A furious roar filled with savage energy echoed across the entire court.
Daiki Aomine stared intently behind Atsushi Murasakibara and muttered,
"He… awakened too?!"
Off the court, Taiga Kagami's face had completely stiffened. He shouted in disbelief,
"No way! Don't tell me everyone on Kirisaki Daiichi has Animal Instinct?!"
On Kaijō's side, Ryota Kise lowered his head and muttered bitterly,
"So I really am this weak…"
"I never imagined that even you, Murasakibara-cchi… would have Animal Instinct too…"
...
On the court.
Shuzo Nijimura and Shogo Haizaki looked at Murasakibara in surprise.
Clearly, they hadn't expected him to possess Animal Instinct either.
Miyamoto simply smiled faintly when he saw this, showing no surprise at all.
Momoi had already told him earlier that Murasakibara might possess Animal Instinct.
Murasakibara slowly exhaled a long breath, his eyes filled with ferocity.
Behind him, a massive figure loomed.
Its eyes glowed crimson, its jaws wide open, revealing terrifying fangs.
It was a bear.
A gigantic, terrifying bear!!!
After activating Animal Instinct, Murasakibara radiated a violently oppressive aura that made anyone nearby feel uncomfortable.
He glanced at Nijimura and Haizaki with a fierce look.
"Move."
Nijimura and Haizaki were stunned for a moment.
They looked at each other, unsure what to do.
Then both of them turned toward Miyamoto, waiting for his decision.
Miyamoto smiled lightly.
"Let Little Murasakibara handle him alone."
Only then did the two step aside and leave the defense to Murasakibara.
Once they moved away, Murasakibara focused entirely on Aomine again.
Nijimura walked over, looking puzzled.
"Miyamoto, even if Murasakibara activated Animal Instinct… stopping Aomine alone is still pushing it."
Miyamoto waved his hand casually.
"Let Little Murasakibara have some fun."
"We're winning this game anyway."
"Besides, this lets him experience the pressure of the Zone by himself."
"That will help him awaken the Zone later."
At that moment, Miyamoto's gaze sharpened.
"After all… Little Murasakibara has already pushed the Gate open a crack."
...
On the other side.
As Aomine felt the violent aura coming from Murasakibara, his blood began to boil.
"Who would've thought…"
"Murasakibara, you actually have this kind of strength."
"Looks like you didn't completely slack off on training after all."
"In that case…"
"Let's have a proper fight!"
A grin spread across Aomine's face as he began his drive.
He used streetball-style dribbling to shift Murasakibara's balance, then seized a brief moment of hesitation and exploded forward into the paint.
With Nijimura and Haizaki gone, Aomine's attack became much smoother.
Even though Murasakibara had activated Animal Instinct, he still couldn't stop Aomine, who had both Zone and Animal Instinct active.
Aomine sprinted straight toward the basket.
Just as he prepared to dunk—
Rapid footsteps suddenly thundered from behind him.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Then a violent aura appeared behind him.
"ROAR!!!"
While still in midair, Aomine suddenly felt someone appear behind him.
That person blocked out the sky, casting a shadow over him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Murasakibara.
His eyes were blazing with ferocity, and the giant bear behind him roared violently.
It looked ready to crush everything in its path.
But even then, Aomine showed no panic.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
The hand that had been about to dunk suddenly pulled back, and his body curled up as he flew behind the basket.
Murasakibara could only watch.
He was simply too tall.
He had jumped too high, making it impossible for him to curl up and move behind the basket like Aomine.
Right in front of him—
Aomine tossed the basketball behind the hoop.
And then…
The ball hit Murasakibara's hand.
"Whistle! Goaltending! Basket counts, two points!"
The referee immediately blew the whistle.
Aomine smiled as if everything had happened exactly as he expected.
He glanced at Murasakibara, then turned and ran back on defense.
Meanwhile, Murasakibara kept breathing heavily.
Not because he was tired.
But because he was suppressing his anger.
Watching this scene, Miyamoto suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity.
Murasakibara's Animal Instinct…
felt very similar to Dicky Anthony's.
The difference was that Murasakibara could barely control it, while Dicky Anthony couldn't control it at all at the beginning.
...
Possession switched.
Murasakibara received Hanamiya's pass near the free-throw line.
He stared fiercely at Aomine, breathing heavily like a raging bear.
Behind him, the giant bear bared its fangs, waiting for the moment to hunt.
Aomine's eyes sparkled as he stared at the basketball in Murasakibara's hands.
Behind him, the black panther crackled with blue lightning in its eyes, its body poised to strike.
The two locked eyes.
Then Murasakibara attacked.
There was no fancy technique.
He simply turned his back to Aomine and began backing him down.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Each impact pushed Aomine back one step… sometimes two.
Behind Murasakibara, the giant bear raised its massive paws and slammed them down again and again onto the black panther.
The panther couldn't withstand the blows and was forced to retreat step by step.
But its eyes remained sharp.
It was waiting.
Waiting for the perfect chance to deliver a killing blow.
...
On the court, Murasakibara continued his relentless post-up.
Aomine kept getting pushed backward by Murasakibara's overwhelming strength.
None of the Tōō players stepped forward to help.
Of course, even if they did, Aomine wouldn't welcome it.
Because this was a battle between him and Murasakibara.
No one else needed to interfere.
Finally, after Murasakibara backed him all the way to the basket, he prepared to turn around.
At that moment—
Aomine seized the opportunity.
SMACK!!!
He slapped the ball straight out of Murasakibara's hands.
A flicker of surprise flashed through Murasakibara's fierce eyes.
Just as both of them moved to grab the loose ball—
A figure suddenly dashed in and grabbed it.
That person was Shoichi Imayoshi.
...
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