From the moment Aomine requested the timeout on his own
and returned to the court only to shut down Seirin's carefully constructed team play
the entire court suddenly reverted to a battlefield belonging solely to Haizaki and Aomine.
Both Tōō and Seirin were stunned into silence.
Crackle!
Pop!
Pa!
Aomine burst past Haizaki!
But just as he passed
Haizaki suddenly spun around!
The double-stacked "Emperor Eye Black Hole" had already become less torturous after entering the Zone,
but now, driven solely by the instinct to win, Haizaki's mind forced it upward again
and his head felt like it was about to explode.
Yet within that pain
that familiar pain he had long grown addicted to
Haizaki twisted back
And went straight for the steal!
The ball was slapped out of bounds.
A flash of lightning shot across Aomine's eyes as he turned, calmly staring at Haizaki.
"Haizaki, you bastard…"
But Haizaki
immersed in a chaos of agony and thrill
didn't hear a word.
On the court
A streak of blue and a streak of gray crossed like lightning arcs, twisting together in midair.
Seconds passed.
Aomine suddenly accelerated, stepped into the paint, and swung his arm—
BOOM!
The slam and the ball ricocheting off the rim rang out almost at the same instant!
At the very moment Aomine gathered all of his Zone energy into his right hand
Haizaki had done something dangerously reckless
He touched the ball early!
Unfortunately
the loose ball bounced straight into Wakamatsu Kōsuke's hands.
FWIP! FWIP!
Wind filled Wakamatsu's jersey
and then his hands went empty.
The ball was gone.
He turned sharply
Aomine already had it, locked in a fierce clash with Haizaki again.
From the three-point line, Kagami swallowed hard.
Amazing…
So strong!
It felt like no one else on the court could interfere with the two of them.
In the stands
No one had expected that in the final minute of such a heart-stopping match,
these two could still create something this explosive.
"A world-shaking duel…"
"Right now…"
"It feels like only Aomine and Haizaki exist on the court."
"No one else can even intervene."
"If Aomine scores here, Tōō will lead by six. That would nearly seal Seirin's fate."
"Hard to say…"
Midorima's gaze hadn't left Aomine since the timeout.
As Aomine grew more and more adept at detonating his Zone in precise bursts
gradually overpowering Haizaki
Midorima found himself less interested in Aomine's power
and more focused on the expression on his face.
Midorima Shintarō: "…"
Aomine… that guy…
He wasn't smiling like usual.
But
Beneath that calm expression…
Perhaps that was just another form of overwhelming joy.
Maybe
his desire to win had ballooned to the point that he simply forgot to smile.
Kise had noticed it too
in fact, far earlier than Midorima.
Because in this kind of match
no—
exactly because it was this kind of match
That "Little Aomine"—
the one who used to straighten his gear carefully before stepping onto the court
would only shine brighter the stronger his opponent became.
"Beautiful play…"
"Little Aomine…"
The sparks flying between Haizaki and Aomine stunned the entire arena.
No one expected these two—whose rivalry had shaped the whole match
to still be producing miracles this late in the game.
The audience held their breath, wishing this duel could last longer
but they were out of time.
And the moment victory was decided
arrived abruptly.
Aomine's eyes widened.
The moment he had blocked Kagami earlier,
that snowy whiteness filling his vision
filling his entire eyeball
appeared again, crystal clear, right before Haizaki.
Haizaki's heart tightened.
Then
"Haizaki…"
"Do you really think you can defeat me?"
Aomine's calm voice sounded like a simple statement of fact
and Haizaki's temper flared.
"Shut up… Aomine! Come at me!!"
No matter how deep I fall
no matter what awaits me
I'll use these eyes, this body,
and confirm my own ending!
You will never decide it for me!
The next moment
Aomine suddenly pivoted mid-air, far outside the paint.
He jumped from a standstill, began a textbook shooting motion
then abruptly pulled the ball back, twisted midair—
and released a bizarre, unorthodox shot!
But this one
was different.
The instant it left his hand,
Aomine infused it with both ice and lightning.
"Zone Torrent!"
Haizaki—
The victory you wanted.
The ending you chased.
I will
with a clean, respectful first-stage Zone
no more than 100% of my power
drive it through!
BOOOOM!
Haizaki jumped with him, predicting the motion
but the instant he reached to block the contortion,
his vision blurred.
A thunderclap exploded behind him!
Louder than an unorthodox shot.
Louder than Midorima's highest-arc swish.
He turned
And saw the ball bounce off the floor and rebound way too high.
And then
Faces.
Every face on both Seirin and Tōō
frozen in utter shock.
Even Haizaki felt a chill.
This guy…
In just one offensive exchange
he could already use that ability
to shoot this kind of ball?
Haizaki turned back.
"Pass!"
Seirin inbounded immediately,
and Haizaki sprinted up the court with everything he had.
"Haizaki's counterattack!"
"So fast!"
"Aomine isn't falling behind either!"
"Incredible!"
Seirin watched Aomine, ice and lightning swirling under his feet as he chased Haizaki
completely speechless.
It had already been…
two full quarters.
How was Aomine still this fast?
Did he only train stamina for an entire year?!
Even then
this was absurd.
But at the same time
Haizaki sensed it clearly through the rushing wind.
Aomine
was running solely on the fading remnants of Zone,
forcing precise bursts to keep up.
And Haizaki
his legs were trembling too.
All that kept him going
was that burning heat in his chest.
Aomine must feel the same.
Haizaki's eyes sharpened.
As he stepped onto the free-throw line,
he yanked the ball sharply to the side
and in that moment, the thought in his heart burst forth
Kuroko, lend me strength!
Thunder Dribble!
FRAME INSERT!!
BOOM!
He soared.
And dunked!
SLAM!!
Haizaki crushed the ball through the hoop with one hand.
His legs trembled the moment he landed
but when he saw the lightning-echo left behind by his frame insertion trick,
Aomine unable to catch up
He turned toward Kuroko
and gave him a knowing smile.
Seirin vs. Tōō.
126–130.
"He… he scored!"
"Seirin's phantom sixth man! His ability resurfaces at the perfect time!"
"The lead is back to four!"
"But there are only 46 seconds left!"
"Who will win?!"
Before anyone could react
a sudden shift occurred.
Tōō was preparing to inbound the ball
when Kiyoshi suddenly signaled to the team
and lunged forward himself!
The tall figure completely smothered Wakamatsu at the baseline.
Wakamatsu: "!"
Tch!
This guy!
Jumping left, jumping right—
too damn annoying!
FWIP!
Kise!
Wakamatsu bounced the pass around Kiyoshi
but that was precisely the opening Kiyoshi wanted him to take!
In front of Kise
two figures arrived at once!
Aomine in full sprint
and Kuroko, momentarily stunned by the chaos.
THUD!
Kuroko, frail as ever, couldn't withstand the collision.
The ball bounced far away.
"I touched it first!"
"Grab it!"
Hearing that, Kagami—still clueless about the plan
immediately lunged for the ball heading out along the baseline.
If Kuroko touched it last, Tōō would get possession.
But
THUD!
"Don't even think about it, Kagami-kun~"
Imayoshi shoved Kagami just enough to halt his jump
but the next instant, Imayoshi's confident fox-eyes widened!
Kiyoshi
in an outrageous motion
stepped on the very edge of the sideline as the ball bounced once inbounds,
then again toward out-of-bounds.
He threw his upper body far over the line
Claw grip!!
With one hand
half his body out of bounds
he clamped the ball tightly in midair!
Then
FWIP!
Without even turning his head,
he whipped a one-handed pass along the baseline,
as if he knew someone had to be there.
The ball curved gently inward
SMACK!
Hyuga caught it
and fired from three.
SWISH!
It went in.
At the same time, Kiyoshi crashed hard onto the floor.
For a moment
the arena fell silent.
Seirin rushed toward him.
Kagami, closest, hauled Kiyoshi up excitedly.
Kiyoshi immediately looked to Hyuga.
The two locked eyes
Raised their arms
CLAP!
Like two bulls locking horns
foreheads nearly touching.
"Nice one, idiot!"
"Nice shot, Junpei!"
They froze.
"Hah~"
"Hmph~"
"Defense!!"
"Get back!!"
On the other side
Aomine glanced briefly at Seirin's celebration.
Even after the lead dropped to just one point,
his expression didn't waver.
"Don't worry…"
"If the inbound gets cut off, I'll come get it myself.
Don't panic."
Wakamatsu, still feeling guilty, jerked his head up—
and stared at Aomine in disbelief.
Even Kise was momentarily speechless.
Imayoshi: "…"
Wakamatsu: "…Got it."
In the stands
Aomine's gaze met Akihito's.
Aomine… you have the awareness of an ace.
You trust yourself.
But compared to Shigure—
The gap between you two as Emperors of Teiko
isn't about whether you can score every ball
or whether you can break any defense.
It's whether you can inspire your teammates
with your back.
Only when you can do that
do you truly grasp the law of the ace
the essence of a scoring core
who leads his team.
On the court
Aomine waved his teammates back.
The ball came into his hands.
And for the first time since the timeout
he smiled.
"Captain Nijimura…"
"Right now…"
"With everything I've done in this game…"
"Am I getting closer to being a true ace~?"
At least for the spectators
Aomine was unquestionably the ace of the Generation of Miracles.
Facing Haizaki and Kuroko's double Emperor Eye
His next shot
bewitched the entire arena.
Aomine's Zone Torrent grew steadier.
Kuroko's declining physical condition made the double vision easily breakable.
He broke through!
Haizaki threw everything into the collision!
Outside the baseline paint,
Kiyoshi rotated over, sealing every angle.
There was no space to shoot.
Then
Aomine hugged the ball and leapt behind the backboard.
His body twisted horizontally,
falling backward,
head tilted to locate the rim.
From outside the boundary,
he launched the ball high!
The moment he swung
Snowlight and lightning surged again.
Like a blade
BOOOOM!
The ball arced over the backboard
And stabbed into the net.
In the stands
players from all over Tokyo stiffened.
"That monster… at a time like this, how can he stay this bold?
How confident must he be to take that shot?!"
Monster.
END OF CHAPTER
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