"Not watching until the end?"
"Not watching."
Aomine didn't drag things out; he turned and left.
He silently said sorry to Midorima in his heart. Because compared to Shutoku, he wanted to fight Yuuto again even more.
"Oh, then you go back first. I want to go find Tetsu-kun to play."
Aomine stumbled directly upon hearing her words.
Are you a demon?
On the court.
Yuuto high-fived Ryuhei Kasuga and re-entered the game.
Coming on with him was another second-year shooting guard.
Yuuto moved to the point guard position.
First possession after coming on.
He dribbled leisurely past half-court. The lead was still around 20 points, but the game time had dwindled significantly.
Of course, he could be composed.
Compressing the attack time to the extreme, Yuuto only took action in the last 4 seconds.
Shutoku still adopted the double-team tactic.
But Yuuto.
The Eye of the Sky precisely saw the gap between Midorima and Takao.
Raising his hand and smashing hard, the basketball passed through the double-team like a bullet into the paint.
Iwamura caught the ball, turned, faked Otsubo into the air, then passed to his teammate Giichi Omuro on the other side. The latter drilled into the paint like a baseline rat, catching the ball for a layup.
"Still not fast enough." Yuuto knew his passing could still be improved. The memories from the Last Game movie had already given the answer.
Passes without warning!
He found the direction to continue moving forward.
...
The gap returned to 21 points again.
And the time left for Shutoku was less than 5 minutes.
What made them even more desperate was that after Yuuto came on, he once again started full-court man-marking on Midorima, intending to strangle Shutoku's last hope.
Midorima tried to challenge Yuuto head-on but suffered a steal. Midorima, unable to break his own limits, couldn't defeat Yuuto.
Seiho scored on the counterattack.
"All is... lost!" Masaaki Nakatani sighed.
He knew that the last bit of possibility for this match had vanished just now.
Looking at Yuuto's back, his expression was incredibly complicated.
Even now, he still believed there was nothing wrong with his basketball philosophy.
Five people are simply easier to win a game with than one.
It's just that today.
Yuuto used unreasonable individual ability to smash the team he was so proud of into pieces.
Beep~
The whistle tore through the air, and the game ended.
There was no miracle. The broadcast soon announced Seiho's victory. They successfully broke out of Group A and entered the final round-robin of the regional qualifiers.
"Even now, I still believe you can become a better player. You possess such ability."
Masaaki Nakatani actively found Yuuto after shaking hands with Yamashita Shio.
His appreciation for Yuuto remained consistent.
Especially the passing ability Yuuto displayed in this game proved that he could become a perfect team core.
"Mr. Nakatani, what kind of stars do you like?"
What kind of stars?
He thought for a while and said, "Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Steve Nash..."
"I guessed so. But I like Iverson the most."
Receiving this answer, Nakatani sighed again. "I thought you would say Jordan."
"If I had seen him play, I might have."
In his previous life and this life, Yuuto hadn't experienced Jordan's era.
He only knew from highlights that there was a Black Jesus in the NBA.
The two spoke no more, returning to their respective teams.
Yuuto raised his arm high towards the North stand.
Seiho's fans instantly erupted with a massive wave of sound.
In previous games, they couldn't see how strong Yuuto was, but today, they saw it.
Playing 34 minutes in the game, scoring 62 points, 8 rebounds, 13 assists, 7 steals, and 3 blocks.
A standard individual heroic victory!
A monster among monsters!
With absolute strength, he conquered these aristocratic young masters and ladies.
After the match.
Yuuto, having packed his things, prepared to leave the arena and go home with Sora.
In that corner from the simulation, he saw Midorima standing alone in the rain.
At the same time, he saw a pink-haired girl running happily towards Midorima.
Yuuto covered his forehead, walked over, and caught Momoi.
"Yu?"
"Don't disturb him right now."
"Okay, since Yu says so, I won't go comfort Little Green."
Momoi decided to give up her "kindness."
Suddenly.
Lightning flashed across the sky. Her eyes rolled, and she decisively "charged with the ball" (threw herself at him).
"Oh my, thunder! I'm so scared!"
Sora's eyes went straight. Why hadn't she thought of such a move?
"Get away, you big-breasted monster."
"Who are you calling a monster? Don't think you've won just because you live with Yu. Yu isn't married yet!"
Crazy.
Yuuto's gaze swept over Midorima's back. He tightened his backpack and dragged the two noisy women towards the end of the corridor.
Patter patter...
Midorima stood in the rain, staring ahead without saying a word.
Different from a year ago, the failure this time was unprecedentedly intense.
Perhaps because his current identity was Shutoku's ace. This team was waiting for him to lead them to victory.
...
No resentment.
Only unwillingness.
He always felt that as long as he gave his all—did everything humanly possible—he could accept the result even if it wasn't as expected.
In the end, the tearing pain in his heart proved otherwise.
Losing after giving your all is actually more painful.
"Shin-chan... let's go back. You'll catch a cold standing in the rain like this." Kazunari Takao appeared at this time, whispering to Midorima, "The seniors are waiting for us."
"A year ago, I didn't know where Yuuto's anger came from." Midorima ignored him, muttering to himself. "Losing to the Generation of Miracles' Teiko wasn't something so hard to accept. As long as I did everything within my power, I could have a clear conscience. I always thought so."
"...Now I somewhat understand his thoughts back then, understand his anger and unwillingness." Midorima opened his palm, letting the rain fall drop by drop, and finally clenched it fiercely. "In the future, I will absolutely never lose to anyone again!"
...
The rain was heavy, masking Midorima's voice, but Kazunari Takao heard it extremely clearly.
Only today did he understand that even the high-and-mighty Generation of Miracles could be unwilling to lose, just like himself.
In the distance.
Shutoku's members watched this scene silently.
Masaaki Nakatani's poker face relaxed a little.
"Don't think you can slack off just because we lost in the Nationals (Qualifiers). During the Winter Cup, we will earn everything back."
"Yes!"
Taisuke Otsubo and the others naturally wouldn't end their last year like this.
Indomitable—these four characters (in kanji) were the soul of the Shutoku Basketball Club.
They lost today; everyone was sad and in pain.
But when the sun rose tomorrow, they would pull themselves together.
"Hmph, Coach, I'll go call that troublesome brat back."
Kiyoshi Miyaji, with his sharp tongue, went up and slapped both first-years on the head.
"Instead of moping here, go back and practice to make yourself stronger. Careful or I really will smash your glasses!"
"You too, Takao. Your passing today was simply terrible. Being disrupted so easily by that buzz-cut first-year from Seiho is the best proof that your training isn't enough. Go back and give me two hours of extra practice..."
Both Midorima and Takao were stunned.
They thought they would receive a little encouragement from their seniors at a time like this.
But no.
Miyaji only gave them a slap.
Finally, they walked back, boarded the bus together, and temporarily bid farewell to this battlefield.
...
Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"