On the court, it was still the brilliance of Teiko's Twin Stars, standing above all others.
After Akihito Shigure scored, it came as no surprise that the ball once again landed in the hands of Shuzo Nijimura.
Against the double-team pressure from Chōgen International, Nijimura unleashed the perfect balance of raw athleticism and razor-sharp analysis, honed by watching the flow of the entire game. To him, every weakness in his opponents was already crystal clear.
With a sudden burst of power
A sharp stop!
A fake shot!
Another explosive drive forward!
A crossover in front of his defender!
Pull-back!
And then, just like the move Shigure was most skilled at,
A step-back jumper!
Whoosh!
A seamless chain of fluid motion ended with a mid-range shot, clean, perfect, unstoppable.
As Nijimura's shot sank, the two defenders in front of him staggered backward in unison, their footing unsteady, struggling to regain balance.
One step back.
Two steps back.
Barely able to stop themselves.
Meanwhile, the Twin Stars of Teiko kept dazzling, each attack more explosive than the last, igniting wave after wave of cheers from the crowd.
Akihito Shigure, fueled by his highest speed yet, blazed down the court like an unstoppable storm!
Clap!
A steal!
With a burst of acceleration like an arrow loosed from its string, he tore across the court, moving as if no one else existed.
Kotaro Hayama once again saw that white figure flash by him, too fast to stop, too fast to even follow.
Worn down by an entire game of relentless pressure from the Twin Stars, Hayama's breathing grew ragged. In defense, his movements slowed as if stuck in slow motion.
By the time he turned his head, Shigure had already left him behind, slicing straight into the paint!
Driven by Chōgen International's creed of never giving up, Hayama desperately turned back, forcing his legs to move, straining so hard that his ankle twisted into a sharp angle against the floor.
But even so,
In an instant, Chōgen's defense crumbled, toyed with as if by a predator playing with its prey.
Sendoh Akira's Special, Ultimate Shadow!
Shadow, low flight!
Shadow, Flying Tomahawk!
His fakes were so lifelike, so convincing, that even the brain itself was left behind by phantom illusions.
To the spectators, Shigure danced lightly through the congested paint, weaving past defenders as though space itself bent for him.
Then,
With ease, he launched upward, springing into the air!
Bang!
The slam sent the ball crashing through the hoop.
Seeing this, Hayama could only stop, helpless.
Sweat rained down his face, soaking his hair, his breathing erratic, forcing him to bend over and support himself with his hands on his knees.
Through the falling curtain of sweat, his mind went blank.
"Huuh… haah… huuh…"
As he gasped for breath, Shigure's figure brushed past him on the return defense.
"…"
Unstoppable.
No matter what…
He was unstoppable.
Damn it!
Behind Hayama, Chōgen's captain, who had fought so hard to rally his teammates earlier, silently raised his hand. But after a brief hesitation… he let it fall.
As captain, wasn't it his duty to encourage his team?
But how… how could he even begin?
Even he felt despair under the crushing force of Shigure and Nijimura's explosive dominance in the fourth quarter. How much worse must it feel for Hayama, who had always considered them his rivals?
…
At last, amidst the roaring cheers, the game drew to its conclusion.
With a sudden leap, Shigure let fly from midcourt, an abrupt, brutal three-pointer, landing perfectly before the stunned defense could react.
"Huuh…"
By then, his breathing grew ragged, his stamina at its limit. Nijimura too was visibly drained. Yet on Chōgen's bench, hope flickered in the hearts of their backcourt players.
Victory was impossible,
But maybe…
At least before the end, they could take one possession from him.
And so, in the final play of the fourth quarter, Shigure, abandoning even his unspoken rivalry with Nijimura, snatched possession.
He drove into the paint again.
Chōgen's defenders, center, forwards, and guards alike, threw everything into a desperate joint block, veins bulging, teeth clenched, summoning every ounce of strength for one last stand.
But it was all in vain.
Because Shigure had jumped from deep inside, in a position no one expected. His last move was nothing less than,
Takenori Akagi's Special, Gorilla Dunk!
BOOM!
The court shook.
Chōgen's players once again felt the crushing weight of Shigure's mammoth-like aura.
The crowd, though unable to see the phantom beast, felt its presence in the sheer violence of the dunk, the force, the speed, the dominance.
"Ugh!"
"Ahhh!"
The center groaned. The power forward shouted to summon strength. But as Shigure's arms crashed down, the force overwhelmed them.
One by one, they were knocked back,
The center fell.
The power forward fell.
Hayama and the outer defense were blown away.
In the final seconds before the buzzer, Shigure ravaged the basket once more!
As he landed, Chōgen's players could no longer hold back their despair. The helplessness weighed heavy, suffocating, like trying to climb a mountain so high its peak was lost in the clouds. No matter how much courage one gathered, it crushed them before they could even begin.
…
Bzzzt!
The buzzer sounded, the game was over.
With Shigure's ferocious last attack, and the unrelenting bombardment of Teiko's Twin Stars in the fourth quarter, Chōgen International crumbled completely.
And unlike last year, Kotaro Hayama was no Kasayuki Hagioka.
The championship was right before his eyes, yet all he could see was a bottomless chasm in between. For once, his usual cheer vanished. At the handshake, he could not bring himself to speak of the future.
Only when Shigure said, "Next time, let's battle again," did Hayama force out a bitter smile, shaking his hand in silence.
Then,
It was time for the victors to be celebrated.
Just like the year before, Teiko was engulfed in waves of joy. Cheers and chants rose, rolling louder and louder, filling the stadium.
And in that tide of victory,
Akihito Shigure.
Shuzo Nijimura.
Their Teiko.
Once again, crowned as kings.
END OF CHAPTER
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