Kuroko: Mahoraga - Chapter 73: Teikō Middle School Fights Back. 1 vs. 5! (Patreon)

No one had expected Masato to completely change his style the moment he started facing Akashi.

It wasn't nearly as elegant as the way he'd played before, but considering the physical advantages Masato possessed, no one could really complain.

Competitive sports ultimately came down to using what your body gave you.

Having an advantage and refusing to use it would just be stupid.

Murasakibara, who had failed to stop Masato earlier, watched the way he dealt with Akashi and felt his eyes light up for a moment.

It reminded him of his own previous one-on-one against Akashi.

...

Once Akashi received the ball again, he no longer had any intention of deliberately slowing the pace.

He was confident, but he also knew Teikō was still behind.

That brief exchange had already told him plenty about Masato's condition.

As far as Akashi could tell, fatigue was beginning to affect him, and his performance would only decline further as the game continued.

When the two matched up again, Masato immediately realized Akashi was going to push the tempo.

Sure enough, Akashi attacked the moment they came face-to-face.

Under the gaze of the Emperor Eye, Masato felt as though not even the smallest movement of his body could escape Akashi's notice.

This time, however, he wasn't nearly as tense.

He had already come up with the beginnings of a way to deal with Akashi's offense.

Whether it actually worked was another matter.

He would have to test it.

...

As Akashi began his drive, Masato made absolutely no attempt to stop him.

It wasn't a feint.

Even under the Emperor Eye, Akashi couldn't see the slightest sign of Masato tensing his muscles to react.

That genuinely surprised him.

He had no idea what Masato was planning.

Still, Akashi didn't waste time thinking about it.

Whatever Masato had in mind, it didn't matter.

The future was absolute.

If Masato wasn't going to defend, then things were even simpler.

Akashi would just go straight through.

Sure enough, he slipped past Masato's right side with ease.

From the outside, Masato looked like a wooden post. He hadn't offered any resistance at all.

The other members of the Generation of Miracles were momentarily stunned.

What was he doing?

Had his stamina suddenly given out, or was Akashi simply too fast for him now?

A moment later, they understood.

Only after Akashi had gone past him did Masato turn and accelerate.

He had deliberately surrendered the front and chosen to chase Akashi from behind.

The Miracles understood the idea almost instantly.

Masato was intentionally avoiding a head-on confrontation with the Emperor Eye.

Instead, he was using his physical advantages to pressure Akashi from behind and force him into making a choice.

Akashi was incredibly fast.

After getting past Masato, he was already preparing to float the ball toward the basket.

Then he sensed something was wrong.

At the same time, Midorima shouted from beyond the three-point line.

"Watch your back!"

Just as Akashi was about to release the floater, he finally felt the pressure descending on him from behind.

The light in front of him disappeared beneath Masato's shadow.

For the first time, a hint of stiffness appeared on Akashi's otherwise calm face.

But he was Akashi.

Even without the Emperor Eye, he was still a player on the level of the Generation of Miracles.

He regained his composure immediately, forcibly stopped his shooting motion in midair, and flung the ball out.

The resulting posture was ugly, almost like some red crab flailing through the air. It looked nothing like the cold, aristocratic image Akashi usually carried.

Even so, the pass still reached Kise.

Kise might have been thoroughly beaten by Masato earlier, but he was still a member of the Generation of Miracles. At the middle school level, his ability remained in a completely different class.

The Kawari player guarding him did everything he could.

It still wasn't enough.

Kise finished the possession.

The attack hadn't taken much time, yet the tension packed into those few seconds had been enormous.

Masato's defense had genuinely caught Akashi off guard.

Akashi couldn't tell whether Masato had stumbled onto the idea by accident or had actually identified a blind spot in the Emperor Eye's current field of vision.

Either way, Masato had given him another reason to take him seriously.

Akashi's cold eyes grew even sharper as they settled on him.

...

Even though Teikō had scored, the spectators were still marveling at Masato's defense.

They had never seen a defender force Akashi into such an awkward play before.

Masato himself wasn't satisfied.

He had been a fraction away from completing the block, yet Teikō had still come away with points.

A full-strength Teikō really was terrifying.

To Masato, the team almost seemed to have no openings at all.

With Akashi directing them, every position worked together perfectly.

He narrowed his eyes as he watched the Generation of Miracles retreat on defense.

Only when Ishida stepped toward the baseline to inbound did Masato finally shake his head and turn away.

...

From there, Teikō continued cutting into the lead.

With Akashi controlling the ball, their offense flowed smoothly from one option to the next.

Kawari still held the advantage on the scoreboard, but the momentum of the game had already shifted toward Teikō.

Anyone watching could see that Kawari's efficiency was dropping.

For the moment, Masato didn't have a good answer.

Against Akashi, he could only take away one thing at a time.

If he focused on limiting Akashi's own scoring, he couldn't stop the passes he created.

And whenever Masato's teammates were left to deal with the other members of the Generation of Miracles, they were completely outmatched.

The same problem existed at the other end.

Whenever Kawari attacked, Masato had to deal with layers of help defense from Teikō.

He could still score, but his efficiency was clearly lower than Teikō's.

And the moment one of his shots came off the rim, Murasakibara was almost guaranteed to secure the rebound.

There was practically no room for error.

Teikō's overall depth was simply too great.

The scene began to resemble a pack of wolves surrounding a tiger.

Countless spectators watched in amazement.

Before the game, who could possibly have imagined that mighty Teikō would be forced by a single player to display a level of team coordination they had never needed before?

Even many Teikō fans couldn't help marveling at it.

At the same time, the crowd was equally impressed by Kawari's resolve.

The Generation of Miracles were attacking them almost at will, yet the team still hadn't broken.

That had to be the influence of their ace as well.

More and more people were beginning to understand just what kind of team had come out of Kanagawa.

...

As the third quarter moved into its final stretch, Masato gradually began adapting to Akashi's steals and drives without even realizing it.

Akashi could no longer shake him in a single exchange the way he had at first.

That alone eased a great deal of the pressure Masato felt on defense.

Even so, Masato was still the one reacting. He was nowhere near the point where he could turn things around and suppress Akashi instead.

He knew fully adapting to Akashi would take more time.

The problem was that adapting to Akashi alone was no longer enough.

Masato had to account for the entire Generation of Miracles.

With [Adaptation] still carrying its current limitations, adapting to an entire team of players at that level was asking for too much.

And stamina wasn't the only thing Masato was burning through.

His mind never stopped racing as he searched for a way out.

The third quarter flew by.

Because Teikō was getting far more value from each possession, the gap kept shrinking.

84-75, 86-78, 95-94...

Teikō was on the verge of taking the lead.

Anyone could see what was happening.

Kawari was only still standing because Masato was holding the entire team together.

Without him, Teikō would already have been ahead by who knew how much.

On another Kawari possession, Masato took the ball and once again turned his back to Akashi.

Compared to when he'd first started using the post-up, he was much more comfortable now. The movement no longer looked nearly as awkward.

He used the back-down to create an opening and forced his way inside.

Then he saw something he never expected.

The other four members of the Generation of Miracles were waiting directly in front of him.

Akashi remained beside him as well, Emperor Eye open and watching for the slightest mistake.

For one instant, Masato was genuinely facing all five of them at once.

Even with all his confidence, his expression changed at the sight.

Forcing a shot through this would only waste the possession.

Besides, all four of Masato's teammates had been left completely open.

The Teikō players clearly didn't consider any Kawari player other than Masato worth guarding.

Fine.

Masato fired the ball out to Ishida.

The instant Ishida caught it, the ball somehow felt heavier than usual in his hands.

Countless eyes turned toward him from every direction, and even his body seemed to grow inexplicably heavy under the pressure.

But Ishida knew one thing.

He couldn't waste Masato's trust.

He charged straight toward the completely unguarded basket and leaped for the dunk.

Aomine erased the distance in the blink of an eye.

"SMACK!"

He swatted the ball away.

Everyone thought the possession was over.

Then a pair of large hands seized the deflected ball out of the air and hammered it back through the rim.

"BOOM!!!"

Masato had followed the play for the put-back dunk.

At the exact same moment, the buzzer signaling the end of the third quarter rang through the arena.

Masato didn't remain on the court for even a second longer than necessary.

He headed straight to the bench, his mind already searching for some way to break the deadlock.