"What a pain, that damn invisible guy."
"For real, Tendou, is there seriously nothing you can do to shut down that magic-trick-loving ex-teammate of yours?"
The players of Kirisaki Daiichi were clearly frustrated.
They had already defended as hard as they could in the first quarter—
And yet they still couldn't stop those ghost-like passes.
"Don't let him get to you," Tendou said flatly. "We're already adjusting."
If you had to name the biggest weakness of misdirection, It was Tendou himself.
Or more precisely—his Six Eyes.
For Tendou, it wasn't even that big of a deal.
"Five minutes. I'm giving you five more minutes, Kuroko," said Aida Riko.
"We need to close the gap—or even take the lead—during this window."
"But…"
"No buts, Kuroko. We still need you in the second half."
Riko had made up her mind—they were going to grind it out against Kirisaki Daiichi.
Once fatigue set in during the second half, they would unleash Kuroko again to finish the fight.
"No problem, Kuroko," Kagami stepped up. "Leave Tendou to me—I can take him."
Unlike flashy players like Kise and Midorima, Tendou didn't seem all that showy.
To Kagami, he seemed more like a team player than an individual powerhouse.
He figured Tendou's personal scoring ability wasn't anything special.
He voiced that thought—and immediately received Riko's Iron Fist™ to the head.
"No scoring ability? Where did you even get that from?!"
"He was Teikō's ace as a first-year.
A bunch of current national scoring records from middle school? Those are his."
"Huh? Really? Totally didn't see that coming…"
Kagami rubbed his head, stunned.
"And that's exactly what's worrying."
The unknown is always the most terrifying.
This was the first time the former captain of the Generation of Miracles had stepped onto the court in this entire tournament.
No one knew much about him—not even Kuroko, who only had memories of him from middle school.
No one could say how far Tendou had evolved since then.
But one thing was certain:
Tendou was not someone without offensive firepower.
With that unease hanging in the air, the second quarter began.
As expected, Seirin came out attacking aggressively.
They were moving the ball faster, running harder, ramping up the tempo.
"It's like all they see is the basket," Tendou shook his head to himself.
Too predictable.
"Kuroko!"
"Here!"
Izuki Shun brought the ball past half court and shouted—
That one shout pulled Kirisaki Daiichi's attention to a streak of blue moving through their ranks.
But Izuki just smiled knowingly.
He wasn't passing to Kuroko at all—he slung the ball toward Hyūga Junpei instead.
A wide-open three!
For a shooter like Hyūga, this was a gift.
He was already setting his feet, preparing for a clean shot.
But the ball never reached him.
Tendou stepped in and intercepted it.
Smack!
"Tendou?!"
It's finally happening.
In the stands, Kise, Kasamatsu, and Midorima had all subconsciously moved closer together.
The moment they saw Tendou's posture, they knew—
Their former teammate was finally getting serious.
Whoosh!
Tendou took off downcourt, blazing forward at top speed with the steal.
Kagami was on him immediately. He hadn't taken his eyes off Tendou for even a second.
"Are you finally gonna show me what you've got, ace?!"
He shouted in his mind, urging Tendou to bring it on.
He believed in his own strength now—believed that even the captain of the Generation of Miracles was beatable.
"Not yet," Tendou replied coolly.
Blunt, dismissive—
And it was more than enough to ignite Kagami's rage.
He hated being underestimated like that.
Before he could respond, Tendou was already in motion.
He began dribbling the ball—
Very slowly.
So slow it looked like someone had put the video on 0.5x speed.
Every bounce felt stretched and exaggerated.
Thump.
After what felt like forever, the ball finally hit the ground and rebounded.
Kagami's eyes widened in shock—
Tendou's figure had vanished from in front of him.
"It's not slow… it's too fast!"
Only now did Kagami realize what had happened.
By the time he turned his head—Tendou was already past him.
Kagami spun and chased, but he'd hesitated for just one beat too long.
He could only leap up for a symbolic block—completely ineffective.
BOOM!
Tendou hammered the ball through the hoop with a ferocious dunk.
"WAAAHHHHH!"
The crowd exploded.
Tendou's personal cheering section went absolutely wild.
"What… was that?!"
Kasamatsu Yukio was dumbstruck.
That kind of drive—
So clean it was elegant, so fast it was terrifying.
Back when they'd faced off, he'd never seen anything like it.
"…'The Cut,'" Kise said under his breath.
"Tendou created that move after watching Hayama's Thunder Dribble," Midorima added.
He had been there for the match where it was born.
He saw the entire development unfold.
"With just a single glance, he got the idea and created a dribble faster than Thunder Dribble—Ultra-Speed Dribble."
"Of course, while it was inspired by Thunder Dribble, his version is way faster than Hayama's."
This wasn't some hidden knowledge—
Within Teikō, everyone had known this.
"Just one look? Kise, can you copy it?"
"Nope," Kise shook his head. "Tendou's 'Cleave'… that's something only a Sword Saint can pull off."
If he could copy it, Tendou wouldn't have tormented him so badly in the past.
Back on the court—
Kagami was still thinking about that last matchup.
Even when he tried to recreate it in his mind, he couldn't figure out how to counter it.
But he wasn't discouraged—he was pumped.
Next possession, he called for the ball himself.
He wanted to return the favor—one-on-one.
The rest of Seirin saw what was happening and spread out, giving the two space.
This was one of those unspoken basketball codes:
When the stars start dueling, everyone else gets out of the way—
Unless someone throws in the towel.
But stars rarely surrender.
If anything, it's the coaches or teammates who break it up.
Kagami faced Tendou with the ball in his hands, eyes burning like a tiger on the hunt.
Tendou, by contrast, looked completely calm—
His Six Eyes had already analyzed everything.
Kagami's dominant hand.
His dribble rhythm.
His tendencies in isolation.
Every bit of data had already been fed into Tendou's mind.
Everyone in the arena held their breath, watching the battle of aces.
Thump!
Kagami moved first.
His body shifted into peak form.
He pounded the ball and lunged forward—eyes only on the rim.
Smack!
Almost simultaneously—
Tendou's arm shot out like a spear, slapping the ball clean out of Kagami's hands.
He stopped the drive cold.
Instant kill.
Just like Kuroko had warned—
Kagami's offense didn't even have time to get going before it was shut down.
"Nani?!"