Aomine Daiki, after entering the [ZONE], was unstoppable.
Even when Shutoku pushed themselves to their absolute limits, they couldn't even slow down the rhythm of Aomine's offense.
Their defense had been completely shattered, leaving them with no choice but to try and fight back on the offensive end.
Yet, against Aomine Daiki, even attacking had become a nearly impossible task. Like Akashi Asuka and Akashi Seijuro before him, Aomine's defensive range while in the [ZONE] was terrifyingly vast.
His explosive speed allowed him to cover any spot within the three-point arc in an instant, moving from the paint to the perimeter like a blur of lightning.
Takao Kazunari dribbled past half court, but stopped just a meter outside Tōō's three-point line.
It wasn't that he didn't want to move forward,
, it was that the moment he even considered taking one more step, a chilling pressure washed over him, the feeling of a predator locking onto its prey.
"This kind of pressure… even from here he can catch up? The Generation of Miracles really are a bunch of unreasonable monsters!"
A bead of cold sweat rolled down Takao's forehead. Feeling the crushing tension, he muttered, "In that case, we'll just have to attack from the outside."
Whoosh!
With a thought, Takao flipped his wrist, passing the ball toward Midorima Shintaro's position.
It should've been a guaranteed pass. Even with Aomine's massive defensive range, he couldn't possibly cover every shot from someone like Midorima, whose shooting range spanned the entire court.
But then, the unexpected happened.
Midorima Shintaro failed to catch the ball, his hand slipped!
Thud! Clack!
The sound of that fumbled catch echoed through the arena, sharp and painful.
It was only a small mistake but to Aomine Daiki, that tiny error was like the split-second hesitation of prey lowering its head to drink water in the open field: brief, but fatal.
Whoosh!
Two faint sparks of blue lightning flashed as Aomine darted forward, snatching the loose ball cleanly out of the air. Without hesitation, he launched into a lightning-fast counterattack.
Not a single Shutoku player managed to catch up.
Partly because Aomine's speed was that overwhelming,
, but also because most of Shutoku's players were still frozen in shock from Midorima's rare mistake.
Takao's expression darkened even further. His heart sank like a stone.
"Hey, hey~~ Shintaro, now's not the time to joke around! And that joke… wasn't funny at all…"
"Midorima lost his composure," Akashi Asuka said from the sidelines. "He's probably desperate to change the situation right now. He knows the only way to stop Aomine is to enter the [ZONE] himself… but that's exactly why he can't."
"Wait," Kasuga Ryuhei interjected, "I just remembered, Aomine entered the [ZONE] earlier in his match against Seirin, right? It's only been, what, two hours? Can someone really enter it again so soon?"
"Normally, no," Asuka replied, shaking his head. "In theory, the less someone knows about the [ZONE], the easier it is to enter. But once a person has been inside, it becomes much harder to open that door again."
"As for Aomine…" He paused, a faint smile on his lips. "Aside from calling it 'natural-born talent,' even I can't think of a better explanation."
Kasuga fell silent.
After a long moment, he asked, "Then by your logic, if Midorima does manage to enter the [ZONE], what would happen?"
Asuka rubbed his chin thoughtfully before answering.
"If both Midorima and Aomine enter the [ZONE] at the same time… the one in danger might actually be Tōō."
And then, Midorima truly did enter the [ZONE].
From this distance, no one could tell what triggered it, perhaps he reached a sudden moment of clarity, or maybe the encouragement of his teammates pushed him through.
Whatever the cause, Akashi Asuka wasn't particularly surprised.
Every member of the Generation of Miracles already possessed the qualifications to enter the [ZONE]. One could say each of them had long been standing at the door, only missing that small push to finally open it.
Even for Tōō, this outcome wasn't entirely unexpected.
"Looks like the monster battle's starting again," said Shoichi Imayoshi, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. His tone sounded casual, but there was no hiding the unease behind it.
After all, this situation was very different from their match against Seirin.
Who knew what kind of power Midorima Shintaro would unleash once he entered the [ZONE]?
But in truth, Imayoshi was still underestimating just how dire the situation had become for Tōō…
The clash of aces resumed once more.
Every player who enters the [ZONE] gains a unique enhancement tailored to their individual play style.
For Midorima Shintaro, his enhancements manifested in two specific areas,
First, his shot release speed.
Before, Midorima's release time was proportional to his distance from the basket, the farther away he shot, the longer he needed to charge and aim.
A full-court shot would take nearly three seconds just to prepare.
But now, even from beneath his own basket, Midorima could complete his entire shooting motion in just one second.
The second enhancement was stability.
Midorima's famed 100% accuracy had always come with one strict condition: his shooting form had to be absolutely perfect. Any deviation would shatter that precision.
But now, after entering the [ZONE], his stability has skyrocketed.
Even if his form was disrupted midair, he could instantly readjust his posture, regaining full control over his shot before releasing it.
With these two upgrades combined, even Aomine Daiki found it increasingly difficult to stop him.
Because fundamentally,
Aomine didn't have the ability to block Midorima's shot directly. His prior defensive successes came from stealing the ball or disrupting Midorima before he could shoot.
Of course,
Even with his new power, Midorima still couldn't stop Aomine's unstoppable drives either.
But with every successful three-pointer against Aomine's twos, the balance was slowly tipping toward Shutoku.
And yet, even so,
Winning was still an uphill battle.
With less than three minutes remaining, Shutoku still trailed Tōō by twelve whole points.