Miyamoto Tokima seemed to have figured it out now.
The reason Nash Gold and Jason Silver had been able to regain their composure so quickly after seeing his Animal Instinct was because they had never cared that much about defeating him in the first place.
To them, simply playing a game against him had been enough. They had never gone in with the mindset that they absolutely had to win.
In other words, they had no obsession with Miyamoto Tokima.
But Daiki Aomine was different. Ever since middle school, Daiki Aomine had always wanted to defeat Miyamoto Tokima.
He had worked hard every day for that goal, all so that one day, he could beat Miyamoto Tokima.
But the moment he saw Miyamoto Tokima's Black Dragon, Daiki Aomine instantly felt the gap between them.
That gap was so wide that he had no way to win at all.
How could Daiki Aomine not break down after spending every day working toward defeating Miyamoto Tokima?
He had worked hard for so many years just to beat him, only to realize once they actually faced each other that there was no hope.
How could he not break down?
After thinking through the cause and effect, Miyamoto Tokima shook his head helplessly, looked at Daiki Aomine, and murmured,
"Daiki, why put yourself through this..."
There was nothing he could do. Miyamoto Tokima could only wait until after the game and talk to Daiki Aomine privately.
[Just to clarify, it's normal for Daiki Aomine to feel lost here. Don't tell me Daiki Aomine is so fired up that he could never feel lost. That's complete bullshit. In the original story, he got lost because he had no opponent to play against, and you're telling me he couldn't possibly feel lost? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!]
...
The rest of the game went exactly as expected.
Daiki Aomine fell completely into confusion. He did not even go back onto the court, sitting on the bench until the game ended.
And because Daiki Aomine had come off, Miyamoto Tokima lost any desire to keep playing as well.
He went straight off the court and had Kentaro Seto take his place.
In the end, they won the game.
The final score was 112 to 57.
Kirisaki Daiichi won by an utterly terrifying margin.
In truth, the reason the score became so one-sided was largely because Daiki Aomine suddenly collapsed. The rest of Tōō, whose fighting spirit had already been close to dying out, completely lost the will to fight because of it.
That was why the score was pulled apart so thoroughly.
After the game ended, Daiki Aomine lowered his head and left the court on his own, ignoring everyone.
Seeing that, the rest of Tōō did not know what to say either. They simply packed up their things numbly.
The gap was too big.
They had been crushed once in the Summer Cup, and now they had been crushed again in the Winter Cup.
At this point, Kirisaki Daiichi had become a true nightmare for everyone at Tōō High.
Against Kirisaki Daiichi, they could not see any hope of victory at all!
On the sidelines.
Alex Garcia watched Daiki Aomine leave alone and could not help sighing.
"I never expected that a genius who opened the second [Gate] in high school would end up leaving the court like this."
Taiga Kagami's expression was heavy as he said in a low voice,
"I never thought Aomine would lose all his fighting spirit. Is this really the Aomine I know?"
Tatsuya Himuro smiled bitterly from the side and said nothing.
Because he understood exactly how Daiki Aomine felt right now.
Having stayed at Kirisaki Daiichi before, he understood very well just how overwhelming Miyamoto Tokima's pressure and strength were.
He looked at Miyamoto Tokima, who was still packing up on the court, and thought with emotion,
'No matter who it is, facing you would probably drive them into despair, wouldn't it?'
Riko Aida stood up, stretched, and said,
"Let's go, everyone. The game's over, and we need to get back and prepare properly. Our match is coming up next!"
Junpei Hyuga also stood up and nodded.
"We should head back and get ready. Rakuzan isn't an easy opponent to deal with."
Everyone from Seirin stood up and prepared to leave. At that moment, Shinji Koganei suddenly looked around and asked in confusion,
"Where's Kuroko?"
Hearing that, Taiga Kagami immediately pointed beside himself and said,
"Kuroko's right..."
Before he could finish, Taiga Kagami realized that Tetsuya Kuroko, who had been beside him, had already vanished. He immediately cried out in shock,
"What?! Where's Kuroko?!"
As he spoke, Taiga Kagami looked around, even crouching down to check under the bench.
Seeing that, everyone from Seirin began looking around as well, and in the end, they discovered...
Tetsuya Kuroko...
Really had disappeared!!!
Riko Aida immediately clenched her fists and shouted angrily,
"Go! Find! Him! Now!"
Everyone from Seirin shouted,
"Yes!"
Then they began searching.
Riko Aida kept taking deep breaths to calm herself down. In the end, her face showed seven parts anger, two parts worry, and one part... sorry, wrong pie chart.
In the end, Riko Aida still joined the search for Tetsuya Kuroko with a hint of worry.
...
Outside the gym at that moment.
Daiki Aomine walked out alone, carrying his things.
His eyes were empty, and his expression was dull. He looked completely dazed and dispirited.
"Aomine-kun."
At that moment, a voice came from beside Daiki Aomine.
Daiki Aomine stiffly turned his head and looked to the side. After seeing who had spoken, he said flatly,
"Oh. It's Tetsuya."
Seeing Daiki Aomine in this state, Tetsuya Kuroko felt a little worried.
He met Daiki Aomine's eyes and said,
"Aomine-kun, can we talk?"
Daiki Aomine shook his head with a bitter smile.
"What is there to talk about?"
After saying that, Daiki Aomine walked forward alone, paying no attention to Tetsuya Kuroko.
Tetsuya Kuroko gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, then said,
"Bastard! Coward!"
Daiki Aomine froze when he heard that. This was the first time he had ever heard Tetsuya Kuroko curse.
Daiki Aomine slowly turned his head and said in a low voice,
"What did you say?"
Seeing that Daiki Aomine had reacted, Tetsuya Kuroko took a deep breath and shouted,
"I said Aomine-kun is a bastard! A coward!!!"
Tetsuya Kuroko had thought Daiki Aomine would come back angrily and confront him, but Daiki Aomine did not seem angry at all.
Daiki Aomine did not get mad. Instead, he slowly raised his head, looked up at the sky, sighed softly, and said,
"A coward, huh? And Tetsuya is the one calling me that. Heh. Whatever."
After saying that, Daiki Aomine walked forward again. This time, however, he looked even more defeated.
...
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