Kosuke Wakamatsu clenched his teeth tightly, teetering on the edge of exploding.
Being mocked by his opponents was one thing—but now even his own teammates were mocking him.
If Shoichi Imayoshi hadn't been standing beside him with a grim expression, holding him back, Wakamatsu might have already rushed forward to start a fight.
Yoshinori Susa had no choice.
Right now, Wakamatsu was basically a ticking time bomb.
Ryo Sakurai kept standing there repeating, "Sorry, sorry," which hardly inspired any confidence.
If the ball was given to Imayoshi, Aomine might just snatch it anyway.
So in the end, it was safer to pass directly to Aomine.
With that thought, Susa stopped hesitating and passed the ball to Daiki Aomine.
After receiving the pass, Aomine unusually said,
"Thanks."
Then he immediately charged toward the frontcourt without paying any attention to his teammates.
Imayoshi didn't move to attack either. He simply held Wakamatsu back near their own basket.
"Aomine!"
Susa called out to him, but when he realized Aomine had no intention of stopping, he prepared to run to the frontcourt as well.
Even if Aomine wouldn't pass, they could at least help occupy Kirisaki Daiichi's defenders.
But just as Susa was about to follow, he noticed Imayoshi and Wakamatsu still standing there.
Confused, he asked,
"Imayoshi, Wakamatsu… aren't you coming on offense?"
Wakamatsu answered first.
He glared at Aomine's retreating back and spat angrily,
"Isn't he so amazing?"
"Then let him play by himself!"
Susa froze for a moment and turned toward Imayoshi.
"Imayoshi… you too?"
For once, Imayoshi's eyes were no longer half-closed.
He opened them fully and stared directly at Susa.
"Susa… do you think Aomine still sees his teammates right now?"
Susa wanted to say something, but the words died in his throat.
Right.
Did Aomine still see them as teammates?
If he did, why would he say that if someone wanted to attack, they should go steal the ball themselves?
Suddenly, Susa seemed to realize something.
He looked at Imayoshi in shock.
"Imayoshi… don't tell me you're…!"
Imayoshi nodded firmly.
"Didn't Aomine say it himself?"
"If we want to attack…"
His tone became heavy.
"Then we'll go take the ball ourselves."
After saying that, he said nothing more.
Wakamatsu gritted his teeth and snapped,
"Susa! If you pass to Aomine again, I swear you'll regret it!"
Susa ignored him and instead looked at Imayoshi.
"Imayoshi! Even Aomine can't score easily right now. How are we supposed to?!"
Imayoshi glanced toward one of Kirisaki Daiichi's players and smiled mysteriously.
"No."
"Kirisaki Daiichi's defense… has a gap now."
...
On the other side.
Aomine charged straight toward Kirisaki Daiichi's defensive line alone.
Nijimura and Haizaki exchanged a glance.
When they realized none of Tōō's other players were coming up to support the attack, they stopped hesitating.
Both of them immediately moved beside Murasakibara to intercept Aomine.
Hanamiya knew that stepping in would only disrupt their rhythm, so he prepared to run toward Tōō's half-court.
He was planning to stir up even more trouble.
But this time, Miyamoto grabbed him and stopped him.
After all, the goal of this game was to make Aomine learn to pass—not to let Hanamiya verbally break people again.
Seeing the three defenders in front of him, Aomine didn't show the slightest fear.
Instead, there was excitement in his eyes.
"Bring it on!"
Aomine roared, no longer holding back.
Crack!
Zone and Animal Instinct activated at the same time, pushing his power to its peak.
Haizaki grinned.
"Let me see it, Aomine."
"Let me take another good look at your basketball."
As soon as he finished speaking—
A wolf's howl echoed across the court.
"Awooo!!!"
A lone wolf appeared behind Haizaki, vivid and lifelike.
Nijimura curled his lips into a smile.
"Three-man defense against you, Aomine."
"You've got something to brag about now."
As he spoke, a shark gradually appeared behind him, radiating a bloody aura.
Murasakibara felt the dangerous and violent presence beside him and frowned slightly.
"So annoying."
He wanted to face Aomine himself—not together with Nijimura and Haizaki.
Seeing both of them unleash their Animal Instinct, Aomine's expression changed slightly.
Things…
seemed to have gotten worse.
...
Off the court.
Taiga Kagami's expression had already changed drastically.
He pointed toward the court in disbelief.
"Tōō… are they really making Aomine face that alone?!"
Junpei Hyuga seemed to understand what Imayoshi and the others were feeling.
"I'm afraid Aomine brought this on himself."
"In this entire game, he's only made one pass."
"And it went straight to the opponent's feet."
Tetsuya Kuroko said calmly,
"Aomine-kun's passing has always been like that."
...
On Shūtoku's side.
Kazunari Takao stared at the strange scene on the court.
"That's really weird."
"It's like the entire Tōō team is isolating Aomine."
He never expected that someone as strong as Aomine would end up being isolated by his own team.
Midorima pushed up his glasses.
His expression showed no surprise.
"That idiot has always been like that."
"It was only a matter of time before this happened."
As he spoke, his tone became more serious.
"He's too arrogant."
"So arrogant that he ignores everyone and everything."
...
On Kaijō's side.
Ryota Kise watched Aomine standing alone on the court and gave a bitter smile.
He suddenly remembered something Midorima had said before.
"Aomine will one day have to face the consequences of his arrogance."
"Is this the consequence you're facing now, Aominecchi?"
...
On the court.
Aomine let out a furious roar.
"Come on!!!"
Electricity crackled across the court alongside the roar of a panther.
The howls of a wolf and the cry of a shark echoed in response.
Lightning flashed.
The panther roared.
The screech of sneakers against the floor rang out as the basketball pounded against the court.
Aomine pushed his speed to the absolute limit, repeatedly attacking the defensive formation formed by Murasakibara and the other two.
But every single attempt failed.
The three-man defense was terrifying.
It was practically impossible to break through.
After two unsuccessful drives, Aomine pulled back to the three-point line to reset the attack.
Suddenly—
A deafening roar echoed throughout the entire arena.
"ROAR!!!"
...
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