Facing Taiga Kagami's Defensive Zone, Seijuro Akashi stepped straight into it.
The instant he entered, Seijuro Akashi felt an intense pressure bear down on him.
His body suddenly trembled. He pulled his foot back and withdrew from Taiga Kagami's Defensive Zone.
Seeing this, Junpei Hyuga cried out,
"Even Akashi doesn't dare face Kagami's Defensive Zone head-on?"
After stepping back, Seijuro Akashi murmured,
"So I can't confront it directly without entering the Zone? Not even with Animal Instinct?"
"But that doesn't matter."
With that, Seijuro Akashi suddenly passed the basketball.
That's right. He passed.
Reo Mibuchi suddenly received Seijuro Akashi's pass, and his expression froze for a moment.
But he quickly came back to himself and shot the ball.
Junpei Hyuga never would have expected Seijuro Akashi, who had been playing one-on-one for nearly an entire quarter, to actually pass.
The moment Reo Mibuchi released the shot, he knew it was going in.
Because Seijuro Akashi's pass felt perfect, so smooth that everything flowed naturally.
At the same time, it was as if Seijuro Akashi's pass had released some kind of power inside him.
Over the next few possessions, Seijuro Akashi switched defensive assignments directly and stopped guarding Taiga Kagami.
Because he now understood that simply integrating Animal Instinct was not enough to stop Taiga Kagami after he had activated both the Zone and Animal Instinct.
So he simply left him alone and sent Kotaro Hayama instead.
That put Kotaro Hayama in a miserable spot.
He did want to play against Taiga Kagami, but he wanted to play against normal Taiga Kagami.
Not this fully powered-up Taiga Kagami.
This was like Frieza fighting Goku.
I wanted to fight regular Goku, not Super Saiyan Goku!!!
On defense, Kotaro Hayama was suffering.
On offense, Reo Mibuchi was enjoying himself.
And it was not just him. The rest of Rakuzan seemed to feel more comfortable too.
Because Seijuro Akashi had started passing.
The passes he gave Reo Mibuchi made Reo Mibuchi feel completely in rhythm.
And the passes Seijuro Akashi sent to Chihiro Mayuzumi made Chihiro Mayuzumi feel as if he could move however he wanted.
Even the balls Chihiro Mayuzumi tapped to the others became more efficient.
At that point, the game fell into a stalemate.
But it did not last long.
Because the Seirin players suddenly realized...
Reo Mibuchi and Chihiro Mayuzumi...
Had entered the Zone!!!
Crackle!
Crackle!
Under the shocked gazes of everyone from Seirin High School, Zone lightning suddenly flashed in Reo Mibuchi and Chihiro Mayuzumi's eyes.
However, the lightning was not especially fierce, nor was it especially lively.
But that did nothing to lessen everyone's shock.
On the sidelines, Tatsuya Himuro shot to his feet and muttered,
"How... is that possible?!"
Tatsuya Himuro had always pursued the Zone, but he also knew his talent was not enough. It was very possible that he would never enter the Zone.
Only those with exceptional talent could enter the Zone.
But now they were telling him this?
How the hell was this happening?!
How could Reo Mibuchi and Chihiro Mayuzumi have entered the Zone?!
The sight made Tatsuya Himuro feel as though his whole worldview was starting to crumble.
On the court, Tetsuya Kuroko was just as shocked, with no idea what was going on.
Junpei Hyuga and Teppei Kiyoshi also stood with their mouths open, completely at a loss for words.
Off the court, Daiki Aomine, Ryota Kise, and Shintaro Midorima all rose to their feet, staring at the court in disbelief.
The Zone.
Something that had trapped countless geniuses had now appeared in two players whose abilities did not meet the standard.
Actually, there was one more... the shadow.
Ryota Kise's face was filled with disbelief as he murmured,
"How is that possible? How could that be the Zone?!"
On the sidelines, Riko Aida quickly noticed something was wrong.
Because she realized that the Zone around those two was not fluid at all. It was completely different from the real Zone.
Wait.
It was different.
Riko Aida suddenly cried out,
"Pseudo-Zone!"
Tatsuya Himuro seemed to seize on a bit of hope and hurriedly asked,
"Pseudo-Zone?!"
Riko Aida nodded and said seriously,
"That's right. The two of them haven't entered the Zone. Akashi forced their rhythm open and pushed them into a Pseudo-Zone state. This isn't the real Zone!"
Hearing this, Tatsuya Himuro let out a sigh of relief.
As long as it was not the Zone. As long as it was not the Zone.
Pseudo-Zone, Pseudo-Zone...
Damn it! Isn't a Pseudo-Zone still fucking Zone?!!!
On the court, Seijuro Akashi looked at the stunned crowd and gave a cold smile.
"Now, can you still see any hope?"
Taiga Kagami met Seijuro Akashi's gaze with eyes flashing in the Zone.
"Hope has always been there!"
Seijuro Akashi glanced at him indifferently and said coldly,
"Then I wish you luck finding it. Of course, assuming your stamina can keep up until then."
On the next possession, Reo Mibuchi caught Seijuro Akashi's pass, completely ignored Junpei Hyuga's defense, and jumped straight up into a shot.
The move he used was [Heaven].
Even with everything he had, Junpei Hyuga could not stop him.
Because Reo Mibuchi was jumping even higher.
On defense, Taiga Kagami was immediately double-teamed by Kotaro Hayama and Reo Mibuchi.
Although Taiga Kagami could break through the two of them, facing Kotaro Hayama with Animal Instinct active and Reo Mibuchi in Pseudo-Zone rapidly drained his stamina.
In the end, Taiga Kagami ran out of stamina and fell out of the Zone, leaving him able to maintain his condition only through Animal Instinct.
After that, Tetsuya Kuroko stepped up.
Tetsuya Kuroko knew that right now, he could only become the light to make up for the team's missing offensive firepower.
But when he used [Vanishing Drive] again, Chihiro Mayuzumi kept up with him.
As a fellow shadow, Chihiro Mayuzumi, after entering Pseudo-Zone, had completely seen through Tetsuya Kuroko's movements.
That meant Tetsuya Kuroko's plan to become the light had been shattered.
Junpei Hyuga was being guarded one-on-one by Seijuro Akashi. Teppei Kiyoshi was exhausted as well, and in the paint, he could no longer withstand Eikichi Nebuya's strength.
Shun Izuki tried to shoot from the outside, but Kotaro Hayama quickly caught up to him.
Although Taiga Kagami could occasionally seize a chance to get inside and score, compared to Rakuzan's three-point firepower, Taiga Kagami's inside scoring still fell short.
In the end, even though every player on Seirin gave everything they had and fought until the final moment, the game...
Still ended in defeat.
...