Kazunari Takao sent the pass out, naturally targeting Shintaro Midorima's hands.
Kotaro Hayama snapped back to his senses and looked toward Midorima in mid-air.
In an instant, the ball was in Shintaro Midorima's hands, and he released it without hesitation.
Reo Mibuchi's mouth fell open as he muttered in disbelief:
"You… you've got to be kidding me…"
Chihiro Mayuzumi's pupils trembled.
A three like that… he wouldn't even dare imagine it.
Everyone on the court fixed their eyes on the ball as it flew through the air—then watched it drop cleanly through the hoop.
It didn't even touch the rim.
Swish!!!
Three-pointer good!
72–72.
After making the shot, Shintaro Midorima let out a long breath.
Then his gaze swept across every member of Rakuzan, including Chihiro Mayuzumi.
Possession changed.
Rakuzan ball.
As Eikichi Nebuya stood out of bounds preparing to inbound, he noticed that Shutoku had switched to full-court defense.
Shintaro Midorima and Kazunari Takao closed in on Reo Mibuchi.
Kiyoshi Miyaji kept his eyes locked on Chihiro Mayuzumi, clearly unwilling to let him slip out of sight again.
Shinsuke Kimura watched Kotaro Hayama closely, while Rakuzan's point guard was completely left open.
The only adjustment was Taisuke Otsubo, who had dropped back into the backcourt instead of pressuring his man.
Seeing this, Eikichi Nebuya showed no sign of panic. Instead, he grinned.
"Copying our tactics might work… but only if you can handle one-on-one defense!"
Sure enough, in the very next moment, Kiyoshi Miyaji—who had been staring intently at Chihiro Mayuzumi—suddenly realized…
Chihiro Mayuzumi had disappeared.
Eikichi Nebuya caught it instantly and whipped the ball over.
"Haha! You can't break [Misdirection] just by staring at him!"
Chihiro Mayuzumi caught the ball expressionlessly and pushed into the frontcourt.
As he reached the three-point line, he stopped, then rose straight into a shot.
Taisuke Otsubo rushed over to contest, but he was a step too late.
By the time he spotted Mayuzumi, the shot was already going up.
Swish!!!
Three-pointer good.
75–72.
The crowd erupted into discussion.
"This is insane—nothing but threes! Even fast breaks are ending in three-point shots!"
"Yeah, it feels like scoring two isn't even enough anymore."
"Their shooting percentages are ridiculous. They're barely missing!"
"The scariest one is that guy just now. I didn't even notice him on the court until he had the ball!"
Over in Kirisaki Daiichi's section.
Shogo Haizaki watched the game and frowned.
"That's a problem. He's got the same ability as Kuroko… no, he's even stronger at the fundamentals."
"That means Rakuzan has three scoring threats now. If Shutoku wants to win, they'll have to shut down all three!"
Miyamoto smiled faintly.
"Are you sure it's three?"
Shogo Haizaki looked confused.
"Isn't it?"
Miyamoto replied calmly:
"I only see two and a half."
Shogo Haizaki blinked.
"Huh?"
Miyamoto gave a faint, knowing smile.
"When a shadow tries to stand in the spotlight… is he still a shadow?"
...
On the court.
Shintaro Midorima was going all out. He had Kazunari Takao inbound while he waited in the backcourt.
The referee handed the ball to Kazunari Takao.
At that moment, Shintaro Midorima suddenly jumped straight up from where he stood.
Kazunari Takao tossed the ball high into the air, and Midorima caught it mid-air.
The moment he landed, he flowed straight into his shooting motion.
Reo Mibuchi and Chihiro Mayuzumi's expressions changed instantly as they rushed forward.
All three leapt at the same time. Reo Mibuchi strained, stretching his arm to the limit.
But he still couldn't reach Midorima's release point.
Shintaro Midorima's eyes were sharp as he snapped his left wrist and released the ball.
The ball streaked upward like a beam of light, then dropped cleanly into the net.
Swish!!!
Three-pointer good.
75–75.
This was Shintaro Midorima's [High Projectile Three]!
Afterward, Reo Mibuchi bent over, breathing heavily, his expression grim.
Three straight quarters of relentless three-point shooting—even with teammates sharing the burden—maintaining that level of accuracy had taken a toll on both his body and mind.
It was clear that Reo Mibuchi was reaching his limit.
Shintaro Midorima adjusted his glasses and said calmly:
"You're almost done."
Reo Mibuchi looked at him, seeing that Midorima was only slightly out of breath, and cursed inwardly:
'Monster.'
But what he said aloud was different.
"Hah. Superstitious guy, the game isn't over yet. It's still too early to say which way the scales will tip."
"And besides, I'm not the only three-point shooter on our team."
Shintaro Midorima remained calm.
"No. From the very beginning, the scales have always been tilted in my favor."
"As for your claim… that you're not the only three-point shooter on your team, that's just your own wishful thinking."
With that, he turned and walked away.
Reo Mibuchi stood there, mulling over his words.
On the sidelines, Eiji Shirogane had already noticed that Reo Mibuchi was running out of stamina.
He called a timeout, subbed him out, and gave him time to recover.
From there, the scoring burden fell to Kotaro Hayama and Chihiro Mayuzumi.
In the following stretch, Shutoku tightened their defense on Kotaro Hayama, completely denying him any three-point opportunities.
With no other option, the responsibility for threes fell entirely to Chihiro Mayuzumi.
Throughout the third quarter, Mayuzumi kept knocking down shots, trading baskets with Shintaro Midorima and keeping the score neck and neck.
By the end of the third quarter, it was tied at 87–87.
The crowd buzzed with amazement.
"Unbelievable—Rakuzan actually has another three-point shooter!"
"Yeah, he hasn't missed at all. And I didn't even notice when he got on the court!"
"I just realized Rakuzan has someone this strong."
Over in Kirisaki Daiichi's section.
Miyamoto stood up, hands in his pockets.
Satsuki Momoi closed her notebook and stood up with a sweet smile.
Shogo Haizaki looked puzzled.
"Hey… what's going on?"
Miyamoto smiled faintly.
"Let's go. The game's already decided."
Shogo Haizaki frowned and looked back at the court.
"But the third quarter just ended…"
Smack!!!
........
...
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