On the Fukuda Sogo team bus, the entire squad was buzzing with excitement. They had advanced into the final bracket of the national tournament.
As for the third-place match scheduled for the afternoon, no one cared anymore. Everyone's attention was already fixed on tomorrow's showdown—who would reach the peak of the nation.
Fukuda Sogo Academy.
Haizaki Shogo was casually leaning his head on the shoulder of the girl beside him—Shimizu Rena—and had already fallen asleep with his eyes half-closed.
This match had indeed been exhausting.
Not only did the state known as Zone drain immense physical stamina. Even the brief moment of "Man-and-ball unity" demanded extreme output from the body.
Midorima Shintaro had been pushed to the point of exhaustion precisely because he overused 100% Accuracy Full-Court Shot and that unity state, ultimately running out of stamina and losing the match.
That reality left Haizaki Shogo deeply puzzled.
Once stamina hit zero, the body simply stopped moving.
Unlike in anime-like absurdity—like Kagami Taiga—who somehow could still fight to the end despite clearly running out of energy, even re-entering Zone at the final moments.
That kind of inconsistency… was basically a slap to logic. A shameless one at that.
Still, today's match had satisfied Haizaki completely.
It could even be said that, for him, this was the true final of the national tournament.
Because tomorrow's match… he honestly didn't expect much.
Haizaki understood Aomine Daiki, and Aomine understood Haizaki. They knew each other too well—so there was very little anticipation left.
They had faced each other more than once or twice. In a sense, their "final battle" had already happened.
Aomine's true final should have been against Akashi Seijuro—a captain-versus-ace confrontation that everyone had once expected to be the true climax.
But because Akashi had "stepped back," that anticipated match never fully happened.
As for Haizaki's own "final"… it had been today against Midorima Shintaro.
Midorima had not disappointed. Not only had he developed but he had also reached Zone. Every aspect of him screamed overwhelming strength.
Of course, Haizaki had already guessed it—Midorima probably still possessed another hidden state called "Leave It to Fate," or at least had not fully mastered it yet.
As for why Haizaki didn't use Kise Ryouta's "Indomitable King Kong Body" today—it was simple.
If it wasn't necessary, he didn't want to use techniques that heavily damaged the body.
For Haizaki Shogo, who had experienced death once already, health and life were things he treated with a strange duality—indifferent, yet also extremely precious.
A contradiction that could only be understood if one thought deeply about it.
The bus arrived at the school gate, and everyone dispersed.
Haizaki and Rena walked side by side toward the family-style restaurant they often visited.
After devouring a large piece of freshly grilled sturgeon, Haizaki cleaned up the entire meal under Rena's warm gaze, then stepped out of the restaurant.
At the train station, before the train arrived, Rena asked softly, her voice drifting slightly into the air.
"Shogo-kun… can we really win tomorrow's final?"
"Why not?" Haizaki replied.
"But… the opponent is Aomine-kun!"
"Didn't we already beat them in the practice match?"
"That… that was different…"
"There's no 'but.' A match is a match. Win is win. Lose is lose."
Rena had no way to refute that.
Haizaki knew she was still worried about Aomine Daiki—and also about Satsuki Momoi's analytical support.
So he softened his tone slightly.
"Look. Tōō has Aomine Daiki and Satsuki Momoi. But we have me and you. We're not any weaker."
Satsuki Momoi
Rena could not withstand the straightforward confidence in his words and quietly turned her head away, hiding the slight tremor in her expression.
At that moment, the train arrived, and they boarded.
After sending Rena home, Haizaki returned alone by train to his villa.
The moment he stepped through the door, a small dog rushed out immediately, circling him excitedly.
Haizaki picked it up, rubbed its fluffy head and soft belly, then set it down again with satisfaction before walking inside.
"Mother, I'm home!"
"Did you have lunch, Shogo-kun?"
"I already ate outside."
His mother nodded gently, then suddenly remembered something.
"Shogo-kun, we received an email this morning. It came from overseas, addressed to you. I left it on your desk."
Haizaki's eyes lit up. After greeting her, he immediately headed to his room.
The puppy followed closely behind him. After Haizaki sat down, it jumped onto his feet and used them as a pillow, falling asleep instantly.
Haizaki opened the package sent from the United States and pulled out a green invitation letter.
It was from a man he had met during the Extreme Survival Challenge—Nash Gold Jr.
The invitation was for a basketball exhibition match hosted by Nash's team, Jabberwock. The game was scheduled for the summer vacation.
After returning to Japan, Haizaki had not cut ties with Nash and Fang. The three of them still frequently called each other and exchanged emails.
This invitation was sent after Nash received Haizaki's confirmation.
On the surface, it was an exhibition match.
But in truth… it was a high-stakes gambling game involving massive sums of money.
Because of the large financial stakes, and because Nash's team had lost two members due to certain circumstances, Nash had reached out to Haizaki and Fang.
However, Fang had politely declined, as he had already become a contracted player for a European basketball club and had no time for such games.
But Nash had unexpectedly received Haizaki's agreement.
Thus, the invitation was sent.
If they won, each member of Jabberwock would receive 300,000 USD.
If they lost, they would lose a crucial income source—and their undefeated reputation would collapse.
But none of that was what Haizaki truly cared about.
What interested him most… was what Nash had told him about their opponents.
He still remembered that moonlit night when Nash called him.
"Shogo, I'm short on players. There's a basketball game. Interested?"
"A basketball game?"
"Yeah. An exhibition match… but with a huge financial stake behind it."
"Are the opponents strong?"
"Strong. So strong that even I have to go all out."
That was enough.
Haizaki Shogo became very interested.
Extremely interested.