After Miyamoto broke through Daiki Aomine's defense, the rest of Tōō Academy's players could only stare in stunned silence.
It had happened far too fast. None of them had time to react. All they could do was watch as Miyamoto gently laid the ball into the basket.
Seeing this, Daiki Aomine muttered to himself:
"An unprepared… [Lightning Dribble]…"
Off the court.
"Damn it! And twice!!! Back-to-back!!"
Ryota Kise couldn't help but curse out loud.
Everyone knew that [Lightning Dribble] normally required a long wind-up. Skipping that wind-up would place tremendous strain on the knees.
And this was a double crossover without any wind-up at all.
Don't forget—when Ryota Kise himself used the Lightning Dribbling double crossover before, his legs had practically locked up afterward!
Over on Shūtoku's side.
Shintaro Midorima's gaze sharpened as he stared at Miyamoto on the court, his eyes burning with fighting spirit.
At the same time, a faint phantom seemed to flicker behind him.
On the court.
While running back on defense, Miyamoto spoke to Aomine.
"So, Aomine… found a way to deal with it yet?"
Aomine clicked his tongue, replying stubbornly:
"Of course. Next possession, I'll shut down your [Lightning Dribble]!"
Miyamoto only smiled faintly.
"Good. I'm actually looking forward to that."
"Beep! Kirisaki Daiichi requests a timeout!"
The referee suddenly blew the whistle.
The Kirisaki Daiichi players walked off the court with confused expressions, momentarily unsure what was going on.
After all, they currently had complete control of the game.
Even Aomine looked puzzled.
Kirisaki Daiichi called the timeout???
After stepping off the court, Miyamoto asked:
"Momoi, what's wrong? Something happen?"
He really couldn't figure it out. Satsuki Momoi had suddenly called a timeout without warning.
Momoi smiled slightly and began to speak...
...
"Beep! The game resumes!"
Both teams' starting lineups returned to the court.
But this time, the moment play resumed, Aomine clearly noticed that the way Dicky Anthony looked at him had changed.
There was a hint of… pity in his eyes.
Possession switched.
Tōō High School ball.
As usual, the offense ran through Daiki Aomine.
Once Aomine had the ball, the rest of Tōō's starters seemed to become nothing more than supporting characters.
They had virtually no involvement with the ball.
In Aomine's eyes, there were no teammates—only opponents.
Seeing this, Miyamoto couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
"The will of the world really never stops correcting things."
Miyamoto hadn't expected it.
Aomine had clearly changed a lot compared to before… yet his tendency to ignore his teammates had somehow grown even stronger.
What was this supposed to be?
Setting the stage for Taiga Kagami and Tetsuya Kuroko?
Did those two absolutely have to defeat Aomine together first?
If things still followed the original storyline, how strong would Kagami need to become?
Opening the second great gate of Zone right at the start of the Winter Cup?
Impossible.
Even a top-tier prodigy like Ryota Kise only gained a short-lived power-up much later, during the match against the Jabberwock-level opponents.
There was no way Kagami could reach Finals-level strength right at the beginning of the Winter Cup.
So no matter how Miyamoto thought about it, he simply couldn't see how Taiga Kagami and Tetsuya Kuroko could defeat the current Daiki Aomine.
Entering Zone and awakening Animal Instinct alone was already enough to leave countless basketball prodigies far behind.
But unfortunately…
Being a genius is merely the qualification required to stand before me.
On the court.
Aomine ignored his teammates' open positions and launched directly into a fierce attack.
His eyes were locked onto Miyamoto's feet as he constantly tried to manipulate Miyamoto's defensive positioning and shift his center of gravity.
But he quickly discovered something.
Miyamoto simply couldn't be baited!
No choice.
He'd have to rely on his old trick again.
Surprise!
Aomine suddenly exploded forward, accelerating toward the right side.
He had expected Miyamoto to immediately chase him.
But after breaking through, he realized Miyamoto hadn't followed at all—instead, he was already sprinting toward the frontcourt!
Knowing Miyamoto's personality, Aomine instantly understood.
There's a rat waiting!
Sure enough, in the very next moment, a hand suddenly reached in and slapped toward the basketball.
It was Shogo Haizaki.
After realizing that Aomine truly had no intention of passing the ball, he had decisively abandoned his defensive assignment and quietly slipped behind Miyamoto, waiting to ambush him.
But Aomine reacted instantly, switching the ball to his left hand.
Suddenly—
"Tsk tsk… Aomine, you got careless."
A voice sounded from Aomine's left.
It was Shuzo Nijimura.
Aomine's pupils instantly shrank.
No way!
SMACK!!!
The basketball was slapped loose.
Aomine immediately rushed forward, trying to recover the ball and regain possession.
But…
Dicky Anthony had already been waiting there.
Dicky grabbed the loose ball and immediately fired a long pass to Miyamoto.
Miyamoto finished the play with a clean layup.
After the basket went in, Aomine didn't look at Nijimura, who had stolen the ball.
He didn't look at Haizaki either.
Instead, he turned his head and looked straight toward Satsuki Momoi off the court.
Clearly, this entire play had been planned by her.
Only she could predict so many possibilities.
Momoi noticed Aomine looking at her. She simply nodded once, without any extra reaction, before turning her attention back to Miyamoto.
And Aomine's guess was correct.
That timeout had been specifically called by Momoi.
It was meant to set a trap for Aomine.
The moment Momoi saw Aomine activate Animal Instinct within Zone Mode, she knew her earlier judgment had been correct.
The first quarter and the first half of the second quarter had already allowed her to completely understand Aomine's offensive habits.
So she didn't hesitate.
She called that timeout and laid out the defensive plan for Kirisaki Daiichi.
And clearly—
Aomine had fallen right into the net.
A net personally woven by Satsuki Momoi.
However, this spiderweb wasn't meant to restrict Aomine.
It had another purpose entirely.
After all…
Did they really need tactics to contain Aomine?
Aomine sighed softly and muttered:
"Man… it's scary having a strategist like that on the team."
As he spoke, his gaze swept across every member of Kirisaki Daiichi.
"Haizaki… Nijimura… Murasakibara… the Terrorist… and… Miyamoto."
The more names he listed, the more unbelievable it felt.
Kirisaki Daiichi already had an absurdly powerful lineup.
And now they had a strategist too.
This… this kind of team…
"…is just way too exciting!"
Aomine grinned widely as his fighting spirit flared up once again.
This is Daiki Aomine.
The stronger the enemy, the more excited he becomes.
And the more excited he becomes, the stronger he gets.
So—
The stronger the enemy, the stronger he becomes!
He grows stronger when facing the strong!
...
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