What Shogo Haizaki understood was that he had to keep his teammates in his sight as well.
So he felt it was time to change his role.
Just as the two of them were retreating on defense.
A streak of light suddenly dropped from the sky and fell straight through their basket.
Swish!!!
Shuzo Nijimura and Shogo Haizaki both paused and turned to look.
They saw Shintaro Midorima standing there with a serious expression, his hand still held in the follow-through from his shot.
"Do all that I can..."
The crowd erupted in cheers once again.
For them, as long as the game was exciting, that was enough.
On the court.
Shuzo Nijimura and Shogo Haizaki exchanged a look, then Shuzo Nijimura shook his head with a bitter smile.
"Oh man, I forgot Midorima had that move too."
Shogo Haizaki looked annoyed.
"Tch."
On the sidelines, Satsuki Momoi puffed out her cheeks as she looked at Miyamoto Tokima on the court and thought,
'Tokima is slacking off again!'
That was right, Miyamoto Tokima was slacking off again.
Because, honestly speaking, Shintaro Midorima still could not stir up Miyamoto Tokima's desire to fight.
So far, there was only one person in Japan who had managed to bring out Miyamoto Tokima's fighting spirit.
That was Daiki Aomine after activating his wildness and the Zone.
Miyamoto Tokima sighed helplessly.
'Seriously, why is it that in this world, no one under eighteen is allowed into the NBA?'
Miyamoto Tokima was deeply frustrated. In this world, minors were not allowed to play in professional leagues.
No matter what country it was, the rule was the same.
When he had first arrived in America during middle school, Miyamoto Tokima had planned to finish the Summer Cup, beat some sense into every member of the [Generation of Miracles], and then head straight to the NBA.
But after arriving in America, he found out.
Damn it, that was impossible!
So what was he supposed to do?
Just play around.
Stay in Japan and train with the [Generation of Miracles].
And while he was at it, see if he could build up his own core group.
Now, it seemed.
He really had built one.
And the members of the [Generation of Miracles] had also improved tremendously. In the future, they would have a place in the NBA too!
Back to the present.
Miyamoto Tokima took Atsushi Murasakibara's pass and slowly dribbled toward the frontcourt.
Before he had even crossed half court, Kazunari Takao was already feeling intense pressure.
Kazunari Takao wiped the sweat from his forehead, thoroughly shaken.
'That pressure really isn't for show.'
As soon as Miyamoto Tokima crossed half court, layer after layer of ripples began spreading beneath his feet.
Whoosh!!! Whoosh!!! Whoosh!!!
Kazunari Takao thought to himself,
'Here it comes, [Eye of Truth] from [Magic Cube]!'
Even though he had prepared himself mentally, the moment the ripples swept across his whole body, Kazunari Takao still felt a chill of fear.
It was as if his entire body had been seen through completely, like he had no secrets at all.
'Hey, hey, hey, no way. This feeling...'
Kazunari Takao gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down.
Whoosh!!!
Suddenly, the ripples disappeared in an instant.
And if the ripples had disappeared, that meant...
Miyamoto Tokima had already found his target!
Miyamoto Tokima made his move from half court and swung his arm.
The basketball turned into a streak of light and shot straight into the paint.
Kazunari Takao did not even have time to react before the ball flew right past him.
Taisuke Otsubo hurriedly snapped back to attention and looked toward the receiver.
He saw Atsushi Murasakibara catch the ball with his back to Taisuke Otsubo.
Then a violent whirlwind began to rise beneath Atsushi Murasakibara's feet.
The pressure coming off him also grew enormous.
Taisuke Otsubo clenched his teeth and prepared himself for Atsushi Murasakibara's attack.
Atsushi Murasakibara jumped with his back to the basket, then slowly rotated one hundred and eighty degrees in midair.
Taisuke Otsubo leaped up with difficulty, trying to block the shot.
But the instant both of his hands touched the ball in Atsushi Murasakibara's grasp.
A tremendous force crashed into him.
Taisuke Otsubo could not withstand that power and was thrown backward, falling to the floor.
As for Atsushi Murasakibara, his motion did not deform in the slightest as he slammed the ball into the basket with brute force.
Boom!
Crack, crack...
The rim shook violently, as if it had suffered some kind of heavy blow.
Atsushi Murasakibara slowly landed, wearing a casual expression.
He did not even glance at the fallen Taisuke Otsubo.
Taisuke Otsubo shook his head and got back to his feet on his own.
He immediately got up, stepped out of bounds, and quickly inbounded the ball to Shintaro Midorima.
He was trying to catch them off guard.
Shintaro Midorima understood right away and immediately moved into his shooting form.
At that moment, Dicky Anthony closed in, but he did not go for the steal.
Instead, he gathered himself and prepared to jump.
He wanted to try it.
He wanted to see whether he could block Shintaro Midorima's shot.
Finally.
Shintaro Midorima finished gathering power and jumped straight up from where he stood.
Dicky Anthony drove off both legs and jumped with him.
It had to be said, Dicky Anthony's leap was truly incredible, and his wingspan was absurd as well.
Even so, he still could not reach Shintaro Midorima's shot.
Shintaro Midorima's release point was simply too high.
And the basketball he released followed a very high arc.
Which meant the ball was traveling almost straight upward.
To block it, a defender had to get his hand above Shintaro Midorima's release point.
That was extremely difficult.
In the end, Dicky Anthony could only watch as Shintaro Midorima released the ball.
When the ball was just about to reach the top of the arena, it began to descend.
Swish!!!
Dicky Anthony said in surprise,
"Cool!"
It was the first time he had ever met someone who could ignore his defense completely and force up a full-court three.
Shintaro Midorima pushed up his glasses and said nothing. His face remained serious.
Possession changed.
After Miyamoto Tokima brought the ball across half court, he seemed to sense Dicky Anthony's fighting spirit.
So Miyamoto Tokima passed the ball to Dicky Anthony.
After catching it, Dicky Anthony also ignored the defense and rose straight up into a pull-up jumper.
Shintaro Midorima reacted quickly and jumped with him.
But Dicky Anthony's height and wingspan gave him a release point higher than most people's.
Shintaro Midorima really could not do much to contain him.
In the end, Shintaro Midorima could only watch as Dicky Anthony released the shot.
Swish!
A faint gleam flashed across Shintaro Midorima's glasses as he stared at Dicky Anthony.
This foreigner... was kind of interesting.
Over the next stretch of the game.
Dicky Anthony and Shintaro Midorima seemed to have locked onto each other.
Shintaro Midorima stopped shooting from the full court and instead conserved his stamina by shooting from around half court.
Dicky Anthony had real honor on the court. He did not go for steals. He only wanted to block shots.
And when it was Dicky Anthony's turn to attack, Shintaro Midorima also seemed to have that same sense of honor. He did not go for steals either.
He simply jumped with Dicky Anthony, intent on blocking him.
The two traded basket for basket, neither willing to admit defeat.
It became a contest to see who would miss first.
Just like that, six minutes of the first quarter slowly passed.
Then, in the seventh minute, Dicky Anthony made a mistake.
...
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