"Seiho, substitution!"
"All yours. Teach that guy on the other side a proper lesson."
Akashi Asuka slapped hands with small forward Sakamoto Kenjiro and stepped onto the court.
He glanced up at the scoreboard.
The score now stood at 32–21.
"Yikes~~ this isn't looking good at all!"
"You've got some nerve saying that! Who do you think's partly to blame for this mess?"
Kasuga Ryuhei passed the ball to Akashi.
"Since it's your first appearance, why don't you go say hello to the other team?"
Akashi smiled. "Of course, senpai."
He began dribbling toward Shutoku's paint. Waiting for him was Shutoku's number eight, small forward Miyaji Kiyoshi, a player with a knack for flashy dribble moves.
He wasn't among Japan's top-tier talents, but as a starter for a powerhouse team, his skills couldn't be underestimated.
Not knowing Akashi's capabilities, Miyaji stayed cautious, holding his ground without lunging in.
"Relax, senpai. I'm just a first-year rookie, no need to be so tense."
Akashi chuckled, then raised his elbow and started backing his way into the paint. The move was so plain and old-fashioned that Miyaji froze for a moment.
Seriously? That's it?
He had expected someone Midorima would be so wary of to have some dazzling trick up his sleeve, not… this.
Confident, Miyaji stepped forward to block him, only to realize something was very wrong.
How to describe it…
It wasn't that his defense was completely useless. It was that whether he was there or not didn't seem to make a difference.
The moment they made contact, Miyaji felt like a pebble the size of a fist, while Akashi was a giant bulldozer.
No matter how hard that pebble pressed back, it couldn't stop the machine from advancing.
He couldn't even properly set his stance to draw a charge.
What the hell is this power?
In the blink of an eye, Akashi had muscled his way into the paint. Shutoku's center, Otsubo Taisuke, rushed in for help defense, but before he could even reach him, Akashi exploded upward, arm swinging,
BOOM!
BANG!!!
Two thunderous sounds erupted in quick succession.
The first was the violent dunk. The second was the shattering of the backboard glass.
It was like a bomb going off. Shards of glass flew everywhere.
Both teams froze, minds wiped blank.
CRASH~
Landing from the dunk, Akashi casually yanked the rim right off its mount.
"Ah."
He looked at the rim in his hands, then at the wreckage scattered around, scratching his head with an awkward smile. "Sorry… guess I used too much force."
Silence.
Everyone stared up at the backboard, half its glass gone, then down at Akashi standing there with his sheepish grin. Their mouths hung open, words refusing to form.
Tsutomu Iwamura was the first to recover. He smacked Akashi's shoulder hard.
"Sorry? I told you to say hello, not commit property damage!"
"Calm down, Captain! You can't blame me for everything. The real problem is the glass, cheap stuff! I told you before, we should've bought tempered glass from the mainland!"
"Shut it! It's only been three weeks since school started and you've already broken four rims! Can't you dunk with a little less power?"
==========
With the backboard destroyed, the game had to pause.
Luckily, Seiho had more than one court. Once the break was over, they simply switched venues to resume play.
Shutoku's players walked off still dazed.
It took a while before anyone truly processed what had happened, then shock and disbelief rippled across their faces.
"Whoa!"
"Who is that guy? Is it even possible for a first-year to have that kind of physique? He actually smashed the backboard, what kind of joke is this?!"
"Hey~~ Midorima, you sure that guy isn't one of your 'Generation of Miracles'?"
Midorima Shintaro was equally stunned. He had expected Akashi to be stronger in high school, but not this strong.
This growth rate… it's almost on par with us.
"There's a guy in the Generation of Miracles with a really strong build, but it's not him. And as far as I know, even that guy couldn't do this back in middle school. After entering high school, though… who knows."
"You're kidding, right?!" Takao Kazunari was floored. "You mean there are other high schoolers who can shatter a backboard?!"
"Who knows? But one thing's for sure, this game's about to get a lot harder."
==========
When the game resumed on the new court, Shutoku immediately felt the shift. There was no doubt, Akashi's monster dunk had massively boosted Seiho's morale.
Shutoku attacked, and Akashi switched onto Midorima.
"Yo, long time no see, Midorima!"
"Long time no see, Akashi."
"Didn't think we'd meet again so soon. It's a bit unexpected, but this works out perfectly. Let's pick up where we left off in middle school!"
Akashi grinned wide. "This time, no interruptions, just you and me, one-on-one."
Midorima adjusted his glasses. "I welcome it."
Akashi pressed in on defense, but unlike Tsugawa, he didn't need to crowd too close.
Midorima ran to catch the ball. Even with a defender glued to him, he still had teammates willing to pass it.
The moment he caught it, he tried driving forward, only to have Akashi cut him off after a single step.
"Forget the fancy stuff. You and I both know dribble drives aren't our specialty. Let's stop wasting time, bring your strongest weapon at me head-on!"
It was true, neither was weak at driving, but for players of their caliber, trading dribbles now was like two eagles pecking like barnyard hens.
Midorima seemed to realize it too. He stopped short, stepped back sharply, and instantly rose into his shooting form mid-air.
"You're right, and that suits me just fine!"
=============
108 Advance Chapters Available on Patreon! Patreon.com/Veltoria [remove brackets]
250 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
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