After scoring, Shogo Haizaki didn't fall back on defense. Instead, he landed and locked his eyes onto Daiki Aomine, clearly intending to guard him the full court.
Aomine grinned.
"Interesting! This is getting really interesting! Haizaki, you're even more fun than Nijimura-senpai!"
Shuzo Nijimura immediately shot back,
"Hey! Show some respect to your senior!"
...
Possession switched.
Aomine received the inbound in the backcourt, and Haizaki immediately closed in.
His defensive stance had changed. His body kept shifting and bouncing, like a shark circling in the water.
Watching from behind, Nijimura sighed.
"This brat really copied my defense too."
Frontcourt.
Aomine looked at Haizaki in this state and laughed.
"Hahaha! Haizaki, since you're going this far, I'll give you the highest respect too!"
"Haaah!"
Katsunori Harasawa suddenly stood up, shouting at the same time as Shoichi Imayoshi,
"Aomine!!! Don't!!!"
"Haaah!"
Aomine roared again.
Katz!
Blue lightning burst from his eyes.
Zone!!!
Harasawa panicked.
"Aomine! You'll overload your body like this!"
Aomine waved it off casually.
"Relax, I know what I'm doing."
Harasawa was still doubtful, but when he saw Aomine's eyes return to normal, he slowly sat back down.
Imayoshi finally let out a breath. He had been worried Aomine would get carried away and activate that state again.
But just as they relaxed, a panther's roar echoed through the arena.
Harasawa: Aomine, you idiot...
Imayoshi: Damn it...
Behind Aomine, a black panther appeared. It was Animal Instinct.
Zone + Animal Instinct!
Seeing this, both Harasawa and Imayoshi finally relaxed again.
Thankfully, it wasn't internalized Animal Instinct.
External Animal Instinct only slightly boosts speed and reaction.
Internal Animal Instinct is different. It turns the body into a beast's vessel.
A human body performing at that level would take an absurd toll.
Aomine, his eyes flashing with lightning, looked at Haizaki and grinned.
"Come on, Haizaki. Let's settle this properly!"
Then Aomine moved.
He shot forward toward the frontcourt at extreme speed, with Haizaki sticking tightly to his side.
Only barely.
Aomine was too fast. With Animal Instinct and Zone combined, Haizaki couldn't stop him.
Even with No-Self active.
Aomine stepped to the three-point line and jumped straight up.
Haizaki jumped with him. This time, he leaped extremely high, and the pressure from his defense felt completely different.
Tatsuya Himuro glanced at Atsushi Murasakibara in shock.
"That's Atsushi's..."
Aomine sensed it too, but he didn't hesitate.
Midair, he adjusted his body and casually tossed the ball toward the basket, as if throwing away trash.
And it still went in.
There was nothing you could do.
The ball hit the rim and dropped in.
After scoring, Aomine immediately turned to defend.
Thud!
...
Aomine heard the sound of the catch behind him, but no dribbling followed.
In an instant, he realized something and spun around, sprinting back.
Why?
Because Haizaki was copying Shintaro Midorima.
Haizaki had already gathered his strength. He jumped from a standstill and raised the ball to shoot.
Aomine rushed over, but he was too late.
He could only watch the shot leave Haizaki's hand.
"Damn it... how did I forget that?"
Aomine cursed under his breath.
But just as he thought it was guaranteed to go in, something unexpected happened.
The ball...
Missed everything.
Aomine froze.
"What?"
Off the court.
Midorima showed no surprise.
On the court.
Aomine looked at Haizaki in confusion. Nijimura and the others did the same.
Haizaki was clutching his right wrist tightly with his left hand, his face twisted in pain.
At the same time, both Zone and No-Self were forcibly deactivated.
Nijimura immediately understood and called a timeout.
The referee blew the whistle.
"Kirisaki Daiichi requests a timeout!"
Nijimura quickly had Haizaki sub out to rest.
Aomine also realized the reason.
It was a matter of physical limits.
Midorima's shooting form is extremely unique.
It's almost a straight-arm shot, relying heavily on wrist strength.
Even when shooting from full court, his arm only bends slightly more than usual, and even that angle is far beyond what normal people can achieve.
You could say Midorima's wrist is practically made of iron.
Just like Aomine's knees.
Haizaki simply doesn't have that kind of wrist strength. He can't perform full-court shots like Midorima.
Forcing it would only lead to injury.
In fact, even that earlier three-point shot had probably already strained his wrist.
Trying another full-court shot pushed it past its limit.
After subbing out.
Haizaki sat on the bench, gripping his right wrist tightly, his expression filled with frustration.
Nijimura walked over and started roughly wiping him down with a towel.
Haizaki struggled.
"What are you doing, Nijimura-senpai?!"
Nijimura didn't stop. His expression was serious.
"You idiot. Just because you activated No-Self, you think you're invincible?"
"Did you even think about whether your body could handle it?"
He then hung the towel around Haizaki's neck.
"Go to the infirmary. Seto will go with you."
Haizaki wanted to argue, but seeing Nijimura's expression, he nodded and followed Kentaro Seto off the court.
On the sidelines, Kazunari Takao said,
"Shin, that looks serious. He went straight off."
Midorima watched calmly.
"I know."
From the very moment Haizaki used his shot, Midorima had already known he wouldn't last long in this game.
Because no one understood better than him how much it takes to achieve that shooting form.
...
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