Chapter 5 : Not impressive

"Seirin basketball club, it's really different..."

I murmured happily as I went to the changing rooms with some excitation.

Obviously because the basketball club was quite new, the gymnasium couldn't compare itself with Teiko, but I didn't care about that. Playing my own basketball style, away from the gloomy pressure of Teiko basketball, was what I wanted. That, and also meet my new teammates.

As usual, even though I was next to them, nobody noticed my presence. Looking at Shinji Koganei in front of me discussing of something with Seirin captain, Junpei Hyûga filled me with some emotion.

Contrary to some, the first basketball manga I've read wasn't Slam Dunk, but Kuroko's Basket. And because I could relate to Kuroko, I've come to love Seirin and it's team even before I joined them.

"Hello everyone. What are you talking about?" I greet them as usual which made Hyûga-senpai shout in fear. To be honest even though I never said it, but seeing people shout in surprise always entertain me. It was quite fun to give a scare to people from time to time.

"How do you always appear in front of me like some kind of teleportation?" said Koganei-kun irritated and maybe tired of my way to appear in front of her.

"Seriously, it's been a week already, and I still can't get used to it. I always have the feeling of having a ghost for teammate." Added our captain. "But should I say, as expected of a student who went to a school known for producing monsters like Teiko?"

"Are you comparing me to a monster senpai? You're mean." I replied in a serious way, to mess with Hyûga-senpai. Unfortunately he didn't want to follow the script.

"I don't care! A monster like you can endure that kind of truth! Besides you're late!"

'Why do I always have a bully for captain? Obviously I came at the same time as everyone here, but you just didn't saw me.' I thought silently as I look at Hyûga with a speechless face. Not that anyone could see the difference anyway.

"By the way Kuroko, even if you were the sixth man, you can't see your article. Do you know why?" Asked Koganei while flipping through the pages of Basketball Magazine Monthly.

"Well, they did interview me, but they forgot to post it afterwards."

They all look at me in pity after hearing that. But because it happens to the other Kuroko, I wasn't affected besides...

"Beside, at that time contrary to the others, my talent wasn't developed enough to be put in the same category as them." I said, because I this is what I thought honestly, but seeing the others faces I knew that they couldn't understand what I was talking about.

Which was kind of understandable. Because while they all knew that the GM were strong, but they didn't know how strong they were. Their only way to judge, was to use me as a standard. But even that was difficult because during the training matches, beside amazing comfortable passing and a god perspective like vision, I didn't show them anything else.

Because of that, when after training practice I bluntly told Kagami Taiga that with his current strength he would just get slaughtered, he was kind of septic. So to resolve his doubt, I decided on a one on one match with him today during the training.

As I was thinking about which card to reveal during our our duel, Fukuda, another first year like me suddenly appeared running in the changing room.

"Guys! We finally have a practice match! The coach just confirm it!" He said happily.

The news also seems to enchant everyone. However upon hearing Fukuda-kun words, I couldn't help but look at him in pity. Because from what I remember, the only practice match Seirin ever did in the Manga was against Kaijo. Meaning, we would be fighting against Kise.

As expected, after Fukuda told us how happy our coach was about the upcoming training match, our seniors immediately guessed with fear that our opponents will be a strong team. And with that I was 90% sure who our opponents will be.

To be honest I was quite happy that of all GM members, Kise was my first opponent. Because at this point of time, it was quite obvious that Kise was the weakest of all the GM.

So this match was an opportunity for me to grow. Something that would have been impossible if my opponent had been Akashi or Aomine.

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(1st pov)

After knowing that their opponents will be a very strong team. Hyûga lead his peers against their juniors to 'learn' from each other and vent their frustrations.

Unfortunately, while the plan was was good, it couldn't keep up with the changes that were Kuroko and Kagami on the other side.

Being wary of Kuroko magical passes and Kagami strong offensive Shun, the Point Guard of the team tried as much as possible to find breakthroughs far away from Kagami's position when attacking. He also some times prioritize Hyûga's 3 points rather than going to the basket to avoid Kagami's interception.

But this strategy also had a default : the rebound.

Except for a certain Shooting Guard from the Generation of Miracles there have been no instance were someone could have a 100% rate in shoot.

And because of that, rebounders are very important to catch those missed shoots. But for the seniors of Seirin, even though they had some confidence in Mitobe, but after the 3rd rebounds in a row won by Kagami, they had to admit that the later was just stronger.

Because of that they applied the same strategy as when they first confronted their juniors : a double team on kagami when inside the paint area.

As for why they don't do it the moment he's inside the 2 point zone? Because of Kuroko's magical pass.

Because they couldn't prevent Kuroko's passes, they tried to restrict those who will receive his pass.

Because expect for Kagami and Kuroko the others were rookies when it comes to basketball, they tend to do most mistakes rookie does when playing for the first time.

And Hyûga and the Senior members decided to capitalize on two of them. The first one was the mobility.

Most rookie tend to find a zone where they are the most comfortable in and wait for the ball there, even when being defend, very few of them tend to move around to throw off his opponent to be free.

Because of that, no matter how magical Kuroko's pass were, he was still restricted on who to pass the ball to.

Secondly, with some pressing on each of the players, those inexperienced rookies will involuntarily retreat to where the senior want. Which is why they opted for a man-to-man defense mixed with a half zone defense for kagami.

And it worked well for a while until Kuroko stop using {Misdirection} and instead started to fake some threats by starting from the 3 points area to give the time to the opponents to catch up to him before using {Phantom Pass} the moment he find a hole inside the seniors defense formation. Something he could only see with his {Quasi-Asmodeus Eye}.

Because of the passive effect of {Phantom Pass} the team start to get better in offensive while being more coordinate in defense due to their rhythm being closer to each other.

And that single skill tilt the balance towards the first year's in a blink of an eye.

"Incredible..." Murmured involuntarily Riko Aida, the coach of Serin as she look at Kuroko's performance.

"I used to think that the core of Kuroko's skills were his lack of presence and his mastery of {Misdirection}, which was why I thought that it wasn't that his passes were really incredible, but it was the use of {Misdirection} that made his passes incredible. But now, I can see that I was actually very wrong!

Even without his {Misdirection}, his pass are still a threat. No matter if in a position of dribbling or shooting, no matter if he just receive the ball or not, Kuroko can still unleash powerful passes from those positions! Moreover, the speed of those passes are not only faster than when Kuroko use {Misdirection}, but they also still have those tricky, and impossible angles! And the most incredible thing is that all those pass are 'perfect'." Analyze Riko in amazement.

Prior to that, Riko already thought that a guy who could disappear on the court was already incredible. That it was already the peak of that little guy. But with the example of the senior, it could be seen that as long as your teammates weren't good enough, then the invisible effect wasn't a good thing at all but a drag.

Through the passes that Kuroko did without using {Misdirection}, Riko understood that those passes could also be made with the {Misdirection} apply to it. But then if that's the case, why is Kuroko not doing it? Because his teammate wouldn't be able to catch it!

When using {Misdirection}, Kuroko only interact with one person : the teammate that had the ball before him. Because of that, the guy that will receive his pass doesn't know that he will receive his pass. So when he receive the ball, like everyone else, he will first be astonished that the ball came to him, before reacting and catching it.

And this restrict Kuroko's passes, speed and form. If the guy who didn't expect the pass can't react in time, the ball will be lost inevitably, so Kuroko has to decrease the speed of his surprise passes to match their reaction time.

But when he's not using the {Misdirection}, he doesn't have that problem, because others can see from where the passes come from. Giving them a chance to react even though the speed and the angle of the passes became tricky.

"But the problem is that Kuroko isn't known for his tricky or his perfect pass, but for his magical invisible pass. Which mean that he always used his full power in {Misdirection} before, but there were people who could react to it...! Teiko is really a school of monsters and Kuroko is really the well deserved pass specialist of the Generation of Miracles... Honestly I'm starting to doubt on whether or not it was a good idea to arrange the practice match against Kaijo like that..." Murmured Riko worriedly as she started to realize how strong were the GM.

At the same time, she start to notice that there were more students than usual. Especially more girls. But because she was more focused on the training, she just made a note in her mind, but otherwise didn't pay more attention to this.

On the court, Shun was once again put against Kuroko on the left wing.

Even though Kuroko was only in a triple threat position, his impassible face still put Shun under a huge pressure.

Because even though Kuroko didn't show an extraordinary dribble, he still couldn't stop his pass even though he knew they were coming.

With a crossover, Kuroko start to hover around the corner which isolate Shun and attract Mitobe who wanted to close his conventional passing route.

But this was exactly what Kuroko wanted, and Shun also understood it.

"Mitobe, return to your position!" He shout to warn his teammate.

But it was already too late. With a flicker of his wrist, Kuroko who was still on the position of dribbling at high speed, suddenly delivered a powerful pass on the ground between Mitobe and Shun Izuki.

Fsshh

But under the surprised eyes of the group, the ball overtook Hiroshi Fukuda by two meters.

'Did he miss?' thought Shun happy but surprised.

When all people thought so, however, something incredible happened under their eyes.

The ball that previously went passed Hiroshi finally slammed against the ground. But instead of rebounding away, under an invert high speed rotation, the ball rebound toward Hiroshi under their amazed eyes.

Then, profiting from their shock, Hiroshi did a simple lay up to score a 2 point.

Looking at the scoring boarding that was previously at 14-33 but was now at 56-55 after Kuroko canceled his {Misdirection}, Hyûga knew that he wouldn't be able to vent his frustration today, but instead get more depressed. Because of that he directly put an end at this 'training match'.

"What? It's already the end? Why don't we continue senpai? Let's continue. Please?" Asked Kagami frustrated by the early end of the game. And also because he couldn't touch the ball much during the offensive.

So seeing that the game end earlier than intended frustrated Kagami to no end. But this actually pleased Hyûga who could release his own frustration in another way.

"No. Don't you see that your own teammate can't keep up with the intensity of the game? Besides, didn't you say last time that you wanted to have a one o one with Kuroko?"

Those arguments directly stopped Kagami protestations. Looking at Furihata and the others panting like they did a marathon, Kagami knew that it was impossible for them to continue. So, he set his goal somewhere else.

Sensing, Kagami eagerness, Kuroko respond to his challenge directly by his actions.

Taking a ball at random, he went directly to the top circle to wait for the later with a serious face on his usual poker face.

"Interesting..." Grinned Back Kagami at Kuroko unusual serious face.

To be honest, when he first knew about the Generation of Miracles, even though he was kinda skeptical about all the hype there was around them, Kagami was still eager to try his strength against them.

But then during the first team practice, he met one their members : the 6th man phantom, Kuroko Tetsuya. And all of his expectations turn into a disappointment.

Because although Kuroko had that special skill he called {Misdirection}, but in Kagami opinion, while impressive, this was still a bit weak for the GM he imagined in his mind.

So even though he challenged Kuroko to a duel after the later said that he still wasn't at the same height as the others, Kagami didn't really have the will for this duel anymore.

Well, that was until today. After Kuroko remove his {Misdirection}, Kagami start to see the true strength of Kuroko. For the little he show them, he understood that it's not that Kuroko wasn't strong enough, but that their strengths aren't strong enough for him to show his full power.

"While I really want to know how strong you actually are, but Kuroko, aren't you a guy specializing in pass? A one on one should be pretty huge disadvantage for you right?" After today, Kagami truly recognize Kuroko's strength, but he could also see that Kuroko's strength didn't lie in direct confrontation. Something that was his forte.

"You're right, of my two strongest 'skills' one of them can't be used in a one on one. Because of that, of all the GM, I'm the weakest in single duel. But don't worry, I'm still strong enough. Besides, if you can't even beat me when I'm at half strength, then don't think about beating the GM alone." Replied seriously Kuroko.

"Well, it makes sense." Acknowledge Kagami while approaching Kuroko with a high fighting spirit.

After Kagami stood in front of Kuroko, they all stopped talking as Kuroko gave the right to attack to Kagami.

The without another words the duel started!

Before starting his attack, Kagami tried to recall all the information he had on his opponent.

'From what I saw, his jumping ability is quite bad, so the best solution would be to attack the basket with a dunk so he won't have the power to stop me. As for the dribble, a fake start plus a crossover should the trick.'

Once he made his decision, Kagami didn't think to much, and directly started according to his previous thoughts.

But what he didn't know, was that the moment he was about to start attacking, Kuroko immediately feel it because of the instinct brought by {Wildness}.

So before Kagami could do a single thing he immediately start to activate his skills.

{Future Act}

{Wildness}

Looking at the future where he passed after Kagami faked his entry to his right when he was actually going to pass from his left, made Kuroko smile internally at his opponent cleverness.

Because if it was another opponent he would have been more cautious on how he attack, but with Kagami, Kuroko was more use of him using his physical advantage than his skills.

So he was a bit surprised by what he saw.

'Honestly it was very well play, unfortunately...'

With a big step, Kagami start a single dribble to Kuroko's right with great determination. This was immediately followed by Kuroko who half turned his body, as if he was preparing to follow.

'Hah! You fell for it!' Screamed internally Kagami, as he did a crossover and start to rush the other side.

Fsssh

But he didn't do three steps, that he immediately stopped because he felt that something was missing from his right hand.

Looking at his right side, and especially focusing on his hand, he notice something weird : the ball was gone!

'Where's the ball? It was in my hand a second ago!' Confused, Kagami started to look around him, but he still didn't see his target, so instinctively he turned his head to look behind to look at something that shook him to his core.

Kuroko was still in the same position he left him a second ago, with his body half turned, facing kagami's back. With the speed Kagami had, it wasn't surprising that Kuroko didn't reacted yet.

Or that's what everyone would thought, if it wasn't for the basketball that Kagami was searching for wasn't caught firmly by Kuroko's left hand.

'...Impossible! H-how ?! I didn't even saw or heard him move, how did he do it?!' Thought wildly Kagami, shocked and confused by Kuroko's amazing steal.

And he wasn't the only one.

'Kurokochii steal looked like Akashi with the {Emperor Eye}! B-but it should be impossible!' Thought a tall blond guy busy signing some autographs while looking at the duel.

With the rest of the team, while most of them were simply impressed by Kuroko's steal, that was because they couldn't see how impressive Kuroko was in this steal. But they were still some of them who could, and were more confused and shocked than impressed.

"J-just now the ball went to Kuroko's hand by itself, right? Or do I need new glasses?" Asked Hyûga with horror.

Because contrary to Kagami, who didn't see the process, they who had a more global perspective saw how before Kagami even had the time to turn left, Kuroko's left hand was already raised, as if ready to catch something. And it did!

As if guide by some magic, the moment Kagami did his crossover, the ball went right to Kuroko's left hand. And that without a single sound.

"No, you saw it right. But to be more precise, it's not that the ball voluntarily went toward Kuroko's hand by itself, or that Kagami passed the ball to him involuntarily, but Kuroko just now, he somehow predicted Kagami move down to the millimeter!" Explained Riko equally shocked by what just happened. "As for how he did it, well, I have no idea..."

But they didn't have to guess wildly because Kuroko who stood up straight, look at Kagami and gave the answer as his Blue eyes who were previously glowing bright, diminish in intensity.

"The reason why I was able to steal the ball even though I was slower than you and didn't even react is because of my eyes. My eyes are called {Asmodeus Eye}. They give me the power to the the next 1.5 seconds before it happens. So, the reason why my hand was able to catch the ball without even looking for it, was because I saw that it will rebound there." Explained Kuroko plainly.

But even though he explained his ability calmly, but his explanation didn't calm the crowd. On the contrary, more people start to look at Kuroko with horror.

"This... What kind of cheating ability is that?" Complained Kagami while echoing the feeling of his teammates.

"Actually it's not really impressive. That ability is just more bluffing than it actually looks like. Because as long as you are faster than me, or react faster than me, then no matter how many seconds of the future I can see, then it won't matter." Tried to explain Kuroko, but to others it look more like a boasting.

Especially for Kagami who took it as a Kuroko who was mocking his strength.

"Are you saying that, I'm too slow?" Gritting his teeth, he looked at his opponent with murderous eyes. But Kuroko didn't just ignore it and replied truthfully.

"Well, while your current reaction speed is indeed lacking if you want to prevent me from stealing the ball, but I wasn't lying when I said that my eyes weren't very impressive. Because compared to the captain of the GM, my eyes are really not worth mentioning. Because contrary to my eyes, his can always see what his opponents will do next. Because he can see the future movement of his opponents.

So, even if in theory you can change the future that I saw, with him, even if you do change your actions, he will still be able to see it contrary to me. That's why, Akashi-kun is more terrifying than me."

While Kuroko explained his shortcoming clearly, but it still didn't convince some people, but convinced the crowd in the abnormalities that was named the GM.

"The more I know about the Generation of Miracles, the less I want to know about them." Complained Kogane fiercely before smiling as he look at Kuroko. "Fortunately, we have one of them in our team. Even if he said that he's the weakest among them, he's still stronger than us."

"Talk about you, but don't put me on the same level as you." Replied Hyûga as he hit Kogane on his head.

On the court, after finishing his explanation, Kuroko start to look entangled for a moment before coming to a decision and start to walk away from Kagami.

The latter surprised by Kuroko's action start to chase after him.

"Hey, wait! What are you doing? We still haven't finish our duel! Come back!"

Turning his head Kuroko looked at Kagami helplessly but still replied.

"While I do want to continue, but I don't want to continue and expose all my cards in front of my opponent while he's spying at us." As he said that, he turned his head to a corner of the gymnasium where a big crowd composed mostly of girls appear.

"Hah?! When did they get here?! And why are they here?" Asked Kagami, surprised by the incredible number of students present in the normally empty Gymnasium.

"They appeared because of this spy." Replied Kuroko as he pointed at the center of the crowd.

In the middle of all those students stood a tall Blond handsome teenager who upon hearing Kuroko's words looked at the later awkwardly.

"No, no, no Kurokochii. Your misunderstanding something here. I'm just here because I heard that you were our next opponents, so I came to say hello in advance." Tried to explain the Blond teenager with a bit in panic.

"I see. Well as you can see, we are training, and you already saw me. I don't want my enemy to see our secrets, so I'll ask you to respectfully go back to where you came from Kise-kun." Bluntly said Kuroko to the handsome blond guy coming toward them.

One of the Generation of Miracle : Kise Ryota.