"Swish!"
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
Three consecutive free throws hit their mark, but they weren't from Hyuga Junpei—they were from Haizaki.
Under Tendou's coordination, Haizaki successfully plundered Hyuga Junpei's signature shooting technique and returned the favor with a three-point foul.
"At this rate, Seirin's second-leading scorer is going to be completely shut out," Kasamatsu Yukio sighed silently.
He could somewhat understand the helplessness Seirin was feeling right now. It was even more despairing than when his own team had faced Kirisaki Daiichi.
Hanamiya Makoto and Haizaki Shogo—one strategic, one physical—were like Tendou's left and right guardians.
"That former teammate of yours really is a thoroughly unpleasant guy," he couldn't help but complain about Tendou.
Tendou's playing style was simply too despairing. Not only did he suppress opponents technically, but he also crushed their psychological defenses. Being his opponent was truly an unbearably painful experience.
"After all, little Tendou has always been quite 'crazy' in normal times," Kise said, absentmindedly running his fingers through his hair.
"But on the court, he becomes so cautious that you can't help but rely on him."
Recalling their time together at Teiko, Tendou always gave off an excessively flamboyant impression. His behavior could be quite wild—back then in Teiko's basketball club, he was the only one who dared ignore the coach's tactics and act purely on his own judgment.
But every single action he took helped the team. He was reliable to the point where people felt that as long as he was there, there would be no problems whatsoever.
"When we were teammates, I didn't understand, but now that we're opponents, I realize how terrifying it is to be his enemy."
Back on the court, it was Seirin's offensive possession.
Izuki Shun now had even fewer passing options. With the team's leading scorer locked down and the second-leading scorer's abilities stolen, Seirin was nearly at their wit's end.
It seemed their only option now was to break through Kirisaki Daiichi's defense through Kiyoshi Teppei.
As if reading his thoughts, after Hyuga Junpei and Koganei Shinji completed their off-ball screens, Seto Kentaro was drawn out of the paint by the opposing team.
"An opportunity!" Izuki Shun keenly sensed this was a good chance to attack the basket.
With Seto Kentaro gone, Kiyoshi Teppei wouldn't have to worry about being double-teamed. In a one-on-one situation, he wouldn't lose to anyone except Tendou—including Haizaki!
With this thought, Izuki Shun's eyes aimed toward Hyuga Junpei's direction, but the basketball in his hands went straight toward Kiyoshi Teppei in the paint.
"Heh~" Hanamiya Makoto let out a cold laugh, his hand flashing out like lightning to steal the ball.
He had been waiting for this moment all along.
"Without teammates, you can't survive. You Seirin players really are a bunch of weaklings."
This was bad—it was Hanamiya Makoto's spider web defense. Only now did Izuki Shun wake up as if from a dream.
The pressure from Kirisaki Daiichi was too great, causing him to forget about Hanamiya Makoto's signature spider web defense.
Seeing this, Tendou immediately rushed toward the front court. His speed was incredible—with a "whoosh," the spectators only saw a shadow rush out, and Tendou had already crossed half court.
"Damn it!" Kagami gritted his teeth and chased after him.
He tried his best to stay close to Tendou, but Tendou didn't even give him this opportunity. After receiving the ball, he flicked his wrist and sent the ball toward Seirin's paint.
There, Haizaki was already in position. Facing an undefended basket, he grabbed the ball and slammed it down with tremendous force.
"Great play!"
"Kirisaki Daiichi!"
"The strongest!"
Kirisaki Daiichi's fans erupted, rising from their seats and cheering wildly. The few Seirin fans were completely drowned out, just like the team they supported—silenced.
"At this rate, we're going to lose again."
Seeing his team's offense continuously stalled, with Hyuga Junpei's shooting stolen, Kiyoshi Teppei double-teamed, and even Izuki Shun unable to pass the ball freely, Kagami realized they could only rely on himself now.
So in the next offensive possession, he faced Tendou head-on, trying to take initiative with an isolation play.
"Hmph!"
The moment Kagami took a step, Tendou's arm shot out like a spear, slapping the basketball away from his hands in one swift motion.
What followed was another storm-like fast break from Kirisaki Daiichi.
Even though Seirin's players had gotten back on defense quite promptly, Tendou always managed to find defensive gaps.
The reason counterattacks always had higher scoring efficiency than half-court offense was simple: no matter how good a team's chemistry was, half-court defense was always easier to execute than defending fast breaks.
During opponent's fast break moments, players' thinking time was compressed to the absolute limit. Unless there was a "monster" like Tendou, defensive gaps would always appear.
And Tendou could always exploit such gaps!
"Swoosh!"
Furuhashi Kojiro scored on a layup in the paint.
"At this rate, the game will be decided in the first half—we won't even need to wait for the second half to begin."
Watching Seirin, who had once defeated them, being dominated like this, the Kaijo players felt uncomfortable too.
"Seirin still has hope of victory, right?"
Kise naturally thought of the Zone... But currently, only three players had truly mastered the Zone, and unfortunately, Kagami wasn't one of them.
And one of those three who had completely mastered the Zone was Seirin's opponent today.
"Beep!" "Seirin High School requests a timeout."
The referee stopped the game again, and Aida Riko was forced to call another timeout.
After the start of the second quarter, they had only managed to score 6 points through Hyuga Junpei, spending the rest of the time getting beaten.
Moreover, they kept allowing Kirisaki Daiichi to score on counterattacks.
The team's atmosphere had now dropped to freezing point.
Two aces—Kagami Taiga was locked down by Tendou, while Kuroko Tetsuya's misdirection had lost its effectiveness due to overuse.
Second-leading scorer Hyuga Junpei had his skill set stolen, center Kiyoshi Teppei was trapped in double-team trouble.
Even the team's playmaker, Izuki Shun, was restricted to the point where he couldn't safely get the ball out.
Seirin's bench was now shrouded in a shadow of despair.
It was very quiet—not a single person on the bench spoke.
Their pre-game bold declarations had all turned to stubborn silence.
Aida Riko didn't even know how to encourage them, because up to this point, she hadn't been able to provide the team with any ideas for solving their predicament.
"Is it already over?"
"It won't be that simple."
The Kirisaki Daiichi players were also watching Seirin's direction.
If they could win this easily, Tendou would actually feel somewhat disappointed.
The problem was...
In the original story's match between Rakuzan and Seirin, Seirin had once fallen behind by 25 points to Rakuzan. But everyone knew the final result—Seirin completed an incredible comeback in the final 2.9 seconds.
Against Rakuzan—Akashi plus three Uncrowned Kings plus a sixth man.
Despite leading by 25 points at their peak, they were successfully reversed.
And their Kirisaki Daiichi was currently leading by less than 20 points.
"No, I don't want to lose!"
"I want to win. Even if it's impossible, even if it can't be realized, I still want to become number one in the nation with everyone."
Sure enough, before Tendou had even finished his thought, Kuroko suddenly stood up from Seirin's side, shouting through tears.
In an instant, Seirin seemed to come back to life from the ashes.
After Aida Riko, Kuroko had also been broken by him.
"Really now, when you can't win through logic or talk no jutsu, you resort to this."
Protagonists truly were incomprehensible creatures.
Tendou withdrew his gaze and took a sip of water.
What happened to "victory isn't everything"? In the end, aren't you the one crying and shouting that you want to win?
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