The whistle blew. Midorima Shintaro scored.
The score became 29–36. Shutoku was now only seven points behind.
Fukuda Sogo's possession began. The ball was briefly moved through Kimura Tosho before returning to Haizaki Shogo.
Seeing Midorima approaching him again, Haizaki curled his lips slightly, his expression cold and sharp.
Man-and-ball unity… huh.
Haizaki dribbled with explosive intensity, his speed pushed to the limit as he went head-to-head with Midorima outside the three-point line.
The basketball spun rapidly between his hands—left, right, left again—until suddenly, it disappeared from Midorima's vision.
At the same moment, Haizaki's hands were completely empty.
Midorima's pupils contracted.
Then—
SWISH!
The sound of the net snapping cleanly echoed through the gym.
Midorima had seen this before. Twice. During Fukuda Sogo's match against Tōō Academy, when he and Kise Ryouta watched from the stands.
But knowing it was one thing. Facing it in real time was another.
There was no way to predict it. No way to react in time.
In the stands, Aomine Daiki suddenly let out a low laugh.
"...Heh."
It was unclear whether he was amused or satisfied—but he was clearly enjoying it.
That move was his creation.
Seeing Haizaki use it to dismantle opponents gave Aomine a strange sense of pride… and excitement.
Nearby, Kise Ryouta sighed deeply.
Even now, he still couldn't replicate that level of technique. The difficulty was simply too high.
For Kagami Taiga and Kuroko Tetsuya, who were seeing it for the first time, their expressions froze completely.
"…No way…"
"Basketball… can be played like that?"
Kagami's mind spiraled. Can something like that even be defended?
Kuroko glanced at Aomine silently, as if connecting dots—but said nothing.
The arena erupted.
"This is insane!"
"The ball curved into the hoop!"
"That's impossible!"
"What kind of basketball is this?!"
The crowd had lost all sense of normality. What they were witnessing no longer felt like basketball—it felt like a miracle.
On the side, Murasakibara Atsushi stood frozen.
Even he felt uneasy. That kind of shot… he wasn't sure he could block it.
"…Rēo-nee… does something like that even exist?"
"I don't know… I really don't know…"
"The Generation of Miracles… they're all monsters."
"Yeah… monsters."
The score changed to 29–38. Fukuda Sogo led by nine points.
Only one minute remained in the second quarter.
Haizaki immediately returned to Midorima, locking him down again.
Midorima received the ball and faced him directly. Calm but intense, he took a breath and dribbled forward.
Left. Right. A sudden burst of acceleration—
In an instant, he broke through Haizaki's defense.
Haizaki's eyes widened slightly. That rhythm again…!
He spun and chased immediately. But Midorima had already entered the paint and leapt for a dunk.
Okawa Sawano and Suzuran Karasu jumped to contest—but it was useless.
Even Haizaki's late hand was too slow.
Midorima forcefully slammed the ball into the rim.
BOOM!
The whistle followed immediately. End of second quarter.
Score: 31–38.
The first half had been a battlefield of extremes—long-range "100% Accuracy Full-Court Shot," brutal one-on-one clashes, and explosive interior battles.
Midorima had broken through Haizaki's suppression with "Man-and-ball unity" and unleashed his full-range shooting.
Haizaki had responded with surreal, almost impossible plays of his own.
It no longer felt like a basketball game.
It felt like a magic performance.
Both teams headed to the locker rooms, while the crowd remained stunned, still unable to process what they had seen.
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