Before the fourth quarter began
At Tōō Academy's bench.
Kise Ryōta stared at Aomine, then glanced toward the far end—where Seirin's Haizaki Shōgo stood.
Both their shadows filled his eyes completely.
He stayed silent for a long time.
Haaa…
Kise exhaled deeply.
Damn it.
These two…
They really are stupidly handsome.
Especially Aomine.
One of the reasons he even started playing basketball
was him.
And
He had always known.
As long as he kept worshiping Aomine, he would never surpass him.
Just like those two seniors
when someone's strength is that overwhelming, it's hard not to admire them.
But now…
Kise clenched his fist tightly.
Beside him.
Aomine had just finished glaring at Haizaki across the court.
When he turned back, Kise's eyes were calm
and the words he spoke were surprisingly light:
"Mind if I throw away my admiration for you?"
"Completely?"
Aomine: "…"
I've been waiting for you to do that, idiot.
And also
"Kise, don't act all dramatic.
You wasted an entire quarter doing nothing.
If you still can't do it after this
go perform seppuku and apologize."
Hearing that,
Kise froze.
Aomine almost shattered his serious mood.
But the worst part…
He really was still a bit short.
He needed Aomine's power to take the next step.
Kise: "…Damn…"
It's not time yet.
Meanwhile, in the audience stands
Shigure Akihito noticed Aomine glance back at Haizaki again after talking to Kise.
Those two… really like provoking each other.
But more importantly…
Akihito looked toward Kise.
"Kise may not be as strong as Haizaki right now.
But talent is no joke.
Aomine opened Zone in the third quarter, and Seirin still closed the gap using Kuroko's combos…"
"Based on that, and what he just did—Aomine clearly believes Haizaki and Kuroko have the ability.
And he believes in Kise too."
"His potential."
"Trust, huh…"
"For Aomine to reach that kind of awareness
that's evolution."
Beside him.
Midorima silently nodded.
Kise's potential didn't fall short of any member of the Generation of Miracles.
A super genius with no doubt.
On the other side
Seirin, who had been engaged in heavy discussions, suddenly fell silent.
"So…"
"Yeah… just like you were thinking…"
"Is that even possible?"
"…"
"If Aomine's Zone burns out later, and Tōō wants to win
that possibility becomes extremely high.
Especially since Kise spent the entire third quarter observing Aomine."
At that, Kuroko pressed his lips together.
"Kise is preparing to… mimic Aomine's Zone."
Instantly
Seirin's players all turned in shock.
Kagami Taiga: "M—mimic Zone?!
Can… can he even do that?!"
Kuroko: "…"
"Kise can only copy things that are within his ability to do.
He cannot replicate moves that are impossible for him."
Koganei froze.
Uh…
Huh?
It sounded meaningful, yet somehow meaningless…
Aida Riko, however, understood.
"So you mean…?"
Kuroko continued:
"Simply put, his learning speed is absurdly fast."
"In the past, things like 'Ice World' or 'Zone' were far beyond his limits.
He couldn't reproduce them."
"But now"
"Kise's alternative method of synchronization…"
"Has already allowed him to use a weakened version of Ice World.
Which means
If he's trying to copy Zone now…"
"He believes he can."
…
Soon
The fourth quarter began.
And the moment the whistle blew
Aida Riko's sense of dread intensified as she saw Aomine and Kise standing still on the court.
And then
As Aomine's pressure rose once more
FZZT!!
Riko's eyes widened.
…Huh?
Zone?
Aomine went back in?!
How
How is he able to re-enter it?!
He recovered that much stamina during the break…?!
But her thoughts were instantly swept away
Because
While Aomine stood still, arcs of blue lightning dancing around him
Kise Ryōta's eyes locked onto that Zone
And then
BRILLIANT GOLD erupted from his body!
A perfect synchronized imitation
a thread of gold connecting neatly with Aomine's blue sparks!
Then the blue light raced along the gold line
snapping and crackling
shooting into Kise's eyes.
And in the next instant
Golden lightning flashed.
Kise Ryōta's own color.
And then
Just like Ice World earlier
Aomine adjusted his output.
Within seconds, their auras reached a shocking equilibrium.
A team
With double Zones.
Aside from Teiko's Twin Stars in the past, and Rakuzan's fleeting moment last year
Another dual Zone pairing had formed.
But Haizaki was not surprised Aomine could still enter Zone to guide Kise's synchronization.
Nor was he surprised Kise succeeded.
He was surprised
That Aomine would entrust the victory…
To Kise.
And
When Kise entered Zone, Aomine's smile grew disturbingly wide.
Across from him
Aomine saw Haizaki's expression and instantly understood what he was thinking.
His grin deepened.
"Pair formations aren't that hard to get, Haizaki."
"And…"
"My Zone right now is completely different from the third quarter.
I'm holding back to match Kise.
But there's a benefit…"
"At the very least—"
Aomine caught the ball from Imayoshi, passing it effortlessly to Kise.
"At least I don't need to focus as hard~"
"Heh."
"In the third quarter, when you couldn't get past me
you used Kuroko's abilities to attack the others."
"Now"
"It's my turn."
"And isn't the view interesting?
All I have to do is stand here and guide Kise.
Even saves stamina."
"Think carefully
with both me and Kise here
how will you divide your defense?
The Emperor Eye needs two users to fully function, right~?"
FZZT!!
FZZT!!
FZZT!!
FZZT!!
As Aomine advanced with Kise
Haizaki and Kuroko had no choice but to guard Aomine,
while Kagami stood before Kise, facing golden lightning in those eyes.
Meanwhile
The crowd screamed at the sight of two Zones on the same team,
their lights weaving a brilliant arc in the air.
"Ehh?!"
"Another one?!"
"The last to join the Miracles—Kise—entered Zone first?!"
"I thought the next big scene would be Haizaki entering Zone! Totally wrong!"
"One Aomine was already hard enough for Seirin… now there are two?!"
The gym fell silent as everyone realized the same question:
How could Seirin possibly deal with this?
On court
Kise dropped his arms naturally, ball rolling between his legs.
When he raised his head
His expression was cold.
Completely different from the Kise Kagami had fought before.
Then
Kise turned toward Haizaki.
"Haizaki
I still can't beat Aomine."
"But I can beat you first."
BOOM!!
The ball slammed into the floor
exploding with thunder.
From Haizaki's perspective, golden lightning shot from Kise's dribbling hand
The ability Haizaki had copied back in middle school
Thunder Dribble.
From afar
Imayoshi exhaled in relief.
"Finally… He pulled it off."
Go, Kise.
Finish them in one burst.
Everyone—bench, stands, players—
watched with eyes stretched wide.
Because
After an entire silent third quarter,
Kise was finally dominating the court again.
And his first move was a nuclear bomb
Zone Thunder Dribble.
Too fast.
"What?!"
"He passed the redhead instantly!"
"So fast! That's Hayama's dribble, right?
But doesn't Kise also copy Aomine's style? Isn't that stronger?"
"Maybe he used this to avoid Haizaki and Kuroko's sneak attack?"
"Either way
Amazing!"
Kise chose the Thunder Dribble for a simple reason
to avoid Haizaki and Kuroko's double pursuit.
After all
he couldn't fight both Emperor Eyes at once.
Zone synchronization alone wasn't enough.
He would lose to their combined vision unless he could activate both Zone and Ice World simultaneously
which he could not.
Soon
Kiyoshi Teppei braced himself as Kise tore past Kagami.
Even prepared, he couldn't believe it.
That explosive moment
The pressure reached nearly 70% of Aomine's Zone.
"OOOH!!"
"Dunk it, Kise!"
Haizaki, using Emperor Eye's prediction, abandoned Aomine and burst forward with monster-level acceleration
barely catching Kise's side.
Perfect timing
perfect speed
Yet still
Kise was too fast now.
"Don't get cocky, Kise!"
Haizaki leapt.
But
Kise twisted mid-air
light flickering
and fell away from Haizaki's reach.
Aomine's Formless Shot.
A scooping reverse
Underhand Phantom Scoop.
Swish.
After landing, Kise stared at Haizaki intensely.
As expected.
Even with experience facing formless shots
he still read it with Emperor Eye.
That foul draw
But before he could land,
Seirin called a timeout.
The first play of the fourth quarter
and Aida Riko immediately stopped the game.
Coach Harasawa blinked in surprise—before frowning.
Aida Riko.
A second-year.
A girl.
Impressive.
This timeout not only killed Tōō's momentum
it was clearly meant to disrupt Kise's synchronization.
Hard to deal with.
But
Looking at Kise, whose eyes burned like a rising flame
Harasawa shook his head.
It won't be that easy, Seirin's tiny coach.
END OF CHAPTER
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