The ancient aura permeated the arena—Yuuto's wildness, a tyrannosaurus standing at the apex of the food chain.
Of course.
This wasn't surprising, since everyone already knew about it.
What made hearts race was that Yuuto only needed to activate his wildness to match Kagami Taiga in the Zone.
Blinding light burst from his body, golden hues dyeing him entirely, with faint arcs dancing across his form.
At this moment, everyone held their breath.
Yuuto, the boy called a god-like prodigy, had risen from the rural town of Okukozome. A year ago, he'd already created his own legend, leaving behind countless tales.
Since middle school, he'd been hailed as the strongest. To this day, his undefeated record remained intact.
For Yuuto, Kagami Taiga was merely another challenger outside the Generation of Miracles.
Could he succeed?
Everyone was eager to see. The strength Kagami displayed was stunning enough. Called "The Flyer," he was qualified to challenge Yuuto's throne as the strongest.
The deep crimson lightning was as vivid as blood, but it was useless.
Yuuto's body swayed like a pendulum at extreme speed, the basketball dancing between his hands.
Full-power Thunder Dribble, too fast for the naked eye to follow. Each bounce seemed to sync with the spectators' heartbeats.
Then.
BANG!
Yuuto suddenly skipped a major movement, flickering to Kagami's opposite side in an instant.
His ability to seize opportunities was simply too strong. Those eyes were like a demon's, capable of seeing the deepest desires in an opponent's heart.
Even in the Zone, with focus at a player's peak, Kagami's senses were still deceived.
"Even Seirin's number 10 couldn't stop him!"
Yuuto could match the Zone in his normal state—this had already been proven.
But people still held some hope.
Unlike facing Yōsen's Murasakibara, Kagami's build was similar to Yuuto's. Their matchup wasn't a mismatch.
Yet he was still torn apart by Seihō's king.
Yuuto became a beam of light charging toward Seirin's paint.
On the sideline, Aida Riko and the others grew even more serious.
Wildness, Zone—Kagami was now firing on all cylinders, holding nothing back.
If even this couldn't defeat Yuuto, the consequences were unthinkable.
Kagami didn't give up. His feet swiftly pivoted as he pursued.
Moving later but arriving first, his superhuman leaping ability let him complete his ascent almost instantly, casting a shadow over Yuuto.
Jumping speed, hang time, maximum height—all absolutely elite, surpassing the Generation of Miracles.
That wasn't quite accurate—after all, Kagami's talent was Generation of Miracles level. He simply lacked the title.
He extended his arm with full force mid-air, trying to crush Yuuto's shot!
At that moment, Yuuto's eyes suddenly widened, red rings expanding in all directions.
Almost simultaneously, Kagami, behind him, felt a chill run through his body—as if he'd been completely seen through.
The next second.
His arm swiped through empty air. Yuuto had pulled the ball behind his back, flicked his wrist, and the ball arced from behind him, dropping smoothly into the basket.
The shot went in!
Even the Zone wasn't enough to suppress Seihō's king.
Even with superior technique and no size disadvantage, Kagami couldn't stop Yuuto.
"Monster!" Aida Riko had lost count of how many times she'd used that word to describe Yuuto.
But every time she watched Seihō's king play, her amazement never decreased—only grew.
Kagami's master had said Yuuto's talent and combat power were world-class.
She hadn't had a visceral understanding of that before.
Now?
She fully recognized what a world-class genius meant in terms of sheer unreasonableness.
He'd shattered the Zone's undefeated myth, needing only to activate his wildness to compete.
Whoosh!
While she was thinking, Kagami was already moving. The crimson lightning traced a line across the court as he advanced at extreme speed.
Kagami in the Zone was formidable. In the original story, he'd even broken through Akashi's Emperor Eye prediction.
Though that partly involved Akashi letting him through, Kagami was genuinely one of the few geniuses capable of piercing the Emperor Eye.
Yuuto moved his legs in pursuit, Death's Embrace locking onto Kagami.
"Full-court man-marking from the backcourt! Why?"
Kasamatsu and the others had arrived too, including Kise.
His injury wasn't serious—just a normal sports sprain requiring two weeks of rest. It wouldn't affect his future.
Though the doctor advised him not to push himself too often, or his ankle would become "habitually" prone to injury.
"Probably to maximize Kagami's stamina consumption." Kise understood clearly—Yuuto never did anything without reason.
Kagami had three-point range, but not enough to warrant this extreme measure.
And the Zone's biggest weakness was stamina drain.
Yuuto pressing Kagami this hard had only one purpose: accelerate Kagami's energy expenditure.
"At this rate, Kagami might not even last until halftime before his Zone expires." Aomine quickly arrived at this conclusion.
Starting with a showdown against Yuuto at this level wasn't a good choice...
On the court.
Kagami roared internally, challenging the Demon Eyes' perception.
Yuuto didn't attack rashly—he couldn't see Kagami's Dead Point, so he didn't have absolute certainty.
To onlookers, he appeared to be getting pushed back step by step.
Soon, Kagami reached the free-throw line. He didn't use Meteor Jam, because Yuuto hadn't given him the chance—his space was compressed.
Then.
BANG!
Kagami switched the ball to his left hand and drove past Yuuto's right side.
This was the fruit of his summer's labor—overcoming his dominant-hand issue. Both hands were now equally skilled.
This improvement made him more dangerous in the air and his drives more lethal.
BOOM!
With a thunderous sound, Kagami successfully dunked. Yuuto couldn't stop him—his block came a step too late.
"Wow, that Seirin number 11 is amazing." Hayama Kotaro exclaimed.
The current Yuuto was no ordinary opponent—he'd completed corrections against all the Generation of Miracles, elevating himself beyond them.
Breaking through his defense was proof of Kagami's extraordinary talent.
"But it's only temporary." Akashi's tone remained calm.
He'd seen it—Yuuto's pupils had gone blank for a moment before immediately returning to clarity.
This meant he'd already completed his analysis of this possession. From here on, Kagami's offense would only get harder, gradually being dragged into the mud.
Coming back the other way.
Kagami also chose full-court defense on Yuuto.
This game had entered its climax from the very start, with both teams' aces matching up directly.
The two figures clashed intensely on the court, constantly weaving past each other—attack and defend, attack and defend—raising goosebumps.
Unlike the Inter-High, this time Kagami genuinely had the credentials to match up against Yuuto.
Even if this wasn't Yuuto's full power.
"We can't go on like this. We need to use Kagami's Zone state better."
Aida Riko thought quickly, then turned to the player beside her.
"Mitobe, get ready to sub in."
"Subbing now?"
"Yeah. Right now, even Kuroko can't keep up with Kagami's pace."
Aida Riko had made her point clear enough.
Current Seirin could only rely on Kagami alone. Everyone else, including Kuroko, couldn't sync with him.
Rather than forcing it, better to strengthen the team's defense and let Kagami focus all his energy on offense.
...
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