At the free throw line.
Maki Shinchiro lightly bounced the basketball twice in his hands.
"Bang… bang…"
The sound felt like it was striking against everyone's heartbeat.
The rhythm was steady.
Calm.
Yet suffocating.
"Swish!"
The free throw went in.
The gap shrank to 12 points.
Maki did not retreat on defense.
He remained standing there.
Those eyes, glowing with an eerie purple light, locked tightly onto Sendoh Akira.
The atmosphere became heavy, as if the air itself had been filled with lead.
This was...
"Emperor Resonance."
That oppressive aura didn't just connect with his teammates.
It also placed pressure on his opponents.
Ryonan's players felt their hands and feet grow cold.
As if they were trapped deep beneath the ocean.
Every movement required them to fight against enormous resistance.
"..."
Sendoh lowered his head and stared at the floor.
Then suddenly...
A soft laugh broke the silence.
That laugh on the tense battlefield sounded as out of place as a needle dropping onto the ground.
"Maki…"
"You're finally willing to stop holding back."
Sendoh slowly raised his head.
The gentle, calm black eyes that usually seemed as warm as water—
Now contained no emotion at all.
Only absolute coldness.
And extreme focus.
The next second.
"Crackle!!"
A faint blue electric arc erupted from the corner of Sendoh's eye.
So realistic that if someone wasn't paying close attention, they might mistake it for a trick of the lights.
But the people who sensed it...
Immediately felt their scalps go numb.
"What?!"
On the Shohoku spectator stand, Rukawa Kaede's usually expressionless face instantly shattered.
His pupils contracted violently.
His hands gripped the railing tightly.
His knuckles turned pale from the force.
That feeling…
That instinct like a beast sensing another predator…
It was exactly the realm he had been chasing.
"Impossible…"
"Sendoh…"
"This guy actually opened that door before me?"
Rukawa gritted his teeth.
His voice was dry.
"Hoh?"
Beside him, Makino Juro's eyes flashed with surprise.
"This level of wild instinct…"
"And he's already reached a half-step Zone state."
Juro rubbed his chin.
The corner of his mouth curled into an amused smile.
"Interesting. Absolutely insane."
"I thought this would be a one-man show for Maki."
"Didn't expect Sendoh to have hidden himself this deeply."
"Looks like Maki forced it out of him."
"Now this game just became interesting."
On the court.
Sendoh's entire presence had changed.
If he had been a magician controlling the entire battlefield before...
Then now…
He was an unsheathed demon blade.
Sharp.
Dangerous.
Impossible to predict.
"Come."
Sendoh held the ball.
He rejected the screen.
And directly challenged the rampaging Maki.
"Exactly what I wanted."
Maki snorted.
His center of gravity dropped.
The purple aura around him exploded.
The two collided instantly.
No testing.
No hesitation.
Just pure force against force.
"BOOM!!"
The sound of muscles colliding was as heavy as thunder.
Maki's strength surged forward like a tsunami.
But this time...
He couldn't simply break through like before.
Sendoh was like a flexible bamboo tree.
Bending to its limit under a violent storm.
Yet never breaking.
"Right there!"
Blue light burned in Sendoh's eyes.
At the exact moment Maki pushed forward—
Sendoh somehow predicted the shift in his opponent's center of gravity.
His body twisted like a ghost.
Sliding past Maki's ribs like a slippery eel.
"He got through!!"
Uozumi shouted excitedly.
His saliva nearly flew out.
"Too naive!"
Maki's reaction speed was beyond common sense.
The moment his balance was lost—
He forcibly twisted his waist.
One huge hand shot out from behind like an iron clamp.
Straight toward the basketball.
He was going for the steal!
However...
It was as if Sendoh had eyes behind his head.
The basketball in his hand lightly tapped backward.
Changing its trajectory.
Barely avoiding Maki's steal.
Then returning perfectly into his control.
Perfect harmony between player and ball.
Sendoh entered the paint.
Facing Takasago's defense—
He jumped immediately.
Aerial adjustment.
Avoiding the block.
A reverse finish.
"Swish!"
The movement was smooth.
Beautiful.
Like a painting brought to life.
"Great play!!"
The Ryonan bench exploded.
Aida Hikoichi was so excited he threw his notebook into the air.
"Did you see that?!"
"That's Sendoh-senpai!"
"Even a rampaging Maki Shinchiro can't stop him!"
But Juro's expression did not relax.
"Not that simple."
He shook his head.
His eyes remained on Maki.
"Maki's Zone isn't just some childish boost to his personal ability."
"That's the terrifying part."
"His Zone comes with a team-wide buff aura."
Before his words finished—
Kainan's counterattack had already arrived.
Maki pushed the ball forward.
His speed was like thunder.
Sendoh immediately stepped up.
Blue light flickered in his eyes.
He locked down the route.
The two faced each other again beyond the three-point line.
This time...
Maki didn't force a drive.
He stood at the top of the arc.
Then suddenly...
That purple emperor-like aura expanded outward.
Like an invisible net.
Covering every Kainan player.
"Move!"
Maki shouted.
That single command seemed to carry a strange power.
Jin Soichiro and Kiyota Nobunaga—
Players whose stamina had already reached their limits.
Suddenly accelerated as if injected with adrenaline.
"Emperor Resonance."
Juro softly said those words.
"The entire team entering berserk mode…"
"Who can possibly stop that?"
This was what made Maki Shinchiro terrifying as the King of Kanagawa.
His Zone didn't only enhance himself.
Through his presence and leadership...
He forcibly raised his teammates' concentration and competitive state.
As long as he remained on the court—
Every member of Kainan became an unstoppable soldier who didn't know fatigue.
The situation changed instantly.
Jin moved wildly without the ball.
Using Takasago's screen—
He shook off Koshino by half a step.
At that exact moment...
Maki moved.
He didn't even look.
His wrist flicked.
The basketball transformed into a purple blur.
Perfectly slicing through Ryonan's defense.
The ball arrived.
The player arrived.
Jin received it.
Jumped.
Released.
The motion was as perfect as a precision machine.
"Swish!"
Three points.
"ROAR!!"
Jin clenched his fist and shouted.
The usually gentle and polite shooter finally revealed a hint of fierceness.
Score:
48 : 59
The gap returned to 11 points.
For the next five minutes.
The entire gym became an arena where two monsters fought.
Sendoh Akira.
Wrapped in blue lightning.
Pushing his "wild instinct" to its absolute limit.
Every pass was filled with imagination.
Every breakthrough was like dancing on the edge of a blade.
A no-look behind-the-back pass that created a dunk for Fukuda.
An impossible mid-air adjustment layup.
Even on defense—
His terrifying instincts allowed him to predict Kiyota's cut and steal the ball instantly.
He was unstoppable.
But…
Maki Shinchiro was stronger.
Or rather...
The current Maki Shinchiro was even more impossible to deal with.
Because he wasn't fighting alone.
Under his command...
The entire Kainan team had become one.
"Defense!!"
With one command from Maki—
Kainan's defensive formation instantly collapsed inward.
Like an iron wall that blocked every path.
Fukuda Kicchou had barely received the ball before Jin and Kiyota trapped him.
He couldn't even stabilize his dribble.
Uozumi tried to overpower the inside.
But he discovered that Takasago's strength had increased dramatically compared to the first half.
He was firmly holding his ground.
Preventing him from turning.
Ryonan's offense began to slow.
Every bit of pressure.
Every ounce of responsibility.
Was now placed on one person.
Sendoh Akira.
END OF CHAPTER
The King Of Slacking Off - MrBehringer's Secret
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