Though the shot went in, Kagami felt no joy.
He knew clearly—if he couldn't build a lead during this window, Seirin had no chance.
His fighting spirit was fierce, but his body wasn't a machine. He was still flesh and blood. Sooner or later, he'd hit his limit.
Looking up at Yuuto, he saw almost no wavering in those eyes.
That composure made even Kagami's heart skip a beat.
"Don't let useless thoughts distract you, or you won't even be able to maintain your Zone state."
Yuuto was quite "kind," even reminding Kagami not to overthink and fall out of the Zone.
Zone?
Kagami suddenly froze.
He was slow, but not stupid.
The Zone was never meant to be a regular tool—it should be a last resort for decisive moments.
Using it from the start was essentially handing over victory.
Realizing this, he decided to voluntarily exit the Zone.
This was possible.
Though he'd only entered once before, Yuuto had already completely understood the Zone.
As long as you let your mind wander, no longer focusing solely on the present, you could easily exit the Zone.
"He voluntarily exited the Zone?"
"This way, his stamina remains abundant. Taiga really has grown up."
Alexandra was genuinely happy for her student.
After all, she'd watched him grow up since childhood.
Himuro wasn't as optimistic. "But this means Taiga has to face Yuuto in his normal state—someone even the Zone couldn't suppress!"
If he couldn't win in the Zone, the result in normal state was obvious.
On the court.
Yuuto noticed before anyone else.
"Given up?"
This giving up wasn't about the game—it was about individual victory.
"Yeah. Because I want to beat you." Kagami took a deep breath, spreading his arms wide. "And to beat you, I can't do it alone!"
He had to win with Kuroko—no, with everyone—until the very end!
"You really are naive."
Yuuto dribbled slowly, standing at the top of the arc.
"Basketball is indeed a team sport—that's not wrong. But using 'trust' as an excuse whenever you hit trouble is just running away."
"The moment you made this choice, you were destined never to reach my level."
Team strength was indeed necessary.
Even His Airness, without Pippen and others, still spent seven years of frustration with the Bulls.
But helpers were helpers. Their role was simply not to drag you down.
In the 1986-87 season, Jordan averaged the highest points per game of his career—a terrifying 37.1.
This was the modern-era record since basketball left the distant past. Yet the Bulls still couldn't win.
Why?
Because while he was conquering fortresses, his teammates were getting slaughtered.
To save his useless teammates, Jordan even averaged a triple-double for a stretch—and still couldn't win!
So.
Finding helpers versus finding someone to carry you were fundamentally different.
Seirin was waiting for Kagami to carry them, yet Kagami was turning around to rely on his teammates.
How could Seirin win?
"No matter what you say, you won't shake my resolve." Kagami's eyes were firm.
He'd wavered once before. This time, he absolutely wouldn't waver in his beliefs.
"I won't let you have your way."
He believed Yuuto wanted him to stay in the Zone, so that Seihō would have no worries in the second half.
"You staying in the Zone until you're exhausted would indeed be the best outcome."
"But you still don't understand something. No matter what you do, it won't change the result!"
As they spoke, the shot clock was down to 7 seconds.
For many players, this time was insufficient—especially in a crucial semifinal.
But for Yuuto right now, it was more than enough.
Whoosh~
He became a beam of light, charging forward. Against Yuuto, normal-state Kagami was at a severe disadvantage.
He couldn't stop Yuuto even in the Zone—now it was even more impossible.
He mounted a tenacious defense, constantly shifting position to block, eyes on the ball, ready to poke it loose at any moment.
But the next second, his world suddenly went dark.
Not the gray-white vision of the Zone, but complete blackness.
Then.
A red Dead Point appeared, flickering like a flame about to extinguish.
Kagami also saw Yuuto charging toward that red Dead Point.
The movement wasn't fast—it even seemed slow.
But...
"I can't move! Why?!"
"No—it's not that he's moving slow. He's too fast!"
This was the Demon Eyes—the result they caused was irreversible!
Yuuto's body passed through the Dead Point at high speed.
Almost simultaneously, Kagami's blocking motion finally completed. One foot planted on the floor, but Yuuto's figure was already gone from his sight.
"There it is—Taiga's Dead Point!" Himuro's heart went cold. "It appeared right after he left the Zone!"
This was trouble.
"I heard about it from Taiga's teammates before, but what exactly does it feel like to experience?" Alexandra asked.
She knew very little about so-called Dead Points.
"A kind of... future vision where once it appears, no matter what you do, you can't change the outcome?"
Himuro didn't know how to describe it.
He suddenly thought of an anime he'd recently watched that had a similar ability—fairly close to what Yuuto's eyes could do.
"It's somewhat similar to Akashi's Emperor Eye, being able to see the future in advance. But it's not through heartbeat, breathing, or such things. Instead, it combines data, habits, playing style, even personality—multiple factors synthesized into an advanced prediction."
"...If Akashi's Emperor Eye nullifies all offense and defense, Yuuto's eyes completely 'kill' the opponent's offense and defense!"
Kill?!
This was a word Alexandra hadn't expected at all.
But Kagami felt as if his defense had truly been killed.
His brain could still think normally, but it couldn't send commands to his body in time. Or the commands were sent, but his body couldn't react fast enough.
This sensation was unprecedented, leaving him panicked and at a loss.
Yuuto swept past Kagami like a gust of wind, plunging into Seirin's heart.
"So this is the Demon Eyes? He just left the Zone, and his defense was immediately crushed."
Kiyoshi Teppei and the others all felt their hearts racing.
This was truly terrifying.
His eyes locked firmly onto Yuuto as he charged forward. As Seirin's last line of defense, he had to hold his ground.
However.
Kiyoshi's vision also went black. His own Dead Point had appeared.
BANG!
The sound of dribbling reached his ears. Yuuto had flashed behind him in an instant.
"This..."
Kiyoshi felt a chill down his spine. He didn't even know what had happened before his defense was torn apart, scattered like fragments.
"He scored again!"
"This is Okukozome's Lion King! He's unstoppable!"
"He alone is enough to destroy Seirin's defense!"
"Scoring after consecutively beating Seirin's interior and exterior cores!"
"This is the nation's strongest high schooler!"
"Don't even try to challenge him!"
Okukozome's Winter Cup had ended this year.
Their qualifying team had fallen in the first round, suffering a 59-point blowout.
A humiliating defeat.
As if that miracle in middle school was truly just an accident—heaven's favor, letting Yuuto descend upon their rural town.
Now that Yuuto had left, Okukozome would return to being nobodies.
Without their team, they could only place all their hopes on Yuuto.
...
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