Akashi's vision was absolutely correct.
The Emperor Eye, at least the Complete Emperor Eye, was definitely a Red-level talent.
After all, Yuuto's Left Eye of God had evolved to Purple, and there was still a gap in ability compared to the complete Emperor Eye.
It was almost certain that the Emperor Eye and the Demon King Eye (Nash's Belial Eye) were both Red-level talents.
So...
This world is still vast.
Nash, possessing the Demon King Eye, was beaten until his Daoist heart shattered. One can imagine how many monsters exist on the other side of the Pacific.
Jordan, Kobe, Iverson, James, Curry, Durant...
How strong are these people, the superstars of this world?
Yuuto didn't know, but he looked forward to it.
Beep~
The whistle for the end of the first half sounded.
The audience woke up as if from a dream. Unknowingly, the match had proceeded for two quarters.
At this time.
The score on the field was 54:46; Kaijo temporarily trailed Seiho by 8 points.
Yuuto completed a few beautiful defensive plays, but wanting to completely freeze Kise in this state was also hard to do.
When a player's strength reaches a certain level, if they want to score, it is usually unstoppable.
You can only do your best to interfere, affect the opponent's shooting percentage, and seize some critical moments to force turnovers.
Moreover, Kaijo was in hot form today.
Both sides returned to the locker rooms.
...
Kaijo locker room.
After everyone returned, they gasped for breath and seized the time to rehydrate.
No one spoke.
They had done their best, and the team's cohesion displayed a state they couldn't imagine.
But the result was cruel; the point difference on the field proved everything.
Yukio Kasamatsu clenched his fist.
He wanted to win; this was his last Nationals in high school. He wanted to help Kaijo win once in his final moments.
But he couldn't show it because he was the captain.
Suppressing the unwillingness and unease in his heart, he stood up and clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention, saying some words to encourage his teammates.
Then he saw Kise sitting in the corner without a word.
Expressionless, but Kasamatsu could see the self-blame in the other's heart.
Similar to himself last year, attributing the responsibility of falling behind to himself.
He walked over, didn't raise his foot to kick, but gently patted Kise's shoulder and said:
"The reason a team is a team is because the dozen of us are all in the same boat. Don't try to carry everything on your own shoulders; that is arrogance."
"Of course, I don't mean for you to give up, but for you to work harder, to win against that Lion of Seiho together."
"Osu..."
Kise nodded vigorously.
His thoughts were a bit messy just now, unsure of what he wanted.
He started playing basketball just because he liked sports, but other sports didn't have people he couldn't defeat no matter how hard he tried. Basketball had them, so he naturally started playing.
Little Aomine, Little Midorima, Little Murasakibara, Little Akashi, and... Little Yuuto!
They were all people he wanted to defeat the most.
But after the battle with Seirin, he had different thoughts.
He felt that winning matches with such great teammates at Kaijo might be more important than defeating those five people.
But in the end.
He achieved nothing, just like a year ago when he failed to help the team stop Yuuto from reaching the top.
This year, he also failed to prevent the tragedy from happening.
Clearly not having experienced the seniors' regrets last year, he could truly feel that heartbreaking moment.
He was hailed as a genius at the same level as Yuuto and the others; the coach believed his potential was infinite.
This year everyone grew, and he seemed to have become stronger, yet there was no growth at all.
He even felt nothing about that loss last year; after all, it was only his second year (of playing?), and he couldn't understand Akashi's heartache.
But now...
"Damn it." He grabbed his chest, where a suffocating unwillingness came from, making him want to vent it out.
Now.
He didn't want to think about defeating Yuuto and the others, nor did he consider leading the team to victory together.
He just wanted, simply wanted to prove that his basketball life so far...
Was valuable!
This strong unwillingness quickly swallowed him, making him forget everything around him, forget the passage of time.
He was completely immersed in his own world.
Then.
Boom~
A door suddenly opened to him. It seemed to contain treasures ahead, and Kise's body stepped into it involuntarily.
...
Almost simultaneously, Yukio Kasamatsu in the outside world felt a chill all over.
"This feeling... could it be!"
He widened his eyes to stare at Kise, only to find his teammate's pupils were ice-cold.
"Zone?!"
Other teammates also noticed the change in Kise, instantly daring not to breathe loudly, as if afraid of affecting Kise.
"Everyone else, come here." Genta Takeuchi grabbed the tactical board without a word to draw and write.
...
Second half of the match continued.
The moment players from both sides walked out of the tunnel, the scene erupted with enthusiastic cheers, almost overturning the arena.
Kise was silent, his gaze passing through the noisy crowd to lock onto the court.
...
In an instant.
Yuuto, Akashi, Aomine, and others all felt something unusual.
They stared dead at Kise. The moment the latter looked up, golden electric arcs flashed from the corners of his eyes.
Zzzzt~
"Zone!"
Taiga Kagami couldn't help but stand up from his seat, hurriedly sitting down only after complaints from the audience behind.
"Kagami, what did you see?"
"Zone. That guy Kise, entered it."
Even without truly stepping in, that feeling was especially familiar to him, very similar to Demon Mode Yuuto.
Referee blew the whistle.
Tsutomu Iwamura inbounded personally, preparing to give it to Ryuhei Kasuga, only to see Yuuto actively walking over and opening his hand.
"What's wrong, Yuuto?"
"Give me the ball."
Yuuto didn't explain, just asked his teammate to give him the ball. The latter did so.
Then.
The moment he received the ball, Kise, radiating golden light, appeared in front of him.
That terrifying concentration, almost tangible, brought endless pressure.
"This feeling, could it be..."
"Zone!"
Iwamura and Kasuga's faces changed drastically.
Finally understood why Yuuto wanted to control the ball personally; it was because Kaijo's Ace also stepped into that domain of geniuses.
"Perfect Copy plus Zone?!"
Many people were shocked. What would happen with such a combination?
No one knew. The only certainty was that the current Kise was absolutely unbelievably strong.
...
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