Kuroko: Mahoraga - Chapter 66: Cut the Nonsense. If You Can't Do It, Sub Out! (Patreon)

Before losing to Masato, Ryota Kise was no stranger to defeat.

In fact, when he had first started playing basketball, he lost almost every day.

The reason he had chosen Daiki Aomine as the player to chase was simple. Aomine had beaten him countless times.

Even Shogo Haizaki, who had long since quit the team, used to beat him with ease back then.

But once Kise's talent began to blossom, his improvement was staggering.

He quickly rose to Teiko's first string.

After that, with Aomine growing increasingly unmotivated in practice and Haizaki leaving the team, Kise stopped experiencing defeat.

As he kept playing game after game for Teiko, that long stretch of success gradually built an almost unshakable confidence in him.

And then, at the height of that momentum, he lost.

In a simple intrasquad tryout, no less.

Worse yet, he had lost to someone who had been little more than a fringe player.

The blow hit Kise hard.

Far harder than all the losses Aomine and Haizaki had handed him when he was still a beginner.

After losing to Masato, Kise pushed his training harder than ever before.

His teammates might have been calling Aomine the new training maniac lately, but Kise believed his own effort was every bit as intense.

And all of it had been for one reason.

He wanted another chance to compete against Masato.

Kise still remembered the complicated feelings he had when Masato suddenly transferred away from Teiko.

Part of him had been reluctant to see him leave.

But more than anything, he had been excited.

He knew that with Masato's ability, the two of them would eventually meet again in a real game.

And now that day had finally arrived.

Kise felt as though strength were surging through every inch of his body, every cell trembling with excitement.

He had trained day after day for this exact moment.

...

Time passed, and an announcement over the arena speakers brought the warm-up period to an end.

For a brief moment, the tens of thousands of spectators inside the venue quieted down.

Then anticipation swept through the stands.

Everyone knew the game was about to begin.

The players who had been warming up left the court, and both starting lineups disappeared back into the tunnel.

Only after the announcer introduced them with an excited roar did they take the floor again.

The crowd immediately answered with screams and cheers.

“It's starting! It's finally starting!”

“I wonder how Masato's going to play today!”

“Yeah, this is Teiko we're talking about. This is a real battle!”

“No matter what happens, this game's going to be incredible!”

“...”

Amid the nonstop cheers, both starting lineups walked onto the court.

Kawari's starters were the same as always.

Masato was the lone star, surrounded by four role players.

Ishida, Kenji, former captain Ryota, and another third-year player.

Teiko, meanwhile, had sent out its strongest possible lineup.

The Generation of Miracles.

Once all ten players were in position, the game officially began.

...

Naturally, both centers stepped into the middle for the opening tip.

Kawari's center was former captain Ryota.

His entire body was visibly tense.

It was hard to blame him.

His ability was limited, and a stage like this was already beyond the level he was used to.

Even during the qualifiers, he had lost more jump balls than he had won.

And now he was facing Atsushi Murasakibara, the center of the Generation of Miracles.

Murasakibara was clearly much taller than Ryota, standing around 195 centimeters at a glance.

At the junior-high level, he was a true giant.

He also had the best natural frame on the entire court.

Masato narrowed his eyes as he watched the two prepare for the tip.

The referee tossed the ball high into the air.

“Smack!”

As expected, Murasakibara got to it first.

Damn it. So there really wasn't going to be a miracle.

Ryota looked frustrated.

Masato and the rest of Kawari, however, had expected exactly this.

What surprised Masato was the direction of the tip.

He had already shifted his weight toward Akashi's side, anticipating where the ball would go.

Instead, it flew the other way.

Straight toward Ryota Kise.

Ishida, positioned near Kise, threw himself toward the ball in an attempt to steal the possession.

When it seemed as though his fingers were about to reach it, a grin spread across his face.

He was already celebrating internally.

Stealing the opening possession from the Generation of Miracles?

His highlight had come way too early.

Then, in the next instant, the ball vanished from right in front of him.

Kise moved like a ghost, snatching it out of the air before Ishida could touch it.

Without the slightest pause, he launched a fast break.

By the time Ishida recovered and looked up, Kise was already several meters ahead, flying into Kawari's half.

Kise was fast to begin with.

With no defender in front of him, he was free to show every bit of that speed.

His bright blond hair only made him more eye-catching, drawing every gaze in the arena toward him.

He tore into the paint, rose high, and slammed the ball through the rim.

“BOOM!”

The crowd exploded.

“Holy shit, Kise is insane!”

“The first basket and he's already doing that?!”

“He's so fast. It's like a yellow flash!”

“His athleticism is ridiculous!”

“Honestly, I think Kise is the second-fastest player in the Generation of Miracles after Aomine!”

“...”

Kise's dunk ignited the entire arena.

Nobody had expected the excitement to peak this quickly.

Kise landed beneath the basket, his usual bright smile still on his face.

But his eyes swept across the Kawari players like a hunter searching for prey.

When his gaze landed on Masato in the number 4 jersey, his eyes narrowed and his smile faded slightly.

Then he turned and ran back on defense.

Masato naturally noticed the attitude Kise was directing toward him.

He had no problem with it.

If anything, he hoped Kise really had improved.

The stronger Kise had become, the more Masato could gain from facing him.

Excitement began rising inside him as well.

“Let me see how much you've grown.”

...

Masato walked toward the baseline to receive the inbound pass.

Then he noticed the gloomy expression on Ishida's face.

It was obvious the guy was still brooding over Kise beating him to the tip.

Masato almost laughed.

Ishida was overthinking it.

It might have looked like he had missed the ball by inches, but the actual gap between them was enormous.

“Don't worry about it, Ishida. You did fine,” Masato said with a smile and a nod. “That was Ryota Kise.”

“Just focus on the game.”

Hearing his captain's approval, Ishida finally stopped dwelling on it.

He pressed his lips together, nodded seriously, and inbounded the ball.

Masato did not open the possession by slowing the pace the way he usually did.

Instead, he pushed the ball quickly up the floor.

Once he crossed half court, he saw exactly what he expected.

The defender waiting for him was not Akashi, despite the two of them playing the same position.

It was Kise.

A smile appeared on Masato's face.

Perfect.

It brought him right back to their tryout game.

Kise had looked much the same back then.

Kise still remembered how helpless he had felt as Masato overwhelmed him in their matchup, along with how embarrassed he had been after the game.

Kise's smile faded another degree when he saw how calm Masato looked.

He stared at him seriously.

“This game, I'm beating you one-on-one.”

They stood roughly three steps apart.

Masato did not bother answering.

On the court, strength spoke first.

He slowly closed the distance until they entered a dangerous range.

As the ball-handler, Masato controlled the initiative.

He drove right immediately.

Kise reacted at once and slid over to cut him off.

Masato flowed into a between-the-legs crossover and switched to the left without getting tangled up in unnecessary moves.

That stripped-down, brutally efficient style of his appeared once again.

As he drove, Masato tightened his core and initiated contact.

The collision knocked Kise slightly off balance.

Even so, Kise recovered almost instantly and got back in front of him.

Masato nodded inwardly.

Kise really had improved.

He was not going to underestimate him.

[Adaptation] immediately locked onto Kise.

For a split second, Kise felt a strange chill.

It was as though there were nowhere he could hide in front of Masato.

The sensation brought back some unpleasant memories.

Kise narrowed his eyes and forced himself to focus.

Then Masato came to a sudden stop and raised the ball into a shooting motion.

Combined with his usual style, the fake was incredibly convincing.

Kise's heart jumped.

Thinking Masato was actually going up, he threw everything into the contest.

Masato pulled the ball back.

It had only been a shot fake.

The moment Kise left his feet, Masato exploded forward.

He accelerated to full speed and charged straight into the paint.

Murasakibara was waiting there.

Masato did not care.

If Murasakibara wanted to stop him, he could come try.

Murasakibara narrowed his eyes as Masato came flying toward him.

“That won't work, Masa-chin.”

The paint was Murasakibara's territory.

But Masato had already built up too much momentum to back down.

In the next instant, the two collided in midair.

A crushing wave of force came through Murasakibara's body.

It was even more oppressive than the strength Eikichi Nebuya had shown.

But [Core Control] gave Masato tremendous stability and hang time in the air.

Just before Murasakibara could completely overpower him, Masato found the smallest window to finish.

His arm came down without hesitation.

“BOOM!!!”

The violent dunk echoed through the arena.

Kise only caught up after Masato had landed.

His brow was furrowed and his expression looked ugly.

Masato was the complete opposite.

That entire sequence had him fired up.

He turned toward Kise and remembered the boast from only moments earlier.

“Quit talking about things you can't do,” Masato said coldly.

Then he stopped looking at Kise.

His gaze shifted instead to Daiki Aomine, who had been standing off to the side.

“If he can't handle it, sub him out now.”