"Wait a second!"
The strange atmosphere lingered for a while before someone finally snapped out of it.
"Where did those two people with Shirogane come from just now?"
"Yeah, that's right!"
"Exactly! Shirogane's fast break clearly only had No. 10 charging into the paint, so who was that other guy cooperating with him?"
"Don't tell me… we just saw a ghost!"
Thanks to Omuro Yoshikasu's reminder, the rest of Seiho suddenly realized something was off.
No wonder they'd all felt that subtle sense of wrongness earlier, it was because of this!
"Hey… how many players are usually on the court for one team during a game?" Omuro gulped nervously.
"Huh? Are you stupid or something? Of course five! Do you really need to ask that?" Sakamoto Kenjiro shot him a weird look, as if doubting the guy's sanity.
"But then… why does Shirogane's team only have four people on the court?"
"Omuro, are you still half asleep? What kind of nonsense, "
Sakamoto laughed mockingly, but when he turned back toward the court, he froze mid-sentence.
No… no way. That couldn't be right. He must've counted wrong.
He shook his head, blinked a few times, and counted again.
"One, two, three, four… no fifth!"
He counted three times in total, each time getting the same result.
There were only four players from Shirogane's team visible on the court. His expression began to twist.
And when he remembered that "ghost" who'd just teamed up with Kagami Taiga, Sakamoto felt his throat go dry.
"Gulp."
"Don't tell me… there really is a ghost?"
He glanced at Omuro, whose eyes were wide with fear, and suddenly found himself panicking too.
As Seiho's main players, Sakamoto and Omuro were never ones to back down from strong opponents but a ghost? That was a whole different story.
After all, ghosts weren't supposed to play basketball!
============
"Heh… As expected of the 'Generation of Miracles', their phantom sixth man sure lives up to the title," Akashi Asuka said with genuine admiration, resting his hands on the railing.
"Phantom… sixth man? What's that supposed to mean?"
Tsuji Tomoki looked confused. "Was there someone like that among the 'Generation of Miracles'?"
It wasn't unreasonable for him to doubt it. After all, he was one of the few people here who had actually played against the "Generation of Miracles" during middle school.
And yet, he had no memory at all of someone named Kuroko Tetsuya.
Not that it was his fault.
Kuroko's "presence," or rather his lack of it, had always been something bordering on supernatural.
"Do you remember who Teiko sent out in the final quarter when we played them?" Akashi Asuka asked.
"Who? The 'Generation of Miracles,' obviously, Midorima, Aomine, Murasakibara, Akashi, and Kise, wait…"
Tsuji froze mid-sentence.
He remembered now, Kise Ryouta hadn't played in the last quarter.
So who took his place back then?
He tried to recall, but no matter how hard he thought, the image just wouldn't come into focus.
"Don't overthink it. Just look for Shirogane's No. 11," Akashi Asuka said, patting his shoulder. Then he added, "Same for the rest of you, try finding him."
But no matter how they searched, they couldn't find anyone wearing No. 11.
"Where is he?"
"I don't see anyone with that number!"
Seeing their confusion, Akashi Asuka sighed and gave them a hint.
"Look behind Shutoku's No. 10. Shirogane's No. 11 is right there."
They looked again,
"There! Found him!"
"Uwah! Who the heck is that? Has Shirogane always had that player?"
"His presence is so weak… when did he even sub in?"
After spotting Kuroko, the Seiho players didn't calm down. If anything, they got more unsettled.
Especially Sakamoto and Omuro.
Kuroko might not have been a ghost, but on the court, his existence wasn't all that different from one.
"What's with this guy? He feels so weak. Is he really part of the 'Generation of Miracles'?" Tsuji blurted out again.
"Don't underestimate people so easily."
Akashi Asuka's sharp gaze flicked toward him. Tsuji's blunt honesty wasn't a big issue but that hint of arrogance behind it definitely was.
The whole reason Akashi had brought Seiho to watch the match between Shirogane and Shutoku was to warn them, to make them aware before they had to face Shirogane themselves.
Kuroko Tetsuya's ability wasn't overwhelming, but it wasn't weak either.
It was just that his subtlety often lulled opponents into lowering their guard.
And Akashi Asuka had no intention of letting that happen to his team.
"Even if his style's different, anyone who made Teiko's main lineup, same as the rest of the 'Generation of Miracles', has already proven their worth."
"If you underestimate someone like that, you'll pay for it later."
Before Kagami Taiga had fully awakened, it was actually Kuroko who contributed more to the team's overall strength.
After Akashi finished speaking, Tsuji still looked skeptical, but the senior players of Seiho grew noticeably more serious.
Meanwhile, Kitayama Yuzuki murmured in disbelief, "So the legend was real… there really was a phantom sixth man in the 'Generation of Miracles.'"
"That means… this year, Shirogane might actually be one of our strongest rivals."
As much as they hated to admit it, the current middle school basketball scene was the domain of the "Generation of Miracles."
Any team connected to them was bound to be far stronger than average.
Just like the Shirogane team in front of them.
Until now, even after seeing Kagami's incredible jumping power, Seiho still believed Shutoku had the higher chance of winning after all, Midorima Shintaro was one of the "Generation of Miracles."
But now, with the phantom sixth man finally revealed…
The match's outcome between Shirogane and Shutoku suddenly felt a lot less certain.
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