From the moment, back in middle school, when Midorima Shintarō first saw a player—other than Captain Nijimura—challenge Senior Shigure seriously, he became certain:
No matter the personality, no matter the behavior…
The boy before him was a thousand-li stallion—destined to gallop magnificently one day.
And because of that
In all the countless memories he wrote together with Teiko…
He may have overlooked Kurokami Shinji at times,
but never—not once—did he overlook Fukaya Reiji.
The name Fukaya Reiji stood shoulder to shoulder with the Generation of Miracles in the race for the strongest.
Everyone was standing on the same starting line.
No fear.
Only fighting spirit.
Glowing
Radiant.
Just like that straight, lightning-fast charge from moments ago
That sharp stop, that sudden cross, even the slowing of his movements felt like a sin…
Everything was real. Not a mirage.
Strong.
Powerful.
And stylish.
That was exactly the ideal form Midorima wanted to reach.
On the court
Midorima received the ball on the baseline and advanced steadily toward Kaijō's half.
At the same time, he watched Fukaya Reiji's movements with calm precision, examining every detail of that stylish silhouette.
His mind
Focused more and more!
Good…
As expected
The moment Midorima closed in, Reiji exploded with straight-line acceleration, using that overwhelming speed to execute the most effective option
A front-steal!
Next, with their bodies colliding, he would disrupt Midorima's rhythm by force, then follow with a steal attempt
50%.
With his current speed advantage, and being right-hand dominant, Reiji angled his body perfectly to shut down Midorima's left-hand dominance, forcing him to attempt a step-through
30%.
In this situation
Bam!
During the fierce body bump, Midorima suddenly made a completely illogical stagger-step breakthrough.
And yet—just as he predicted
Fukaya Reiji reached down for the steal!
However
His ultra-high-speed Spider Guard moved at the same time as his hand
his feet instantly matching Midorima's step-through!
Bam!
Intercepted again!
Midorima: "…"
There was still a considerable distance from the hoop, and Reiji would never loosen his pressure
not when Midorima could pull a surprise ultra-long three.
So he compressed the distance with another burst of acceleration, filling every gap created in their skirmish.
Ssshh!
Reiji bent low—closing in!
Midorima glanced at him. He knew Reiji could reach the ball…
But to do so, Reiji would have to gamble on a diving steal.
However—considering Reiji's personality
The probability…
20%.
The more likely option
Yes…
60%.
Spider Guard
Pressure
Constriction!
Bam!
Reiji's hand grazed the ball—but Midorima narrowly shifted it away!
"What?!"
"No way! Reiji clearly had the speed advantage!"
"How fast is Midorima's reaction?!"
"What a waste…"
But at that moment—nobody noticed:
Midorima, shielding the ball with his back, suddenly froze with a strange expression.
Something was happening.
Facing Reiji
His beach-training enhanced wide-vision kicked in, gathering data, feeding it into his brain
His subconscious analyzing it
His Tactical Fortune-Reading climbing past the limit of ordinary 1-on-1.
And then suddenly
he saw it.
Endless
The world of prediction!
Bam!
Midorima backed down against Reiji, and in his mind, Reiji's movements kept replaying
No…
Not just replaying.
If he kept analyzing
he could go even further!
Reiji's Spider Guard, in order to maintain deceleration effects, would tighten and release at certain intervals…
Bam!
The moment that micro-burst ended
Right here!
100%!
Bam!
Mid-spin, Midorima abruptly chained into a behind-the-legs shift
blowing past the man who had bound him moments earlier like spider silk!
Then
In one fluid motion
as if he already knew this drive would succeed
He launched forward
leaning, drifting
Quick shot!
Swish!
It dropped.
Everything
exactly as Midorima had foreseen.
Kaijō vs. Yōsen.
Score:
27–33.
"WOOOAAAHHH! MIDORIMAAA!"
"What a sharp drive-and-shoot!"
"Eh?! That felt… weird but amazing!"
"This keeps Kaijō's 6-point lead alive!"
Meanwhile, unlike the excited Kaijō bench, Midorima stood silently, still immersed in that sensation
That feeling of total control
A realm he had imagined when naming his ability, but had never been able to reach.
Tactical Fortune-Reading.
The name suggested a predictive skill for team tactics.
But now… what was different?
It wasn't just sharper focus.
There was
Something more.
That sensation—like he processed vast incoming information, filtering useful from useless within a heartbeat…
So much data
so fast…
It felt familiar.
Too familiar
Captain Nijimura's instantaneous analysis ability
combined subconsciously with Midorima's Tactical Fortune-Reading simulations.
He actually
Merged them?!
In an instant
It was like a new meridian burst open inside him
Fwhumm!!
Within his irises, the green hue was suddenly stained by a streak of rainbow light!
"Reiji…?"
"Snap out of it!"
On the court, Kurokami Shinji called to Fukaya, who had momentarily fallen into thought.
A moment earlier, from behind, Kurokami had clearly sensed it
A pressure even sharper and farther-reaching than the Emperor Eye.
And just then
Unexpectedly
Fukaya Reiji…
smiled.
A completely mismatched, excited grin.
"…Amazing. Interesting."
Kurokami: "?"
Strange.
The next second, Reiji received the inbound
and without hesitation, sprinted up Yōsen's half
Same as before.
Straight-line.
Double-A speed and power.
Midorima's defense—whether foot speed or hand interceptions
was useless.
Reiji ripped straight through
Then hurled the ball forward!
Fukui Kensuke froze
He understood what Reiji was doing.
Reiji wanted to repeat that direct-line blitz
But
Wasn't that pass a bit too far?!
What joke
BAM!
The thudding bounce gave the answer.
It wasn't a simple long pass.
It was a curving spin-pass
a high-level self-setup return ball.
At full sprint, Reiji's spinning ball hit the floor and bounced back precisely
steady as if resting on a feather.
Fukui: "!"
But his shock wasn't aimed at Reiji
It was at Midorima.
When did he get THERE?!
During the moment Reiji burst past him, Midorima was also collecting data
information he could never catch before
Pouring fast, accurate, overwhelming
He evaluated:
Spin-pass… 60%!
Return angle… 80%!
Arc height
Landing point
Fukui's defensive delay factor
Stride
Hand dominance—right.
His speed disadvantage meant he couldn't reach the first touch,
but the instant Reiji received the ball
It should happen
right now.
Right now!
The moment Reiji touched the ball—preparing to accelerate again
Before he could repeat the previous lightning charge
…!
SMACK!
A hand flashed from behind
timed perfectly
slapping the ball straight toward Fukui.
Furthermore
Midorima had arrived at that exact spot
At the exact time.
"Senpai!"
"It's not that easy!"
"Fukui-senpai!"
"Pass!"
"Fast break!"
Fukui sent it back and Midorima pushed from the backcourt
and from that one action, he felt even more deeply the strength of his yet-unnamed new ability.
The feeling of complete dominance over the court
it made his heart thrill
So this…
was basketball?!
Fukui stared at him like he was a monster.
Reiji's straight-line burst and self-spin-pass had already been monstrous
But Midorima
Despite lacking speed and power,
despite being blown past
Still flawlessly countered a move used for the first time.
A monster beyond monsters.
On the court
Midorima accelerated!
Good!
Don't stop thinking!
Gather more data—process more
predict deeper
understand what you can do
understand what he is seeing—what he is thinking
"Midorima!"
"Watch out!"
"That guy's fast!"
"One blink and he's caught up!"
Reiji's hair streamed backward from the pressure
His Spider-Thread burst kicked in, catching Midorima instantly.
But
While Yōsen worried
Midorima suddenly STOPPED.
He saw it
The perfect attack choice.
The cleanest shooting line.
And
He already knew what Reiji was thinking.
"It's coming…"
"Awakening time!"
Bam!
A huge lateral step-back!
Location
The center circle!
Still inside Midorima's range.
And by "range," that meant:
a zone where his shooting speed remains completely unaffected.
"Reiji!"
"Block him!"
Reiji heard the words awakening time still echoing.
From mid-court, the shot angle existed.
Spider Guard could still reach.
He could block
or at least disrupt
Midorima knew that.
This shot should be sealed.
But
He still went for it.
In midair
Reiji's late-start burst rose to match Midorima's height
almost guaranteed to block
Yet Midorima's expression…
did not change.
Midorima: "…"
That's right, senpai.
Good defense.
But
If my goal is to be the strongest
Then I must break limits just like Tactical Fortune-Reading itself!
Thup!
At the moment of release, the ball left with a shockingly small wrist motion
producing almost no spin.
Which meant
The fastest shot speed imaginable.
But the arc
Drew a twisting, irregular falling-leaf path!
Only now did the audience realize
This ultra-long three
Had no spin!
No rotation
Mid-court
And from that distance…
Below the hoop, Okamura, Liu Wei, and Murasakibara all froze
watching the slow, drifting, wobbling ball
already preparing for a rebound.
But then
Swish!
The ball
Despite its bizarre path
Dropped cleanly through the net.
Nijimura: "?"
Shigure Akihito: "?"
END OF CHAPTER
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