With no other choice, Seijuro Akashi gave up on observing the future and focused on the present.
Although Nick's first attempt had failed, he quickly recovered and continued pressuring Seijuro Akashi.
Seijuro Akashi frowned and evaded him once again.
Nick collapsed onto the floor for a second time.
This time, his eyes were filled with terror and despair.
Seijuro Akashi raised the ball and moved into a shooting stance.
At that moment, Zack seemed to realize something and immediately rushed toward him.
He leaped into the air, blocking Seijuro Akashi's shooting path.
At the same time, he also blocked Seijuro Akashi's line of sight.
Seijuro Akashi knew that Taiga Kagami, who was positioned to his left, had to be open, so he immediately passed the ball to him.
But in the next instant...
Smack!
His pass was intercepted!
And the person who stole it was none other than Nick!
There was no longer any fear or despair on Nick's face. All that remained was a calm smile, revealing that his plan had succeeded.
Everything he had just done was an act meant to deceive Seijuro Akashi.
His goal was to make Seijuro Akashi believe that he had frozen up and given up on the play.
Then Zack would rush over and leap to contest the shot, causing Seijuro Akashi to instinctively assume that Nick was no longer capable of guarding him.
On top of that, Zack had blocked Seijuro Akashi's vision, preventing him from seeing what Nick was doing.
After you shake one defender and another comes over to help, do you force the shot or pass the ball?
Most players might choose to shoot anyway.
But Seijuro Akashi was different. His mentality had already changed after his battle against Miyamoto Tokima.
More importantly, his current teammates were no longer useless.
They were genuine prodigies, just like him.
That meant the most likely choice he would make was to pass.
And if he passed, Nick's trap would succeed!
Only now did Seijuro Akashi truly understand just how intelligent the Troodon, known as the Einstein of the dinosaur world, really was.
Perhaps even Nash Gold could not match Nick in this regard.
Nick charged ahead at the front of the fast break.
However, Taiga Kagami and Daiki Aomine quickly caught up to him.
Zack was following close behind them.
Although Zack had also activated his Animal Instinct, he was still slightly slower than one player using the Zone at full power and another combining the Zone with Animal Instinct.
Seeing the two catch up to Nick, Zack cursed inwardly.
'Damn it!'
Surrounded by the two of them, Nick immediately began thinking of a way out.
He did not possess the same explosive physical abilities as Jason Silver.
Against two power forwards going all out, his body could not withstand the pressure.
Fortunately, Zack soon rushed forward and drew one of the defenders away from him.
Nick breathed a sigh of relief.
Handling two of them would have been difficult, but he was not afraid of facing only one.
So what if his opponent had entered the Zone?
Nick's skill could still run circles around him.
Nick suddenly came to a hard stop. He raised his head and brought his left hand toward the ball as though he were about to pull up for a jump shot.
An ordinary defender might not have been able to stop in time. Even if they did, they would probably panic and jump to contest the shot.
After all, a sudden stop was most commonly followed by a pull-up jumper.
But there was something Nick had failed to consider.
He was not facing an ordinary player.
He was facing Daiki Aomine, a man with knees and ankles of steel who could go from zero to MAX, then from MAX back to zero in an instant.
Daiki Aomine slammed on the brakes and stopped directly in Nick's path.
The moment Nick completed his hesitation shot fake, he found Daiki Aomine standing firmly in front of him.
"Huh?!"
Nick froze.
Did this guy have no stopping momentum at all?
He did not even need to steady his balance. No matter how fast he was moving, the instant he decided to stop, he came to a complete halt.
Taking advantage of Nick's momentary shock, Daiki Aomine reached for the ball.
Nick reacted immediately, using a behind-the-back dribble to create space before exploiting the change in rhythm to drive again.
However, Daiki Aomine had already grown accustomed to such rhythm changes after repeatedly dealing with Zack's jerky, unpredictable drives.
Now that he was facing the same kind of change again, he was much more comfortable defending it.
Besides, he was currently in the Zone.
Daiki Aomine exploded forward. His speed shot from zero to MAX in an instant, cutting off Nick's path once again.
Nick was even more stunned this time.
Seriously, bro?!
Did this guy not care about destroying his knees with those instant bursts of speed?
Left with no other option, Nick stopped again.
After being halted twice, there was no longer any chance of completing the fast break.
The players from the backcourt had already begun catching up.
Even Shintaro Midorima and Nash Gold, who had practically been strolling down the court, were slowly arriving.
Nick had no choice but to abandon the fast break and reset the offense.
He passed the ball to Nash Gold.
After all, Nash Gold was the point guard.
Seeing this, Daiki Aomine breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
They had finally stopped one of the Black Dragon Team's fast breaks.
They had failed to stop every previous fast break, placing them under immense psychological pressure.
Unless they stopped at least one, they would instinctively assume that they were helpless every time the Black Dragon Team began running the floor.
That kind of mentality could be fatal.
Fortunately, they had finally stopped one.
Some things either happen zero times or countless times.
Once there was a first, there could be a second and a third.
It was just like jerking off. Once you had done it once, there would be...
On the court, Nash Gold dribbled the ball and slowly took two steps forward.
Shintaro Midorima spread his arms and guarded him intently.
Nash Gold grinned and instinctively attempted to look into the future.
However, after seeing only a single second ahead, the vision abruptly ended.
Nash Gold's smile stiffened as he turned toward Seijuro Akashi.
Seijuro Akashi stared directly at him and spoke without expression.
"I can't completely block your view of the future, but I can obscure two-thirds of it."
Nash Gold could not help laughing.
"Hahaha! Interesting!"
"But... that still won't be enough to stop me."
Nash Gold looked at Shintaro Midorima and struck the ball against the floor twice in rapid succession.
Shintaro Midorima instantly felt as though the ground had vanished beneath his feet, and he fell to the floor.
However, he quickly got back up and once again positioned himself in front of Nash Gold.
Then Shintaro Midorima realized that something was wrong.
The basketball in Nash Gold's hands had disappeared!
Boom!
The thunderous sound of a dunk erupted across the court, followed by Jason Silver's rough voice.
"Damn, if I hadn't been paying close attention, even I wouldn't have caught that pass!"
...