TWEET!
The second quarter ended.
Score: 64-47. Seihō entered the locker room with a 17-point lead.
Nobody had expected this outcome.
Murasakibara, having entered the Zone, hadn't gained any advantage against Yuuto in his normal state. In fact, during the second half of the quarter, Yuuto had stripped the ball from him twice.
Though Murasakibara had also given Yuuto two spectacular blocks, the overall exchange was essentially even.
But Araki Masako couldn't bring herself to smile.
The Zone's duration was limited.
Using that limited time to fight Yuuto's normal state to a draw—this trade was a catastrophic loss.
Yet when she returned to the locker room and saw Murasakibara drenched in sweat, she couldn't bring herself to say a single word of reproach.
This big kid had truly given everything.
He'd already surprised her so much this game. They had simply encountered an opponent who was too strong.
Her heart ached.
Rather than calling this the gap between Yuuto and Murasakibara, it was more accurate to say it was the gap between Japanese basketball and the world.
The Generation of Miracles were the most talented basketball players Japan had produced in the last decade.
The media watched them.
The fans watched them.
Coaches like herself watched them too, all hoping they could change Japanese basketball's inability to break through its limitations.
But today's game had once again revealed the gap with the world.
Without question, Yuuto was world-class. Yet Murasakibara's battle against him had shown complete disadvantage across the board.
Was their training methodology wrong?
But Yuuto had grown up in Japan since childhood, receiving the same basketball training they all did.
Then why was Yuuto this strong while the Generation of Miracles was gradually falling behind?
Could Japanese people really not play basketball well?
All these years, America had remained basketball's hegemon. The only teams that occasionally upset their reign were from Europe, followed by other American nations.
In Asia, not a single national team could challenge the Dream Team.
The best showing had been from China. For the first twenty minutes, they could trade blows with the Dream Team. But once fatigue set in, everything fell apart.
The problem was: China at least had stretches where they could compete with America. Japan couldn't even see their shadow.
Araki's thoughts had wandered far—from a high school game to the national team level.
But it was only natural for her to think this way. After all, people like her who didn't retire to enjoy life but continued in basketball did so to nurture the next generation.
Her troubles would find no answer.
After all, Yuuto was someone with cheats. He couldn't be used as a model. Anyone trying to replicate his growth curve was destined to fail.
Back to reality.
She crouched beside Murasakibara and asked if he could continue. He said nothing, but nodded firmly.
He'd said he would play until the end. He absolutely wasn't going to be a coward.
Meanwhile, in Seihō's locker room.
Everyone stared at Yuuto in amazement.
Even as his teammates, they looked at him with awe.
Because it was truly terrifying.
Matching the Zone in his normal state—they'd never even heard of such a thing.
You could even say that without the Generation of Miracles and Yuuto's generation, they wouldn't even know what the Zone was.
It was the stuff of legends.
Yet now, someone could shatter the Zone's invincibility myth with his normal state alone. How could they not be shocked?
Moreover.
They'd also caught that instant when Yuuto entered the Zone.
"Yuuto, your Zone is..."
"An accident. Don't worry about it."
It truly was an accident.
How could he have known that the trigger for his Zone would be something so naive?
Right now, the word [ZONE] appeared clearly on his talent panel.
But.
It was too redundant. With Demon Mode, he no longer needed the Zone.
However.
Accidentally entering the Zone had taught Yuuto something.
He couldn't become a tool that only knew how to play basketball. Eventually, he'd grow tired of that life and choose to escape.
To love basketball, you first had to love life!
Yuuto felt he should carve out some time to spend with Sora.
Mm, Momoi needed attention too.
"Still, this doesn't change the fact that I don't need you."
Yuuto withdrew his gaze.
Barring surprises, he was going to feed the Zone to his Demon Mode.
That absolute focus might be the key element for evolving Demon Mode into Angel Mode.
Everyone heard him but didn't ask further, thinking Yuuto had genuinely rejected the Zone and cast it aside.
Damn it.
Comparing yourself to others was just asking for heartbreak. They needed Yuuto's passes to break through their 80% limits, yet Yuuto was casually discarding the Zone.
This was way too demoralizing!
...
Halftime ended.
The second half began.
Murasakibara still hadn't rested, but Yuuto's eyes could see his stamina was severely depleted. His physical stats had dropped significantly...
Even though his first possession saw him ferociously slam the ball through the rim, it was nothing but a dying flame.
The last stand of the Zone and Murasakibara.
"Give up. Your body is at its limit."
Yuuto received the ball and faced Murasakibara directly.
"No way!" Murasakibara was as stubborn as ever.
He knew his own body better than anyone.
This game had demanded too much running since the first quarter, almost without pause.
Seihō's fast breaks were too quick. Only he could handle Yuuto, so he had to do it whether he wanted to or not.
Of course, what truly pushed him over the edge was entering the Zone in the second quarter.
Offense, defense—he'd had to handle everything alone.
His athletic ability and size gave him enormous advantages, but the cost was two or three times the normal energy expenditure.
"Suit yourself."
This was one of Yuuto's rare displays of goodwill. If the other party didn't accept it, he wouldn't insist.
He executed a jab step, creating the illusion that he'd already committed to a direction.
But he hadn't. He simply skipped a major movement, his body ghosting to Murasakibara's opposite side.
Integrating Himuro Tatsuya's polished fundamentals elevated his game even further, pushing defenders' reaction times to their absolute limits.
Hiss!
Yuuto cleared Murasakibara by half a body and immediately pulled up for a jumper. Murasakibara's block arrived in time, but the ball somehow slipped through!
It fell into the basket.
SWISH!
The basketball pierced through the net like a knife through Yōsen's heart.
There was simply nothing to be done.
When even Murasakibara like this couldn't stop him, everyone else could only watch helplessly.
Murasakibara bit his lip and kept calling for the ball. Purple lightning flickered in and out of his eyes, and every time it threatened to disappear, he pushed himself harder, forcing his state to continue.
He was squeezing the last drops of energy from his body.
But this was drinking poison to quench thirst.
Soon, Murasakibara couldn't hold on any longer.
He felt like he'd persevered for an eternity, but in reality, only 3 minutes had passed in the third quarter.
The purple lightning completely faded from the corners of his eyes. No matter how hard he tried to maintain it, nothing worked.
THUD!
The instant he fell out of the Zone, his legs buckled and he collapsed heavily to the floor.
"Atsushi!"
"Murasakibara!"
"..."
Yōsen players rushed over, only to see Murasakibara stubbornly push himself up. His legs trembled visibly—clearly at his absolute limit.
"He's reached his limit."
...
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