Shutoku's bench was very quiet.
Masaaki Nakatani had anticipated such a scene, but he had held onto a sliver of luck in his heart.
Perhaps Yuuto couldn't enter Demon Mode at will.
But the facts told him that as long as Yuuto wanted to, he could turn into that white-haired demon at any time.
Having led Shutoku for so many years, this was only the second time he was suppressed to the point where he needed a timeout just to inbound the ball.
This was the team he built himself, every player hand-picked from thousands!
Tens of seconds of timeout passed.
Shutoku still successfully inbounded the ball.
Kazunari Takao dribbled past half-court, naturally wanting to find Midorima.
But just then, he happened to meet Yuuto's sweeping gaze; he uncontrollably made eye contact.
What kind of look was that?
Takao couldn't describe it, but he completely dispelled the intention of giving the ball to Midorima.
"Shutoku is finished. They've already started to feel fear in their hearts."
Shutoku's only chance of winning lay with Midorima, but now Takao didn't even dare to pass the ball to him.
This was suicide!
The ball went to Taisuke Otsubo. The Seiho captain was in great form, pushing his opponent far away from the paint.
Otsubo had no choice but to pass the ball back to Kiyoshi Miyaji, who was forced to shoot under Ryuhei Kasuga's tight defense.
Seiho secured the defensive rebound and gave it to Yuuto.
Smack!
Yuuto grabbed the ball tightly with his back to the hoop. In front of him was Midorima, rushing towards him at full speed.
Fwoosh~
White steam erupted again, and then Yuuto turned into a human sun and charged out.
But this sun flickered left and right, constantly changing.
Midorima only lasted 2 seconds before discovering that the Yuuto on his right dissipated like a cloud of foam.
He hurriedly turned his head, only to see Yuuto's figure appear on his other side without warning.
One acceleration.
He pierced through Midorima's defense again and charged forward.
People were horrified again.
This was Shintaro Midorima, the strongest shooter of the Generation of Miracles. Yet his defense was torn apart so easily; there was no difference from the opponents defeated by Yuuto before.
"Damn monster!"
Masaaki Nakatani couldn't sit still anymore. He stood up and shouted from the sideline.
"Stop him! At all costs!"
The "at all costs" he spoke of was truly at all costs.
Two seconds was enough for players of Shutoku's level to get back on defense.
Hearing this, Kiyoshi Miyaji, Kazunari Takao, and Shinsuke Kimura immediately converged rapidly towards Yuuto.
"A three-man encirclement!?"
"More than that. Count Midorima who was passed. This is a four-man encirclement!"
"If Taisuke Otsubo hadn't run slowly, it might have been a five-man encirclement!"
Izuki Shun and the others were dumbfounded.
As a player, being able to force a team like Shutoku to this extent was something to be proud of even in death.
The Eye of the Sky watched the entire court, eyes filled with unshakable absolute confidence.
A three-man encirclement wasn't impossible to break through by force, but there was no need.
As Yuuto advanced, just as the three-man encirclement was about to form, his pupils suddenly dilated.
The next second.
Whoosh!
While invisible to Kiyoshi Miyaji, the basketball flew through a gap in the three-man trap toward the free-throw line.
Even Kazunari Takao barely saw Yuuto's passing motion, but he was completely too late to react.
Smack!
Tomoki Tsugawa, who was following up, caught the ball and seamlessly drove into the paint for a layup, scoring two more points.
"Is there anyone to stop him?!" In the East stand, Shutoku fans let out despairing cries.
The point difference between Shutoku and Seiho was rapidly approaching 20 points.
If this continued.
It was possible that by the end of the third quarter, Shutoku would be trailing by nearly 30 points.
This was the rhythm of a typical one-quarter collapse.
Sudden changes like this happen in many basketball games. But it shouldn't have appeared in this duel between King and King.
This should have been an evenly matched contest, not one where Seiho suddenly exerted force and took the game away.
Their Shutoku wasn't such a fragile team!
But reality was just that cruel.
"Except for the Zone, nothing can contend with the Demon Mode Yuuto," Akashi also sighed with emotion.
This time, the secondary personality fell silent.
He already had certain ideas about entering the Zone in his mind, but he hadn't tested them yet.
"Seijuro."
Although it was strange to call his own name, the secondary personality Akashi could only address "himself" this way now.
"What is it?"
"After the game later, give the body to me. Just for one hour."
"...Okay."
Akashi didn't refuse, nor did he ask why. He agreed very straightforwardly.
He didn't mind that another self existed within his body.
On the contrary, he was quite satisfied with this "fracture," because sometimes, he could talk to himself and say things he couldn't say to his father.
"Don't you want to know what I want to do?"
"You are me, and I am you. I'll know even if you don't say it."
"Hmph."
The secondary personality Akashi stopped speaking and continued observing the match on the court.
...
"Yuuto!" Midorima's expression was no longer composed; he gritted his teeth hard.
Even he couldn't help but uncontrollably think about the power of the Zone.
Knowing clearly that doing so was wrong, he just couldn't help thinking about it.
"You know perfectly well that the current you cannot walk through that door."
Entering the Zone for the first time is the easiest.
But if one knows of the Zone's existence in advance, especially in a desperate situation, it becomes another matter entirely.
"Dai-chan, what is needed to enter the Zone?" Momoi was curious.
"Huh?" Aomine touched his head and thought before saying, "Love, hard training, talent, and a trigger to enter."
"Is that so... It sounds like Little Midorima fits the conditions perfectly. Is he just missing the trigger you mentioned?"
"It's not that simple."
Aomine shook his head.
If the situation weren't so one-sided, Midorima's chance of stepping into the Zone domain would indeed be high.
Because he met all the conditions to enter the Zone. He only needed to find that trigger, and stepping into the Zone would happen naturally.
"The Zone is something that the more you crave it, the farther it is from you." Aomine looked at the distressed Midorima and said, "That guy Midorima, he's being forced by Yuuto to constantly think about the Zone. But only the Zone can save him now."
"What do you mean? Are you trying to say Yu is doing it on purpose?"
"Who knows what that guy is thinking inside."
Although he said that, Aomine felt in his heart that Yuuto was nine out of ten thinking exactly that.
To enter the Zone, besides meeting the conditions, the most important thing is actually sufficient calmness and focus.
But Yuuto.
He used a massive point difference to constantly pressure Midorima, making it impossible for him to remain calm and focused.
Players are creatures like that; the more they crave victory, the more they think about methods to reach victory.
And the Zone is undoubtedly the best shortcut!
"That's why I hate that guy's basketball. Letting the opponent bring out their best state and then having a manly duel—isn't that romantic?"
Hearing this, Momoi squinted at Aomine.
"Satsuki, what's with that look?!"
"Nothing." Momoi withdrew her gaze. "For Dai-chan, fighting against the strong might be romantic, but for Yu, victory is his romance... Dai-chan, aren't you too childish..."
I'm childish?
Aomine was about to vomit blood. Who exactly is your childhood friend?
...
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