An incomparably ancient aura exploded forth, as if crossing tens of millions of years to arrive in the modern era. The sight was shocking.
Even compared to Jason Silver's earlier display of Wildness, Jabberwock was even more stunned now.
"Yu!"
His only answer was the rumble of thunder.
Yuuto's five fingers controlled the ball simultaneously as he charged at Nash, utterly fearless of the Demon King's Eye.
Star Bible's Enhancement!
Unparalleled explosive power—in nearly one step, he'd already left Nash behind.
Nash immediately slid sideways to intercept, only to find Yuuto mirroring his earlier move—seemingly predicting his path, their figures crossing.
Yuuto's body whipped violently to the other side, nearly breaking Nash's prediction.
"There's no mistake—this guy has eyes similar to mine. He can see things normal people can't!"
Nash's heart raced.
Not only Jason Silver's Wildness, but even eyes similar to his own.
"How can someone like this exist?"
Yuuto deserved to be taken seriously, because he was different from the other monkeys.
He was a state champion, the MVP of the Nike tournament.
But so what?
Nash had conquered those same heights. They stood on equal ground.
Now, though, he wasn't so confident anymore.
The two engaged in the highest-level clash of the young generation—the intensity leaving everyone in the arena slack-jawed.
The golden glow around Yuuto had vanished, replaced by Thunder Dribble's roaring lightning, more ferocious than ever.
With Man and Ball as One, even the Demon King's Eye struggled to steal the ball from Yuuto.
Because Yuuto also possessed eyes that could see what normal eyes couldn't.
Golden and crimson rings expanded simultaneously from their eyes, colliding, enveloping each other.
There was no anime-style explosion, but countless invisible things intertwined.
They locked onto each other, searching for openings through subtle tells while simultaneously working to minimize their own vulnerabilities.
"So strong!"
Their strength was palpable. The pace of their battle far exceeded everyone else on the court—a collision on an entirely different level.
"Kagetora-san was right. Nash's eyes are similar to the Emperor Eye—that's actually the best-case scenario."
"Yeah, after all, Yu-kun has extensive experience fighting against the Emperor Eye."
"Yuuto's Correction will complete quickly!"
Akashi and the others were certain.
Because Yuuto had faced Akashi many times and didn't fear these eyes.
SNAP—
Yuuto wrapped the ball behind his back again, both arms moving at identical rhythms—even the arm without the ball.
This kind of movement could maximally evade the Demon King's Eye's detection, blurring Nash's predictions.
Then.
A behind-the-back switch, and Yuuto suddenly burst forward.
"It's useless. No matter how you hide it, the moment you act, the Demon King's Eye sees all." Nash showed no fear.
No matter how Yuuto concealed his intentions, the moment he committed to action, Nash could see it.
The result.
WHOOSH—
Yuuto blew right past him.
"Impossible—how can he be that fast?"
Nash's eyes went wide with disbelief. Yuuto's burst just now had exceeded his body's reaction limit.
Star Bible's Enhancement!
Maximizing Yuuto's explosive power!
"He perfectly evaded the Demon King's Eye's observation, then used Star Bible's enhancement to explosively compress Nash's reaction time!"
Akashi smiled wryly. Over the past few days of practice, he'd been broken down by Yuuto this exact way multiple times.
"He got through!"
Someone shouted. Yuuto had instantly transformed into a beam of light piercing toward Jabberwock's paint.
But then.
"Don't underestimate me, Yu!"
Just as Yuuto soared up, his arm one step away from the rim, Nash's figure rocketed up at extreme speed. At the last moment, he reached out and disrupted Yuuto's dunk.
CRASH—
Yuuto's arm slammed against the rim. The ball was blocked.
"He actually caught up?!"
"Monster!"
Everyone was stunned. This Nash was even more terrifying than they'd imagined.
The Japanese media had called him the standard-bearer of America's next basketball generation. While that was exaggerated, it wasn't without merit—Nash really was that strong!
"It's fine. Actually, this is exactly what Yu-chan wanted." Momoi remained confident, believing Yuuto could handle it.
She could already see that Yuuto in mid-air had begun analyzing this exchange.
Next time, he would be even stronger.
Zack secured the ball and immediately sent it downcourt.
Jason Silver caught it and charged, with Murasakibara in pursuit.
Silver tried to use technique to shake Murasakibara.
He succeeded, but basketball has an unchanging truth.
To score, you must put the ball in the basket.
Meaning no matter what moves he made, he ultimately had to approach the rim.
That was also Murasakibara's chance.
"Get down!"
Murasakibara roared, his reactions lightning-fast. The instant he was beaten, he immediately spun and leaped, stretching his arm to slap the ball.
"AHHH!"
"AHHH!"
Both screamed mid-air, contesting for the ball like two ancient beasts.
SMACK!
Another block! Murasakibara had completely shut down Jason Silver.
The ball flew toward the three-point line. Nick caught it and was about to shoot when a crimson flash streaked through.
It was Kagami. He'd entered the Zone.
"Yuuto's Correction needs time—then I'll buy it for him!"
He roared, unleashing incredible vertical leap, arriving at the apex to swat the shot out of bounds.
"Until your Correction against Nash is complete, you can count on me!"
"You're still so childish, Kagami."
"Hah?! What's that supposed to mean, you bastard Yuuto!"
Kagami bristled. He'd done this to win!
And he was doing the dirty work, the hard work!
Yuuto said nothing, just smiled.
Over in America, almost nobody would do what Kagami just did.
That Nike tournament final—why had he gone head-to-head with Irving the whole game?
Obviously for his own national ranking!
Not everyone, but the vast majority of talents aiming for the league were selfish.
If they had a chance to score, they wouldn't pass to teammates!
Even the "mature" LeBron James—his play might look unselfish, but if you examined his games closely, you'd notice his ball-possession time and usage rate were absurdly high.
That was a true ball-dominant player.
Jordan, Kobe, Durant—players like them might have more shot attempts, but as finishers, the team's offense was designed to get them the ball and let them score.
So despite the high volume, their possession time wasn't necessarily that long.
LeBron wasn't like that. He kept the ball firmly in his hands—if he could score, he wouldn't pass; only when he couldn't would he give it up.
And this was what the media called "maturity."
At least LeBron 1.0 and 2.0 were like this.
During his Heat years, when he scored only 6 points in a Finals game, media defended him, saying Miami didn't give him enough support.
The next year, Miami gave LeBron the keys. Wade played off-ball. Miami won the championship.
So the question was: if Wade could play off-ball, why couldn't he?
So yes, LeBron did bring his own system—but looked at another way, he could only play his own system.
...
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