This was a very strange feeling. Shinichi felt as though everything was within his grasp: the positions of those around him, their abilities, and what they would do next—all the information appeared clearly in his mind.
Unlike Meta Vision, which could also achieve a similar effect, Shinichi felt as if he could even control the actions of those around him.
Lorenzo, Barou, Kunigami, Niko, Aiku, and the other Ubers players originally on his team—these people seemed to become extensions of his own body.
What they should do next, how they would cooperate—seemed to be something he could command with just a thought.
Shinichi understood that this wasn't simply the result of his progression with the Player trait. At its core, this was... ZONE!
Shinichi had always known that ZONE could manifest in many forms.
In the original Kuroko's Basketball, for example, Kagami Taiga unlocked the second stage of ZONE by combining his team's power, but Shinichi had rejected this evolutionary form.
He believed that once the team dynamics changed, the second stage of ZONE would lock again.
He didn't want to be restricted by his teammates and, in his view, that evolution was merely a shortcut taken by a less talented player like Kagami, momentarily stepping into a new realm.
But now, with the Player trait, as he had truly brought the entire team under his control, Shinichi had gained a new understanding.
Just like how Isagi classified players into world-class and self-driven protagonists, ZONE too could be divided into two types: one for team cooperation and the other for individual prowess.
Just as volleyball setters, football midfielders, and basketball point guards don't have an inherently lower status than the team's main attackers, in essence, they are on the same level.
Even Shinichi himself had no bias against organizing and assisting the team. What he despised was the idea of completely relying on the team while abandoning his own evolution.
Thus, Shinichi still held on to the idea that Kagami Taiga's second-stage ZONE was an incomplete, half-finished product.
However, he was now willing to re-examine a path he had previously thought he had fully explored. At the very door of the second-stage ZONE, which he had already beaten into oblivion, a parallel path that he had never noticed before suddenly emerged before his eyes.
"I see, Akashi is a perfect example. The restored Akashi represents the team-oriented ZONE. It's just that he never stepped into the second stage of ZONE," Shinichi thought, pulling himself from his moment of reflection. Though his hair and eyes remained black, his left eye, bathed in the light covering the entire court, reflected a faint, intense white light.
"Even the playmaker shouldn't be swallowed by the team. A perfect example of this is Kageyama. Even when there's a sun in the team, his light cannot be overshadowed. The playmaker... should control the entire team and drive it forward!" As Shinichi spoke these words softly, the black thunder crackling in his left eye suddenly stalled, before turning into a more intense silver-white lightning.
At the same time, the eyes of the entire Ubers team flickered with faint, though definitely present, white arcs of electricity.
Under Shinichi's guidance, the entire Ubers team had entered a pseudo-ZONE mode!
Meanwhile, from the perspective of Bachira, who was bracing himself to block Ubers' counterattack, the scene before him was quite different.
Not to mention the already talented players like Kunigami and Barou, even some of the less expressive, seemingly unremarkable players now had shadows of monstrous figures looming around them.
These shadows interacted and gradually combined into a massive, world-covering monster figure that reached out its claws, seemingly poised to destroy everyone from FC-Barcha.
The true master behind this monstrous figure, without a doubt, was—
"Impressive, Shinichi! You're truly a monster!" Bachira shouted excitedly, before fully unleashing the monster within him.
Like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, he charged toward the monstrous figure, which seemed capable of destroying everything, even overwhelming the fearsome Lavinho with the massive wings on his back.
As Bachira closed the distance, he realized that Shinichi had passed the ball to Barou at some point.
Facing Bachira's defense, Barou immediately used his signature move, performing consecutive heel flicks to change direction. However, Bachira, as the current star of the young FC-Barcha team, was exceptionally agile in all aspects, far above average.
Although FC-Barcha's performance in the New Heroes Battle had been somewhat average for various reasons, Bachira's real ability was undeniable.
Even though Barou's continuous changes of direction only managed to create a half-step advantage, this minor disadvantage wouldn't be a decisive factor in a one-on-one situation.
Instead, it would gradually turn into an advantage. However, Lavinho was closing in from behind, so strategically, it could be said that Bachira held the upper hand.
But Barou gave up the one-on-one duel, forcefully blocking Bachira's path by crossing his body. Though this hindered his ability to break through further, he flicked the ball behind him with his heel, passing it to Lorenzo, who was advancing alongside him.
"Don't be in such a hurry. How about we chat for a bit?"
Fortunately, before Ubers could counterattack, Lavinho had been attacking alone and had already covered quite a bit of ground.
Therefore, FC-Barcha wasn't caught off guard like in regular matches. Kira managed to intercept Lorenzo just in time.
However, Lorenzo's eyes flickered with silver-white lightning, his upper body twisting drastically as he used his right foot to flick the ball inward.
When Kira moved to the left to follow his movements, Lorenzo quickly hooked the ball with his right foot, and then, with a powerful push from his toes, sent the ball outward.
Simultaneously, his body twisted back in the opposite direction, as if it had no bones, and he immediately returned to face forward. He completed a one-legged Marseille turn, completely juking Kira out of the way.
"It's not over yet!"
However, Kira clearly wasn't willing to accept defeat so easily. His eyes reignited with fire as he forcefully shifted his weight and charged back at Lorenzo.
But Lorenzo, clearly unconcerned by Kira's struggle, seized the gap and lifted his foot to send a precise through ball to Shinichi, who had made a run into the penalty area.
This wasn't the best choice, though, because after his back-and-forth with Lavinho, Shinichi's presence was too strong.
Both of FC-Barcha's center-backs immediately noticed his run and converged around him.
Even someone like Eleven could find it difficult to get through such a tight mark. But Shinichi was clearly an exception.
The silver-white lightning in his eyes suddenly exploded, and the two center-backs didn't even see if Shinichi made contact with the ball before realizing that it had already been sent flying out wide.
There, Kunigami was waiting, poised for action...
Boom!
A powerful, straight shot pierced through FC-Barcha's last line of defense in an instant. As Kunigami leapt and let out a fierce roar, the referee's whistle sounded right on time.
Beep——!
Italy Ubers 2:0 Spain FC-Barcha
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