Kuroko's Basketball template: the king of slacking off, Shohoku's strongest sixth man.

"Clatter."

Cold sweat dripped down Rukawa Kaede's pale chin and splattered onto the floor, shattering into pieces.

He gritted his teeth, his chest heaving violently like a bellows.

My lungs were burning with pain, and every breath I took had a strong smell of blood.

But he didn't dare blink.

Ahead of him, the monster known as the number one high school student was staring intently at him.

His eyes were chilling.

There was no anger, nor frustration.

Only a purely morbid thirst for knowledge!

"What is he looking at...?"

Rukawa Kaede's heart skipped a beat.

"That look in his eyes...it's like he's going to strip me bare and study my very soul!"

Sawakita Eiji slowly straightened up, a strange smile curving his lips.

"I see."

He muttered to himself, his voice hoarse yet filled with fervor.

"Eliminate unnecessary visual distractions and compress mental energy to its limit."

"The delay blind spot in the neural reflex during the switching between extremely slow and extremely fast movements..."

"This is so interesting!"

In Zebei's pupils, Rukawa Kaede's panting appearance was reflected.

"Is this the key that allowed you to enter that field?"

"Since the keys have been handed to me, I'll accept them without hesitation."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Sannoh's fast attack came crashing down like a tsunami.

Kazunari Fukatsu dribbled the ball forward with a blank expression.

Even with Miyagi Ryota pressing him closely, he remained as steady as a rock.

"Sawakita is in a dangerous situation right now."

Fukatsu delivered a precise bounce pass to Sawakita, who was in a good position on the wing.

The moment he received the ball, Zebei's aura changed.

If he was a mad dog biting people just now...

Right now, he is forcefully suppressing that mania back into his body.

Rukawa Kaede suddenly lowered his center of gravity, like a red fox eyeing its prey, preparing to withstand the impact head-on.

but.

Zebei's movements actually slowed down.

"Bang."

The basketball slammed heavily to the ground.

Zebei's first step was ridiculously slow, even somewhat stiff.

"It's full of flaws!"

Rukawa's wild instincts kicked in, and he instinctively reached out to cut the ball.

Just as my fingertips were about to touch the surface of the basketball.

Zebei's body flickered without warning, just like a video clip that had frozen in time!

"What?!"

Rukawa Kaede's pupils trembled violently.

Abrupt transition from extremely slow to extremely fast!

There was no warning, no pre-exertion sway.

Zebei transformed into a blur, brushing past Rukawa's right side like a gust of cold wind.

"It's the rhythm of Ephemeral Cicada!"

Rukawa Kaede's mind went blank, and a chill ran down his spine.

I only watched it once.

He personally experienced it once.

This guy actually replicated his half-step Zone on the spot!

"No, it's still not quite there."

Zebei frowned slightly as he made his breakthrough.

Instead of going for a layup, he flicked his wrist and passed the ball to Kawada before Akagi could help defend.

"boom!"

Kawada received the ball, rose high, and slammed it home with both hands.

64:55.

The score has narrowed again.

But nobody in the entire arena was watching the dunk.

Rukawa Kaede stiffly turned around, looking at Sawakita who had retreated, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

"They're not just imitating, they're patching up their own patterns..."

"This guy's using me as a farming opportunity!"

Shohoku's offensive offensive made the situation even more hopeless.

Rukawa Kaede received the ball again, facing Sawakita. He took a deep breath, trying to forcefully start "Empty Cicada" again.

A red light flashed in his eyes.

"left."

Zebei's calm and unwavering voice rang in Rukawa's ears.

Rukawa's heart skipped a beat, and just as he was about to change direction, his hand went completely empty.

"Snapped!"

The basketball was cleanly and efficiently sliced ​​away by a slender hand.

Zebei scooped up the ball and dashed towards Shohoku's half of the court like lightning.

"Depend on!"

Rukawa Kaede chased after him desperately with red eyes, but his exhausted legs felt like they were filled with lead.

He could only watch helplessly as Sawakita easily made the layup.

64:57.

"Fully riddled with flaws."

Zebei looked back at the panting Rukawa Kaede, his eyes filled with disappointment.

"Your changes in rhythm are already transparent to me."

"With that little skill, you'll never even reach that level."

"You're too obsessed with 'deceiving' people."

Zebei turned around and slowly walked towards his own half of the court.

With each step he took, his mania lessened a little.

Instead, there was a chilling, deathly silence.

Deep within consciousness.

Zebei felt himself sinking.

The deafening cheers, the sound of basketballs hitting the ground, and the swishing of sneakers filled the Hiroshima Stadium.

They are all fading away little by little.

It became dull, it became unreal.

It felt like being submerged in a cold, dark deep sea.

"Discard unnecessary emotions."

Zebei closed his eyes and mentally analyzed the state he had just gotten for free from Rukawa Kaede.

"Abandon distractions, abandon the audience, even abandon your opponents."

"All I see is basketball."

"Then……"

Zebei suddenly opened his eyes.

In the black hole deep within consciousness, a silhouette faintly emerges.

A door.

A huge bronze gate that radiates an ancient, eerie light.

The gate was tightly closed, and heavy iron chains, representing the limits of human physiology, were wrapped around it.

That is the sacred gate to the pinnacle of basketball.

Zone!

"Finally... I caught you."

Zebei's lips curled up wildly, his eyes filled with infatuation.

Without hesitation, he stepped towards the door.

step.

Two steps.

On the real basketball court, as Zebei's consciousness drew closer, a terrifying qualitative change was taking place in his aura!

"What's going on...?"

Rukawa Kaede suddenly looked up and stared intently at Sawakita.

He is currently in the half-step Zone, with one foot just outside the threshold.

Therefore, he understood better than anyone what that fluctuation meant.

That's resonance at the same frequency!

The energy emanating from Zebei was ridiculously pure!

Where is he going?

"What is he trying to do?!"

Rukawa Kaede bit his lip until it bled, the rusty taste spreading in his mouth.

He was overwhelmed by immense humiliation and shock.

"I risked my life just to barely get to the threshold."

"This guy... just glanced at it, and now he wants to go right in?!"

unfair!

The overwhelming talent shattered Rukawa Kaede's proud pride.

At that moment, another person was equally dumbfounded.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was battling Nobe in the paint, jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

He pointed at Zebei on the outside, his eyes practically popping out of their sockets.

"Fox! Can you feel it?!"

"That monk's head smells weird!"

Although Sakuragi doesn't understand theory, his animalistic intuition is frighteningly accurate.

He had pushed open that door in a daze.

I've experienced the exhilarating feeling of being in complete control, like a god.

But ever since then, no matter how hard he tried, he was even tricked by Lin Bei into shaving his head.

He couldn't find the door anywhere, no matter how hard he tried.

But now.

He actually smelled that infuriating scent on one of his opponents again!

"This is infuriating!"

"He's using cheats! This is blatant cheating!"

"This door is one that I, a genius, could easily push open. I just accidentally lost it. Why should he be able to find it?!"

"Sakuragi, what's wrong with you, you idiot?!"

"Get back to defense! That fat guy's going to squeeze in again!"

Miyagi cursed, but his eyes kept glancing towards Sawakita.

As a point guard, he also has a keen sense of the situation.

"Although I don't understand what Sakuragi is babbling about, that guy Sawakita..."

"It's eerily quiet."

Time passed by, second by second.

The second half has become incredibly intense.

There are 10 minutes left until the end of the game.

The score is 68-68.

Shohoku's huge advantage of more than 20 points has been completely wiped out.

Possession of the ball returned to Sannoh.

Fukatsu dribbles at the top of the key, his fingers moving with the agility of someone playing the piano.

He glanced at the timer, his eyes flickering slightly.

"Ten minutes left, time to wrap up the game."

He suddenly exerted force with his wrist, and the basketball turned into an orange lightning bolt, heading straight for Zebei outside the right three-point line.

"We absolutely cannot let him get the ball!"

With a roar, Rukawa Kaede dragged his leaden legs and pounced on the attack like a madman.

He knew in his heart that he absolutely could not let Zebei touch the ball in his current state.

The sky will fall if he gets the ball.

however.

late.

"Smack."

The basketball landed smoothly in Zebei's hands.

Just as Zebei's hands touched the basketball.

The entire venue fell into a sudden, deathly silence.

This wasn't a silence; rather, some kind of high-dimensional pressure instantly cut off everyone's breathing.

Sawakita Eiji suddenly stopped moving.

Hold the ball with both hands at your waist, feet shoulder-width apart.

He didn't use the triple threat technique, didn't lower his center of gravity, and even his muscles were relaxed.

He just stood there casually, like an old man taking a stroll.

But it was precisely this casualness that made Rukawa Kaede, who had rushed in front of him, suddenly slam on the brakes.

"I can't move..."

Rukawa Kaede's pupils trembled violently.

His body was frantically sounding alarms, every cell screaming for him to back off.

Take one more step and you really will die!

"What kind of monster is this...?"

Rukawa Kaede stared intently at Sawakita.

Zebei slowly raised his head.

Deep within those once-deep black pupils, a chilling white lightning bolt suddenly appeared!

An electric current exploded in the corner of his eye, exuding an absolute coldness that was not of human origin.

In the world of consciousness.

Zebei had already stood in front of that huge bronze door.

He looked up at the mysterious patterns on the door, a satisfied smile playing on his lips.

"Finally, I've caught you."

He slowly extended his right hand and placed it on the cold door panel.

Without hesitation, without struggle.

Just a gentle push forward.

"Creak—"

The heavy iron chains snapped in unison, and the ancient gate roared as it slowly opened inward.

Blinding white light poured out from the crack in the door, engulfing Zebei completely.

He took a step without hesitation.

One foot stepped inside the door.

On the real football field.

"boom!"

A terrifying aura, visible to the naked eye, exploded outwards from Zebei like a nuclear bomb!

The surrounding air seemed to have been sucked away instantly.

"They're inside..."

Lin Bei, standing on the sidelines, had a corner of the white towel draped over his face slip off.

He slightly opened one eye, a hint of admiration flashing in his dark pupils.

"Being able to forcefully push open this door under the high pressure of actual combat by dissecting the opponent."

"No wonder he's the nation's number one genius."

Lin Bei yawned and put the towel back over his face.

"All suffering is experienced, but all beings are saved from it."

"The monster has been unleashed. You bunch of newbies better grit your teeth and hold on."

On the field.

Zebei's gaze swept over Rukawa Kaede as if he were looking at a corpse.

"The match is over."

He uttered a few words in a hoarse voice.

next second.

A white flash of lightning completely tore apart the entire Hiroshima Stadium!