After the timeout ended, Kise Ryota stood on the court. His gaze swept over Shohoku, and his usual playfulness disappeared—he became incredibly serious.
It was still Shohoku's possession. Miyagi lobbed the ball straight to Akagi in the paint, and Akagi powered through Kobori Hiroshi's defense to score.
But when Kaijo attacked, Kise's movements turned razor-sharp. An explosive crossover followed by a behind-the-back dribble shredded Miyagi's defense like paper.
As he broke into the restricted area, Akagi's help defense came fast and fierce, but Kise simply hit a graceful hop-step fadeaway—swish!
The next five minutes became a one-sided slaughter.
Every one of Kise's drives was executed with ruthless efficiency, and his pull-up jumpers inside the arc never missed.
Moriyama kept moving off the ball beyond the three-point line, ready to receive Kise's pass at any moment.
Shohoku's defense began to collapse.
"Damn it!" Sakuragi slammed his fist into the basket stanchion. "We can't stop that golden-haired monkey at all!"
Mitsui leaned on his knees, gasping for breath, sweat blurring his vision. "My stamina… I can't keep up…"
When the third-quarter buzzer sounded, the scoreboard stabbed into their eyes—78:53. Kaijo entered the final quarter with a 25-point lead.
When the fourth quarter began, Kise sat quietly on the bench. He removed his wristbands and put on his jacket.
"Not going back in?" Kasamatsu asked.
Kise looked at the court. Shohoku's five were exhausted, but their fighting spirit hadn't faded.
"Yeah," Kise nodded softly. "Taking advantage of people when they're down isn't my style."
The game continued.
Even without Kise, Kaijo stayed strong—but Shohoku's counterattack burned even fiercer.
Miyagi's drives were lightning-fast, Mitsui's threes were fearless, Sakuragi fought for every rebound, and even Kogure, coming off the bench, hit a key mid-range shot.
Most shocking was Akagi, who blocked three straight Kaijo inside attempts in the final minutes.
"These guys…" Hayakawa wiped his sweat, staring at the scoreboard. "They're down by twenty… and still fighting this hard."
In the final minute, Mitsui—dragging a cramped leg—hit a buzzer-beater three. The gym fell silent for a heartbeat.
Beep!
Final score: 93:71.
A few spectators stood, then more, until the whole arena—including Kaijo fans—rose to applaud Shohoku.
"Shohoku! Shohoku! Shohoku!"
Sakuragi lay flat on the floor, soaked. Mitsui leaned on his knees, tears mixing with sweat. Miyagi looked at the scoreboard with a faint smile. Akagi stood under the basket, tears running down his face.
Kise stood by the bench, clapping quietly.
"A complete defeat…" Rukawa whispered in the infirmary, watching the small TV. His fist clenched, then loosened. "…Good job."
Kise led Kaijo in a deep bow to Shohoku.
As Shohoku's bus drove away, four figures watched from the highest row.
"A-Dai, they're admirable opponents."
"Yeah," Aomine said quietly. "They didn't give up."
"Did I do something wrong?" Kise asked.
"Huh? Games have winners and losers. Giving everything you have is the greatest respect," Shidou answered.
"Let's go," Momoi said. "Shin and A-Tetsu's match is starting."
Shidou's group arrived at the Seirin vs. Shutoku game halfway through the first quarter.
"Eh? It already started. It's all A-Dai's fault!"
"Huh? You and Kise wanted food first!"
"Sorry, Momoi-chan… I was starving after the match," Kise scratched his head awkwardly.
Momoi looked around. "Let's sit. My legs are killing me."
"Follow me," Shidou said, leading them.
"Is that… Chizuru-chan?" Kise spotted her waving.
They walked over.
"Chizuru-chan, why are you here? I thought you went home," Momoi asked.
"I wanted to watch more games, so I came early. I saved seats."
Momoi checked the score—Shutoku 15, Seirin 8. "As expected… Shin is amazing."
Kise watched Kuroko. "Shin's scoring is stronger, but Little Kuroko can still cause trouble."
"Chizuru-chan, who do you favor?" Kise asked.
"From what I've seen, Shutoku's No.6 Midorima-kun and No.10 Takao-kun have great chemistry. Their interior is strong too. Seirin's Kagami-kun and Kuroko-kun are good together, but Kagami mostly scores two-pointers while Shutoku gets threes… so Seirin's in danger. I favor Shutoku."
Momoi's eyes sparkled—Chizuru really had talent for analysis.
"What about you, Momoi?" Kise asked.
"I support A-Tetsu, of course!"
"Aomine and Shidou?"
"Midorima," they answered together.
Momoi blinked. "Why?"
"That guy Kagami just dunks without thinking," Shidou shrugged.
"He's still green," Aomine added.
They turned back to the game.
Hyuga passed to Izuki, but Shutoku's defense was airtight. Takao intercepted and passed to Midorima.
Midorima stopped outside the arc, raised his arms, and released a near-vertical shot.
He turned before it even fell.
Swish!
Seirin countered. Kuroko appeared like a ghost, tapping the ball to Kagami, who soared and slammed it home.
Possession changed again. Takao dribbled skillfully, feinted, then whipped a behind-the-back pass to Miyaji cutting inside.
"Beautiful pass!" Momoi gasped.
Miyaji drove, but Hyuga swatted his layup. Mitobe grabbed it and launched a full-court pass.
"Kagami!"
Kagami sprinted, caught it, and rose for a dunk—
Bang!
Midorima pinned it against the backboard.
The arena exploded.
Kagami stared in shock.
Midorima pushed up his glasses calmly. "Today's horoscope didn't say you'd score on me."
Takao whistled. "Shin, that was awesome!"
The first-quarter buzzer sounded—24:15, Shutoku leading.
Midorima walked to Kuroko. "I didn't expect you to choose such an unknown school."
Kuroko replied calmly, "Seirin isn't weak. We'll win."
Midorima smirked. "Fate already decided the outcome."