First of all, the Selfless State was already extremely draining for its user. Adding the Limit of Selfless Brilliance on top of that only intensified the stamina consumption even further.
At the same time, because this was a basketball court, there were far more factors to consider.
That was why Shogo Haizaki's head had begun to ache, which in turn sped up the depletion of his stamina.
Judging from Shogo Haizaki's current condition, he would probably be completely exhausted by the end of the second quarter.
So Shogo Haizaki wanted to make one final push. He would provoke Daiki Aomine and force him to burn through some stamina as well.
That would also make things easier for his teammates in the second half.
...
On the court.
Daiki Aomine received the ball in the backcourt, then ignored his teammates completely and charged toward the frontcourt on his own.
More precisely, he was charging straight at Shogo Haizaki.
He was going to take Shogo Haizaki one-on-one and vent the anger in his chest!
Shogo Haizaki took a deep breath, his expression serious. He spread his arms, bent his body slightly, and assumed a defensive stance.
Watching Daiki Aomine get closer and closer, Shogo Haizaki immediately focused his attention, and his brain began running at high speed.
At that moment, Shogo Haizaki's mind was like a machine operating at full speed, constantly calculating how Daiki Aomine would attack.
Daiki Aomine soon arrived in front of Shogo Haizaki, and the hand dribbling the ball began to move.
Daiki Aomine rapidly slapped the basketball between his left and right hands, the ball shifting between them so quickly it was dazzling.
His body also began swaying from side to side, making it impossible to tell which direction he should be defended from.
Suddenly, Daiki Aomine accelerated hard from the right, trying to break through.
But to everyone's surprise, Shogo Haizaki had already moved ahead of time to block Daiki Aomine's driving path.
Daiki Aomine froze for a moment. He had not expected Shogo Haizaki to predict his move in advance.
He quickly glanced at Shogo Haizaki and noticed that Shogo Haizaki's face looked terrible.
'Is he using that Selfless State again?'
Daiki Aomine thought to himself. Then, without slowing down in the slightest, he darted sharply to the left.
But that was a feint.
Daiki Aomine's real breakthrough route was still on the right!
Yet just as Daiki Aomine shifted his center of gravity back, he was shocked to discover something.
Shogo Haizaki was still blocking the path he had to take.
Seeing this, Daiki Aomine kept changing his offensive route, pushing his speed to the limit.
And every single time, Shogo Haizaki seemed to have predicted it, firmly stopping Daiki Aomine in his tracks.
However, every time he stopped Daiki Aomine, Shogo Haizaki's complexion worsened a little more.
At last, Daiki Aomine changed direction again and broke through from the left.
Shogo Haizaki tried to stop him again, but a sudden stab of pain shot through his brain, making his body stiffen for an instant.
That brief stiffness was enough for Daiki Aomine to break past Shogo Haizaki without any resistance.
After getting past Shogo Haizaki, Daiki Aomine glanced at him from the corner of his eye and thought,
'Is he at his limit?'
Atsushi Murasakibara reacted as well and moved over to help defend against Daiki Aomine.
Daiki Aomine shifted his gaze to Atsushi Murasakibara. Then...
"Roar!!!" (I don't care, panthers roar like that too!)
A panther's cry suddenly echoed across the court.
A pitch-black panther appeared behind Daiki Aomine.
Atsushi Murasakibara immediately reacted and quickly activated his own Animal Instinct.
"Roar!!!"
A bear's roar followed right after.
A massive bear appeared behind Atsushi Murasakibara in an instant.
Suddenly, Daiki Aomine's voice rang out.
"You're still too slow, Murasakibara."
Atsushi Murasakibara froze for a moment, then turned back in alarm and saw that Daiki Aomine had already leapt up behind him.
He wanted to turn around and help defend, but it was already too late. Daiki Aomine had already slammed the basketball into the hoop.
Bang!!!
After scoring, Daiki Aomine did not say anything more. He simply turned and went back on defense.
Shuzo Nijimura watched this scene and frowned slightly, thinking,
'His speed has actually improved to this level?'
Miyamoto Tokima also glanced at Daiki Aomine, feeling somewhat pleasantly surprised.
'Daiki, you really have grown.'
At the same time, the referee's whistle sounded.
"Beep! Kirisaki Daiichi requests a timeout."
Everyone looked toward Satsuki Momoi, then slowly walked off the court.
After leaving the court, Miyamoto Tokima came to Satsuki Momoi's side and asked, "What's wrong, Satsuki-chan?"
Satsuki Momoi gave Miyamoto Tokima a speechless look and said, "Don't call me that!"
Miyamoto Tokima smiled faintly and nodded.
"Okay, Satsuki-chan. I understand, Satsuki-chan."
Satsuki Momoi shyly punched Miyamoto Tokima in the chest and shouted, "I'm not talking to you anymore!"
Miyamoto Tokima chuckled and quietly looked at Satsuki Momoi.
Satsuki Momoi's face instantly turned red, but in the end, she still could not hold back and spoke up.
"Oh, honestly, stop staring at me. Let's go check on Haizaki first! His condition is really bad right now!"
Hearing this, Miyamoto Tokima turned to glance at Shogo Haizaki and saw that Shogo Haizaki had covered his head with a towel, not letting anyone see what state he was in.
Miyamoto Tokima seemed to realize something. He brought Satsuki Momoi over and asked, "Haizaki, how are you?"
After hearing Miyamoto Tokima's voice, Shogo Haizaki's body trembled unconsciously, and he did not answer right away.
Standing behind Miyamoto Tokima, Satsuki Momoi sighed softly and said, "Haizaki forced himself to use the Limit of Selfless Brilliance, and now his head is starting to feel unwell."
Makoto Hanamiya popped out at that moment and suddenly tossed in a comment.
"Wow, if Satsuki-chan's diagnosis is right, then Haizaki's basically overloaded his brain and crashed, huh?"
When Shogo Haizaki heard this, his body shook violently. Then he yanked the towel off his head with one hand and shouted furiously,
"Hanamiya! You fucking *!"
Makoto Hanamiya smiled, pointed at Shogo Haizaki, then turned back to the Kirisaki Daiichi players and said,
"He's mad."
Shogo Haizaki instantly flushed red with rage and cursed, "I'm going to kill you!"
But in the next second, another wave of severe pain struck his head.
The pain made Shogo Haizaki clutch his head and collapse back into his chair.
"Ah..."
Miyamoto Tokima shook his head helplessly and said, "Seto, Kojiro, take Haizaki to the infirmary."
Then Miyamoto Tokima turned to look at Makoto Hanamiya and said, "Makoto, you'll go in for Haizaki later and play point guard."
Makoto Hanamiya smiled darkly and nodded.
"Got it, Tokima-san..."
...
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