point line, eyes locked on Shigure Akihito's every move. Suddenly, the man in front of him…
Raised the ball and shot!
Inomaru watched the three-pointer unfold right before his eyes — yet he didn't react at all. It was just a simple stop-and-pop jumper, but the motion was so smooth that both his eyes and his subconscious failed to register that Shigure Akihito had already entered his shooting motion.
Every single instant of that shot… was executed at an extraordinary level of precision!
The technique was so flawless…
So fluid and seamless…
It felt as if time itself had stopped!
It was
Kamizono Ichirō's Signature — Time-Stopping Shot!
Swish!
Three points, clean!
Shigure Akihito's sudden three-pointer not only stunned Captain Inomaru, but also left the audience slack-jawed, drawing waves of astonished gasps.
"W–…"
"What an incredible three-pointer!"
Meanwhile…
Captain Inomaru stood frozen in silence.
It was such a "simple" shot, yet in that split second, he hadn't been able to react at all. His body had felt like it was locked in place.
"… …"
He clenched his fists.
Why…?
Not good.
He could no longer hear his teammates' cheers from the bench…
Huff…
Exhale…
Calm down!
But when Ibu's offense came back around, Inomaru tried to use his body to force his way past Shigure Akihito… only to have the ball stolen in an instant.
Takao Kazunari — Dormant Steal… Talent: Instant Take!
And once again, Teiko had possession.
Inside the paint, Kurokami Shinji leaned back hard, locking horns with the towering Nebuya Eikichi in a fierce physical battle.
Then…
A sudden wave of sheer power crashed into him.
Kurokami Shinji froze for a moment, then shot him a glance and couldn't help but mutter, "A little too fired up, aren't you? Is it because your captain got crushed by Shigure right from the start?"
However…
Nebuya Eikichi didn't care.
"Crushed?"
"Heh…"
"Who cares~ I was just warming up! From here on out, let's have ourselves a glorious muscle-on-muscle showdown!"
Kurokami Shinji: "… …"
This guy…
The Uncrowned Kings… every single one of them is an oddball.
At that moment, on the perimeter, Nijimura Shuzo noticed the battle under the basket. He abruptly stopped dribbling, then fired a direct pass into the paint for Kurokami Shinji.
Slap!
Caught clean.
The rest spread out.
Before the game, out of pride as Teiko's center, Kurokami Shinji had volunteered to take on the coach's mission — to first test the "Mighty Strength" Nebuya Eikichi's true caliber.
Thud!
The instant he backed in, Kurokami Shinji felt like he had rammed into a wall of solid rock. That kind of raw force — he'd only ever felt it from Shigure, Nijimura… and Murasakibara!
This guy…
So heavy…
Not even a hint of being moved!
"Teiko's Kurokami Shinji can't budge Nebuya Eikichi?!"
"Isn't that normal?"
"Yeah…"
"He's shorter than his opponent, but just look at those muscles!"
"Besides, from his past games, Teiko's center clearly isn't a guy who relies on pure frontal collisions."
Kurokami Shinji's footwork was sharp, but under Nebuya Eikichi's overwhelming power, it failed to produce the intended results. Meanwhile…
Nebuya Eikichi, after feeling his opponent's strength, grew visibly excited. Staying tight against him, he matched his movement…
And leapt up with him on the dunk attempt…
For the block!
"Oooooh! Oorah!!"
"Muscle…"
"BLOCK!!"
In midair, the two entered a pure contest of strength. From that moment, there was no suspense — muscles triumphed. Nebuya Eikichi won!
"Whoa…"
"That's a lot of power…"
"Among the Uncrowned Kings, Nebuya Eikichi's talent is frightening in its simplicity — raw strength!"
"Ha! Exactly!" On the court, Nebuya Eikichi rested one hand on his hip, clearly pleased. "This isn't some special ability!
It's just…"
"Muscle!"
Fully fired up, Nebuya Eikichi suddenly began bragging about an incident from last year's Nationals — something that happened outside the arena.
'You've got great strength, but basketball isn't just about power.'
'If you put more effort into honing your skills, you could become even stronger.'
These were the words of Kiyoshi Teppei — which had led them into a topic about muscles.
"Ha! Shigure and I see eye to eye on this~" Nebuya Eikichi said with pride. "When power and skill collide, if you lose, it just means… you need to build more muscle!
Basketball is played with the body!
And what moves the body… is muscle!
If your muscles are strong enough, everything works out! The harder you train, the stronger your body gets. Muscles… don't lie!"
Kurokami Shinji: "…?"
Such a simple way of thinking…
But…
Somehow, he made it work.
That guy Shigure — even in his seemingly nonsensical talk back then, he must've already seen Eikichi's potential, hadn't he?
Though his logic was all over the place, Nebuya Eikichi's strength was undeniably real. And in a way, for a center, strength really was the foundation.
Extremely so, even.
Yet even so…
To completely dismiss technique…
As a center who used skill to make up for his physical shortcomings, Kurokami Shinji found Nebuya Eikichi's attitude utterly infuriating.
Even the brash personality that had seemed amusing at first… now just irritated him.
Slap!
Nebuya Eikichi swung his massive arm, his bulging muscles combined with his already fearsome face radiating an intimidating presence.
"Because of my muscles!
I am the 'Mighty Strength' — Nebuya Eikichi!"
…
Ibu's offense again.
Under the basket, Kurokami Shinji and Nebuya Eikichi clashed with explosive energy.
"The battle in the paint is so intense!"
"But Kurokami Shinji is famous for his height, footwork, support play, and mid-range shooting. In terms of boxing out under the hoop against Nebuya Eikichi, he's clearly at a disadvantage…"
This time…
Ibu launched an outside attack. After a screen, the three-pointer went up.
However…
Even without Shigure Akihito's "Ultra-Wide Range Defense," the shot never reached its mark. Reiji Fukaya exploded off the screen, violently disrupting the shooting trajectory with a block attempt.
The ball's flight wobbled noticeably from the touch.
"Damn!"
"Eikichi!"
"Yours! The rebound!"
"Ooooooh!!! Leave it to me! Ha! MUSCLE! Muscle positioning!" Nebuya Eikichi used raw force to completely lock Kurokami Shinji behind him, shutting down his well-crafted footwork fakes to break free.
Then…
With a roar
"Muscle! Muscle rebound!!"
End of chapter...
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