The sudden roar caught the attention of everyone in the venue.
Kuroko, who had been in a daze, heard the voice and suddenly turned to look.
In the stands, he saw a familiar figure.
Ogiwara Shigehiro, the close friend who had led him to the path of basketball.
Yet in that middle school third-year game, he had been broken by Kuroko's own team and ultimately chose to abandon basketball.
Kuroko looked at him in disbelief.
He had never imagined that in his most difficult moment, it would be Ogiwara cheering him on.
"Come on, Kuroko!" Ogiwara Shigehiro roared again, getting his companions beside him to join in.
"That person is..."
"The opponent from the final game of the middle school third-year national tournament."
The Generation of Miracles members also recognized him.
Because in that game, they had created the national tournament's biggest massacre.
In that match, Tendou had led the team to score a full 200 points throughout the game!
"I heard he gave up playing basketball, but why is he here?" Momoi looked over curiously.
Although that game was the final match of middle school, for Teiko at the time, it was just going through the motions and collecting a trophy.
But because of Kuroko's personal request, they had run up that historic score.
Later they heard the opponent had given up basketball, but unexpectedly he appeared here now.
While thinking about this, Aomine beside her suddenly stood up and shouted.
"Hey, Tetsuya, Kagami, didn't you guys beat us? If you can't even beat Kirisaki Daiichi, see how I'll deal with you."
Momoi stared in shock after hearing this. Why had this charcoal-head suddenly switched sides?!
But what made Momoi even more unhappy was what came next.
Kise on the other side also started shouting, "We feel the same way, you must win, Seirin!"
Midorima wasn't to be outdone either, calling out loudly, "Defeat them, whether it's Tendou or Kirisaki Daiichi!"
With these few taking the lead, thunderous cheers suddenly erupted throughout the venue.
The neutral fans seemed to find the one-sided game boring and joined in supporting Seirin.
Seirin's starting five were stunned by this sudden turn of events.
Then, they felt their entire bodies fill with strength.
"What kind of anime plot development is this?"
"You're right, if all the audience is cheering for Seirin, doesn't that make us look like the villains?"
The Kirisaki Daiichi players were surprised but didn't show much emotional fluctuation.
Before Tendou joined the team, they were already the most unpopular team in all of Tokyo and even the entire nation.
If curses could kill people, everyone on Kirisaki Daiichi would probably have died ten thousand times over.
Haizaki needn't be mentioned—this guy who acted lawlessly had never cared about others' criticism of him.
Who the audience cheered for was none of his business.
"Actually, this feeling is quite familiar."
The bad boy squad didn't care at all—they even felt a sense of familiarity.
Tendou remained unmoved, still wearing the same expression, though he had sensed a certain discord.
A feeling that was both familiar and incredibly strange to him.
The Zone's second door was opening for Kagami Taiga!
...
Seirin's possession.
Amid the continuous cheers, the collapsed Seirin rallied once again.
"Just as that bastard Hanamiya predicted, Seirin's tactics haven't changed—their defensive positioning is still one-on-one man-to-man defense."
"The others are the same too. Although they've rallied again, their movements haven't gotten faster, but... what is this indescribable pressure?"
Haizaki was the second person to sense this extraordinary difference.
The players were still the same people—Seirin hadn't even made substitutions—but the atmosphere had suddenly become somewhat ominous.
He couldn't help but turn to look at Tendou, only to see that their leader's expression hadn't changed, though his gaze had become sharper.
"As expected, Tendou also sensed this discord?"
While he was thinking, Seirin's offensive had already begun.
Kagami stepped into Tendou's domain without hesitation, crimson lightning somehow radiating from the corners of his eyes.
However, he didn't challenge Tendou. After getting close to Tendou, the basketball disappeared.
In that direction was Izuki Shun cutting to the basket.
"In your dreams!" Hanamiya Makoto immediately moved over, but Izuki Shun almost simultaneously passed the ball to the other end.
This time, Kuroko received the ball, but he also didn't pause, forcefully swinging his arm to pass the ball to yet another side.
All of this happened in an instant.
In just a few breaths, Seirin had completed 4 passes, with every player touching the basketball.
This was what the old madman Nelson had described as the optimal form of run-and-gun—in every offensive possession, the basketball must pass through every player's hands.
"This level of synchronization!"
Akashi, who had been silent, suddenly widened his eyes.
"Just through eye contact with teammates, they can synchronize their movements, entering a state of ultra-high-speed coordination that surpasses individual Zone."
"This is the true face of the Zone?!"
Akashi finally understood.
The Zone's second door that they had never been able to open contained basketball's most primitive essence.
Team sport!
Aomine also understood, realizing why he couldn't push open the second door.
It wasn't that the Zone had rejected him—he had chosen to give up himself.
While speaking, Seirin had instantly completed 6 passes, with the final pass being Kuroko's alley-oop to Kagami.
Just as Kagami was about to score, Tendou's figure appeared like a phantom in front of him, his arm seemingly reaching out from thin air toward the basketball.
But...
"Slap!" Kagami unhesitatingly sent the ball to Hyuga Junpei, who had somehow found an open position.
"Damn, my attention was entirely on Kagami!" Haizaki cursed under his breath—he had actually lost track of his defensive assignment.
"Swish!"
Seirin's captain raised his hand and cleanly hit a three-pointer.
The ball went in, and Seirin's bench immediately erupted.
Aida Riko stood with her mouth agape, then as if awakening from a dream, joined her players in shouting.
She still didn't know what had happened, only that her team had broken through Kirisaki Daiichi's defensive line.
This felt completely different from before—the entire team's operating speed had more than doubled.
This was absolutely the strongest offensive possession she had ever seen her team execute.
"But why does that guy still look so composed?"
Aida Riko also noticed that Tendou, the one who worried her most, still had that calm expression on his face, inexplicably frightening.
"Tendou, you're certainly amazing. If it were just me alone, I definitely couldn't defeat you, but..."
"You don't need to deliberately tell me these things. I know."
Kagami stared intently at Tendou, this man he most wanted to defeat.
He had even wanted to share with his opponent the secret of the Zone's second door, but Tendou cut him off.
"I understand what the Zone's second door is better than you do, and I know the conditions for entering it."
Huh?
The excited expressions of the Seirin players suddenly froze as they stared in shock at this Kirisaki Daiichi ace.
"That is the Zone's true face. The Zone's first door is merely a prerequisite for fully unlocking the Zone's true nature—a breakthrough from 0 to 1!"
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