"Yohei, the transfer student seems really impressive. It feels like the entire first-year team is revolving around him."
"I'm not sure exactly how good he is, but he's definitely playing better than Sakuragi."
"Sakuragi hasn't even gotten playing time yet. There's no way to compare them."
Watching Kazuto's performance, Takamiya Nozomi and the rest of the Sakuragi Legion stood on the sidelines, chattering excitedly.
Hearing Yohei and the others' murmurs, Sakuragi, who was begrudgingly doing basic drills nearby, instantly exploded.
"Shut up, you bunch of basketball amateurs! What nonsense are you spouting?! He's just filling in for me for a bit! Just wait until this genius steps onto the court! You'll see my true power then!"
He turned toward the court, cupping his hands around his mouth.
"Kazuto, listen up! Even though you're filling in for me, don't pass the ball to Rukawa!"
"Quiet!"
Seeing Sakuragi Hanamichi's outburst, Ayako grabbed her paper fan and smacked him over the head.
Unbothered by the noise, Coach Anzai continued to watch Kazuto on the court, a soft smile playing on his lips.
'Perfect form, explosive power, keen observation—he possesses all the qualities of a true floor general.'
'He's a rough gem waiting to be polished.'
...
On the court:
"Everyone, focus! If we lose to the freshmen, you'll all be doing double practice menus!"
Although Akagi was inwardly pleased with Kazuto's performance, the freshmen scoring the first point had bruised his pride.
His original plan for this intra-team practice was to assess the freshmen's abilities while simultaneously giving them a humbling introduction to high school basketball.
He had never anticipated Kazuto's sudden emergence, which had completely disrupted his plans.
Akagi's roar visibly strained Yasuda, Shiozaki, and Kakuta.
Their faces grew tense under the pressure.
Seeing their nervousness, Kogure offered a reassuring smile. "That was my mistake earlier. Let's all focus now and get that point back."
"Right!" Yasuda and the others responded in unison.
"Let's go!" Having boosted the team's morale, Akagi inbounded the ball to Kogure, initiating their attack.
Kogure quickly dribbled the ball across the half-court line, approaching the perimeter.
Facing the charging upperclassmen, Kazuto's expression turned serious.
He clapped his hands loudly. "Everyone, defend properly! We need to stop this shot!"
Although Kazuto had never played formal basketball before today, he understood the fundamental truth of the sport: defending a lead is much harder than taking it.
"Alright!" Kuwata, Ishii, and Sasaoka shouted back.
Kazuto and Rukawa's combined effort to score the first point had boosted the first-years' morale to its peak.
Now, they faced the towering upperclassmen without a trace of panic.
Watching his teammates lock in, Kazuto nodded in satisfaction.
This was the psychological advantage of securing the first basket.
He quickly shifted his stance and moved up to press Kogure, his entire attention locked on preventing the vice-captain from breaking through.
[Ding! Random Mission Triggered: Defense. Block Kogure's dribbling breakthrough. Reward: Passive Buff 'Precognition'.]
'A powerful defensive ability,' Kazuto thought, his determination hardening.
'I absolutely must get this stop.'
"Kouhai, watch out," Kogure warned as Kazuto closed the distance, his eyes darting around as he searched for an opening to drive.
But Kazuto's lateral speed far surpassed his.
No matter how hard Kogure faked or crossed over, he couldn't shake Kazuto off.
After several failed attempts to penetrate the perimeter, Kogure realized the stark difference in their current physical conditioning.
Frustrated by the suffocating defense, Kogure was forced to pick up his dribble.
"Kogure, pass the ball! You're holding it too long!" Akagi barked from the post, noticing Kogure's stalled offense.
Without hesitation, Kogure lobbed the ball inside to Akagi.
[Ding! Mission Complete: Defense. Passive Buff 'Precognition' acquired.]
[Precognition (Passive Buff)] During matches, your perception of the ball reaches its absolute peak, allowing you to instinctively predict its trajectory and make timely interceptions. Note: If an opposing player holds the ball for more than 5 seconds during a single offensive possession, your steal success rate against them increases to 80%.]
'This is practically a god-tier interception skill!' Kazuto thought, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.
In a typical game, point guards often held the ball for more than five seconds while setting up plays.
If Kazuto could effectively utilize this ability, he would become a living nightmare for opposing ball-handlers.
Moreover, this buff perfectly masked his lack of defensive experience.
Slap!
Down low, Akagi caught the entry pass and quickly established his position, using his massive body to physically shove Rukawa backward.
Having secured his footing in the paint, Akagi pivoted hard, exploding into the air.
BOOM!
A deafening roar echoed through the gym.
Akagi slammed the ball through the hoop with brutal two-handed force, violently scoring the tying point for the upperclassmen.
"Captain, you're amazing!"
"Great job, Gorilla—I mean, Captain!"
Akagi's authoritative dunk sent Kogure and the sophomores into a frenzy of cheers, their morale instantly restored.
Meanwhile, Kuwata, Ishii, and Sasaoka's spirits took a heavy blow.
"The senpais are getting serious now... This is going to be tough."
"The captain's just too strong! We can't stop him in the paint!"
"Rukawa, Kazuto, it's all up to you guys now..."
Seeing their dejected state, Kazuto immediately spoke up to reassure them.
"Cheer up, guys! The match has only just begun. It's way too early to say who's going to win. Besides, we scored first. If anyone should be panicking about a tight game, it's the senpais."
Kazuto's calm logic settled Kuwata and the others, restoring a fraction of their confidence.
After comforting the role players, Kazuto turned to Rukawa.
"Rukawa, I'll try to feed you the ball as much as possible. Be ready to attack."
Rukawa glanced at him with a flicker of surprise in his normally stoic eyes, before giving a curt nod.
"Okay."
"Let's go!"
Taking the inbound pass, Kazuto initiated the offense.
He dribbled the ball at a measured, methodical pace, crossing the midcourt line.
"Steady and methodical! Let's take this point back!" Kazuto called out, resisting the urge to attack immediately.
Instead, he focused on establishing the half-court set.
His deep, resonant voice, filled with unwavering confidence, reached the other freshmen and instantly settled their remaining nerves.
Watching Kazuto dictate the tempo, Ayako's beautiful eyes lit up.
"I never realized Kazuto had such incredible leadership potential," she remarked. "A first-year point guard leading the team instead of deferring to Rukawa? That's impressive."
"Kazuto-kun's leadership skills naturally draw others in," Coach Anzai agreed with a gentle nod.
After a moment's thought, he added, "Right now, Kazuto-kun reminds me a bit of Fujima-kun from Shoyo High School. They share a very similar commanding presence on the floor."
Ayako's eyes widened in shock.
She had never expected Coach Anzai to compare a total beginner to one of Kanagawa's top-tier players.
...
Kazuto was completely unaware of Coach Anzai's glowing evaluation.
At that moment, another System notification chimed in his mind.
[Ding! Random Mission Triggered: Before the end of the practice match, successfully complete 5 dribble blow-bys to earn the basketball skill 'Switch-Hand Layup'.]
[Current Mission Progress: 3/5.]
'The previous breakthroughs on Kogure and Yasuda counted too? That makes this much easier.'
Seeing the progress bar, Kazuto felt a surge of joy.
He only needed two more successful blow-bys to unlock the skill.
'The 'Eye of Deception' duration is almost up, I need to hurry.'
Knowing his active buff was ticking down, Kazuto decided to prioritize completing the mission immediately.
Without the Eye of Deception, shaking off the upperclassmen would become exponentially more difficult.
Instantly, Kazuto lowered his stance and noticeably quickened his dribbling pace.
Seeing the shift in rhythm, Kogure's expression tightened.
He knew a drive was imminent.
"Senpai, I'm coming!"
Taking a lightning-fast jab step to the right, Kazuto pushed his speed to its peak.
Realizing Kazuto was forcing the drive, Kogure immediately retreated a half-step and shifted his weight to the right to cut off the lane.
But the moment Kogure committed, Kazuto violently snatched the ball back, pivoting his momentum entirely to the left.
"Not the right—the left!" Kogure panicked, hastily throwing his weight back to the left side.
But before Kogure could even plant his foot, Kazuto executed a razor-sharp crossover, spinning the ball back to his right hand.
When Kogure saw Kazuto return to the right, his heart pounded.
He desperately tried to shift his momentum again to intercept him, but his body couldn't keep up with the rapid changes in direction.
His legs tangled, trapped by his own inertia.
His ankles gave out, and Kogure collapsed backward onto the hardwood.
"An ankle-breaker!"
In that instant, Kazuto transformed into a blur, surging past the fallen vice-captain.
"Amazing!" Shiozaki gasped, watching in astonishment as Kazuto broke Kogure's ankles and charged directly into the paint.
Abandoning his mark on Ishii, Shiozaki rushed over to provide help defense.
Compared to Ishii, the driving Kazuto posed a far greater threat.
Seeing Shiozaki charging at him, Kazuto didn't slow down.
He drove straight into the teeth of the defense!
'Eye of Deception!'
Kazuto locked eyes with the sophomore.
The buff flared, momentarily stunning Shiozaki and freezing him in place. In that split second, Kazuto brushed right past him, penetrating the restricted area.
[Ding! Mission Complete: Successfully dribbled past 5 opponents. Acquired Basketball Skill: Switch-Hand Layup.]
"Bring it on, Kazuto!"
Seeing Kazuto shatter the perimeter defense, Akagi's expression turned ferocious.
The massive captain planted his feet in the paint, fully prepared to contest the shot.
Furthermore, his massive frame completely blocked Kazuto's passing lane to Rukawa.
'I can't pass to Rukawa. I'll have to take it myself.'
With the passing lane closed, Kazuto made a split-second decision to test his newly acquired skill.
He drove hard to the basket, launching himself into the air off one foot, raising the ball high with his right hand as if attempting a forceful, standard layup.
"Without Rukawa to back you up, you're just resorting to reckless moves!" Akagi roared, smirking triumphantly.
He believed Kazuto had run out of options and was practically begging to be blocked.
Akagi exploded upward, his massive hand sweeping through the air to swat the ball into the stands.
"Trying to score on me directly?! You're a hundred years too early!"
Just as Akagi's hand was about to obliterate the ball, Kazuto's right arm suddenly retracted mid-air.
With unnatural core strength and fluidity, he swept the ball underneath Akagi's outstretched arm, switching it seamlessly into his left hand.
Gliding past the airborne captain, Kazuto used a soft flick of his left wrist to spin the ball off the glass and into the net.
Swish.
The entire gym fell dead silent in stunned amazement.
"Yohei... this transfer student is incredible! He just scored right in the Gorilla's face!"
"He's really something... he's completely overshadowing Rukawa right now."
"The gap between Sakuragi and him is turning into a bottomless canyon..."
Takamiya Nozomi and the rest of the gang, being entirely unfamiliar with basketball, didn't fully grasp the insane core strength and technical complexity required for a mid-air hand switch against a center.
As a result, they were the loudest to celebrate.
"Wow! Kazuto is amazing! He actually scored on the Captain!"
"And it was that really difficult switching-hands thing! I can't believe he knows how to do that!"
"He must have been lying to us all along! He's probably been an elite player since middle school, just like Rukawa!"
"Kazuto, how dare you deceive us like that, making us worry for nothing!"
Kuwata, Ishii, and Sasaoka were visibly thrilled, their admiration for their makeshift point guard reaching fanatical new heights.
In contrast to the freshmen's excitement, Rukawa remained composed, simply offering Kazuto a silent nod of acknowledgment.
While the first-years rejoiced, the upperclassmen seethed.
Kazuto, a supposedly total beginner, had not only broken the ankles of their vice-captain and blown past a sophomore, but had actually finished an acrobatic double-clutch layup over their monstrous captain.
"Kazuto, you've gone too far! You're clearly a highly trained basketball player—why pretend to be a beginner?!" Yasuda yelled, pointing an accusatory finger.
"Exactly! Popping up playing the 'beginner' card just to humiliate us is completely despicable!" Shiozaki added.
"You need to apologize for hustling us!"
Yasuda and the sophomores seethed with absolute indignation!
Faced with their righteous anger, Kazuto landed lightly on his feet and feigned total innocence.
"Senpais, I swear to god I'm genuinely a beginner," he insisted, holding his hands up defensively.
"There's no glory in lying about that, so why would I?"
Kogure, having picked himself up off the floor, looked at Kazuto's earnest demeanor and felt a flicker of doubt. "
If you're really a beginner," the vice-captain asked, adjusting his crooked glasses, "how on earth can you perform a mid-air Switch-Hand Layup? That's an incredibly high-difficulty technique."
"Oh, that?" Kazuto replied, his tone dripping with feigned nonchalance. "It's actually quite simple, Senpai. You just achieve a brief moment of hang time after jumping and then you just... switch hands."
'Just achieve a brief moment of hang time?!' Kogure nearly choked on his own spit!
'Is this kid even human?! Even in the professional leagues, players capable of voluntarily hanging in the air to evade blocks could be counted on one hand!'
Kogure firmly clamped his mouth shut, refusing to engage with Kazuto's twisted logic any further.
'I can't deal with this shit. Goodbye!'