On the sidelines.
Taiga Kagami covered his head with a towel, head lowered as he quietly recovered his strength.
Right now, he was not paying attention to what was happening on the court. He was doing everything he could to calm himself down.
As he adjusted his breathing, he thought back to what Tatsuya Himuro had just said.
'Tatsuya...'
All at once, an intense aura slowly began to rise from Taiga Kagami.
The others might not have sensed it, but Riko Aida, sitting right beside him as the coach, certainly did.
Riko Aida looked at Taiga Kagami in surprise and delight, then murmured, "Could it be..."
Over on the Kaijō side.
Ryota Kise was almost the same as Taiga Kagami, with a towel draped over his head.
He kept his head down, regulating his breathing, paying no attention at all to what was happening on the court.
As he breathed, Ryota Kise glanced at his slightly trembling right hand and muttered, "So... it really was too much after all?"
Then Ryota Kise clenched his right hand tightly and whispered, "But... I really want to win!"
...
On the court.
The fourth quarter began.
Seirin had possession.
After Taiga Kagami left the court, Tatsuya Himuro took his place at power forward.
Shun Izuki returned to the point guard position.
After receiving Teppei Kiyoshi's inbound pass, Shun Izuki immediately broke into a sprint.
At the start of the fourth quarter, they had to cling to the score. More precisely, they had to tie it!
Only then would there be a little less pressure when Taiga Kagami returned in the second half of the fourth quarter.
Shun Izuki sprinted into the frontcourt, while Yukio Kasamatsu spread his arms, ready to defend with everything he had.
The rest of Kaijō was the same. Before Ryota Kise returned to the court, they had to hold on to the score no matter what.
They did not need to widen the gap by much. At the very least, they had to lock down their lead.
Shun Izuki arrived in front of Yukio Kasamatsu, dribbling while using [Eagle Eye] to read the situation.
Just as he was observing the court, a strange presence suddenly swept across it.
Everyone on the court had their attention drawn to Tatsuya Himuro.
At that moment, Tatsuya Himuro had his head lowered, making it impossible to see his face clearly.
But around his body, faint flickers of orange light had begun to appear.
It was a strange aura, carrying a trace of cunning.
When Yukio Kasamatsu saw this, his expression turned ugly.
'Damn it. Of all times, why now?'
The next instant.
Tatsuya Himuro's aura burst out completely with a boom, and an orange-yellow figure slowly emerged behind him.
At the same time, that figure let out a... strange laugh.
It was a fox!
The very image of intelligence, beauty, and cunning.
After unleashing his Animal Instinct, the impression Tatsuya Himuro gave off began to change as well.
It seemed... graceful... ahem.
The moment Tatsuya Himuro unleashed his Animal Instinct, he rushed out and extended both hands.
As the point guard, Shun Izuki knew exactly what that meant.
So he immediately passed the ball over.
After catching the ball, Tatsuya Himuro showed no hesitation. He crouched at the three-point line, then suddenly raised his center of gravity and made a shooting motion.
Mitsuhiro Hayakawa leaped up, instantly cutting into Tatsuya Himuro's shooting path!
But once he was in the air, he realized...
He had been fooled!
Tatsuya Himuro had not jumped at all!!!
Tatsuya Himuro smiled slyly, and the fox behind him let out that strange laugh again.
Then Tatsuya Himuro dribbled easily toward the inside, and Yoshitaka Moriyama immediately stepped up to help defend.
Tatsuya Himuro calmly raised the ball, then used a change-of-direction fake to shake off Yoshitaka Moriyama once more.
Yoshitaka Moriyama clenched his teeth in frustration.
'Damn it, that fake looked way too real!'
That was right. Once Tatsuya Himuro activated his Animal Instinct, his fakes became even more convincing.
He was already a master of fakes to begin with. After unleashing his Animal Instinct, those fakes looked so real they could hardly be called fake anymore!
After easily getting past two defenders, Tatsuya Himuro faced Kōji Kobori's help defense and immediately made a passing motion.
Kōji Kobori was afraid Tatsuya Himuro would pass to the open Teppei Kiyoshi, so he took a step back.
But that one step was all Tatsuya Himuro needed. He jumped straight up on the spot.
'Crap!'
Kōji Kobori's heart tightened as he realized he had been tricked, and he hurriedly rushed forward and jumped.
Seeing this, another smile appeared on Tatsuya Himuro's face.
Then, while still in midair, he fired the ball out.
It landed in Teppei Kiyoshi's hands.
"Himuro, nice pass!"
After catching the ball, Teppei Kiyoshi did not hesitate at all. He jumped right where he stood.
A standing leap!
Boom!!!
Two points counted!
The score was 93 to 98.
After landing, Kōji Kobori slapped his own head in frustration.
He had been tricked numb.
On that one play, Tatsuya Himuro had fooled him twice. He had almost been tricked right out of his underwear.
Yukio Kasamatsu stepped over in time, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Don't get discouraged. Defend seriously! Don't let the underclassmen look down on us!"
After hearing that, Kōji Kobori nodded firmly and turned to inbound the ball.
Possession changed hands.
As the team in the lead, Kaijō High School naturally had no need to rush for points.
If they panicked and got dragged into a scoring battle with Seirin, they would only fall into Seirin's trap instead.
What they needed to do now was stay steady. Steady the score, and steady their minds.
As long as they could hold on until Ryota Kise returned to the court, they believed they would win this game.
This was not blind arrogance. It was trust. Their trust in their ace, Ryota Kise!
Yukio Kasamatsu slowly brought the ball up the court. After crossing half court, he did not launch a quick attack, but began to observe instead.
At the same time, the Kaijō players also started moving.
Kōji Kobori gritted his teeth, constantly battling Teppei Kiyoshi for better position.
That desperate fight for position was enough to make even Teppei Kiyoshi feel a little troubled.
Teppei Kiyoshi frowned slightly and thought, 'They're already going this hard?'
Then Teppei Kiyoshi looked at his slightly trembling legs and thought to himself, 'Hang in there, old buddy!'
That was right. Teppei Kiyoshi's legs were starting to lose strength.
His injury had only just healed, and he had already pushed himself hard enough during the preliminaries.
He had not expected the very first game of the National Tournament to be even more brutal!
But this was the choice Teppei Kiyoshi had made for himself.
He wanted to play! He wanted to give it everything he had!
'Let me push myself one more time!'
Teppei Kiyoshi gritted his teeth hard and began to exert force, spinning around to seal Kōji Kobori out.
At the same time, he also cut off Kōji Kobori's path to receive the ball...
...
...
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