Kagami thought Kuroko had to be joking.
There was no way he was that clueless about his own strength. After all, his ntor had been a professional WNBA player, a bona fide star in Arican won's basketball.
He might not be on par with the Generation of Miracles, but being instantly crushed? That was ridiculous.
But Kuroko didn't look like he was joking. That serious expression piqued Kagami's interest even more.
He started talking to Kuroko about teaming up to defeat the Generation of Miracles and win the national championship.
...
anwhile, in another world, Tendou shut off the virtual screen and headed back out for more solo training.
Watching ani alone at ho was just too quiet. Playing basketball felt way more satisfying.
Even though he was only a high school freshman, his stats were already nearing their ceiling:
Strength: 93
Speed: 97
Stamina: 99
Vertical: 93
ntal: 99
Technical attributes:
Mid-range: 99
Three-point: 90
Layup (no contact): 99
Layup (with contact): 96
Post moves: 95
Ball-handling: 96
Driving: 99
Average rating: 95
Unlocked abilities: [4th stage]
Though he only had four unlocked abilities, their versatility made them overwhelmingly powerful.
His understanding of the Zone had reached the point where he could freely enter or exit it with just a little focus.
...
Under the nightti lights of the streetball court, flashes of white electricity cut through the air again and again.
It took a while for them to fade.
Tendou finally stopped, drenched in sweat.
"Maintaining the Zone for ten minutes is no problem now. Pushing my limit, I could maybe hit thirteen."
Even with 99 stamina, there was still a limit to how long he could maintain Zone.
If anyone should be able to last the longest, it was him.
But in the ani, Kagami stayed in the Zone for more than fifteen minutes, just by sheer force of will. In that battle against Rakuzan, he entered the Zone over and over—he even opened the second door.
Tendou didn't rember all the details, but at the very least, he knew it was over 15 minutes. Absolutely insane.
"Huff—"
As he exited the Zone, Tendou felt a noticeable drop in all his physical stats.
That was the impact of fatigue. Once he rested and focused again, his stats changed again:
Strength: 93 (94.5)
Speed: 97 (98)
Stamina: 99
Vertical: 93 (95.5)
ntal: 99
The values in parentheses were boosts not from items, but from his Six Eyes.
Maybe it was because he'd spent so much ti pushing his physical limits, but his body control had improved drastically.
Even without entering Zone, he could now channel his energy more evenly, giving all his physical stats a natural boost of at least one point.
"If I keep this up... could I maintain 90% of my full power all the ti?"
In this world, as explained by the ani, players normally only exhibit about 80% of their maximum ability during gas.
Only by entering Zone could they unlock the final 20%.
Even Akashi's Team Zone could only get them to 90%—through synchronized plays and predictive passing.
"So... what about my Six Eyes? Could they help
stay at 90% or even hit 100%?"
He hadn't fully unlocked the potential of his Six Eyes yet.
There was still room to grow.
Tendou clenched his fists, then let them go, feeling the ti was just right. He packed up and headed ho.
...
The next day, at Kirisaki Daiichi.
When Tendou showed up on ti at the basketball club, everyone was already present.
That ant—these guys had accepted his rules. At least for now.
But the one wild card was still Hanamiya Makoto.
This guy wasn't evil because he was traumatized or misguided. Like Haizaki, Hanamiya was just a pure-blooded scumbag.
And... speaking of Haizaki...
"A sha. I still haven't gotten a call from him."
"You never gave him your number."
"...Huh?"
"I said," the AI cat repeated with visible irritation, "you never gave Haizaki your number."
"No way…"
Damn! Tendou froze. He had gotten so caught up in recruiting Haizaki that he forgot to leave his contact info.
"I'll try reaching out to him later."
He didn't have high hopes. If Haizaki had wanted to contact him, it wouldn't have been difficult.
Still, it was worth a shot.
Kirisaki Daiichi had a solid roster—but who wouldn't want to strengthen their team?
If Durant could leave a championship-caliber Thunder team to join the Warriors and pair with Curry, then yeah—stacking the deck was fair ga.
(Durant was smart, after all. Westbrook was the MVP of sabotaging his own teammates. Staying in OKC was never going to end well.)
"Let's get started. Training begins now."
Pushing away those extra thoughts, Tendou turned his focus to today's practice.
Hanamiya was present, of course, and for once, he looked pretty obedient.
But Tendou knew this guy wasn't the type to back down easily.
He was already bracing himself for another showdown.
With soone like Hanamiya, the only way to deal with him was to go even harder. If one beating wasn't enough, then give him two.
You had to make him submit physically—logic didn't work on guys like him.
To Hanamiya's credit, he was a man who played by "rules"—his own twisted version of them.
And at the mont, he didn't have a way to beat Tendou. Not in basketball, and certainly not in a fight.
His supposed 160 IQ was useless against a guy who didn't care about reason or fairness.
Tendou wasn't so mild-mannered nerd. He was the type to punch first and ask questions never.
Compared to him, soone like Kiyoshi Teppei was practically a cinnamon roll.
Hanamiya touched his chest—still sore. That iron elbow yesterday had traumatized him. Even now, it still ached.
After practice ended, he pretended to go ho to "see his mom."
But Tendou wasn't done yet.
He called the main players together.
"Let's play a little ga. Back in Teikō, soone used to wash my socks for . But now he's off at another school, and I've got to do it myself. Not used to it."
...You're kidding. You had soone wash your socks?
Hanamiya didn't say anything, but he knew Tendou was aiming that comnt straight at him.
He wasn't afraid. He wanted to hear the "rules" of this ga—see if there were any loopholes to exploit.
"The ga is simple: a basketball match. I'll 1v5 you guys."
"You think I'm stupid?"
Hanamiya turned to leave. What kind of idiot would accept that deal?
He wasn't about to play so unwinnable ga just to wash soone's stinky socks.
"I said, don't rush off. Let
finish."
"The rule is... I go 1v5. , alone, versus all of you."
And as he said it, his Six Eyes lit up again.
Hanamiya felt a chill down his spine. The temperature around him seed to drop.
And Tendou... Tendou had that smile.
The kind of smile you'd expect from a final boss in the shadows.
Hanamiya had a bad feeling about this.
But still—five against one?
What was there to be afraid of?
Screw it. Let's go!
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