Kuroko's Basketball: I'm not the boss?

Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, Kuroko pursed his lips and explained, "It was my manipulation. I made him focus all his attention on me, so he couldn't see the overall situation clearly."

Upon hearing Kuroko's explanation, the members of the Seirin group were taken aback.

Is this even possible...?

Vulcan was the first to react, and he excitedly rubbed Kuroko's head.

"You're really something! You even had this trick up your sleeve. Now we can counterattack."

Looking at the excited Kagami, Kuroko poured cold water on him, saying, "It's not that simple. Although I restricted his vision to me, I also lost the ability to disappear. That's why I don't like using this move. It's very uncomfortable to be constantly watched."

Upon hearing this, Hinata couldn't help but ask, "Does that mean it'll be 4 vs 4 from here on out?"

Kuroko nodded in agreement with Hinata's words.

Just as Hinata was about to ask something, Kagami suddenly burst into laughter.

"Well done, Hei Zi. Don't worry, I'll handle the rest."

At this moment, Kagami's eyes were filled with fighting spirit. He had lost the chance to connect with Kuroko. He was already frustrated with the fight and had been suppressed by Midorima for a whole period. His anger and fighting desire had long reached their peak! Seeing that Kuroko had really restrained Takao, as the ace of the Jōrin, how could he tolerate it any longer?

Looking at Kagami's current state, Reiko rubbed her forehead, somewhat helplessly: "Anyway, he won't listen to any tactics I tell him now."

You really have to appease your ace player.

.

Pause ended

Ignoring Shiro Rin and the others, Takao walked straight to Kuroko, a smile playing on his lips: "You really have opened my eyes."

Kuroko looked at him expressionlessly and politely replied, "Thank you for the compliment."

"Oh, don't be so polite, we're both first-year students."

Takao stood beside Kuroko, his hands on his knees, not moving. He figured it didn't matter whether Kuroko was there or not, so he might as well conserve his energy, which might come in handy at a crucial moment.

“I admit I underestimated you, but it would be naive to think that this would turn the tide.”

Kuroko simply glanced up at Takao without saying a word.

Seeing Kuroko's reaction, Takao continued, "Even if I can't team up with Shin, you can't team up with Kagami either. One-on-one, Kagami can't beat Shin right now."

As if to prove Takao's words, Midorima once again sank a three-pointer over Kagami.

With his field of vision narrowed, Takao didn't see the specific situation, only that the referee signaled that the three-pointer was valid.

He shrugged helplessly, then said smugly to the opposing team, "See? Your Vulcan got another shot off. Let me check, 41:31, the score difference is back in double digits..."

"I'm sorry, Takao-san."

Kuroko, unusually, interrupted Takao, a slight smile appearing on his face.

"You don't seem to have realized that we've already got you by the throat."

Chapter 39 Approximate Character List

For those who haven't watched Kuroko's Basketball, I still recommend that you check it out if you're interested. I was totally captivated by Kuroko's Basketball when I was in junior high school.

The story is about five basketball prodigies who all attend the same junior high school (Teiko Junior High). Because they are so strong, they have no rivals. When they get to high school, they agree to join different teams and then compete to see who is stronger.

Seijuro Akashi, point guard and captain of the Teiko basketball team, went to Rakuzan High School. He is relatively short, and his ability is the Emperor's Eye (very powerful and overpowered), which allows him to foresee future events on the court.

Aomine Daiki, power forward and ace of the Teiko basketball team, went to Toou High School. His ability is the unorthodox shot, allowing him to score in any way. His strengths include high speed, excellent physical gifts, and a street-style playing style.

Ryota Kise, a small forward for the Teiko basketball team, went to Kaijo High School. His ability is imitation; he can copy any move he's seen once, but he can't imitate players of the Generation of Miracles level, though he can after they activate their Zone. He has the highest talent in the original work, but he rarely wins. Kise is also my favorite character.

(The Generation of Miracles refers to these five people. Zone can be understood as going into overdrive, a buff.)

Shintaro Midorima, the shooting guard for the Teiko basketball team, went to Shutoku High School. His ability is to shoot three-pointers from anywhere on the court with a 100% success rate! He is the only member of the Generation of Miracles in the original work who didn't unlock his Zone, probably because he was too overpowered, so the author didn't allow him to.

Atsushi Murasakibara, center for the Teiko basketball team, went to Yosen High School. He's physically gifted, very tall and big, like Shaquille O'Neal from Kuroko's Basketball. He doesn't seem to enjoy basketball much.

The above five are the Generation of Miracles, and there is a sixth.

Tetsuya Kuroko, the sixth man from Teiko High School, transferred to Jorin High School. His ability is visual misdirection, which allows him to reduce his presence. Unlike the Generation of Miracles, Kuroko always believed that basketball should be a team sport. However, those five players were too strong, each capable of taking on all five individually. Since they were all on the same team, they had no rivals. Gradually, the Teiko basketball team lost their passion for the sport; they only played games and won, without experiencing the joy of victory or the effort involved. Ultimately, Kuroko quit the basketball club, determined to defeat those five and prove the meaning of teamwork.

Kagami Taiga, an American exchange student, possesses explosive physical talent, with exceptional jumping ability, allowing him to jump higher and higher (that's his character setting).

Like Kuroko, he went to Jorin High School. He liked to challenge strong opponents and made a promise with Kuroko to defeat the Generation of Miracles and become the best in Japan.

There are a few other characters as well, and I'll write about the ones I'll describe more.

Reiko Aida, coach of the Seirin basketball team.

Momoi Satsuki is the manager of the Touou basketball team and also Aomine's childhood friend.

Yukio Kasamatsu, captain of Kaijo, is a very charismatic character. He was originally a point guard, but since the protagonist is a point guard, I wrote him as a shooting guard. Now he is the shooting guard for Kaijo.

Kazunari Takao, point guard for the Shutoku basketball team, and Midorima are the "light and shadow" of Shutoku.

His ability is Eagle Eye (by the way, Shiro Rin's point guard, Itsuki Shun, has Eagle Eye, so the order is: Emperor's Eye > Eagle Eye > Eagle Eye).

That's about it. There are still some characters who haven't appeared yet, so I won't write about them.

(Brothers, please take a look at the first chapter in the table of contents and give me some feedback, please.)

(And lastly, please add this to your favorites~)

Chapter 40 The Turnaround Point

This guy…

Midorima stared at Kagami in horror.

Just now, as Midorima took his usual three-pointer, Kagami stepped up to help. But unlike before, this time Kagami's defense successfully disrupted Midorima! Although the shot still went in, Kagami had definitely managed to stop it.

Vulcan lowered his head and clenched his fists, thinking to himself: Damn it, I was so close! No, I need to jump even higher!

In the audience

Kise, pulling on Xiangyang's arm, stammered, "Xiangyang...did you see that?! It seems like Kagami managed to defend against Midorima!"

Xiangyang's expression was serious. Although Midorima still managed to hit that three-pointer, Kagami's jump height had allowed him to reach Midorima's wrist.

Momoi was a little confused. Didn't Midorima just make a shot? Why do you two both look like Midorima is being defended?

Xiangyang turned his head and saw Momoi's expression, and couldn't help but feel happy. Finally, there's something you don't know.

“Midori did make the shot, but Kagami’s defense this time is different from before. To put it simply… he jumped higher than before. If he can jump even higher, then Shutoku’s chances in this game are in jeopardy. Do you understand, Momoko?”

Momoi nodded as if she understood, then asked, "But shouldn't jumping ability be fixed? Even if the height you jump each time is different, there should be a limit, right? Can Kagami jump even higher?"

Xiang Yang looked at Tao Jing with a smile, borrowing the words she had just said.

"Who knows?"

Ignoring Momoi's puffed-up face, Hikari shifted his gaze and continued watching the game.

.

No, it must just be a coincidence. How could anyone jump higher and higher?

Midorima took a deep breath and adjusted his mindset, preparing to face Shiro Rin's attack.

Since Takao and Kuroko swapped places, the happiest person on the field has been Itsuki.

When Takao was on the court controlling the ball, Itsuki, whose talent was slightly inferior to Takao's, felt uncomfortable no matter how he played.

But now, "Eagle Eye" is over. A smile appeared on Izuki's lips. Eagle Eye! Time to take control!

As Izuki began to control the ball, Takao, who had just been chatting with Kuroko, suddenly changed his expression. He immediately turned to look at Izuki, a cold sweat running down his face.

Oh no, I didn't expect them to have this trick up their sleeve.

Takao wanted to seize the initiative from Itsuki, but being entangled with Kuroko, he had lost the ability to control the situation. Takao tried a little, but well, Hawkeye still had no effect; using it more only made him see Kuroko more clearly.

This is troublesome...

Takao gave a bitter smile. He had come to target Kuroko, but instead he had fallen into Shiro Rin's trap.

opportunity!

Izuki found a gap in Shutoku's defense and lobbed the ball to Kagami, who had sneaked into the penalty area. Kagami glanced back at Midorima and jumped up from the spot.

Midorima gritted his teeth. Dunk? Don't even think about it.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and the scene of Midorima's big hat and Kagami in the first quarter did not repeat itself.

Kagami raised the ball high with one hand and successfully dunked over Midorima! He seemed to have jumped a little higher.

"Yoshia!!"

Vulcan completed a spectacular dunk, and upon landing, he roared...

Come on, let's vent our frustration. He got a really bad beating from Midorima just now. Finally getting a chance to counterattack, Kagami felt much better.

The members of the Chenglin team excitedly rushed over and high-fived Kagami. This dunk was not just about two points; it also boosted the morale of the Chenglin team. At this moment, they truly felt a chance to turn the tide.

Midorima remained standing there, motionless, when Kuroko appeared out of nowhere, staring at Midorima expressionlessly.

Even Midorima makes silly mistakes sometimes.

What? Midorima frowned slightly, wondering what Kuroko was up to. Was he here to mock him for being dunked on?

Kuroko, seeing Midorima's expression, continued, "You always say that a three-pointer is one point more than a two-pointer, so the three-pointer is the most perfect weapon. However, there are things that a three-pointer can't do."

At this point, Kuroko turned around and pointed at the rest of the Shiro Rin group.

"Dunks can ignite the fighting spirit of teammates, something that three-pointers can't do."

Midorima's expression froze for a moment, then he took off his glasses and wiped them. When he put them back on, his eyes sharpened again.

"Save those lecturing words for when you've defeated me."

Midorima pointed to the scoreboard. 44:32, the meaning was self-evident.

Kuroko glanced at Midorima one last time, then turned and left, uttering four words: "That's exactly what I was thinking."

Midorima frowned slightly as he watched Kuroko's retreating figure.

Give me all the balls.

Upon hearing this, Captain Xiude sighed inwardly. The Generation of Miracles really are all a bunch of self-centered guys.