Mitsui Hisashi exhaled a long stream of smoke.
His gaze swept across the gym with undisguised contempt.
"Mitsui, this is the basketball club. Please leave."
Kogure stepped forward, frowning.
"Leave?"
Mitsui let out an exaggerated laugh, as if he'd just heard the greatest joke in the world.
"This used to be my territory."
He casually picked up a basketball.
Then, without hesitation—
He pressed the burning tip of his cigarette into it.
"—Ssszzz—"
The smell of scorched rubber spread through the air.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi exploded instantly.
That was a basketball.
A sacred basketball!
He was about to charge forward—
But a hand stopped him firmly.
Miyagi Ryota.
At this moment, Miyagi's face was terrifyingly dark.
His head was lowered, his bangs hiding his eyes.
But the arm holding Sakuragi back trembled violently.
"Don't move, Hanamichi."
His voice was hoarse, forced out through clenched teeth.
"If we fight… we'll be disqualified."
"That's… Captain Akagi's dream."
At the word disqualified, Sakuragi froze.
Rukawa Kaede's gaze turned cold.
Every member of the team stood rooted in place, rage burning in their chests—
But forcibly suppressed.
Mitsui watched this scene, the mockery in his eyes deepening.
He walked up to Miyagi and casually slapped his face.
Smack. Smack.
The sound was crisp.
Humiliating.
"What's wrong, Miyagi?"
"Weren't you acting pretty tough a few days ago?"
"Why are you bowing your head like a dog now?"
Miyagi clenched his teeth.
He didn't dodge.
Didn't retaliate.
"Mitsui…"
Miyagi lifted his head, a trace of pleading in his eyes.
"If there's a problem, let's settle it outside."
"Don't make trouble in the gym."
"Please."
This was the first time Miyagi Ryota had lowered his head.
For basketball.
For Ayako.
For his teammates.
And yet—
That moment of weakness didn't earn sympathy.
It only twisted something deeper inside Mitsui.
"Begging me?"
Mitsui sneered.
Then suddenly—
He lifted his leg and kicked Miyagi hard in the stomach.
"BAM!"
Miyagi groaned, his body flying backward before crashing heavily onto the floor.
"Miyagi!!" Ayako screamed.
"Ryota!"
Sakuragi's eyes turned bloodshot, like an enraged bull.
"DON'T MOVE!!"
Miyagi curled on the ground, clutching his stomach, yet still shouting with everything he had.
"No one makes a move!!"
"Do you want Shohoku to get shut down?!"
That roar froze everyone in place.
Their feet felt like they were filled with lead.
Humiliation.
A suffocating, unbearable humiliation.
Tetsuo stepped forward and planted his foot on the burned basketball, grinding it under his heel.
"This is the thing you treasure so much?"
"What a boring toy."
His gaze swept the gym—
Then stopped in a corner.
There, leaning against the wall, drenched in sweat, Makino Juro held a bottle of water.
Despite everything that had happened—
His expression remained calm.
Like still water.
"Hey, fish-eyes."
Mitsui noticed him too, remembering the humiliation from that alley.
He grabbed a mop and pointed it at Makino Juro.
"Weren't you pretty tough that day?"
"Come on."
"If you dare fight back today…"
"I'll make sure the entire basketball team pays the price."
His grin twisted into something ugly—
Jealousy.
Bitterness.
Madness before self-destruction.
He wanted to destroy this place.
Destroy the place that reminded him of his former glory.
Makino Juro looked at him.
At the former MVP—
Now reduced to something almost pitiful.
He sighed.
"…You really are hard to look at, Mitsui."
His voice wasn't loud.
But in the deathly silent gym, it echoed clearly.
"What did you say?!" Mitsui's expression changed.
Makino Juro set down his water bottle and slowly straightened.
He didn't look at Mitsui.
Instead—
He looked at Miyagi on the floor.
Then at Sakuragi and Rukawa, veins bulging with restrained fury.
He bent down and picked up a basketball at his feet.
His movements were unhurried—
Like preparing for a shot.
"What, you're going to shoot?"
"At a time like this?" Tetsuo scoffed.
"Yeah."
Makino Juro gripped the ball with one hand.
His eyes suddenly sharpened.
In an instant, that lazy aura vanished—
Replaced by a suffocating pressure.
"I'm practicing passing."
"Though… my accuracy isn't great."
Before the words even finished—
His arm snapped forward.
[Kuroko Tetsuya · Accelerated Pass · Modified]
"BOOM!"
The air seemed to explode.
The basketball shot forward like an orange cannonball, tearing through the air with terrifying spin and force—
Straight toward Mitsui's face.
Fast.
Too fast.
So fast even Tetsuo couldn't react.
Mitsui only saw darkness—
A violent gust crashing toward him.
"BANG!!!"
A thunderous impact.
The ball slammed into the metal locker behind Mitsui—
Leaving a massive dent.
It ricocheted back, grazing his cheek.
A few strands of hair drifted down.
A thin line of blood appeared on his face.
If that ball had hit him directly…
Mitsui froze.
Cold sweat soaked his back instantly.
For a moment—
He had felt death.
"Ah."
Makino Juro clapped his hands lightly, wearing a completely insincere expression.
"My hand slipped."
"Sorry. I'm just a beginner."
"My passes aren't very accurate."
Silence.
Even the delinquents were stunned.
That was a pass?!
That was attempted murder!
Makino Juro walked slowly toward Mitsui.
With every step—
His presence grew heavier.
He stopped in front of him and looked down.
"You want to destroy this place?"
His voice was soft—
But it struck like a hammer.
"Because you can't come back… so you don't want anyone else to have it?"
"…How pathetic."
"A coward."
Mitsui's pupils shrank violently.
Rage.
Shame.
And the terror of being seen through—
It all exploded at once.
"Bastard!!"
"Get him!! Break him!!"
This time—
It wasn't a provocation.
It was war.
Tetsuo cracked his neck and stepped forward, clearly itching for a fight.
"Kid… you picked the wrong enemy."
At the same time, Miyagi forced himself up from the floor.
"Master! Watch out!"
Sakuragi finally snapped, ripping off his jersey.
"Screw the qualifications!!"
"You touch my master—I'll crush you all!!"
Rukawa silently picked up a mop from the ground.
The battle was about to erupt.
And at the center of it all—
Makino Juro looked at Tetsuo charging toward him and sighed helplessly.
"I knew it…"
"Why is it so hard just to slack off in peace?"
He shifted slightly, taking on a strange stance.
"Since you're all so eager to throw your lives away…"
"I'll reluctantly help Captain Akagi clean house."
He spoke calmly.
"Close the door."
A pause.
Then—
"Release Sakuragi."