Kuroko no Basket: The Phantom Ace Chapter 136

"Woah~~ there are a lot of people here!"

Akashi Asuka, dressed in casual clothes, had just stepped into the arena and imdiately noticed that the stands were nearly packed today.

It wasn't surprising.

After all, the Tokyo preliminaries for this year's Winter Cup featured two teams from the Generation of Miracles.

Add Seirin, who had defeated Shutoku in the Sumr preliminaries, and this ant that one of the Generation of Miracles teams might be eliminated even before reaching the main tournant.

Last sester, Shutoku had already tasted the humiliation of being knocked out in the preliminaries. This year, they would fight with everything they had.

It was easy to imagine just how intense this Winter Cup preliminary would be.

"Oh! Has it already started? Let's see… 25:28, looks like a close match," Tsugawa Tomoki said, excitedly squeezing into a spot beside Akashi to watch the ga.

The four teams' matches were happening simultaneously: Seirin vs. Shutoku and Tōō vs. Kirisaki Daiichi.

Among them, Tōō vs. Kirisaki Daiichi drew little attention.

Most of the spectators were focused on the battle between Seirin and Shutoku.

"Not bad! These Seirin guys are actually keeping up with Shutoku… looks like all their sumr training wasn't for nothing!"

Tsugawa muttered. Though Seirin had defeated Shutoku once during the sumr preliminaries, anyone with a bit of basketball sense knew that victory had been pure luck.

All-out effort ace attribute advantage a tiny bit of luck.

That combination had led Seirin to win, but in reality, their strength compared to Shutoku had been worlds apart.

Today, however, the gap had shrunk significantly. Even without luck, Seirin now had a real chance to beat Shutoku.

"But they're still too far behind… if we et in the main tournant, I could probably force that guy into four fouls…"

Maybe it was the oppressive training pace at Seirin recently, but Tsugawa's mouth seed to fire off like a machine gun, chatting non-stop the mont they arrived.

Suddenly, a voice from the neighboring seat cut through:

"Tsugawa, you're still as energetic as ever! But the match is on, could you lower your voice a bit?"

The voice was both familiar and strange. Akashi and Tsugawa turned their heads, and there it was, a head of golden, stylish short hair.

Tsugawa froze. "Kise! What are you doing here?"

Exactly.

Sitting beside them was none other than Kise Ryouta, the top spectator among the Generation of Miracles.

Perhaps because Kanagawa was so close to Tokyo, in Akashi's mory, Kise never missed any major Tokyo preliminaries.

Kise removed his sunglasses and waved: "Yo~ long ti no see, Tsugawa! And…"

He glanced at Akashi, squinting slightly. "Akashi-kun, long ti no see!"

Akashi nodded. "Indeed. Seems like we haven't t since that junior high match, right?"

Kise sighed. "Yeah! Co to think of it, I haven't even congratulated you yet on winning the Interhigh!"

Akashi's lips curved slightly into a half-smile. "No need for formalities. You can congratulate after the Winter Cup, it's the sa either way."

Kise's lips stiffened, and he lowered his gaze. "Seems like you're confident about this year's Winter Cup, huh?"

Akashi shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Kise exhaled and nodded. "Yeah… can't argue with that."

Indeed, Kise couldn't deny it, defeating Aomine, Murasakibara, and Akashi consecutively in the Sumr Nationals was no small feat. Even he couldn't guarantee he could beat all three himself.

Not to ntion… he had already lost to one of Aomine's subordinates before the finals.

The Demon King of the Endga.

That was Akashi Asuka's newest title.

Since the Interhigh, this nickna had quietly spread nationwide through basketball magazines.

As the na suggested, Akashi had beco recognized as surpassing even the Generation of Miracles.

"But the Generation of Miracles doesn't give up so easily. I may not care much about the na, but nobody likes soone standing above them…"

Kise's eyes suddenly glinted coldly.

"If we et in the Winter Cup this year, be ready, Akashi!"

Akashi narrowed his eyes. "If it's a challenge, Seirin is always ready."

Words between them were unnecessary beyond that.

In daily life, Akashi could be friends with any mber of the Generation of Miracles, including those from Seirin.

But on the court, there was no middle ground, no compromise.

"By the way, who do you think will win this match?" Kise asked.

Returning to spectator mode, Akashi and Kise resud their friendly banter.

"Who knows?" Akashi leaned back lazily. "If we talk about raw ability, Midorima clearly has the edge over Kagami. Even if they're equally talented, the timing of growth matters."

"But Midorima's unlucky, he ran into Kagami, whose skills directly counter his. Midorima's shot ets Kagami's jump like prey encountering a predator."

"If this duel continues like this, the outco could mirror last sumr's preliminaries… unless…"

Before Akashi could finish, the crowd erupted into gasps!

Still a bit stuck, overextending the chapter, writing feels tough lately.

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Completed version available on Patreon/Veltoria