The game continued. Fukuda ball.
After crossing half court, the point guard immediately passed to Kotaro Hayama. Kotaro caught the ball and found himself facing Shogo Haizaki.
Kotaro Hayama carefully sized him up. White hair, a strange, twisted smile on his face.
'A dangerous guy.'
Kotaro Hayama noted it silently, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that.
Thud! Thud!! Thud!!! Thud!!!! Thud!!!!!
The thunderous dribbling echoed through the arena, and Shogo Haizaki's expression shifted ever so slightly.
'That dribble's loud.'
Haizaki licked his lips, bracing himself for Kotaro Hayama's Lightning Dribbling.
"Four fingers!!!"
In an instant, Kotaro Hayama blew past Shogo Haizaki. After breaking through, he came to a sudden stop and pulled up for the shot.
Swish!
After the basket dropped, Kotaro Hayama immediately turned and headed back on defense. As he did, he glanced back at Haizaki, expecting at least a hint of shock.
Instead, Shogo Haizaki showed no surprise at all—only a sinister grin.
Kotaro Hayama froze for a moment, confused.
Wearing that wicked smile, Shogo Haizaki thought to himself:
'Lightning Dribbling… one day, I'll take it for myself.'
...
The game went on. On the next possession, Miyamoto Tokima brought the ball past half court and noticed that Shogo Haizaki was in an excellent position. Without hesitation, he passed him the ball.
Miyamoto Tokima wasn't the type to bring personal grudges onto the court. Besides, there wasn't that much bad blood between him and Haizaki anyway. After teaching Haizaki a lesson earlier, Miyamoto Tokima had largely lost interest.
Shogo Haizaki was momentarily stunned as he caught the pass. He felt puzzled—despite their past friction, Miyamoto Tokima still trusted him with the ball.
He glanced at Miyamoto Tokima and, seeing the encouraging look in his eyes, nodded seriously.
Partly because Miyamoto Tokima had left a deep impression on him, and partly because he genuinely wanted to take matters into his own hands on offense.
Holding the ball with both hands, Shogo Haizaki stared at Kotaro Hayama with a crooked grin.
Haizaki only behaved himself in front of Miyamoto Tokima. In front of everyone else, he was still the same unruly delinquent.
He began dribbling repeatedly, gradually increasing the force.
Thud!
'So… I really can't do it, huh?'
After one heavy dribble, Shogo Haizaki gave up. He realized he simply couldn't control the ball while dribbling with that much force.
'If I can't "steal" Lightning Dribbling, then I'll steal something else.'
With that thought, Haizaki suddenly sped up his dribble and burst to the left.
Kotaro Hayama wasn't fooled and quickly stayed with him.
Seeing Kotaro Hayama keep up, Haizaki abruptly stopped and stepped back, then rose for the shot.
The sudden step-back caught Kotaro Hayama off guard. He hadn't expected Haizaki to pull that move, and his reaction lagged by a fraction of a second.
By the time Kotaro Hayama rushed forward to contest, it was already too late. The ball had left Haizaki's hands and dropped cleanly through the hoop.
Two points.
Kotaro Hayama didn't get discouraged and immediately prepared for the next possession.
However, Fukuda's shooting guard froze. Haizaki's move just now was identical to the one he had used earlier against Shintaro Midorima.
'Was that just a coincidence?'
He wondered silently.
On the next possession, Kotaro Hayama once again used Four-Finger Lightning Dribbling, effortlessly blowing past Shogo Haizaki and scoring.
Miyamoto Tokima, unwilling to be outdone, continued tearing apart Fukuda's defense with Five-Finger Lightning Dribbling.
The game turned into a personal showcase—more precisely, a showcase of Lightning Dribbling.
Fukuda's yellow lightning and Teikō's black lightning flashed across the court again and again.
The score remained tight.
Teikō showed no sign of panic—they were the ones in the lead. Fukuda, on the other hand, couldn't afford to stay calm. If things continued like this, there was no way they could win.
They adjusted their strategy, no longer forcing their way inside. Instead, they looked to open things up from the perimeter, trying to close the gap with three-point shots.
After sinking three consecutive threes, Fukuda managed to claw back some points.
But their hope was short-lived.
Miyamoto Tokima stopped using Lightning Dribbling and instead relied on his lightning-fast shooting from beyond the arc. Ignoring Hotani's defense entirely, he drilled three after three right over his head, sending wave after wave of cheers through the arena.
Realizing this, Fukuda immediately switched to a zone defense, focusing on shutting down Miyamoto Tokima's shooting.
But that decision freed up Teikō's second sharpshooter.
Once Miyamoto Tokima drew the double team, he threaded the ball through the gap to Shintaro Midorima.
Shintaro Midorima didn't disappoint. One three-pointer after another fell, each one like a heavy hammer smashing down on Fukuda.
And it still wasn't over.
With three minutes left in the fourth quarter, Daiki Aomine finally stopped holding back and unleashed his Animal Instinct, boosting his speed and instincts.
Over those final three minutes, Aomine repeatedly shredded Fukuda's interior, while Miyamoto Tokima and Shintaro Midorima continued raining threes from outside, wave after wave.
The combined explosion from the three of them completely put the game to rest.
Beep!
The final buzzer of the fourth quarter sounded.
The score stood at 124–97.
Teikō defeated Fukuda by 27 points.
As the game ended, Kotaro Hayama forced a weak smile. This match had hit him harder than anything before—only he knew the true bitterness behind it.
Still, he walked up to Miyamoto Tokima and extended his hand.
"You're strong. Next time, I'll beat you."
Miyamoto Tokima looked at the outstretched hand, smiled lightly, and shook it.
"I'll be waiting."
After their handshake, both sides left the court, following their respective coaches back to their schools.
Kotaro Hayama walked over to his teammates, who had been waiting for him.
"Let's go, everyone."
The Fukuda players nodded and followed their coach toward the locker room.
Miyamoto Tokima rejoined the main Teikō group and headed back with them as well.
Along the way, Daiki Aomine pumped his fists excitedly, grinning from ear to ear as he muttered,
"Haha, that was way too fun! First time I've played that hard in forever. Coach Shirogane really didn't lie to me—Kotaro really is strong, hahaha."
Seijuro Akashi smiled and nodded.
"Indeed. He gave us quite a bit of trouble."
Daiki Aomine's grin never faded.
"Right? He's seriously strong."
Then, slinging an arm around Miyamoto Tokima's shoulder, Aomine laughed.
"Hey, Miyamoto—how about a one-on-one when we get back?"