Possession changes.
Tōō High has the ball.
The moment Shoichi Imayoshi received the pass from Kosuke Wakamatsu, Daiki Aomine immediately raised his hand.
"Imayoshi! Ball!"
Imayoshi glanced over, then passed the ball to Aomine.
After all, Aomine was their ace.
In fact, Imayoshi had already noticed something strange. The other players from Kirisaki Daiichi seemed to be deliberately leaving space for him and the others, almost as if they were intentionally giving them open shots.
This puzzled Imayoshi, because he had no idea that everything happening now was part of Miyamoto's preparation for Aomine.
The goal was simple—make Aomine learn to pass, and learn to trust his teammates.
Right now, Aomine was far too selfish.
So selfish that it was as if his teammates didn't even exist in his eyes.
After receiving the ball, Aomine pushed forward into the frontcourt.
This time, he didn't immediately force an attack. Instead, he glanced around at the positions of the Kirisaki Daiichi players.
That single glance made him frown.
Because at this moment, every Kirisaki Daiichi player had deliberately left space for Tōō's other players—including Kosuke Wakamatsu.
Atsushi Murasakibara had even given up the area under the basket entirely, standing in front of Wakamatsu as if to say: the paint is yours.
Aomine frowned.
Even though his teammates were in great positions, he still had no intention of passing.
But forcing a play now wasn't going to be easy.
Setting aside whether he could break through Miyamoto, the help defense from the others alone would be enough to give him trouble.
Nijimura and the others were already collapsing toward him.
His offensive space had become painfully small.
After weighing his options, Aomine finally made his decision...
Shoot.
Without hesitation, Aomine jumped into the air, leaning backward as he flicked the basketball forward with his right hand.
Miyamoto looked at the scene speechlessly.
He truly hadn't expected this.
Even now, he still wouldn't pass.
What, is the ball welded to your hand?
While complaining internally, Miyamoto jumped as well. His left hand precisely tracked the ball and slapped it.
Aomine's heart skipped a beat.
He got it!
He hadn't expected that even such a sudden shot could still be reacted to by Miyamoto.
That level of reaction speed was honestly terrifying.
After being touched by Miyamoto, the ball veered off course.
It landed right in Shogo Haizaki's hands.
Haizaki caught it and immediately passed it to Miyamoto.
He remembered very clearly—this possession belonged to Miyamoto.
Miyamoto didn't launch a fast break after receiving the ball. Instead, he slowly dribbled toward the frontcourt.
His eyes locked onto Aomine.
"Aomine, tell me something."
"Why don't you want to pass?"
Aomine froze for a moment, then replied bluntly:
"What's the point of passing? They can't score."
"Right now, the only one who can score… is me."
Aside from his lack of confidence when facing Miyamoto one-on-one, Aomine's confidence in everything else was overflowing.
After hearing that, Miyamoto finally understood.
There was only one reason Aomine refused to pass.
He didn't trust his teammates.
Because he believed they couldn't score, he kept the ball firmly in his own hands.
As long as he was strong enough to score, that was enough.
That logic wasn't entirely wrong.
But…
What if you couldn't score either?
On the court.
Miyamoto thought for about two and a half seconds before replying:
"I see."
After saying that, he looked at Aomine again and asked coldly:
"Are you ready?"
Aomine paused.
He suddenly felt that Miyamoto had changed somehow.
More pressure.
More oppressive.
But now wasn't the time to think about that.
Aomine nodded.
"Come on, Miyamoto!"
The next second—
Aomine suddenly saw Miyamoto jump for a shot.
He immediately jumped as well, preparing to block it.
But the moment he reached the air—
Miyamoto was gone.
Aomine's eyes widened.
A fake?!
At the same time, he shouted:
"Help defense!!!"
Imayoshi and the others immediately rushed to rotate.
Wakamatsu even abandoned his favorable position to join the help defense.
But Miyamoto didn't panic at all when facing two defenders.
Out of the corner of his eye, he scanned the court.
Then his right hand flicked.
The basketball flew outward.
Imayoshi's expression changed.
A pass?!
Looking toward the perimeter, he saw Shogo Haizaki catch the incoming ball.
Haizaki smirked, crouched slightly, and raised the ball as if preparing to shoot.
Then he jumped.
"No way!"
Aomine, with Zone and Animal Instinct activated, rushed over at incredible speed to contest.
But Haizaki showed no panic.
Mid-air, he gave Aomine a mysterious grin.
Then—
He passed.
The ball flew once again, this time to Shuzo Nijimura standing near the baseline.
Nijimura caught the ball, lightly adjusted his footing, and released the shot.
"Ah… open shots really do feel nice."
Because Aomine had already been baited into jumping by Haizaki, there was no way he could recover in time.
All he could do was watch as Nijimura knocked down the three-pointer.
After the ball went in, Nijimura casually added:
"Aomine, teammates matter."
But judging from Aomine's expression, it was obvious.
He hadn't heard a single word.
...
Possession switches.
Aomine still controlled the ball, his eyes fixed solely on his opponents.
He repeatedly attacked—dribbling, breaking through, pulling up for shots.
But no matter what he tried, he simply couldn't break through Miyamoto's defense.
Most of his shots were blocked outright.
Even when Miyamoto occasionally let him get past, Nijimura and Haizaki would immediately collapse inside to help.
Sometimes even Dicky Anthony would join in for good measure.
Aomine found himself playing under enormous pressure.
On the other side, Kirisaki Daiichi was flowing smoothly.
When Miyamoto held the ball, he could attack or pass at will.
If Aomine gave him even a sliver of space, Miyamoto would release the ball with his almost absurd shooting speed.
If a teammate was open, Miyamoto would deliver a perfectly accurate pass straight to them.
You could say the entire Kirisaki Daiichi offense was flowing through Miyamoto's ball movement.
Kirisaki Daiichi exploded offensively.
Meanwhile, Tōō fell into a scoring drought because Aomine simply couldn't score.
With less than two minutes remaining in the second quarter,
the score had already reached 64–38.
Aomine looked at the ticking clock and the brutal scoreboard.
He fell into deep thought.
Did I… really do something wrong?
For the first time, doubt appeared in Aomine's heart.
He wasn't sure anymore whether he should pass the ball.
And the biggest reason for that hesitation…
went all the way back to his middle school days.
...
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