Tetsuya Kuroko thrust his hand forward at the incoming ball.
Bang!
The basketball shot past Kazunari Takao's palm in an instant.
Whoosh!
The ball flew straight into Taiga Kagami's hands.
Takao stared, completely stunned, his mind reeling.
He actually… knocked it away!
Kagami caught the ball and immediately sprang upward.
Taisuke Otsubo defended fiercely, shouting,
"I won't let you score!"
He jumped to contest—
And froze midair.
In his vision, Kagami was still rising, while his own body had already started to fall.
What kind of jumping power is this?!
I clearly jumped after him—so why am I already coming down while he's still up there?!
Bang!!!
Kagami dunked the ball straight through the hoop over Otsubo.
The Seirin players erupted.
"Yes!"
That single dunk reignited Seirin's fighting spirit.
On the other hand, Shūtoku was momentarily stunned by the impact.
After scoring, Kagami didn't immediately fall back on defense. Instead, he stayed right beside Shintaro Midorima.
Midorima also didn't stop. He calmly walked toward the frontcourt, adjusting his glasses as he went.
Kuroko… you still haven't given up?
Don't you understand? As long as I'm still standing, you have no hope of winning.
The moment Midorima crossed half court, Junpei Hyuga rushed up and joined Kagami, forming a double team.
They had no intention of letting Midorima score again.
Midorima calmly swept his gaze over the two of them.
Then he suddenly burst left and said,
"Takao, ball."
Takao immediately passed it to him.
Standing at the left wing, Midorima caught the ball and held it, looking at the two defenders waiting in front of him.
"Are you happy?" he asked calmly.
Kagami paused, then nodded.
"Of course. We're not completely beaten yet!"
Hyuga was even more direct.
"Of course we are! There's no way you can keep a stable shooting form against two defenders!"
Midorima replied evenly,
"Is that so? It seems the hope Kuroko gave you has turned into confidence."
"If that's the case, then I'll be the one to shatter that hope completely."
Kagami and Hyuga's expressions changed as they pressed in closer, compressing Midorima's shooting space as much as possible.
Midorima didn't care.
He raised the ball high to avoid a steal, then dipped down and exploded upward in one smooth motion.
Kagami and Hyuga jumped immediately.
Kagami shouted excitedly,
"Midorima! You finally got careless!"
Hyuga gritted his teeth, forcing himself higher.
"Without enough build-up, you can't jump higher than Kagami!"
Midorima answered calmly,
"Is that so?"
In the next instant, Kagami's excited expression froze, replaced by pure shock.
No… impossible!
Hyuga's eyes went wide, as if he were witnessing something terrifying.
"He's… getting farther… farther away…"
The two of them could only stare as Midorima drifted farther from them in midair and released the ball.
In the stands, Shuzo Nijimura cried out,
"[Sky]?! Midorima actually mastered [Sky]? Then Seirin really has no hope left."
"I honestly can't think of anyone on Seirin who could block Midorima's [Sky]."
Satsuki Momoi nodded firmly.
"Yes. Once Midorima uses [Sky], the outcome is basically decided."
Miyamoto Tokima wore a faint smile and murmured,
"So this is the growth you wanted to show us… Midorima."
There was no doubt about it—Shintaro Midorima had succeeded.
He truly had given Miyamoto Tokima a surprise.
In the original story, if Midorima had developed a fadeaway jump shot earlier, he would have been nearly unstoppable.
But he never did.
Here, however, he had.
A true offensive weapon had been born.
On the court, the basketball soared high into the air—
And dropped cleanly into the hoop.
...
Silence fell over the court once again.
Kagami and Hyuga stood frozen, unmoving for a long moment.
Seirin's newly rekindled fighting spirit was extinguished in an instant.
After landing, Midorima said flatly,
"See? This is what shattered hope looks like."
He turned toward Tetsuya Kuroko, speaking as if to argue his point.
"I wasn't wrong. Your decision to join Seirin was a complete mistake."
With that, Midorima turned and walked back toward his own half.
Takao stared blankly for a second, then spread his hands helplessly.
"Figures… that's Shintaro for you."
He glanced at Kuroko and added,
"See? Your defeat is already inevitable. You might as well give up early."
Then he turned and jogged back on defense.
Seeing this, Riko Aida called another timeout.
As the team gathered, she was about to encourage them—
When Kagami suddenly started laughing.
The Seirin players all looked at him in confusion.
"Kagami?"
Kagami couldn't suppress his grin. Seeing everyone staring, he quickly explained,
"Sorry. Midorima's just way too strong. I got a little fired up."
Shinji Koganei looked worried and muttered,
"Kagami… we're about to lose, and you can still laugh…"
Kagami laughed openly.
"So what if we lose? Basketball isn't only about winning!"
"And besides, this isn't a dead end yet. As long as the game hasn't reached the final second, we still have a chance to turn things around!"
Kuroko's calm eyes flickered slightly.
Hyuga gave a wry smile and said,
"That's right. It's not over yet. Everyone, show some spirit!"
The Seirin players smiled together.
"Yes!"
On Shūtoku's side, the atmosphere relaxed noticeably.
Midorima watched Seirin regain their fighting spirit and closed his eyes.
Still not giving up at this point…
Seems you're not a complete failure after all.
At this moment, Midorima acknowledged Kuroko's choice.
After all, teams that refused to give up even now were exceedingly rare.
Of course, that acknowledgment was only for Kuroko's decision.
As for Taiga Kagami—
Sorry. Still too weak.
In the stands, Ryota Kise smiled as he looked toward Seirin.
Kuroko… your choice doesn't seem wrong after all.
......