Jason Silver felt the resistance in his hand and grinned.
Unleashing his full strength, he instantly overpowered Atsushi Murasakibara's force and slammed the basketball straight through the hoop.
A dunk over the defender!
Atsushi Murasakibara crashed to the floor with a thud.
The crowd immediately erupted in excited shouts.
Some people even rushed up to chest-bump Jason Silver.
Shuzo Nijimura walked over to Atsushi Murasakibara and extended a hand.
"Get up, Murasakibara."
Atsushi Murasakibara didn't take it. He simply sat on the floor in silence.
Shogo Haizaki and the others noticed something was wrong and quickly ran over.
"Murasakibara, what's wrong?"
Shogo Haizaki asked.
Atsushi Murasakibara didn't respond. He just sat there quietly, unmoving.
With the Belial Eye activated, Nash Gold noticed something immediately.
Atsushi Murasakibara's stats had dropped.
Nash Gold muttered,
"Did he leave the Zone on his own?"
Zack walked over beside Nash Gold with a puzzled expression.
"What's going on? Why does he look like his fighting spirit just vanished?"
Nash Gold shook his head.
"I'm not sure. Maybe he's never taken a hit like this before."
Meanwhile...
Shuzo Nijimura grabbed Atsushi Murasakibara's shoulders and shook him repeatedly.
"Murasakibara! Snap out of it!"
But Atsushi Murasakibara still didn't react. He remained silent.
Murasakibara had always had the mentality of a child.
He had always been winning.
Now, being completely crushed like this in the United States created a huge psychological gap that wiped out his fighting spirit.
He didn't lash out at anyone.
Instead, he simply sat there quietly.
He didn't know what to say.
Just then, Makoto Hanamiya walked over.
"Nijimura, let me try."
Shuzo Nijimura stepped aside after hearing that, leaving Atsushi Murasakibara to Makoto Hanamiya.
Makoto Hanamiya looked down at the slumped Murasakibara and said coldly,
"Pathetic."
Atsushi Murasakibara's shoulders twitched.
Makoto Hanamiya continued,
"Miyamoto has put in who knows how much effort taking care of you, and this is what you look like now?"
"Did all that food you ate go straight to your tiny brain?"
Murasakibara's shoulders trembled even more.
Seeing that, Makoto Hanamiya kept going.
"Don't forget whose team you represent."
"Do you remember who you represent?"
After saying that, Makoto Hanamiya placed a hand on Murasakibara's shoulder and suddenly smiled.
"Don't you want to go back and enjoy a big feast?"
The moment Makoto Hanamiya finished speaking, Atsushi Murasakibara lifted his head.
His eyes were filled with determination.
"I do!"
Makoto Hanamiya's lips curled upward as he extended his hand.
"Then get up."
Atsushi Murasakibara nodded heavily and grabbed Makoto Hanamiya's hand.
Then...
"Nijimura, give me a hand. I can't pull him up."
"...Seriously?"
......
Nash Gold had watched the whole thing.
He looked at Makoto Hanamiya with interest and murmured,
"Interesting. A natural persuader, huh?"
Zack chimed in beside him.
"I thought that kid was only good at trash talk. Didn't expect him to have this kind of ability too."
"Too bad his strength is a bit lacking."
Nash Gold suddenly seemed to think of something and smiled strangely.
"No. I think he could take on another role."
"A role... that would be hated by everyone."
Zack immediately understood what Nash Gold meant and quickly said,
"Fuck, Nash, don't even think about it. Miyamoto would slap you flying!"
Nash Gold burst out laughing.
"Haha, I'm joking."
"In the end, everything is still up to Miyamoto."
Meanwhile...
Atsushi Murasakibara turned and asked,
"Hanamiya, do you have a rubber band?"
Makoto Hanamiya froze.
A rubber band?
What kind of grown man carries a rubber band when going out?!
"Here."
Makoto Hanamiya awkwardly held out his hand, his face slightly red.
A rubber band lay quietly in his palm.
Atsushi Murasakibara took it and said,
"Thanks."
After that, he began tying up his hair.
Suddenly, a voice came from the stands.
"Alright, that's enough."
Everyone on the court turned to look.
The crowd automatically parted, creating a path.
Through the opening, Miyamoto slowly walked out.
He stepped onto the court and said calmly,
"Let's stop here. The objective has already been achieved."
The five members of the Black Dragon Team immediately called out when they saw him.
"Miyamoto!" ×5
On the court, Shogo Haizaki and Atsushi Murasakibara looked completely confused.
They had no idea what was going on.
Makoto Hanamiya, however, wore an expression that clearly said: Just as I thought.
Shuzo Nijimura briefly explained Miyamoto's plan to everyone.
After hearing it, the group fell silent.
Miyamoto walked over to Murasakibara and smiled.
"You're not blaming me, right, Little Murasakibara?"
Murasakibara puffed out his cheeks.
"I still want to play."
Miyamoto rubbed his forehead helplessly and waved his hand.
"Nash, you explain it to him."
Nash Gold nodded and said to Murasakibara,
"You still want to play?"
"Didn't you even notice that you're injured?"
The moment those words came out, Atsushi Murasakibara visibly stiffened.
Shogo Haizaki turned his head in disbelief.
"Murasakibara, you're injured?"
Murasakibara quickly hid his hand and muttered,
"No."
Nash Gold pointed at his eyes.
"Tell the truth."
"You can't fool these eyes."
Murasakibara turned his head and looked straight into Nash Gold's eyes.
A strangely familiar feeling immediately rose within him.
In the end, he stopped hiding it.
"S-sorry..."
It turned out that when Murasakibara landed after clashing with Jason Silver, he had injured himself.
His silence wasn't only because his fighting spirit had been crushed.
He was also hurt.
But he didn't want anyone to worry about him, so he stayed quiet.
What he didn't expect was that even like this, Nash Gold still noticed something was wrong.
And even called Miyamoto over.
......
Miyamoto patted Murasakibara's shoulder.
"What are you feeling guilty for?"
"You guys were never going to beat Jason and the others anyway."
"After all, even Nijimura-senpai among them would still—"
"Miyamoto!!!"
"Hahahaha! Alright, let's go. First the hospital, then we'll go eat a big feast!"
When Murasakibara heard "hospital," his eyes dimmed slightly.
But the moment he heard "feast," he immediately lit up again.
"Feast! Feast!"
Miyamoto smiled as he looked at Murasakibara, who was acting like a child.
The more he watched, the more adorable he found him.
After that, Miyamoto took Murasakibara to the hospital.
The doctor said it wasn't serious and that a few days of rest would be enough.
After leaving the hospital, Miyamoto treated both the Black Dragon Team and Kirisaki Daiichi to a big meal.
Kirisaki Daiichi's Shogo Haizaki even tried asking Nash Gold about their team.
But Nash Gold didn't reveal anything.
Because Miyamoto had instructed him not to.
After all...
Only a mysterious and powerful opponent could give them the motivation to keep striving forward.
...
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