Having lost his vision, Daiki Aomine could only rely on instinct to fling the ball out.
Thud!
The basketball slammed into the backboard with a dull bang.
Everyone on the court turned to look.
The shot was wildly off, crashing against the top of the backboard before rebounding straight back the way it came.
Atsushi Murasakibara and Kosuke Wakamatsu both stared up at the returning ball, momentarily stunned.
Atsushi Murasakibara: "Huh? It bounced back."
Kosuke Wakamatsu: "You idiot, Aomine! What kind of shot was that?!"
The ball flew back—right toward Miyamoto.
Miyamoto quickly grabbed it. After a brief pause—no more than a quarter of a second—he snapped back to his senses.
"Oh? It actually came back."
At that moment, Aomine's vision returned. The instant he saw the ball in Miyamoto's hands, he lunged forward to steal it.
Miyamoto sidestepped him with ease.
Left with no choice, Aomine retreated, bracing himself for Miyamoto's attack.
Instead of pushing for a fast break, Miyamoto waited until the rest of Kirisaki Daiichi had advanced into the frontcourt. Only then did he begin dribbling forward at a measured pace.
Aomine's eyes, crackling with blue lightning, locked onto Miyamoto as if trying to see straight through him.
Just past half court, ripples spread out beneath Miyamoto's feet—he had activated [Eye of Truth].
Aomine immediately pressed up on him. He couldn't allow Miyamoto the time to analyze everyone's positioning.
If that happened, Tōō would be at a complete disadvantage.
Sure enough, under Aomine's sudden pressure, Miyamoto stopped scanning the court.
His focus shifted entirely to Aomine, and the ripples of [Eye of Truth] faded from view.
Off the court—
Taiga Kagami stared in shock.
"[Eye of Truth]… was it broken?!"
Riko Aida bit her nail thoughtfully.
"Looks like it. Against a defender like Aomine, no one could spare attention for anyone else."
Junpei Hyuga seemed to realize something.
"Then doesn't that mean Kagami could also—"
Tetsuya Kuroko cut him off calmly.
"No. Miyamoto-kun's [Eye of Truth] can't be interrupted by a single person."
"Not even Aomine-kun."
Kagami frowned.
"But the ripples from [Eye of Truth] already disappeared, didn't they?"
On the Shūtoku side—
Kazunari Takao asked the exact same question.
Shintaro Midorima adjusted his glasses, his tone firm.
"He simply chose to stop observing. Otherwise, the ripples wouldn't have vanished."
"Keep watching, Takao. Everything Miyamoto has shown so far is what he already displayed in middle school."
"I'm not foolish enough to think his growth has stopped."
On the court—
Satsuki Momoi continued recording Aomine's data, calculating rapidly in her mind.
From the first quarter until now, she had already analyzed the full extent of Aomine's current performance.
The result left her stunned.
Watching Aomine struggle to contain Miyamoto, she murmured softly:
"If my deductions are correct, Aomine…"
On the court—
Miyamoto looked at the suddenly aggressive Aomine and smiled.
"Aomine, tight defense like this isn't really your style."
Aomine said nothing, his expression serious as he guarded him closely.
Miyamoto gave a faint smile and began to dribble.
Thump… thump…
He used repeated drag steps, shifting Aomine's center of gravity little by little.
Miyamoto gave a small hop to the right, as if about to drive.
Aomine immediately retreated to cut him off—
But the moment he did, he realized Miyamoto hadn't driven at all. He had simply pulled his weight back.
With that single drag step, Miyamoto had already created enough space for a shot.
Without hesitation, he smiled mysteriously at Aomine and gathered the ball for a jumper.
Aomine's pupils shrank.
'Damn!'
He knew better than anyone how fast Miyamoto's release was. In fact, Miyamoto had the quickest shooting motion Aomine had ever seen—no exceptions.
There was no time to hesitate.
Aomine exploded forward, trying to recover.
But just as he prepared to jump, the ball had already left Miyamoto's hands.
With no way to contest it in time, Aomine gave up and looked up at the ball spinning through the air, silently hoping it would miss.
On the sidelines—
As a sharpshooter himself, Midorima spoke the instant he saw the trajectory.
"The arc is perfect. It's in."
On the court—
The ball dropped cleanly through the net with a crisp swish.
Aomine sighed, then turned and grinned.
"Miyamoto, you're still as accurate as ever. You're a freak."
Miyamoto shrugged.
"Thanks for the compliment."
Aomine blinked, then laughed and lightly punched Miyamoto's chest.
"I'm serious. I'd rather deal with Midorima's shots than yours."
Miyamoto chuckled and turned to run back on defense.
Aomine watched his retreating back, a smile spreading across his face.
'Miyamoto… only you can make my blood boil like this!'
His heart surged with fighting spirit.
The lightning in his eyes grew sharper, more resolute.
'Come on, Miyamoto. Next… I'll use everything I've got to challenge you!'
Possession switched.
Aomine received the ball, crossed half court, and faced Miyamoto once more.
His eyes burned with battle intent, a grin tugging at his lips.
"Miyamoto, now I'll show you my strongest state!"
Miyamoto raised an eyebrow, then smiled.
"Oh? Then I'm looking forward to it."
He truly was curious.
In the original storyline, the Zone had been Aomine's ultimate weapon at this stage.
But now Aomine was claiming he had another state.
That sparked Miyamoto's interest.
On the court—
Aomine drew in a deep breath.
The blue lightning in his eyes flickered wildly, growing more violent and chaotic.
Just as Miyamoto was wondering what was happening—
A thunderous panther's roar erupted across the court!
.......