"Scored! Yuuto finally scored!"
"No, not scoring by challenging Kise head-on; doesn't count yet."
"But... when Yuuto scores in front of Kise next time, that will be the end of Kaijo."
Frenzied evolution made mouths dry.
Unknowingly, people's attention shifted from Kise to Yuuto.
They were watching Yuuto, who walked to Kise for full-court marking after making the free throw.
There was an indescribable aura emanating from him.
Like a formed storm, gradually growing, about to sweep the entire court.
The gap returned to single digits again.
Unable to pull away the score, this feeling made the whole Kaijo team feel uneasy.
More importantly, luck seemed to be sucked dry with Kise's explosion.
They could no longer hit those luck shots like in the first half.
...
The match continued.
The fierce battle between Yuuto and Kise continued.
His footwork was more concise, reading the opponent's offense more clearly.
Yuuto looked with his eyes, thought with his brain, felt with his body, not needing to update (his database?).
Kise felt immense pressure, unable to break through Yuuto's blockade for a full 10 seconds.
Such a scene made Kaijo feel depressed from top to bottom, even feeling terror.
14th second of the offensive clock.
Kise had been forced to the right corner.
Seeing most paths blocked, he stomped on the floor and jumped abruptly.
But the moment his right foot landed (jumped?), he felt a burst of pain.
Yet he still gritted his teeth and jumped, flinging the ball into the hoop in Aomine's way.
"Reaching the limit soon?"
Yuuto noticed.
From the explosion of Perfect Copy to entering the Zone, more than ten minutes had passed.
If not for imitating the perfect rhythm, Kise's body would have failed to hold on much earlier.
A slight regret.
Couldn't keep playing.
But Yuuto was satisfied; he had obtained a lot from his opponent.
"At least, defeat you once before your state completely declines."
"This is a return gift!"
Yuuto's eyes were ice-cold. Receiving the ball in the backcourt, he exploded with acceleration directly. Kise chased with all his might, striving to solve Yuuto with the fastest speed.
Result?
Yuuto's hands waved like lightning, the basketball jumping quickly under his hands.
Still the most primitive, basic movements like dribbling, switching hands, changing direction, yet producing a kind of magical effect.
Dazzling golden light erupted from his body, flickering left and right like the sun, constantly changing.
Finally.
He saw three possibilities from Kise's flawless defense.
The Left Eye of God opened abruptly.
In an instant, three possibilities became one.
His correction was all-encompassing, including data collected by his eyes!
And, the fused eyes were of a higher level, seeing farther than Momoi predicted.
Yuuto took a step to the right, but after completing this step, he made an incredible turn to the other side.
The whole process happened in an instant.
At this moment.
Time became incredibly slow. Kise could clearly see the eyes under Yuuto's bangs and feel his own heart stopping.
When time returned to normal, Yuuto had turned into a black light crossing past his side.
"Passed... passed him!"
Someone shouted. The voice grew from small to large.
Like a lit fuse, it quickly spread to the whole arena, detonating the entire gym.
"Yuuto passed Kise!"
Seiho fans in the North stand had waited for this moment for a long time; they immediately erupted with a huge wave of sound.
Kise gritted his teeth, turning to chase, but at this time, a stinging pain came from his ankle again, making his body fall uncontrollably onto the floor.
Without his pursuit, Yuuto's path was unobstructed, dunking over Koji Kobori.
BOOM!
Cheers erupted like a flash flood from the long-suppressed Seiho fans.
They roared, waving their arms and fists, venting the emotions in their hearts.
Point difference.
Still maintained at 9 points, but the situation was already clear.
Kaijo was struck by lightning from top to bottom, unable to accept such a result.
But what shocked their hearts even more was that Kise on the ground was struggling to stand up, only to find that he couldn't stand up by his own strength after a long time.
"It's over, Kise."
"I told you, it stops here."
Yuuto landed and turned to look directly at Kise on the ground.
A not-so-perfect result. He passed Kise, but the opponent's state had reached its limit.
He didn't completely defeat the opponent (at his peak), but there was no way to continue.
Stops here?
Kise propped himself up with his hands, trying hard to stand.
In the second quarter, Yuuto did say such words to him, and it was even possible that he had foreseen the result back then.
But...
"How can it stop here!"
He and Kaijo hadn't won yet!
Yukio Kasamatsu walked over with a sullen face, put Kise's arm on his shoulder, helped him up, and walked towards the bench.
"Of course it won't stop here; we are still here."
...
"Now, you go down and rest for a while."
Kasamatsu's tone was steady, but anyone could hear the unwillingness in his voice.
Because he knew.
Without Kise, they simply couldn't stop the Seiho King.
They... were finished.
Hearing this, Kise lowered his stubborn head. Golden bangs covered his eyes; only his tightly bitten lips could be seen.
Water drops fell from his face.
Drop by drop, from slow to fast, unknown if it was sweat or tears.
This was the last trace he left on the court.
"Kaijo High School requests a substitution..."
The broadcast soon announced the news of Kaijo's substitution.
Kise came off, replaced by a third-year member.
"Sigh~"
Momoi sighed, looking at Kise covering his head with a towel on the bench, shoulders twitching constantly.
...
"Yu is really merciless."
Exiting in such a way probably wasn't what Kise wanted.
He would rather Yuuto defeat him with full strength than be used as a whetstone by Yuuto.
Aomine watched silently.
He began to understand the difference between himself and Yuuto a bit.
Many times, he would choose to suppress his own ability in pursuit of "fun" and "interest."
Trying hard to maintain a certain balance with the opponent.
In the original work, Tōō's first match against Seirin was like this, and the first match against Kaijo too.
Only when the opponent exploded with greater power would he allow himself to go a step further.
Yuuto didn't.
All his behavior patterns were to make himself stronger.
In the past when attribute points weren't enough and corrected memories couldn't be retained, he would not hesitate to improve his state to maintain suppression of the opponent.
Now.
He treated the opponent as a whetstone to train himself.
The desire to win and become stronger, intense to the point of madness, was something he didn't possess.
If he continued to hold the idea that "playing basketball is fine as long as it's fun," maybe he wouldn't be able to surpass Yuuto in the future either.
On the court, looking at his junior, Yukio Kasamatsu promised Kise loudly, "We will definitely hold on to the advantage you created until the end!"
"Don't make promises you can't keep easily."
"Your advantage will disappear in this quarter."
Yuuto stood on the court, looking coldly at all Kaijo members.
Then.
White steam erupted massively from his body, covering him hazily, and his short black hair quickly turned snow-white like flowing water.
Fwoosh~
"Demon Mode!!!"
...
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