"Domain Expansion — Unlimited Void!"
Buzz—
Just as the ball was about to be passed, it suddenly froze.
Takao Kazunari's mind was overwhelmed —
Flooded by a sudden deluge of data and predictions.
"I won't get it through. It'll be intercepted. Kirisaki Daiichi will counter."
Thoughts like that surged endlessly,
Paralyzing his brain and freezing his body in place.
He completely missed the chance to pass.
"This... just doesn't work!"
Hayama Kotarō shook his head, remembering what he experienced during Nationals.
That domain —
It truly was invincible.
As long as you entered Tendou's range,
Your mind would suddenly go blank,
Cutting off all commands to your body.
Caught in Unlimited Void,
A person became nothing more than a living vegetable.
"Takao!"
Shūtoku's players shouted in unison.
Only then did Takao snap out of his trance.
But by the time he recovered—
Hanamiya Makoto was already right in front of him,
His hand slapping the ball away cleanly to complete the steal.
Takao tried to recover immediately—
Only to get elbowed aside by one of the Five Devils' signature cheap shots.
"Whoosh!"
Hanamiya launched the ball toward the frontcourt with all his might.
Shūtoku's players scrambled to get back on defense—
But they were already far too late.
Tendou had charged forward,
A golden bolt of lightning erupting behind him.
It looked like something out of a battle anime:
All the players on screen were frozen—
Then Tendou vanished from his spot and exploded into motion.
Beep!
Aida Riko stopped her stopwatch and stared at the time, lips trembling.
"4/3 full-court sprint... 3.33 seconds!"
A truly terrifying number.
How fast was that?
Put it this way:
Allen Iverson's 4/3 court sprint time was 3.10 seconds.
And Iverson was one of the fastest guards in NBA history.
"3.33 seconds... to cover 23 meters?"
When the others heard that, jaws dropped.
That distance — about 23 meters —
Was the same as the standard 4/3 sprint measurement used in professional testing.
This was professional-level speed—
No, elite professional speed.
"But this isn't even his limit..."
Alex Garcia felt like she was losing her mind.
She knew —
Tendou was still holding something back.
He hadn't even tapped into 100% of his power yet.
If he improved his time by another 10%,
That meant...
A first-year high schooler might hit 3.03 seconds.
A speed that didn't just belong in the "elite" category—
But in the history books of basketball.
Whether in basketball or soccer,
A player with this kind of speed would earn the title:
"The Human Flash."
"Boom!"
The ball slammed into the hoop with brutal force.
Shūtoku had gotten back quickly—
But they still couldn't catch Tendou.
With no one around,
Tendou even threw down a 180-degree reverse dunk.
The lead stretched to 22 points.
Shūtoku was at the edge of the cliff—
One foot already dangling over.
It was utter despair.
Takao felt more helpless now.
Than he had when facing Teikō's full Generation of Miracles.
The alley-oop three-pointer —
Their strongest technique —
Had been completely neutralized by Tendou.
And now, they had nothing stronger to fight back with.
...
Midorima took the ball directly from Takao.
He couldn't accept Tendou's words—
Every Shūtoku player deserved respect.
But right now,
His team needed him to take charge.
Infinite Screens!
The entire team moved to the high post,
Creating screens for Midorima.
Tendou dodged the first screen—
His right foot tapped the floor—
"Buzz—"
Unlimited Void erupted again,
Engulfing Shūtoku's starting five in an instant.
Their minds began racing—
Only to spiral deeper into confusion and contradiction.
Their brains kept issuing one command:
"He's unbeatable."
It was despair.
The brain is the control center of the body—
And if HQ doesn't issue commands,
How do you fight?
How do you win?
To break free of Unlimited Void,
You either had to be stronger than Tendou,
Or at least equal.
Otherwise,
You had no chance of resisting the information overload.
"Smack!"
Midorima put up the best resistance—
But even he couldn't overcome it.
His brain kept thinking—
But his body lagged behind,
Stiff and disjointed.
He struggled,
Trying to force his body to respond.
But in the end—
Before he could even get the shot off—
Tendou swatted the ball away.
"Damn it!"
Masaaki Nakatani slammed his fist against the bench.
He had just been thinking—
What if they combined infinite screens with the alley-oop three-pointer?
Maybe that could crack Tendou's lockdown defense.
Even if Tendou was fast,
He couldn't guard two places at once.
It would be difficult.
Midorima needed to execute his shooting motion even without the ball—
To find his rhythm.
Challenging?
Yes.
But not impossible.
And yet now—
Even if Midorima perfected his motion,
Even if he found rhythm from any position—
It wouldn't matter.
Shūtoku couldn't break through Tendou's death grip.
Takao couldn't even get the pass off—
What else was there to try?
The only way to break Unlimited Void.
Was to be even stronger than Tendou Kageyoshi.
At the very least—
You had to be his equal.
Just the thought of that gave Nakatani a headache.
The score gap kept widening.
Even fans in the stands.
Could feel the sheer powerlessness emanating from Shūtoku.
Their hopes of a comeback all rested on Midorima—
But even the best shooter in the Generation of Miracles.
Was now completely frozen—
Entangled in Tendou's web.
Shūtoku's only way to score.
Was by relying on the other four players.
But those four alone.
Weren't enough to turn the tide.
Haizaki might not be cut out for ultra-elite matchups—
But as long as it wasn't against the Miracles,
He was completely unstoppable.
...
End of the Third Quarter
The score gap had ballooned to 30 points.
Shūtoku's hopes were gone.
Midorima Shintarō—
The strongest shooter of the Generation of Miracles—
Had only exploded briefly in the second quarter.
The rest of the game?
No space.
No rhythm.
No chance.
It was already over.
Even the tenacious Nakatani Masaaki.
Had to admit it:
Shūtoku's season... was finished.
After their loss at Nationals,
They were now eliminated from the Winter Cup as well.
And it wasn't even a close game.
If the gap were just 10 or 20 points heading into the fourth quarter,
There might still be a sliver of hope.
But 30?
There were no miracles left.
---
[Get 20 chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"]