Sendoh let out a long, exhausted breath and wiped away the sweat about to drip from the corner of his eyes.
Then he turned around.
Facing Kainan's surging momentum.
Facing the seemingly invincible Maki Shinichi.
The corners of his lips curled upward once more.
But this time, there was none of his usual carefree laziness.
Only the tragic resolve of someone prepared to fight to the very end.
"It's okay..."
Sendoh murmured softly, as if speaking only to himself.
"I'm still here."
At the free-throw line, Maki calmly sank the shot.
72:73.
Kainan took the lead.
And they still had possession.
The nightmare...
Had only just begun.
Play resumed.
Without Uozumi, Ryonan's interior defense was like a tiger that had lost its fangs.
Backup center Yuradaira stepped onto the court with obvious hesitation.
Against the relentless assault of Takasago and Maki, he looked like a lone leaf struggling to survive in the middle of a hurricane.
"Give me the ball!"
Maki gave Ryonan no chance to catch its breath.
Like a heavily armored tank, he bulldozed straight through their fragile defense.
Without Uozumi's help defense...
Who could possibly stop the rampaging King?
Ikegami?
His technique might be excellent, but before overwhelming strength, skill alone meant nothing.
Bang!
Maki powered through Ikegami and stormed into the paint.
Facing Yuradaira's help defense, he didn't even bother with a fake.
He exploded upward, smashing into him in midair.
Tweet!
The whistle blew.
The basket counted.
"And one!"
The referee's signal came down mercilessly once again.
The Kainan bench erupted.
Kiyota Nobunaga swung his towel wildly as he screamed.
"Captain Maki is unbeatable!!"
"Crush them completely!!"
72:75.
The free throw was good.
72:76.
The lead stretched to four.
1 minute and 50 seconds remained.
For Ryonan...
Every passing second felt like they were bleeding out.
"Get the ball to Sendoh! He's all we've got left!"
Taoka Moichi roared from the sidelines, his voice filled with desperate hope.
Sendoh received the ball.
His vision had already begun to blur.
His lungs burned so fiercely that every breath tasted like rust.
The backlash from Zone was tearing his body apart.
Every muscle screamed in protest.
But he couldn't stop.
The moment he stopped...
Ryonan's season would be over.
"Come."
Dribbling the ball, Sendoh faced the double-team of Maki Shinichi and Kiyota Nobunaga.
His eyes remained calm.
Terrifyingly calm.
"Mirage..."
Makino Juro watched the swaying blue figure from the stands, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"A mirage... burning itself away in the depths of despair?"
"Sendoh Akira..."
"Show me where your limit truly lies."
On the court...
Sendoh moved.
No burst of speed.
No crossover.
The instant the double-team closed in...
He suddenly slammed the ball into the floor.
Bang!
The basketball rebounded barely inches off the hardwood.
At the same time...
His body seemed boneless.
Flowing perfectly along the ball's rebound path, he slipped through the tiny gap between Maki and Kiyota in an almost impossible motion.
A split between man and ball?
No.
It was something beyond that.
A perfect fusion of man and ball, threading a gap no one else could even see.
"What?!"
Kiyota only saw a blur.
The blue figure had vanished.
"You're not getting away!"
Maki reacted instantly, spinning around to chase him.
But at the exact moment he turned—
Sendoh stopped on a dime.
Near the free-throw line...
He rose into the air.
His shooting form wasn't textbook.
In fact...
It looked awkward.
His legs no longer possessed enough strength to support a proper jump shot.
This shot relied on nothing but touch...
And sheer willpower.
"Not happening!!"
Jin Soichiro rotated over from the side, his long arm fully extended to erase every shooting angle.
Just as everyone thought the shot was about to be blocked—
The airborne Sendoh...
Smiled.
His wrist folded in an unbelievable motion.
His shooting form transformed into a pass in midair.
The basketball shot forward like a precision-guided missile, grazing Jin's fingertips as it flew toward the basket.
There...
Where no one seemed to be.
But the instant the pass arrived—
A figure stumbled into the lane.
Koshino!
The usually unremarkable role player gritted his teeth and sprinted toward the rim with everything he had.
"Catch it!!"
Koshino roared inside his heart.
He caught it.
Jumped.
Laid it up.
Smack!
A giant hand violently slapped the ball away.
Maki Shinichi.
That monster...
Had actually recovered to the basket after being beaten off the dribble.
Despair.
Watching his layup swatted away, Koshino's heart sank into darkness.
"It's not over yet!!"
A sharp shout rang through the court.
The blocked basketball...
Didn't fly out of bounds.
A slender hand intercepted its trajectory in midair.
Sendoh!
The moment he released the pass and landed, he had already charged toward the rim.
He had anticipated Maki's block!
Or rather...
That pass had deliberately drawn Maki away from his defensive position.
Even if only for an instant.
Midair tip-in!
Grabbing the ball in flight, Sendoh had already lost his balance.
Yet relying solely on his incredible core strength, he gently guided the ball toward the rim.
The ball spun around the hoop.
That single rotation...
Felt like an entire century.
The breathing of every spectator in the arena came to a complete halt.
Swish.
It dropped.
74:76.
Sendoh landed.
His legs gave out.
He dropped to one knee.
"Haa... haa..."
He gasped desperately for air as sweat poured onto the hardwood beneath him.
Yet only moments later...
He forced himself back to his feet.
His body swayed.
But he stood there...
Like a lone mountain peak.
"Get back on defense."
He spoke only those four words.
His voice was barely above a whisper.
Yet every Ryonan player instantly felt their eyes grow red.
"Sendoh..."
Koshino wiped away his tears and roared through clenched teeth.
"Get back on defense!!"
"Hold the line!!"
"Don't let Sendoh's sacrifice be wasted!!"
"OOOOOOH!!"
The Ryonan players unleashed one final roar.
Even without Uozumi.
Even without Fukuda.
As long as Number 7 was still standing...
Ryonan's soul still lived.
"What incredible resilience..."
Watching the scene unfold, Juro's smile slowly disappeared.
In its place came genuine respect.
"He's practically an empty shell already..."
"And yet he's forcing himself to keep going through nothing but willpower."
"As expected of you..."
"Sendoh."
Makino Juro glanced at the clock.
1 minute and 10 seconds remained.
"What a shame."
"Maki Shinichi isn't the type to show mercy just because he's moved."
"In his dictionary..."
"There is no such word as mercy."
"Only domination."
Just as expected.
Looking at the unyielding Sendoh, the purple light in Maki's eyes not only failed to fade—
It blazed even brighter.
His stamina had also reached its limit.
But his body, tempered through endless battles...
Allowed him to endure just a little longer than Sendoh.
"Excellent, Sendoh."
"If you had simply collapsed..."
"I would've been disappointed."
"But since you still want to fight..."
"I'll grant your wish."
"I'll send you off..."
"With overwhelming, absolute violence."
BOOM!!
Maki took possession once more.
This time...
The aura surrounding him surpassed anything he had shown before.
The King...
Had finally cast aside every restraint.
In this final minute...
He intended to utterly destroy every last shred of Ryonan's hope.
The decisive battle...
Was only now reaching its true climax.
END OF CHAPTER
The King Of Slacking Off - MrBehringer's Secret
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