The game continued.
Rakuzan High School had possession.
Since it was Rakuzan's ball, it naturally went to Reo Mibuchi.
But just as Rakuzan's point guard crossed half-court, he suddenly noticed—
Reo Mibuchi… was being double-teamed!
On the sidelines, Eiji Shirogane couldn't help but smile.
'Nakatani… you're still as naive as ever. My team… doesn't rely on Reo alone for three-pointers.'
On the court.
Sure enough, the moment the point guard saw Reo Mibuchi being double-teamed, he didn't hesitate and immediately passed to Kotaro Hayama.
Kotaro Hayama caught the ball and began dribbling hard.
Thud! Thud!! Thud!!! Thud!!!!
The next instant, he made his move, snapping the ball down sharply.
Thud!!!
Kiyoshi Miyaji assumed Hayama would drive straight to the basket like before, so he immediately retreated.
But after taking a step back, he realized—
Hayama was moving sideways!
Seeing Miyaji fall for it, Hayama flashed a grin.
"Hehe, got you!"
With that, he rose from the three-point line and released the shot.
The ball dropped cleanly through the hoop.
Swish!!!
Three points.
69–66.
On the sidelines, Masaaki Nakatani glanced at Hayama and thought:
'So you're the second scoring option after all…'
On the court.
Possession switched.
Shūtoku ball.
Out of Rakuzan's entire team, only their point guard dropped back on defense.
The rest stayed up front, cutting off passing lanes.
Eikichi Nebuya stood in front of Taisuke Otsubo, arms spread wide, constantly waving to disrupt the inbound.
Meanwhile, Chihiro Mayuzumi and Reo Mibuchi stuck tightly to Shintaro Midorima, leaving him no room to receive the ball.
Kazunari Takao was also locked down by Kotaro Hayama.
Hayama had even activated Animal Instinct.
The cheetah behind him crouched, ready to pounce.
Takao felt a chill run down his spine under that pressure and forced a wry smile.
"Hey… you don't need Animal Instinct just to guard someone like me."
Hayama bared his small fangs and grinned.
"Haha, I promised the coach I'd shut you down completely!"
Takao's expression immediately turned serious.
He knew that from here on out…
he might become useless.
He might not even get the ball, and even if he did, there was no way he could deliver passes with the same precision as before.
Hayama's speed and reaction time were simply on another level.
With Animal Instinct active, Hayama had even disappeared from his [Hawk Eye].
Under these conditions, Takao's effectiveness would be severely limited—he might not be able to contribute at all.
Takao clenched his teeth, his expression tense.
'Damn it… is there really no way?'
...
Off the court.
Kosuke Wakamatsu sighed, almost like he was mourning.
"Sigh… Shūtoku's lineup just can't compare to Rakuzan's."
That was the truth.
Rakuzan had three of the [Uncrowned Kings], and all three were significantly stronger than in the original.
They also had a "high-spec" version of Kuroko.
Even if his abilities hadn't changed much, it didn't matter.
After all, he was the Shadow, not someone meant to stand in the spotlight.
As the Shadow, his direct combat ability wasn't the point.
Meanwhile, Shūtoku was more or less the same as in the original.
That meant Rakuzan's overall strength far exceeded Shūtoku's.
Shintaro Midorima had improved a lot compared to before—
but his teammates hadn't.
Rakuzan's current strategy was simple: prevent Midorima from getting the ball.
If he couldn't receive it, he couldn't attack.
And just like that, Shūtoku was pushed into a passive position.
Shoichi Imayoshi narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah. Even without Akashi on the court, the score stayed close. But now… Rakuzan's chances of winning are rising fast."
Ryo Sakurai said nervously:
"Can one person really not beat a whole team… even if it's someone from the Generation of Miracles?"
Daiki Aomine fell into thought, muttering quietly:
"One person… a team…"
...
On the court.
With their ace Midorima completely locked down, and their playmaker Takao pinned by Hayama—
Kiyoshi Miyaji stepped up.
He sprinted out, hand raised, and shouted:
"Otsubo!!!"
Taisuke Otsubo spotted him and fired the inbound pass just before the violation.
Eikichi Nebuya tried to intercept, but he couldn't react in time.
Miyaji caught the ball and charged forward.
Nebuya spun around and chased after him.
Meanwhile, Reo Mibuchi and the others stayed glued to their assignments.
In this situation, that was the only way.
They had to completely shut down Shintaro Midorima and Kazunari Takao.
As for the others, if they couldn't stop them, so be it—as long as they didn't get open three-point shots.
Miyaji pushed the ball up quickly into the frontcourt.
Rakuzan's point guard spread his arms and stepped up to defend.
Miyaji's expression was resolute, his focus absolute.
'All those days of training, all those matches… it was all for this—to stand on the highest stage.'
'That's not just my dream. It's everyone's.'
'Otsubo, Midorima, Takao, Kimura—'
'We're only two games away from that stage now. There's no way I'm falling here.'
'I… will win!!!'
"AHHH!!!"
Miyaji roared as he rose straight up for a pull-up jumper under pressure.
Behind him, Eikichi Nebuya leaped as well.
"No way!!!"
The Rakuzan point guard also jumped to contest from the front.
Everyone on the court—and in the stands—locked their eyes on the shot.
If it went in, the game would remain a deadlock.
If it missed, Shūtoku would truly fall into a disadvantage.
Miyaji gritted his teeth.
Even though the rim was already a blur in his vision, he still released the ball on pure instinct.
The ball arced high through the air, pulling everyone's hearts with it.
Shintaro Midorima clenched his fists.
Kazunari Takao murmured blankly:
"Miyaji… senpai…"
The ball struck the rim—
and bounced high back up.
...
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