And Atsushi Murasakibara had used such an insanely stamina-draining trump card right at the start of the game.
It was like throwing out your strongest move on the very first turn, firing your ultimate attack the moment the fight began, or sprinting full speed from the start of a 1,500-meter race.
"Sigh."
Miyamoto Tokima rubbed his forehead helplessly, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Looking at Atsushi Murasakibara's exhausted expression and heaving chest, Miyamoto Tokima knew there was no way he could stay on the court right now.
Repeated physical clashes were already extremely exhausting on their own.
Add the strain of maintaining three enhanced states at once, and the stamina drain was obviously enormous.
Satsuki Momoi understood the situation just as well.
With a wave of her hand, she decided to substitute Atsushi Murasakibara out and send Eikichi Nebuya in.
"Nebuya, you're replacing Atsushi. Kiyoshi will most likely come back in during the second quarter, so keep an eye on him."
"Himuro, you're replacing Haizaki. In the next quarter, focus as much as possible on the perimeter."
"And Haizaki, recover as much stamina as you can. Otherwise, you won't be able to maintain Selfless for very long later."
Shogo Haizaki nodded.
His stamina wasn't actually poor.
The problem was that he would eventually need to activate Selfless, which drained stamina like a bottomless pit.
That made his reserves feel somewhat inadequate.
So Satsuki Momoi gave him time to rest now, allowing him to maintain Selfless longer when he needed it later.
"Hahaha!" Eikichi Nebuya laughed heartily. "Leave it to me!"
Tatsuya Himuro gave a gentle nod.
Eikichi Nebuya turned toward Teppei Kiyoshi on Teikō Middle School's bench and grinned.
"Kiyoshi, let's go another round!"
Over at Teikō Middle School's bench, Daiki Aomine and Taiga Kagami weren't doing much better.
After repeatedly colliding with Atsushi Murasakibara while simultaneously maintaining Animal Instinct and Zone, they weren't just exhausted.
They were hurting.
Their chests hurt like hell.
Taiga Kagami was even breathing through clenched teeth.
Seeing their condition, Kōzō Shirogane made some adjustments.
"Kagami and Aomine, rest for now."
"Kiyoshi, you'll play center. Hayama, you're at power forward. Sakurai, you're at small forward."
Kōzō Shirogane then turned toward Shintaro Midorima.
"Midorima, move back to shooting guard."
"Murasakibara burned through a huge amount of stamina too, so he probably won't play in the second quarter. They'll most likely send Nebuya in for him."
"So in the next quarter, we'll focus on threes."
Kōzō Shirogane quickly read the situation and made his adjustments.
Everyone nodded together.
"Got it!"
...
The break ended, and the second quarter officially began.
"Beep! Start of the second quarter!"
The referee blew the whistle, and both teams returned to the court.
Once Miyamoto Tokima stepped onto the floor, he glanced at Teikō Middle School's lineup and immediately understood what Coach Shirogane was planning.
"So they want to shoot threes. Looks like we had the same idea."
Off the court, Kōzō Shirogane looked at Kirisaki Daiichi's lineup and immediately understood Satsuki Momoi's plan as well.
They were focusing on three-pointers too.
Satsuki Momoi, meanwhile, showed no surprise when she saw Teikō Middle School's lineup.
She had already expected it.
The second quarter officially got underway.
Teikō Middle School's ball.
Seijuro Akashi dribbled slowly into the frontcourt while the rest of Teikō Middle School began moving into position.
Ryo Sakurai came free off a screen from Teppei Kiyoshi.
Seijuro Akashi immediately seized the opening.
A flash of white light appeared in his hand, and the basketball reached Ryo Sakurai in an instant.
Tatsuya Himuro rounded Teppei Kiyoshi's screen as well and rushed toward Ryo Sakurai.
"S-Sorry!"
Ryo Sakurai murmured timidly before releasing the ball almost immediately.
His release was incredibly fast.
Aside from Miyamoto Tokima, he was currently the fastest shooter on the court.
Swish!
The ball dropped cleanly through the hoop.
The most timid words imaginable, paired with the quickest shot on the floor.
Tatsuya Himuro could only shake his head helplessly.
He had already gotten around Teppei Kiyoshi's screen as quickly as he could, but he was still half a step too late.
...
Possession changed.
Kirisaki Daiichi's ball.
After Miyamoto Tokima crossed half court, he passed the ball to Tatsuya Himuro.
Tatsuya Himuro wasted no time.
A series of convincing fakes had Ryo Sakurai completely turned around.
Then Tatsuya Himuro pulled back beyond the three-point line and knocked down the shot.
For the next several minutes, neither team attacked the paint very often.
They simply traded three-pointers from the perimeter.
And somehow, both teams were shooting at an extremely high percentage.
Three-pointer after three-pointer fell through the net, each one adding another wave to the shootout.
Shintaro Midorima was the most ridiculous of them all.
He buried four consecutive threes, forcing Kirisaki Daiichi to adjust.
The first change was obvious.
Miyamoto Tokima took over the assignment on Shintaro Midorima.
After all, Miyamoto Tokima was the only player on Kirisaki Daiichi capable of properly contesting Shintaro Midorima's extremely high release point.
And the moment Miyamoto Tokima began guarding Shintaro Midorima, Teikō Middle School had achieved exactly what it wanted.
Their objective was to make Shintaro Midorima occupy either two defenders or Miyamoto Tokima himself.
Don't forget, Shintaro Midorima's range covered the entire court.
Even with the backcourt violation rule, he could simply stand near half court and force Miyamoto Tokima to stay with him.
That turned the frontcourt into a four-on-four situation.
And without Miyamoto Tokima roaming over to help, Teikō Middle School had a much easier time attacking.
Teikō Middle School's ball.
Seijuro Akashi dribbled into the frontcourt and finally reached the three-point line without anything getting in his way.
Shuzo Nijimura spread his arms and took the defensive assignment.
Shintaro Midorima stood near the right side of the half-court line, single-handedly keeping Miyamoto Tokima occupied.
It matched exactly what he had said before.
Against anyone but Miyamoto, I'm unbeatable.
Against Miyamoto himself, I can at least trade one-for-one.
In a sense, Shintaro Midorima really had managed to trade one-for-one with Miyamoto Tokima.
Of course, that only applied on offense.
On defense, Shintaro Midorima still had no way to stop Miyamoto Tokima.
As long as Miyamoto Tokima wasn't the one guarding him, Seijuro Akashi had tremendous confidence that he could beat whoever stood in front of him.
Even if that defender was Nijimura-senpai.
Golden light flashed in Seijuro Akashi's eyes.
[Emperor Eye] activated instantly.
Shuzo Nijimura didn't dare relax either.
A vast ocean appeared behind him, and a shark burst from the surface.
"Nijimura-senpai," Seijuro Akashi said coldly, "even with Animal Instinct, you still can't stop me. Move."
Shuzo Nijimura shook his head with a smile.
"How will you know unless you try?"
Seijuro Akashi said nothing more.
His hands suddenly accelerated, dribbling the ball at blistering speed.
The next instant, Shuzo Nijimura dropped to the floor as though something had swept his legs out from under him.
Seijuro Akashi blew past him from the side.
...
...
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