"What?"
Hyuga Junpei was so startled by Aida Riko's sudden remark that his glasses nearly flew off.
Stronger than Kagami? What kind of concept is that supposed to be?
As a rookie who had just joined Seirin High this year, Hyuga knew that Kagami Taiga's basketball skills were one thing, but in terms of physical ability, Kagami was recognized by everyone as far exceeding the level of a normal high school student.
His natural talent was even comparable to the so-called Generation of Miracles.
Yet Hyuga didn't doubt Riko's words. He knew his childhood friend well, after all, having grown up helping her father, a professional data trainer, Riko had developed what could only be called Data Eyes.
Just one glance at a person's body, and every statistic would reveal itself to her, accurate without fail.
"Stronger than Kagami? Then… could that guy be one of the Generation of Miracles?"
It was the only explanation Hyuga could think of. In his mind, the only high schoolers with better physical stats than Kagami were those monsters.
But to his surprise, Riko shook her head without hesitation.
"No. I've already checked, there's no one named Akashi Asuka in the Generation of Miracles. In fact, Teiko Junior High School didn't have anyone by that name at all."
She continued, "And it's impossible for him to be one of them. The Generation of Miracles are true prodigies, but Akashi-kun… he doesn't have the slightest trace of talent on him."
"Huh?"
That completely threw Hyuga off.
Riko was saying that Akashi's physical ability surpassed Kagami's… yet also claiming he had no talent. The two statements completely contradicted each other.
"That's exactly what I find strange," Riko said, resting her chin in her hand. "Those with true talent have one obvious trait, you can't see their growth curve. Their bodies naturally grow to their current state, without any obvious signs of training."
"But Akashi-kun's body shows every growth curve clearly. In other words, every single one of his stats was built through training and conditioning alone."
"Normally, that should be impossible. Everyone's body has certain limits. Once you hit that ceiling, it's incredibly hard to improve further."
"Yet over the past month, every time I've seen him, I've noticed new progress. It's as if those limits simply don't exist for him."
"This guy's body… is full of contradictions."
Hyuga twitched the corner of his mouth. "Seriously? Could it have something to do with that weird training he was doing just now?"
"Hard to say."
Riko shook her head. "I did notice that it's effective for improving wrist flexibility. But after looking into it, I found out his method is just a type of health exercise from the mainland called Tai Chi, and Tai Chi itself has no real training effect. That means he must have some kind of special trick."
She sighed. "But the guy's lips are sealed. I've asked him several times, but he never gave me an answer. If we could figure it out, it would be a huge help to our own training."
Hyuga didn't really care about that part. His mind was already on something else.
"Hey, Riko, you said Akashi joined Seiho, right?"
"That's right."
"Then doesn't that mean…"
"Mm. This year's Nationals, we really might end up facing them. That's why I wanted you to play him earlier. Aside from his physical ability, we know absolutely nothing about him. I was hoping your match would give us at least some intel."
She clicked her tongue. "But he didn't take the bait. Now all we can do is pray he's new to basketball. Otherwise… Seiho might be even scarier this year than last."
============
Data Eyes, huh… another one of those broken abilities.
Akashi Asuka strolled lazily down the street, recalling his earlier encounter with Riko.
Though she thought she was being subtle, observing him openly for over a month, Akashi had been well aware of her ability all along.
But knowing didn't help him.
Her Data Eyes were just too overpowered, in some ways, even more absurd than the Generation of Miracles' natural gifts.
Just one glance, and she could instantly convert all of a person's physical stats into data. Even if clothes covered an area, she could still estimate with near-perfect accuracy.
Honestly, it was worse than x-ray vision.
At least x-ray vision only revealed internal muscle structure, but she could even gauge the strength of bones and muscle fibers.
============
The next day.
Akashi arrived at the basketball gym with his official application to join the team.
The moment he stepped inside, a feral-looking figure lunged at him like a starving ghost pouncing on prey.
"Akashiiii, you bastard! You ditched me yesterday!"
"Oh, Tsugawa. What happened to you? You don't look so good," Akashi said, casually holding him back with one hand.
"You've got some nerve asking that! You left me behind yesterday on purpose, didn't you? You knew the seniors would be waiting after practice to give us trouble…"
Tsugawa wasn't slow, just blunt. Thinking back on it later, he immediately realized something was off.
Akashi's presence was way more noticeable than his own, yet somehow, when Akashi left yesterday afternoon, nobody noticed him. If that wasn't deliberate, Tsugawa was ready to kneel on the spot.
"Hey, first-years, stop wasting time. Warm up, we're starting practice soon."
Kasuga Ryuhei appeared behind them at that moment.
"Perfect timing, senpai, help me hold this guy!" Tsugawa said, instantly switching sides.
But Kasuga only gave Akashi a brief glance before saying calmly, "Bonding time is over. Seiho's rule is: today's work gets finished today. We won't get revenge later… ahem, I mean, follow-ups."
"Now both of you, go change. We're starting in a moment."
Tsugawa's face went pale. "What? You're just going to let this shameless guy off?"
Kasuga spread his hands with a regretful shrug. "Sorry. Rules are rules."
With that, he walked away, leaving Tsugawa frozen in place, looking like he'd just lost his soul.
==========
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