KNB: I'm Actually Not the Boss?!

"God may have left the court... but Akashi is back. Right now, he's the god of this game."

Aomine watched Akashi's current state with a fire in his eyes. After losing to Kaijo's team-play, he had rediscovered his love for basketball. And now, seeing Akashi back like this, Aomine felt a crazy urge to suit up and jump on the court himself!

From the nearby stands, Kuroko gave a knowing smile. He could feel it too. He didn't know exactly what had happened… but the Akashi from middle school… was back!

"Mayuzumi! Move off-ball! Nebuya, come set a screen!"

Akashi shouting like this on court was so rare it stunned everyone.

Kise finally caught on and shouted,

"Heads up! Akashicchi's back to his old self!"

Kasamatsu still didn't get what Kise meant… until Mibuchi blitzed right past him like a rocket. Kasamatsu tried to chase but was cleanly blocked by Nebuya's solid screen.

Akashi's eyes sharpened. With perfect timing, he whipped the ball to an open spot on the right wing — where Mayuzumi had just appeared like he teleported.

Mayuzumi didn't even need to stop the ball — he caught it mid-air and immediately fired a pass to Mibuchi, wide open. The whole play… felt like something Kuroko himself would've pulled off.

Mibuchi caught the ball and grinned.

"This… this is exactly the kind of basketball I love."

With Kobori rushing over for help defense, Mibuchi didn't flinch — straight into a high-arching, fadeaway three-pointer from way beyond the arc.

Splash!

Nothing but net.

Final minute of the third quarter.86-74, Kaijo still leading.

BEEP—

Kaijo called for a timeout.

Kota slowly walked off the court, taking a deep breath. That last timeout? Yeah, he signaled for that one with just a glance at Takeuchi.

After just one single offensive and defensive sequence, Kota had already realized: With their current tools… this version of Rakuzan was not a team Kaijo could beat.

Rakuzan, stacked with three Generation of Miracles-caliber players, had way more firepower — and now with Akashi suddenly switching gears, ditching iso-ball and actually running the team?

Yeah. Huge headache.

Kota rubbed his temples, letting out a long sigh.

"Genius… mind explaining what the heck happened to your ex-captain? Did he get hit on the head or something?"

His tone dripped with exhaustion. Just a minute ago, he thought they basically had the championship in the bag… Stupid shonen power-ups…

Kise scratched his cheek awkwardly, glancing around at his teammates, trying to figure out how to even explain this.

"Uh... well… back in middle school, Akashi wasn't like… y'know… this. He used to play just like now! Loved passing, loved setting everyone up, making the most of every teammate's strengths…"

Kise paused for water.

Kota wasn't about to let him off that easy—he yanked Kise into a headlock.

"Don't stop halfway through! Finish the story! I hate cliffhangers!"

"Okay okay! Stop spilling my water, dude!"

Kise wiped himself off and went on, looking unsure.

"Honestly… I don't really get it either. Back then… Akashi had this 1-on-1 against Murasakibara. Looked like he was about to lose. Then outta nowhere, dude just… flipped a switch and got super strong. After that… well… he turned into the Akashi we've seen these past two years. But now he's flipped back again…"

His explanation was about as clear as mud. The whole Kaijo bench just sat there blinking in confusion.

"Wait… so… what? He just changed personalities and changed back again?"

Kasamatsu looked like he wanted to say something sarcastic — but Kota suddenly sucked in a sharp breath.

Memories he didn't even know he had started flooding back. Of course… Dual-Personality Point Guard… Akashi.

Now this… this was a real problem.

In the original storyline, Akashi didn't snap back to normal until the Winter Cup finals… against Seirin.

By then, Seirin had been fully upgraded. Kagami had maxed out his Zone abilities, could enter it at will, and even sync it with his teammates. Even then, Seirin only barely beat Rakuzan.

Kaijo right now? They were nowhere near that level.

As Kota nursed his headache trying to come up with a way to break this deadlock—

Over on the Rakuzan bench…

Chihiro kept stealing nervous glances at Akashi.

"Sooo… uh… what's the protocol when your team captain has a sudden personality shift…? Asking for a friend… it's urgent."

Not just Mayuzumi. The whole Rakuzan bench was on edge.

Mibuchi bit his lip awkwardly. Just minutes ago, he'd literally been mouthing off to Akashi on court…

Hayama chugged water like his life depended on it—clearly using it as an excuse to avoid eye contact.

Nebuya? The poor guy was practically wringing the life out of his shorts. His toes inside his shoes were curling like crazy. Real tough-guy energy right there.

Silence fell over the Rakuzan bench again.

Akashi? Didn't care at all. He calmly studied the coach's whiteboard while casually wiping sweat with a towel.

"Nebuya."

"Sir!!"

The sudden call nearly made Nebuya jump out of his sneakers. A 2-meter-tall muscle tower… flinching like he'd just seen a horror movie.

Akashi gave him a weird look, then scanned the rest of his team… finding every single one of them sitting at full military attention like nervous schoolkids in class.

Except for Hayama… still chugging water.

Akashi raised an eyebrow. "Hayama, if you keep drinking water like that, your performance will drop. The game's not over. Hold back for now."

"YES SIR!!"

Hayama slammed the bottle down with enough force to rattle the bench.

A single drop of sweat slid down Akashi's temple.

"Uh… thanks for the enthusiasm… but you don't have to yell that loud…"

Looking at the weird, nervous energy hanging over the team, Akashi lowered his gaze and asked:

"…Do you guys… have a problem with me or something?"

Instantly—every player plus the coach shook their heads faster than bobbleheads on a dashboard.

Not a chance. Not today.

Akashi was honestly at a loss.

"What's gotten into these guys today?"

Finally, Mibuchi broke the silence.

"Akashi… you're… not mad at us?"

Huh?

For a split second, Akashi looked stunned. Then he paused… thought for a moment… and finally smirked.

"You messed up by not yelling some sense into me sooner."

Crossing his arms, he gave a sly grin.

"No point talking about it now. Let's win this game… and end this whole circus."

Akashi stood, took a deep breath.

"Who are we?"

"RAKUZAN!!"

"This year's champions?"

"WILL BE RAKUZAN!!"

Timeout over.

Kota let out a lazy whistle and slowly walked toward the court. Takeuchi's words still echoed in his head.

If they can't beat them as a team… then go solo. Win through individual matchups.

That redhead's personality shift? Weird as heck, but hey—strength doesn't magically increase overnight.

Kota… keep attacking him one-on-one.

Of course… the coach wasn't 100% right either… but for now… this really was their only play.

Thankfully, this version of Akashi hadn't seen Aomine's matches yet. He didn't know the Zone could be controlled at will…

Rakuzan didn't have that ridiculous Team-Zone synergy yet. Small blessings…

Kota took a deep breath and strolled up beside Akashi.

With a smirk, he prodded:

"S… you sure seem like a whole different person all of a sudden. What's the matter? Couldn't handle losing?"

Akashi glanced at him, a subtle grin forming at the corner of his mouth.

"Drop the cheap provocation, Kota… I can call you that, right?At this stage… no need for mind games.Let's just have… one hell of a game."