"Of course!" Ryota Kise said. "I can activate the Zone and [Perfect Copy] whenever I want now."
Kōzō Shirogane fell silent, lightly tapping the back of his right hand with the fingers of his left as he thought.
A moment later, he asked,
"Ryota, once you activate the Zone and [Perfect Copy], how long can you maintain them?"
Ryota Kise thought back for a moment before answering uncertainly,
"About six or seven minutes, I think."
"Half a quarter..." Kōzō Shirogane murmured.
If he only had half a quarter, then it had to be saved for the most critical moment!
"Kise," Kōzō Shirogane said, "for now, conserve as much stamina as you can. We'll need you at the very end."
Ryota Kise didn't argue. He simply nodded and obediently followed the instruction.
Kōzō Shirogane then turned to Taiga Kagami.
"Kagami, you should recover as much as you can too."
Taiga Kagami nodded, clenching his fist unwillingly.
He hadn't wanted to use his trump card that early, but Atsushi Murasakibara had forced his hand.
He really had no choice!
Daiki Aomine sat on the bench, staring thoughtfully at his hands.
For some reason, he kept feeling that... somewhere inside him... there was another strange kind of power.
...
"Beep! The third quarter is about to begin! Both teams, get ready!"
With halftime over, both teams returned to the court, ready to begin the second half.
The adjusted lineups for Kirisaki Daiichi and Teikō Middle School also took the floor.
Seeing that Kirisaki Daiichi's lineup was exactly what he had predicted, Kōzō Shirogane smiled.
Looks like these old bones still had something left in them.
The third quarter began.
Kirisaki Daiichi's ball.
The moment Makoto Hanamiya reached the frontcourt, his mouth didn't stop moving. At the same time, a dense spiderweb appeared behind him!
Under Seijuro Akashi's surprised gaze, a gigantic spider slowly crawled out from behind Makoto Hanamiya.
"So you activated Animal Instinct after all?" Seijuro Akashi said with a smile.
"None of your damn business," Makoto Hanamiya shot back without hesitation. "Worry about yourself first, Redhead."
The moment he heard "Redhead," Seijuro Akashi visibly clenched his fist.
"You really are irritating," Seijuro Akashi said with a smile, though his tone had turned slightly dark.
Makoto Hanamiya immediately realized what Seijuro Akashi was planning. He pulled away at once and passed the ball out.
Once the ball left his hands, Makoto Hanamiya went right back to... well, everyone knew what he was doing.
The ball reached Shuzo Nijimura.
Looking at Daiki Aomine, who was already braced for him, Shuzo Nijimura curled his lips into a slight smile.
"Aomine, let's have a proper match!"
Crackle...
The moment Shuzo Nijimura finished speaking, violent lightning erupted from his eyes!
Daiki Aomine showed no change in expression.
Instead, he answered with action.
Crackle!!!
Blue lightning burst from Daiki Aomine's eyes in an instant, and the pressure radiating from him intensified.
Daiki Aomine!
Zone activated!
Seeing this, Shuzo Nijimura smiled, raised his right hand, and launched his attack.
He constantly changed his dribbling rhythm, controlling the ball with remarkable finesse.
In his hands, the basketball moved as obediently as a well-trained child.
Daiki Aomine's gaze sharpened. His movements didn't lag behind in the slightest as he stayed firmly in front of Shuzo Nijimura.
Then, during one of Shuzo Nijimura's pullbacks, Daiki Aomine struck with speed, precision, and decisiveness, knocking the ball away!
Smack!!!
Shuzo Nijimura's pupils contracted.
He hadn't expected to get stripped.
Daiki Aomine immediately scooped up the loose ball and raced toward the frontcourt.
Shuzo Nijimura planted his right foot, stopped himself, and turned to chase after him.
But he quickly realized that the gap between them was only growing wider!
All he could do was watch as Daiki Aomine finished with a dunk!
Only then did Shuzo Nijimura finally confirm it.
Daiki Aomine had already surpassed him.
Not only in their normal states, but even when they entered the Zone!
Shuzo Nijimura shook his head and sighed.
"Talent, huh..."
He looked down at his hands and had no choice but to acknowledge just how important talent was.
His daily training volume was already astonishing, yet even with that much effort, Daiki Aomine and the others had gradually overtaken him.
When Shuzo Nijimura had first returned, he could still suppress Shogo Haizaki.
But now, when it came to basketball, he could no longer do that.
Shogo Haizaki had also begun to fully realize his talent, and his strength was becoming more and more terrifying.
Meanwhile, Shuzo Nijimura's own talent seemed to lie not in basketball, but in boxing!
His basketball ability wasn't improving as quickly as Daiki Aomine's and the others', but his fighting ability was growing at an incredible pace.
Shuzo Nijimura wasn't exaggerating.
At his current level, he could even trade blows with Miyamoto Tokima!
More accurately, he actually had fought Miyamoto Tokima before!
At the time, Miyamoto Tokima had noticed how good Shuzo Nijimura was at fighting. Since he happened to be bored, he invited Shuzo Nijimura to a boxing match.
Although Shuzo Nijimura was ultimately knocked out, he had forced himself through an entire round!
Even Jason Silver had been knocked out by Miyamoto Tokima with a single punch!
From that day onward, Miyamoto Tokima had occasionally nudged Shuzo Nijimura toward practicing boxing.
Because he felt that... Shuzo Nijimura's future... might truly lie in boxing.
"I know Miyamoto has been subtly trying to get me to switch paths," Shuzo Nijimura murmured as he looked down at his legs. "But I'm still not ready to accept that."
He raised his head and looked toward Daiki Aomine, his gaze growing firm.
"I..."
Suddenly, waves of milky-white light began radiating from Shuzo Nijimura's body, making him look almost sacred.
"I don't want my juniors looking down on me!!!"
Shuzo Nijimura roared, and the lightning of his Zone suddenly became far more violent!
As though sensing something, Daiki Aomine turned his head toward Shuzo Nijimura.
And what he saw was...
...
...
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