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Whistle…
The whistle blew to end the second quarter.
But just when everyone thought the game was over…
Swish…
Thump thump thump…
The basketball flew through Too's hoop and landed on the ground, drawing everyone's attention.
The scoreboard showed a tie again.
47 to 47.
Everyone stared blankly at the basketball now lying on the ground.
"What just happened? How did the basketball suddenly land in Too's hoop?"
"Oh my god! Shouldn't Too be leading? How did it become 47 to 47?"
Many spectators rubbed their eyes, looking at the scoreboard with confusion.
47 to 47.
"What on earth is going on?"
…
While everyone was still confused,
several people's gazes were fixed on Ryu.
No, to be precise, they were fixed on Midorima (Ryu), who was standing at the baseline of Too Academy.
"You bastard."
Aomine stood outside the three-point line of Toho Kotei Gakuen, watching Midorima (Ryu), who was using [Phantom] at the baseline.
How could he have forgotten that his opponent possessed this ability?
Now he was beginning to feel that Ryu was truly impossible to defend against.
Just thinking about the techniques Ryu knew gave him a headache.
He turned and walked towards his team's bench with his teammates.
Ryu also transformed back into his original form and headed towards his bench.
However, he was escorted down by his teammates.
Kamimono and the others surrounded him, excitedly encouraging each other.
They had all thought the match was over.
But unexpectedly, Ryu transformed into Midorima and unleashed a buzzer-beating three-pointer.
The audience, witnessing this, erupted in cheers and shouts once again.
This match was truly spectacular.
The duel between the two sides was absolutely captivating; it was, without a doubt, incredibly high-energy from start to finish.
Even the organizers were extremely surprised.
In all their years of organizing the high school league, this was the first time they had encountered a match like this.
Not to mention the audience.
Even they were thrilled, banging on the tables in approval.
The coaches from various universities exchanged bewildered glances, unsure how to evaluate the match.
Ryu and Aomine had completely shattered their expectations.
It wasn't their skill that shocked them.
While Ryu and Aomine's extraordinary techniques were undeniably captivating,
what truly astounded them was their strategic maneuvering and counter-strategies.
It was practically an art form.
"For two whole quarters, they let their aces go head-to-head like that!"
In the stands,
Hyuga Junpei exclaimed in surprise.
Aida Riko explained,
"There's nothing we can do about it. The Generation of Miracles is just too good. The others simply can't keep up. If they interfere, they'll only be a liability, and the result will be like that number 1 from Toho Kotei Gakuen."
Koganei Shinji interjected,
"They're not going to keep going one-on-one like this forever, are they? Will they be able to keep up physically?"
After thinking for a moment, Aida Riko said,
"Since the start of the match, those two have been fighting fiercely, but I always felt like they weren't using their full strength."
"Not using their full strength? No way."
The Seirin members all widened their eyes.
Kagami Taiga spoke up.
"Impossible! Ryu even used the [Selfless State], and Aomine is using even faster speed than before."
"That's not right."
Kuroko suddenly spoke up at this moment.
...
On the other side,
Midorima's green eyes behind his glasses lingered between Ryu and Aomine.
"Ryu only used the [Selfless State] at crucial moments; otherwise, he hasn't used it again."
Hearing this, Shutoku and the others also seemed thoughtful.
Takao asked in confusion,
"Oh yeah, now that you mention it, it does seem to make sense. Why not use that move when you could easily beat them?"
...
"It's about stamina!"
Kise explained to his teammate.
Kasamatsu Yukio was somewhat puzzled.
"Stamina? Even so, you could widen the score gap first. What's wrong with wasting some stamina?"
"That makes sense!"
Kise said,
"But the problem is, this match is between Ryu and Aomine. There are still two quarters left. If Ryu uses [Selfless State] to take the lead, Aomine will definitely catch up, even overtake him."
He paused, then continued,
"They are both ace players from the Generation of Miracles. They each possess absolute dominance in catching up, so ignoring stamina to widen the score gap isn't a wise move."
After hearing Kise's explanation, the Kaijo team understood the key point.
In the Too bench area,
Harasawa, pulling at his bangs, addressed the Too players before him.
"You've all done well so far, but we can't let this continue. The other team has pulled ahead, and we have to find a way to close the gap too."
Just then,
Aomine waved his hand and said,
"I'm not listening anymore."
With that, he walked out of the arena.
"Aomine..."
Momoi called out from behind, clearly annoyed.
But Aomine didn't turn around to answer her, making Momoi stomp her feet in frustration.
Imayoshi Shoichi, seeing this, spoke up.
"Alright, Momoi, let him be!"
Hearing his captain say this,
Momoi temporarily stopped thinking about Aomine.
She picked up her notebook and opened it.
"So far, both sides seem evenly matched, but if this continues, we might lose."
Hearing Momoi's words, the expressions of the Too team turned serious.
They highly regarded the abilities of this former manager of the Generation of Miracles.
Now that she was saying something like this, it meant there was something they didn't know.
"Could you explain in detail?"
Imayoshi Shoichi asked.
Momoi nodded and then explained,
"Logically, continuing like this shouldn't be a problem, but the key lies with Ryu. From my investigation, Ryu seems to be hiding something, and he hasn't used his [Selfless Realm] much yet."
Hearing Momoi's explanation, Wakamatsu Kosuke interjected,
"Then what do we do? We can't stop that monster."
Imayoshi Shoichi frowned slightly.
"Even if it's like you say, it's okay, right? Aomine didn't use his full strength either, did he?"
Momoi understood what Imayoshi Shoichi meant.
She paused for a moment, then said,
"That's true, but I always have a nagging unease. Ryu has always liked to hide things, which is why everyone thought he was the strongest back in middle school. He always unleashed amazing moves suddenly. So I think Ryu must be hiding something too, though I don't know why. Maybe it's because of stamina, or maybe some kind of limitation. In any case, we have to find a way to get someone other than Aomine to score."
After hearing Momoi's explanation,
the Too team fell into deep thought.
Too's coach, Harasawa, spoke up.
"Momoi is right. Our overall strength is inferior to theirs. If we rely solely on Aomine, we'll become increasingly passive as the match progresses. So we have to find a way to score from other areas."
Hearing their coach say this,
the Too team finally realized their unrealistic thinking.
They had become accustomed to subconsciously entrusting the match to their ace.
But this time was different.
The opposing team had an opponent of equal strength their ace.
Moreover, the opposing team's overall strength was stronger than theirs.
Once their ace was contained by the opponent's ace,
then they would ultimately be mercilessly crushed by the opponent's other players.
Thinking of this, the Too team finally took this problem seriously.
Imayoshi Shoichi spoke up.
"In that case, let's discuss the arrangements for the next stage!"
"Based on the previous data analysis and observations from the first two quarters, I've made some adjustments to the data of the other four players from Toho Kotei Gakuen."
...
On the other side,
Toho Kotei Gakuen's bench area,
Ryu sat on the bench, slightly panting.
The duel with Aomine was supposed to be about conserving energy, but things didn't go as planned.
If the pace doesn't change in the third quarter,
by the fourth quarter, he probably won't even be able to maintain his [Selfless State] for 5 minutes, let alone deal with Zone's ultimate attack.
He was considering the possibility of widening the score gap with Too ahead of time.
The final answer told him it was impossible and pointless.
There was only one reason:
The opponent was Aomine.
It was that simple.
Kamimono stood up and addressed the group.
"I think we can't let Ryu bear the pressure alone. We have to do something."
Hearing his words,
everyone turned to look at him.
Kamimono continued,
"Their overall strength is clearly weaker than ours, and their ace is always being held back by Ryu. If those two fight to the death, we'll be the only ones left. I think they'll realize this and develop a countermeasure."
Hearing their captain's analysis, the members of Toho Kotei Gakuen nodded in agreement.
Ryu smiled and said,
"You're right. Too won't let this unfavorable situation continue. Their captain isn't someone to be trifled with. And don't forget, they also have Momoi. Don't be fooled by her appearance. If you underestimate her, you'll suffer a great loss."
The members of Toho Kotei Gakuen had naturally heard Ryu talk about Momoi.
Therefore, they took Ryu's reminder seriously.
Kamimono scanned the group and then said,
"Ryu's task is to deal with Aomine. We won't interfere in your matches after this. Please rest assured."
He still felt guilty for his previous presumptuousness.
Ryu waved his hand.
"I already said this isn't your fault, and you didn't do anything wrong, Captain. Your choice was correct, but what seemed like the right approach was ineffective against the Generation of Miracles."
Kamimono shook his head with a wry smile, then continued,
"I think they'll try to score against the four of us. That's something they have to do to win, so we just need to be careful about that."
It had to be said,
Kamimono certainly had the mind of a captain.
The coach's choice to make him the team's captain was reasonable.
In the following time,
except for Ryu, everyone else began discussing tactics and countermeasures against Too.
…
Outside the arena, on an outdoor court,
Aomine stood alone under the basket.
A basketball spun on his fingers.
He didn't look up, remaining silent throughout.
But a smile appeared on his lips,
a smile that hadn't appeared on his face for a long time.
Zzzzt...
A flash of azure light streaked across his azure eyes.
...
The halftime break was short, only 15 minutes.
In the blink of an eye, the 15 minutes were up.
Whistle...
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd,
the referee stood in the center of the field and blew the whistle to start the second half.
The shouts from the stands were deafening.
The players Toho Kotei Gakuen and Too Academy returned to the field.
Their positions were unchanged.
But everyone could feel it.
The chilling aura emanating from the field was rapidly spreading outwards.
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