Shoichi Imayoshi picked up the basketball without looking at Daiki Aomine's expression and immediately shouted,
"Fast break!!!"
The rest of Tōō reacted instantly, sprinting toward Kirisaki Daiichi's half of the court.
Aomine watched his teammates rushing forward and fell silent for a moment.
So… they had taken the right to attack.
With that, Aomine exited both Zone and Animal Instinct and simply stood under his own basket without joining the offense.
At this point, Tōō had essentially split into two factions.
One was Aomine's solo-play side.
The other was the cooperative side led by Imayoshi.
Now that Imayoshi had the ball, Aomine naturally wouldn't shamelessly demand it.
So he decisively withdrew from Zone and Animal Instinct to conserve energy.
The current Aomine was terrifyingly strong.
Just the fact that he could freely enter and exit both Zone and Animal Instinct already made him extremely dangerous.
However, while Aomine stopped moving, Murasakibara did not.
He sprinted forward at full speed, preparing to intercept Tōō's fast break.
Nijimura and the others did the same, quickly retreating.
Soon, they cut off Tōō's advance.
Imayoshi's face twisted into an awkward grimace as he looked at Kirisaki Daiichi like he was staring at monsters.
...
In the stands.
Junpei Hyuga's lips trembled slightly as he muttered,
"That transition defense is insanely fast…"
...
On the court.
Miyamoto remained in Tōō's frontcourt instead of retreating on defense. He walked over beside Aomine and said,
"Aomine, how does it feel to be abandoned by your teammates?"
Aomine let out a cold scoff.
"They're just struggling pointlessly."
"There's no way they can score against your teammates with their level."
"That kind of gap in ability can't be fixed by passing or teamwork."
To be honest, Miyamoto didn't entirely disagree.
He knew his teammates' strength very well.
Forget Tōō—if even Rakuzan's players tried to attack them, they would still struggle.
"Aomine, you're not wrong."
"But there's one thing you've misunderstood."
Aomine looked up in confusion.
"What?"
Miyamoto looked toward Tōō's players still trying to attack and smiled.
"Even if your teammates aren't strong enough, that's not a reason for you to become a lone wolf."
"Sometimes… even small characters can explode with power."
Aomine frowned slightly.
At the moment, he couldn't quite understand what Miyamoto meant.
Since he couldn't understand it, he simply stopped thinking about it.
Instead, he turned his attention to the frontcourt to see how Imayoshi and the others planned to attack.
...
Imayoshi scanned Kirisaki Daiichi's players.
Their man-to-man defense was suffocating.
Up until now, he hadn't seen a single passing lane.
Damn it.
Even without the [Magic Cube], their defense is still this airtight?
Looks like the only breakthrough point… is still you.
Imayoshi's gaze unconsciously fell on Makoto Hanamiya.
In his mind, Kirisaki Daiichi only had one weak point.
Even though that "weak point" was still extremely solid, compared to the rest of their iron wall, it was the thinnest spot.
Imayoshi took a deep breath.
For once, he opened his eyes completely and stared straight into Hanamiya's.
"Hanamiya… I never thought I'd be facing you in a situation like this."
Hanamiya sneered.
"So what if you did?"
"Do you really think you can break through me?"
Imayoshi's gaze became firm.
"Why not?"
Hanamiya's eyes sharpened dangerously.
"You're welcome to try."
With that, Imayoshi began dribbling, probing for an opening.
Hanamiya stared intently at his footwork, constantly predicting Imayoshi's attacking path.
Finally—
Imayoshi moved.
He pushed the ball to the right and drove forward.
Right side!
Hanamiya instantly analyzed the route and slid sideways to intercept.
Imayoshi was startled.
How?!
He immediately changed direction and tried to drive from the other side.
But Hanamiya was already there again.
Imayoshi didn't hesitate.
He spun around and turned his back to the basket.
Hanamiya focused on Imayoshi's shoulders.
Half-spin.
He instantly predicted the move and stayed exactly where he was.
Just as expected.
After the half-spin, Imayoshi tried to break through again.
But when he drove forward—
Hanamiya was still there.
Imayoshi had no choice but to retreat to the perimeter and reset the offense.
Shock filled his face.
How is this possible?!
His defense has become this strong?!
Imayoshi had never imagined Hanamiya's defensive ability could grow to this level.
This defense…
It was like a spider's web.
Suddenly—
Imayoshi noticed something terrifying.
Behind Hanamiya, a faint shadow appeared.
But it was too blurry to make out what it was.
Aomine also noticed the shadow.
He turned to Miyamoto and cursed,
"Damn it, Miyamoto! What kind of training does your team even do?!"
Miyamoto couldn't see the shadow.
He only felt Hanamiya's aura change slightly before returning to normal.
Thinking Aomine was simply asking, he laughed.
"Want to know?"
"I can teach you."
Aomine's mouth twitched.
He turned his head away.
I've already awakened Animal Instinct. What the hell would I learn from you?
...
On the court.
Imayoshi stared at Hanamiya in horror.
"M-monsters…"
"All of you in Kirisaki Daiichi are monsters!!!"
Hanamiya looked delighted.
He clearly enjoyed the title.
"Thanks for the compliment."
Imayoshi clenched his teeth.
Despair began creeping into his heart.
How are we supposed to play against this?
The only gap in their defense couldn't be broken through.
Everywhere else was solid steel.
As unwilling as he was to admit it, Imayoshi had to accept the truth.
Right now…
They didn't even have the strength to challenge Kirisaki Daiichi.
So how were they supposed to keep playing?
Should they just…
give up?
At that moment, a voice suddenly spoke.
"What's wrong, Imayoshi?"
"Has your fighting spirit… already disappeared?"
...