Yuuto received the ball again.
No hesitation. Fearless against the Demon King's Eye, he attacked the moment he caught it, engaging Nash in the pinnacle clash of their generation.
"They're supposed to be amateurs? Why do I feel like they're no worse than pros?"
Many were astonished.
They realized the supposedly once-in-a-decade Generation of Miracles looked almost inadequate compared to these two.
There was even a sense that professional players might not be much better.
"This is true world-class!"
In this moment.
Every eye in the arena focused on them. Many felt the outcome of this game would be decided between these two.
Yuuto transformed into a beam of light, Thunder Dribble's lightning crackling across his entire body.
To others, only a year had passed. But for Yuuto, that wasn't the case.
He'd spent nearly ten years in the simulated world.
Every year, every simulation, he practiced relentlessly, discovered his weaknesses, and hammered away at them.
ESPN only knew to shout: "This is genius! Yu is like a sponge, greedily absorbing nutrients and improving!"
But only Yuuto knew everything he had now was built on mountains of sweat.
Hayama Kotaro only saw that Yuuto had elevated Thunder Dribble to another height.
He had no idea Yuuto had spent nearly ten years grinding on training courts to reach this point.
Yuuto's movement was like a thunderbolt—impossibly fast.
The golden ring in Nash's eyes flared, yet he was shocked to discover Yuuto's dribble speed hadn't changed.
This was terrifying. It meant Yuuto's handling speed had caught up to the rate at which the Demon King's Eye could transmit visual information to the brain for processing.
Nash could still see Yuuto's movements clearly—but no longer comfortably. He couldn't slow them down anymore.
CRACK—
The future in Nash's eyes shattered. Yuuto used Star Bible's sudden enhancement to break his prediction.
Still near the free-throw line. Nash reacted quickly because having his prediction broken wasn't new to him.
The Demon King's Eye wasn't invincible. The world had too many unreasonable monsters. Nash's reactions were sharp, well-practiced.
However.
What greeted him was Yuuto's back, ramming into him.
Nash gritted his teeth, feet planted against the floor, absorbing the collision without yielding a step. But the inevitable stiffness appeared.
Yuuto seized that window to rise, twisting his body mid-air into a turnaround.
Fadeaway jumper!
This was a technique Yuuto had grinded relentlessly in the simulated world.
Why?
Because the fadeaway was considered the most unguardable offensive weapon.
From a technical standpoint, the difference between a fadeaway and regular jumper was minimal.
Jordan had actually started practicing fadeaways in college, but didn't use them extensively until the 90s.
Why?
Because early-career Jordan was genuinely young—he too relied on athleticism.
He possessed what many called the most perfect shooting guard body: height, wingspan, athleticism, vertical leap.
But pure athleticism couldn't win championships. Jordan spent seven years with the Bulls before understanding this truth.
So he began studying technique, fusing skills with his natural gifts.
Then.
The fadeaway jumper hailed as unbeatable was born.
After entering prep ball, the simulation system had updated again, adding the ability to view opponents' attributes.
During the Nike tournament, Yuuto had the fortune of seeing the basketball god in person.
He used Probe on Jordan. His eyes nearly popped out of his head.
That talent column, glowing so red it was practically purple, nearly blinded him.
But the most outrageous part wasn't Jordan's talents—it was his skill tree.
His fadeaway was maxed at red tier.
People always said Jordan's fadeaway was the most dominant because the only one who could stop him from scoring was Jesus himself.
That wasn't an exaggeration. Jordan's fadeaway possessed an innate "ignore defense" attribute.
That moment, Yuuto understood the NBA GMs' "talent over everything" philosophy wasn't entirely correct.
To reach Jordan's level, talent alone wasn't enough. You needed to polish technique and fuse everything perfectly.
Only by pushing everything to the extreme could you reach Jordan's realm.
This fadeaway was Jordan's magnum opus—from college through the 90s, even into the second dynasty, before reaching its final form.
Because as age caught up and athleticism declined, Jordan had to reduce his high-flying and increasingly rely on the fadeaway as his scoring staple.
And Yuuto?
He'd ground away for ten years in simulation and still hadn't reached red tier—but he'd fought his way to purple.
His fadeaway wasn't as dominant as Jordan's, nor as elegant as Kobe's, but it possessed a kind of fluid perfection.
SWISH—
The ball went in. Nash simply couldn't stop him from scoring. His extended hand couldn't reach the ball.
"That's insane!" Takao stared blankly.
From a spectator's bird's-eye view, Yuuto's fadeaway looked almost ordinary.
Just a shoulder bump into Nash, then a turnaround jumper—legs kicking out, ball going in.
But the issue was.
His current opponent possessed the all-seeing Nash.
Evading the Demon King's Eye's prediction was already absurd.
"To already be studying the perfect fusion of technique and body at this age..." Kagetora was dumbfounded.
Same with former pros like Harasawa Katsunori in the stands.
When they'd begun contemplating this step, they were all around thirty.
Because professional players at that age inevitably experienced physical decline, forcing them to rely more on experience.
This was actually another form of man-ball unity. After all, there was only one Jordan.
But Yuuto?
He was only how old?!
What was happening before their eyes was almost inconceivable.
Nash's expression stiffened, his face dark. He'd thought the conclusion was set—yet the situation had reversed.
He felt like he wasn't facing a high schooler, but those monsters from the NCAA.
The game continued. Yuuto went full throttle, showcasing his growth over the past year.
That Correction talent, honed across a full year in Indiana—the so-called heart of American basketball—was anything but simple.
He seemed to merge with the ball itself. Each step touched the floor as "Truth," containing basketball's time-space differentials.
Not one bit more, not one bit less.
Nash felt incredibly uncomfortable. Yuuto always maintained just enough distance—even when the Demon King's Eye could see him, Nash couldn't quite reach.
Lightning crackled across Yuuto's body, repeatedly shattering predictive systems through sheer speed.
"Yu!"
Nash chased frantically. They battled from the three-point line all the way into the paint. Facing Nash's contest, Yuuto's fingertip gave a gentle flick—an elegant finger roll for the score.
ROAR—
The arena erupted.
Even Akashi and the others stood frozen. They'd expected Nash's explosion to spell disaster.
Now it seemed completely unnecessary—because Yuuto was even deeper in the Zone.
Did this generation of high schoolers have anyone who could match him?
He was truly becoming invincible!
...
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