The Generation of Miracles Reincarnated

Chapter 26

The Generation of Miracles Reincarnated

Chapter 26

Only Shirogane was used to the weak presence of Mayuzumi, one of his own regulars. It was fortunate Kuroko was not sent out, as amongst the team, Shirogane had the fastest reaction speeds to block passes to Mayuzumi. It was without question that most would have failed because he was supposed to be marking the point guard of the other team, Nijimura.

Thus, the point gap just kept reducing. The team of previous national players all knew that this new group of players would beat them without fail, but it was just a test, basically to see if their team dynamics were good and functioning.

It seemed the case as they tried to find faults in their opponent's teamwork but it should be due to the vigorous team training that Akashi put them through for them to trust each other so much. But, they would not loose.

"Man-to-man!" he yelled. Everyone did exactly that. It drained their stamina, but after a few more minutes, it would be half time where they could rest. Man-to-man defense also allowed them to closely mark the opponents. The good thing about this team was that they had been coaches, though Aida had quit being one early.

This allowed them to know each type of style of both offense and defense, giving them the flexibility. To catch up with the point difference, they started to use their team's well-known tricks.

When they were on the offense, no matter how close they were in the box, they will not throw. Instead, they will pass it to Aida instead, or anyone if Aida was not there. Being national players, they were all capable of shooting threes with about an eighty-percent shooting chance while their own three pointer had an almost hundred percent chance of it getting in.

And when they started marking anyone who was at the three-pointer line, they would just shoot from the box. It was an especially good trick to lure the defense giant out while they shoot. Aida had suggested the idea during the break as he had explained that it was like Kiyoshi Teppei's Right of Postponement but on a team level.

However, the other team was not as shaken as what they would have thought. Murasakibara was not the only good defender on the team. They had Kagami, acting as the power forward currently who could jump at an extraordinary height. Thus those two took turns defending the outside and the inside.

By the end of the quarter, the other team had already caught up and passed them with 56-54 score, thanks to a dunk from the taller redhead. As the team walked back to their locker room, Akira put her hands to her hips and scolded, "Hey! You guys are supposed to be NATIONAL LEVEL PLAYERS! How can you let these brats beat you like that? I know you guys are not serious yet. Need me to give you a good hard slap?" Her shinai appeared in her hands.

Remembering the 'good' old days of being slapped over and over, the whole team shuddered. If it was already bad that she used it for Yōsen, the treatment she gave a NATIONAL team was about ten times worst? The whacks would leave marks sometimes if the fiery woman was pissed.

"I bet you, some of 'them' would be coming out in the next quarter. Prepare yourselves for them AND me if you were to lag behind. GET SERIOUS YOU OLD GEEZERS!" she yelled.

Aida supplied, "If you didn't remember, you're the same age as us, no? 'cept for the flirtatious dude and the pig over there." This earned him three whacks.

Not long after, the second quarter started. This time, the other team consisted of Murasakibara, Kagami, Mibuchi, Kuroko and Akashi. This was going to be a tough battle. Shirogane wondered why Mayuzumi was subbed out, as he knew that he had more stamina than that, but shrugged it off. It was probably because they wanted to confuse them with their two different presences.

The game started once again and not long before it started, they were all taken aback by a stunt from their phantom player. "Wha… what just happened?" Nakatani wondered as Akashi did a lay up.

Even the phantom's own team were shocked. This pass made it seem that there were two phantoms. It was a marvelous pass. As the ball hit the ground after being passed by Kuroko, it bounced off in a different direction towards Akashi, thus it looked like another phantom player joined in the passing.

On the bench, Araki was panicking. With this pass, if Mayuzumi were to be subbed in at any point in time, there would be three phantoms. Their team would surely be unable to handle that. Furthermore, Aida was not acquainted with Kuroko long enough to be used to his presence. Gritting her teeth, she hoped that her team could think of something.

On the court was the five coaches thinking hard about what they could do. Kuroko could now choose between any type of pass: Ignite Pass, Ignite Pass Kai, this new pass or his normal pass. He could also use the Vanishing Drive as those on the same level as the Generation of Miracles had a strong enough presence for him to use them.

The point gap was getting bigger. However, just when there was five minutes left, Kuroko's new pass was stopped by Shirogane. "It seems I was right. This pass can only be caught by Akashi, am I right?" he smirked. Akashi frowned at that. It was true after all, as only he and Kuroko could 'read minds' so he could know what pass Kuroko was going to execute.

With a small shake of his head, Kuroko, who was quite shocked and disappointed, got the message. It went something like, use other passes until I am free of my mark. But he knew it was not so simple. Akashi wanted him to try that pass with the others, namely Kagami who trusted him fully and was always prepared should a ball be randomly passed to him. With a nod, Kuroko signaled that he understood.

The passes so far had worked, but Kagami had missed it twice throughout the game, allowing the other team to snatch the ball. Fortunately, the game went on, still in the younger team's favour as the redheaded captain controlled the game. That was until the other team got serious.

"Heh. The reason why I picked Aomine. I've played street ball too in my earlier days," Harasawa grinned. Catching the passed ball, he did a crossover to the other side. Just when Kagami was about to snatch it away, he crossed it over again and passed him. With that, he did a fade away, preventing Mibuchi, who was nearest, from blocking him. "He isn't the only one with animal instincts."

"Hey, Katsu, don't forget about us, man! We aren't that bad either!" Aida yelled as Shirogane snatched the ball, passing it to the orange haired male. "Look!" It was currently Kagami who was blocking the point guard as he could jump to block it. However, instead of stopping at the three-pointer line, he drove through and spun around Kagami, arriving at the same spot again just as Kagami landed after jumping. The ball flew smoothly into the basket.

"Hey, hey, no fair! I'll show my skills soon too!" the others piped up just as it was time for a two minute-break.