Mayuzumi Chihiro nodded heavily, taking advantage of the dead ball to enter the court again.
"That sixth man is on again?"
"But, the time limit for Misdirection..."
"It's no longer a problem. Akashi-kun and Yuuto have stolen everyone's attention."
In the practice match against Kaijo, Kuroko had used the rest time to reset his Misdirection.
Currently, not even 10 minutes had passed—only five minutes, half the time.
However, the fierce clash between Akashi and Yuuto earlier had captivated everyone's gaze.
Now, Mayuzumi Chihiro's Misdirection effect had recovered and could be put into combat.
As soon as he came on, Rakuzan responded immediately.
Akashi passed, Mayuzumi redirected the ball to Mibuchi Reo outside the three-point line.
The Yaksha didn't hesitate; hand up, ball down, three-pointer made.
"Nice shot, Reo. Keep it up."
Akashi jogged back on defense, giving encouragement as he passed.
Mibuchi Reo stared blankly. "Although the domineering Sei-chan is charming, as expected, this Sei-chan is the best."
He smiled, his whole body boiling with excitement.
"What's going on? Rakuzan suddenly blossomed everywhere."
The change was too drastic.
Suddenly, the Rakuzan players were scoring from everywhere. Seiho's iron wall couldn't stop them.
"Probably related to Akashi's passes."
"Passes? Aren't those just ordinary assists?"
"Ordinary?"
Imayoshi Shoichi's forehead was covered in cold sweat.
"In the eyes of a player of the same position, he is the ultimate ideal form!"
Every pass hit the teammate's most comfortable zone and guided the teammate to make the first step to evade the defender.
Imayoshi asked himself and knew he absolutely couldn't do such a thing. It seemed like a minimal change, but the effect was huge.
The result?
Just as he thought this, he saw Yuuto also deliver an assist precise to the millimeter.
Snap! The ball landed in front of the cutting Kasuga Ryuhei.
Kasuga instinctively took a huge stride. Catching the basketball, he simultaneously created distance from Mibuchi and scored with a low layup.
"Give me a break. He doesn't even play the 1 position!"
Izuki Shun was both shocked and helpless.
"What's wrong? Izuki-senpai?"
"It's an induction pass."
Izuki Shun sighed silently. The highest pursuit of point guards, the masterpiece they wanted to complete most... two people in this match achieved it simultaneously.
And one of them wasn't even a point guard.
Why him?!
"What's there to be surprised about? Isn't that something we knew from the start?" Aida Riko rolled her eyes at them.
What she didn't get was: stopping the Ace 1v1 simultaneously and starting to lead the teammates around them... what exactly were they planning?
No one knew the answer to this question.
Including Kagami and Kuroko.
However.
They had a vague feeling. This definitely wasn't because Yuuto and Akashi were tired and forced to give the ball to teammates. Something was definitely brewing.
One round.
Two rounds.
Three rounds.
Seiho, and Rakuzan too, each played magnificent team basketball.
The level of offense and defense on both sides reached the national peak. They were absolutely the two strongest teams this year.
The game became anxious again, with both sides scoring constantly.
The 10 people on the court stared at each other, killing intent rising.
Aside from the ball hitting the floor and the net swishing, there were no extra sounds.
"Such amazing concentration!"
Kasamatsu Yukio could feel it from far away. Those two teams, a total of 10 players, poured their everything into the game, completely ignoring the outside world.
But gradually, he started to realize something was wrong.
The silent players on both sides had nothing but basketball in their brains. Such a state was exactly like the Zone.
"This feeling... could it be?!" Kasamatsu suddenly felt the hairs on his body stand up.
He thought of an extremely terrifying possibility, and this possibility was coming true bit by bit.
Third quarter, last 2 minutes and 54 seconds.
Hayama Kotaro, receiving Akashi's pass again, roared "Out of my way!" and a streak of red lightning actually emitted from the corner of his eye.
"Zone?!"
At this moment, the faces of the entire audience changed wildly, chills running down their spines.
However.
This wasn't the end. Even more terrifying scenes appeared one after another.
"Who's gonna get out of the way!" Tsugawa Tomoki roared. The smile was gone from his face, replaced by seriousness. He turned and chased madly.
Simultaneously, a streak of black lightning abruptly erupted from the corner of his eye.
"He entered too?"
"How is this possible? Isn't the Zone a domain for geniuses?"
"They aren't the Generation of Miracles or Yuuto. How can they..."
People were in disbelief. The scene was too inconceivable.
Something impossible was happening right before their eyes.
Result.
This wasn't the end either. There was something even more explosive coming.
Clang! Hayama's layup missed under Tsugawa's interference.
The ball circled the rim twice before rolling out.
The next second.
Bzzt~
Bzzt~
Iwamura Tsutomu and Nebuya Eikichi roared simultaneously. The two tank-like centers engaged in intense physical contact, jumping to fight for the rebound.
That was nothing new; center battles for rebounds were always intense. The paint was always the most fiercely contested spot on the court.
What made scalps tingle was that streaks of cold electricity flashed from the corners of both their eyes simultaneously.
"Zone again?!" Aida Riko felt like she was going crazy.
The scene before her was terrifying enough to make one doubt life.
Because after these four, Mayuzumi, Omuro, Kasuga, and Mibuchi all entered the Zone!
Even Aomine and the others had their eyes wide open at this moment.
Momoi covered her mouth with both hands, her pretty face pale.
This was a scene desperate enough to make every other high school team in the country despair.
There were 10 players on the court. 9 of them entered the Zone, the genius domain, simultaneously. The remaining one was even more outstanding, abandoning the Zone to whip out a Demon-mode.
No need to doubt it.
This match would definitely be recorded in history. It was the most incredible final in the 88 years of the Inter-High.
Among the champion teams of the past, not a single one was strong enough to contend with the two teams before them. They possessed the power to crush past champions.
And the result?
These two teams were fighting for one championship!
The visual impact was just too massive!
...
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