The third quarter of the round-robin match.
Shutoku finally revealed the hidden trump card they'd been saving all along.
As the quarter began, faced with Aomine Daiki's Animal Instinct and his uncanny ability to predict and intercept passes, Midorima Shintaro suddenly did something that left both the players and the audience utterly stunned.
While off the ball, he took a stance as if he were about to shoot a three-pointer.
At the same time, Shutoku's center Otsubo Taisuke and power forward Kimura Shinsuke quickly moved into position under the basket.
"Oi, oi~~ have you lost your mind?"
Aomine stared at Midorima's posture, his brow furrowed in confusion. He didn't understand what the green-haired shooter was up to, but every instinct in his body screamed that this was dangerous.
Yet he couldn't tell where that danger was coming from.
Until the very instant Midorima jumped,
Before Aomine's disbelieving eyes, a ball suddenly came flying in from the side, landing perfectly in Midorima's hands.
Whoosh!
Like a meteor cutting through the sky, the basketball left Midorima's fingertips in one fluid motion.
It traced a high, flawless arc across the air before slicing cleanly through Tōō's hoop.
Swoosh!
51:53.
"Heh~."
On the other side of the court, Takao Kazunari grinned as his pass found its mark perfectly in Midorima's hands.
·····
"This is…"
From Tōō's bench, Satsuki Momoi and the substitute players shot up from their seats in shock.
The arena went silent for a brief moment,
Then erupted like a bomb going off.
BOOM!
"Uwahhhh~~~!"
"What was that?! An alley-oop three-pointer?!"
"That's insane…"
"No, 'insane' doesn't even begin to describe it! Is something like that even possible in real life?!"
The audience was practically in disbelief. Were high school basketball players really this over-the-top now?!
Tsutomu Iwamura and Kasuga Ryuhei also widened their eyes slightly, but unlike the others, they didn't look too surprised.
"This move… kinda looks like that technique we developed."
Akashi Asuka shook his head calmly. "It only looks similar. In reality, there's still a huge gap."
He explained evenly, "Shutoku's move demands extreme precision from the passer, and that creates bigger openings. It's also much less stable."
"Compared to that, "
"Our move has smaller openings and greater stability."
"Though in terms of scoring efficiency, theirs wins by a bit. After all, they're shooting for three points, while ours can only score two."
Neither Iwamura nor Kasuga objected. After all, the technique they'd created at Seiho, though centered around Akashi Asuka, was a move that involved the entire team.
They both knew perfectly well what their strengths and weaknesses were.
"Still," said Kasuga, "since Shutoku pulled out something like that, they should at least be able to stage a strong counterattack."
No sooner had he spoken,
The rhythm of the match flipped completely.
Thanks to Midorima and Takao's combination, the Alley-Oop Three-Pointer, Shutoku's offensive power skyrocketed. In just a few plays, they turned the game around.
Satsuki Momoi found herself at a loss for countermeasures.
Her Data Eyes was devastating against normal players, but against those of the Generation of Miracles' caliber, its effect was greatly diminished.
Because geniuses simply couldn't be predicted through logic.
After that explosive counterattack,
The third quarter came to an end.
80:72.
Shutoku closed the quarter with an eight-point lead.
But even the crowd understood, an eight-point lead wasn't nearly enough to decide the outcome.
If anything, this was just the beginning.
Sure enough,
As the fourth quarter began, Tōō immediately launched a fierce counteroffensive.
This time, they didn't target Midorima. They'd played against him too many times to know the truth: unless three defenders worked together, it was impossible to even bother a Generation of Miracles-level player.
So instead, they targeted Takao Kazunari.
After an entire quarter of observation, Satsuki Momoi had already seen through the secret of Shutoku's Alley-Oop Three-Pointer.
Both the passer and the shooter required near-perfect precision. And excessive precision… often meant fragile stability.
Once Takao was double-teamed, his passing options vanished.
The Alley-Oop Three-Pointer was effectively neutralized.
But that didn't mean Shutoku's rhythm was broken, because Midorima was no longer a lone wolf.
Just how terrifying is a Generation of Miracles member who's learned to work as part of a team?
If anyone wanted a reference, they only needed to recall Akashi Asuka from the last semester.
Midorima couldn't stop Aomine's full-power drives, but Aomine, in turn, couldn't afford to split his focus when defending Midorima.
Aomine wasn't Akashi Asuka, nor was he Murasakibara Atsushi.
His defense wasn't weak by any means, but he wasn't a pure defensive specialist either.
Thus, Midorima and Aomine effectively cancelled each other out.
With Takao double-teamed, the rest of Shutoku's players faced a three-on-two advantage.
Even if Takao and Midorima were both restricted and the Alley-Oop Three-Pointer was sealed off, Shutoku's offensive rhythm didn't crumble, it merely shifted from scoring three points to two.
In this way,
Though they could no longer widen the gap, the score remained tightly balanced.
"Ahh~~ I'm exhausted!"
Shoichi Imayoshi wiped the sweat from his face with his collar. Matches this intense were rare, probably the hardest one since their summer clash against Seiho.
Even against Seirin in the last round, Tōō had dominated almost the entire game, only losing momentum in the final minutes.
"Man, when you're up against the true Generation of Miracles players, you've got to give it everything you've got!"
Even among the Generation of Miracles, there were levels of strength.
Take Kise Ryouta during the Summer Nationals, or Kagami Taiga from the last match.
Both had talent on the Generation of Miracles level, but their potential wasn't fully realized yet. They could fight on equal footing for a time, but they were still half a step behind the original five.
As for that monster from Seiho… he was on an entirely different plane.
Imayoshi's thoughts flickered, but then he glanced toward Aomine Daiki, and a faint smile tugged at his lips.
Softly, he murmured, "Still… I believe Aomine's the strongest of them all."
Crackle~~
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