After Shintaro Midorima missed that shot, he didn't shoot again. Instead, he called a timeout and took himself out of the game.
Even though there was still more than a minute left, Shintaro Midorima knew in his heart that he had lost.
As for going head-to-head with Miyamoto Tokima in the final minute, if it had been Shintaro Midorima at the start of the game, he might have done it.
But now, with his mentality already shaken, there was no way Shintaro Midorima would choose to clash head-on with Miyamoto Tokima again.
So the final minute was left to the other Shūtoku High School players.
After Shintaro Midorima left the court, Miyamoto Tokima followed him off and sent Makoto Hanamiya in to play the final minute in his place.
It should have been something they could casually play out until the game ended, but Miyamoto Tokima never expected what came next.
In the final minute, who knew whether Makoto Hanamiya had been holding himself back for too long or whether seeing Kazunari Takao made him too excited.
He immediately launched into an endless barrage, firing off eighteen insults a second, and somehow managed to roast Kazunari Takao for an entire minute without repeating himself.
Kazunari Takao was left completely stunned.
And it wasn't just Kazunari Takao. The whole Shūtoku High School team was stunned too.
Seriously, does this guy have a machine gun for a mouth?
Not only that, even after the minute was over, Makoto Hanamiya was still going.
He kept going until even the referee couldn't stand it anymore and directly told Makoto Hanamiya to rein it in.
Only after the referee spoke up did Makoto Hanamiya finally rein himself in.
Just when everyone thought it was finally over, Shogo Haizaki picked up where he left off.
He roasted Kazunari Takao nonstop for another thirty seconds, until Takao finally snapped.
"I'll kill you all!!!"
Kazunari Takao cursed and immediately charged forward.
Shinsuke Kimura had already prepared himself and grabbed Kazunari Takao in time, keeping the situation from escalating any further.
In the end, the referee called a technical foul on Kazunari Takao.
He really got it from both sides. Insulted and whistled for a foul. He had absolutely had his fill.
After this little incident, Kirisaki Daiichi defeated Shūtoku High School 266 to 241.
The score of this game also completely broke the record for the highest score in the Japan Winter Cup National Tournament.
Both teams scored over two hundred points.
What was most terrifying was that Miyamoto Tokima and Shintaro Midorima had each scored over two hundred points on their own!
After the game, Miyamoto Tokima walked over to Shintaro Midorima and held out his hand.
"Great game, Little Midorima."
Shintaro Midorima looked a little downcast as he reached out and shook Miyamoto Tokima's hand.
"Tokima, those three shots that hit the rim... did you do that on purpose?"
Miyamoto Tokima smiled faintly and said nothing.
Seeing that, Shintaro Midorima understood. His expression gradually returned to normal, and he said seriously:
"Thank you for showing me the flaws I still have."
Shintaro Midorima had realized it now. His mentality still wasn't steady enough. He still needed more training!
Miyamoto Tokima patted Shintaro Midorima on the shoulder and said with a smile:
"All right, Little Midorima, let's get something to eat later!"
Shintaro Midorima didn't refuse.
At the same time, Miyamoto Tokima also invited everyone from Shūtoku High School.
The Shūtoku High School players all agreed.
After all, they had played Kirisaki Daiichi so many times that they could be considered familiar with each other.
Enemies on the court, friends off the court.
Of course, with three exceptions.
Even now, the way Kazunari Takao looked at Shogo Haizaki and Makoto Hanamiya was full of murderous intent.
During the meal, he turned that murderous intent into appetite and kept snatching food from Makoto Hanamiya and Shogo Haizaki.
When the two saw this, they exchanged a smile and launched a coordinated food-snatching attack!
Poor Kazunari Takao had his defenses broken by Makoto Hanamiya and Shogo Haizaki all over again.
...
In the blink of an eye, match day arrived.
This match was between the Summer Cup champions, Kirisaki Daiichi, and Rakuzan High School, who had the captain of the [Generation of Miracles] and three of the [Uncrowned Kings]!
It could be said that this match drew enormous attention.
But if the audience had to choose who they thought would win, they still picked Kirisaki Daiichi as always.
There was no helping it. Miyamoto Tokima's reputation and strength were just too overwhelming!
As before, the DJ gave another explosive opening ceremony.
This gave Seijuro Akashi a thoroughly enjoyable moment. Even his usually expressionless iceberg face couldn't help showing a few faint smiles.
After the opening ceremony came warm-ups.
Rakuzan High School still stuck to their organized group warm-up plan, with each player warming up one after another as if everything had been rehearsed.
Watching it made Miyamoto Tokima's head hurt.
If even your warm-up has to follow an organized procedure, then what are you even warming up for?
Compared with Rakuzan High School's planned warm-up, Kirisaki Daiichi's side was much looser.
Atsushi Murasakibara stood under the basket and practiced a few hook shots, then made a few layups while Dicky Anthony put up some token defensive pressure.
Dicky Anthony's warm-up was similar to Atsushi Murasakibara's.
Shuzo Nijimura warmed up by connecting his dribbling rhythm into shots.
Almost everyone on Kirisaki Daiichi had their own warm-up style.
The most distinctive had to be Makoto Hanamiya and Shogo Haizaki.
The two warmed up together, insulting each other as they did.
At the same time, whenever they had the chance, they would turn around and throw a few insults at the rest of Kirisaki Daiichi too. Atsushi Murasakibara was no exception and got hit with them all the same.
It was just that they insulted Atsushi Murasakibara less, and what they said wasn't enough to actually make him angry.
Shuzo Nijimura had once asked why the two of them warmed up like that.
Their answer was that they were training their insult power and resistance to insults in advance, which was honestly absurd.
But it didn't really matter. Everyone on Kirisaki Daiichi had long since gotten used to their behavior.
After all, they had seen even stranger things in America.
Soon, warm-up time ended, and both teams came to the center line to exchange friendly greetings before the match began.
The moment Miyamoto Tokima walked over, Eikichi Nebuya and Reo Mibuchi shouted at the same time:
"Master!"
The corner of Miyamoto Tokima's mouth twitched as he looked at the two of them speechlessly.
"You two... sigh..."
Miyamoto Tokima was truly at a loss, because he had never actually taught either of them anything!
It was true that Miyamoto Tokima had given Eikichi Nebuya a few pointers back in middle school, but Eikichi Nebuya hadn't listened at all! He was still a brute even now.
As for Reo Mibuchi, Miyamoto Tokima had indeed explained the principles of [Void] to him, but the problem was that [Void] was a move Reo Mibuchi would develop later anyway!
Even if Miyamoto Tokima hadn't said anything, Reo Mibuchi would still have developed it on his own eventually.
Yet by sheer coincidence, the two of them had stubbornly started treating Miyamoto Tokima as their master.
Still, it worked out fine. Once the game was over, he could have the two of them sign a contract selling themselves to him, just in time to repay him for his gracious instruction!
Hahahaha!
Seijuro Akashi looked at the two who had suddenly "defected." The faint smile that had barely been visible on his face vanished in an instant, and his expression turned cold.
"Back in line!"
...