Kuroko: Mahoraga - Chapter 70: Lucky Break. I'll Take You Out Next Quarter! (Patreon)

The moment that dunk went in, the arena fell silent.

Nobody had expected Masato to explode at that exact moment.

Aomine's performance had been suffocating.

Masato had gone several possessions without scoring, and the matchup had started to look one-sided.

That sudden counterattack caught almost everyone off guard.

Kawari's fans, who had been sitting under a cloud of pressure, froze for a second.

Then all that pent-up emotion burst out at once.

“Holy shit! That's Masato!”

“He's too strong! I knew he could do it!”

“Exactly! Once Masato adapts to Aomine's level, there's nothing he can do!”

“He posterized Murasakibara again!”

“I thought this matchup had already been decided. Looks like it's nowhere near over!”

“...”

While the crowd erupted, Kawari's bench went completely wild.

Watching Aomine shut down their captain had left the team tense and subdued.

Nobody believed Masato was weaker than Aomine.

But watching the score flip in Teiko's favor had still made them anxious.

Now that the Masato they knew had returned, they could not contain themselves.

Players jumped to their feet, pumping their fists and shouting.

At the same time, several of them noticed that something about Masato had changed.

Coach Nakamura noticed it more clearly than anyone.

He stood up, but unlike the players around him, he did not celebrate.

His eyes were locked on the space behind Masato.

He could see it.

The terrifying Animal Instinct standing behind his ace.

Nakamura had already grown nervous when Aomine's Animal Instinct first appeared.

He knew just how abnormal that state could be.

Once unleashed, a player's abilities could leap to an entirely different level.

Two players who had been close before could suddenly be separated by a huge gap.

And that was exactly what had happened.

With Animal Instinct behind him, Aomine had completely taken control.

Nakamura had been moments away from calling a timeout to give Masato a chance to breathe.

Then his own ace awakened Animal Instinct in the middle of the game.

Nakamura had no idea what the monster with the wheel above its head was supposed to be.

But he could feel the change in Masato's presence.

It was terrifying.

Masaki Nakamura stared at him in speechless amazement.

He was far from the only one.

Teiko's side, along with plenty of knowledgeable spectators, had been stunned as well.

After a long silence, Nakamura finally spoke.

“Masa really is a genius. He actually awakened something this terrifying.”

The reserves around him had already noticed his reaction.

One of them immediately asked,

“Awakened? What's that?”

“Is it that monster behind Captain? I thought I was seeing things!”

“Yeah, I saw it too. It looked like some warrior from another world!”

“...”

Players with weaker perception had only caught a brief glimpse of Mahoraga's phantom.

Even so, that single glimpse had burned itself into their minds.

Nakamura forced his excitement down.

“Yes. That's what's called Animal Instinct. Only one-in-ten-thousand geniuses have a chance of awakening it.”

Hearing the seriousness in their coach's voice, the bench players straightened up.

They might not have known much about Animal Instinct, but they understood what one in ten thousand meant.

Then the discussion started.

“It sounds ridiculous, but if it's Captain, doesn't it make sense?”

“Exactly. Captain was already a genius.”

“...”

The players did not truly understand what Animal Instinct represented.

But they had watched Masato all the way to this point.

They knew what kind of talent he possessed.

Listening to them, Coach Nakamura froze for a moment.

Then he shook his head and laughed softly.

“Yeah. When it's Masa, I guess it doesn't sound that unbelievable.”

For a genius at Masato's level, awakening Animal Instinct almost felt natural.

...

Back on the court, Masato was still feeling out the changes in his body.

He could clearly sense the boost to his physical capabilities.

His five senses had sharpened too.

But that was not the most important change.

His Animal Instinct could detect openings in his opponent.

That shocked Masato.

He had never heard of Animal Instinct coming with a special effect like that.

But the game was still going.

He had no time to sit there analyzing it.

After Masato's basket, Aomine had no intention of wasting time either.

He took the inbound pass from a grim-faced Murasakibara and attacked immediately.

As he advanced, Aomine could not stop replaying Masato's previous possession.

He had genuinely believed Masato had run out of answers.

He had thought their duel was already over and had been ready to let Akashi take control of the offense again.

Then Masato showed he still had more.

Aomine loved it.

He did not even wait for the rest of Teiko.

He accelerated straight toward Masato.

The instant he came close, a razor-cold sensation stabbed into him.

Every hair on Aomine's body stood up.

Instinctively, he unleashed his black panther Animal Instinct again.

That only made things worse.

The moment the black panther appeared, the inhuman figure behind Masato seemed to become even more oppressive.

Its presence pressed down on Aomine.

Cold sweat formed across his skin, and his muscles tightened.

He did not retreat.

Instead, he endured the pressure and grinned.

“Now this is interesting.”

Then he attacked.

Once Aomine began moving, his instinctive offense gradually pushed that pressure out of his mind.

His style, born on street courts, remained loose and free.

His changes of direction were so extreme that his body nearly skimmed the floor several times.

It always looked like he was about to fall.

Yet somehow, Aomine maintained perfect balance without sacrificing speed.

This time, though, Masato stayed in front of him.

Again and again, Aomine found himself going nowhere.

His brow furrowed.

Before this, that kind of speed had been enough to leave Masato behind.

Aomine had no idea why things were different now.

Part of it came from Masato's heightened senses.

More importantly, his instincts were pointing out the openings inside Aomine's drives.

Aomine pulled the ball back between his legs, preparing to reset and attack again.

As the ball moved from his left hand toward his right, Masato's instinct reacted.

He stepped forward and initiated contact.

At the same time, his reaching hand occupied the exact path of the dribble.

Aomine's expression changed.

“Shit!”

He had no time to adjust.

“Smack!”

Masato stole the ball cleanly from between Aomine's legs.

He did not hesitate.

He immediately launched a fast break.

With Mahoraga's Animal Instinct amplifying him, Masato's speed had risen sharply too.

Aomine turned and chased at once.

For a moment, the other eight players could only watch the two of them race away.

The sight stunned the entire arena into silence.

All anyone could hear were bodies colliding and shoes shrieking against the floor.

Even after awakening Animal Instinct, Masato was still not faster than Aomine.

But Mahoraga's presence was suppressing Aomine enough that he could not use all of his speed.

From the outside, the two looked evenly matched.

In the blink of an eye, they reached Teiko's paint.

After another collision, Masato tightened his core and launched himself upward.

His superior hang time kept him in the air.

Aomine began to descend first.

Masato hammered the ball through over him.

“BOOM!!”

The sound of the dunk exploded through the arena again.

The crowd, which had been too stunned to react, finally erupted.

“Holy shit! These two are insane!”

“Are you fucking serious? You're telling me this is a junior-high game?!”

“They're way too fast! Even high school basketball isn't like this!”

“High school might be underselling it!”

“...”

Both players landed.

Aomine's face was expressionless, but his chest was rising and falling violently.

That possession had cost him a tremendous amount.

And not only physically.

Masato's transformation had affected him mentally too.

Aomine could feel his own Animal Instinct.

The black panther that had once looked ready to devour anything in front of it was now crouched low, trembling before Mahoraga.

Animal Instinct was a projection of the player himself.

Which meant that somewhere deep inside, Aomine had felt fear.

The realization made his face change.

For someone as proud as Aomine, that was intolerable.

His previously calm gaze sharpened as he looked at Masato.

The two stared at each other.

Neither gave an inch.

Even spectators high in the stands could feel the tension.

Only when another player came over to inbound the ball did the two finally separate.

From that point on, the pace rose even higher.

Every possession sent adrenaline through the arena.

The score kept climbing.

45-52.

49-54.

60-60.

As the game continued, more and more people noticed something strange.

At first, Aomine had still been forcing his way to points through sheer effort.

Now several possessions had passed without him scoring.

He was beginning to struggle.

...

Masato attacked again.

Aomine felt that Masato's style had become even colder and more lethal.

He stepped up quickly every time, but with each exchange, his brow tightened further.

The same thing had happened over the previous few possessions.

At some point, Masato would find one tiny defensive opening and attack it without hesitation.

And sure enough, it happened again.

Masato caught the gap in Aomine's defense and immediately punished it.

He rose into a jumper.

“Swish!”

Two points.

Kawari moved back in front.

62-60.

The scoreboard change sent a wave of noise through the arena.

This time, Aomine had not even managed to jump.

His defense had been completely read.

He stared at the Animal Instinct behind Masato and felt its pressure growing even more terrifying.

But that was not what bothered him most.

What truly unsettled Aomine was the feeling that Masato could see straight through him.

It reminded him of their one-on-one.

Only this time, the sensation was even stronger.

Before Aomine could think any further, the second-quarter buzzer sounded.

Masato, who had been turning to get back on defense, stopped.

The cold expression he had worn since awakening Animal Instinct finally relaxed.

He looked at Aomine.

“Lucky you. The buzzer gave you a chance to breathe.”

Then Masato turned and walked toward the bench.

“Next quarter, I'm finishing you.”

...

PS: I need to take a day off, guys. There's only one update today.

My childhood friend suddenly came back from out of town. I was shocked when he knocked on my door.

We hadn't seen each other in two years...

This was completely unexpected.

Sorry, guys!

The Teiko storyline is almost at its end too, so I'll speed things up and wrap it up soon.

Next up is third year!

Thanks for your support, everyone!

…

Update Disclaimer:

This fanfic is currently caught up with the raw. New chapters will be released as the original updates, so there won’t be a fixed daily posting schedule for now.