Midorima Shintarō: "...!"
That was…
Shigure-senpai's hop step.
Unlike an ordinary hop step, what made Shigure-senpai's move so difficult to mimic was its speed, agility, and distance. Yet what Murasakibara had just shown…
It faintly carried the same feeling as Shigure in his second year.
But this guy was a two-meter-tall center.
On the court
Murasakibara executed a massive hop step, plunging into the Dream Shake's attack range. He moved with startling speed, angling his body against Midorima, spinning like a giant top with feints before suddenly half-turning into a jump!
In that instant, a gust of invisible wind seemed to sweep across the court!
"My god!"
"Is this an illusion?!"
"Even from this far away it's terrifying!"
"He runs like a freight truck, but his footwork is nimble. Now that he's leapt up, it's like a tornado has hit!"
The First String members, who had quietly stayed outside the gym to watch after the Generation of Miracles' training session ended, were stunned into silence.
So all that power he'd shown earlier…
That wasn't even his full strength!
Boom! Even though Murasakibara forced his way into the paint, the play wasn't over. Midorima, eyes locked on his every move, dodged the inserted feints within his footwork and timed his leap perfectly!
"What…?!"
"He's jumping even higher than in actual games! Murasakibara clearly has the advantage in height—so how is Midorima keeping up?!"
Smack!
Midorima's instinct-honed defense against Murasakibara allowed him to avoid the body clash. In midair, his palm pressed against the ball. For a brief, frozen moment, everyone watching was drawn into the battle between the two tallest players in Teiko—both fighting through the ball as their medium!
On one side stood the towering wall that was Murasakibara Atsushi. On the other, the bespectacled and comparatively slender Midorima Shintarō.
The ball warped under the strain of their clashing force. But the stalemate lasted only an instant. In sheer strength… Murasakibara overwhelmed him!
Yet just as Murasakibara forced the ball toward the hoop, both hands pressing it down with crushing might, Midorima suddenly shifted—angling his push diagonally upward. At that precise moment, when Murasakibara's power was fully driving forward, his grip weakened ever so slightly.
Clang!
The ball deflected off the rim and bounced skyward.
The shot failed. But Murasakibara's hands still slammed the basket with such ferocity that Midorima—without the rim as leverage—was thrown back, stumbling to the floor.
Then—
Crack!
For the second time that day, Murasakibara ripped the rim clean off the backboard!
Outside the court, the First String players widened their eyes, then erupted in voices.
"He blocked it—but Murasakibara-senpai… he's brutal!"
"Ah…"
"He tore down the rim again…"
"What a monster dunk!"
"But isn't Midorima-senpai's defense insane? To stop something like that—even when Murasakibara had the absolute advantage in strength?"
"It's the way he shifted his force at the last second. Midorima didn't aim for a clean block, just disruption and destruction."
"Still, to avoid the body clash at that range and still get a hand on the ball… that alone is incredible. A normal player would've been crushed under Murasakibara's power long before."
On the court
Midorima, though he had succeeded in stopping the play, wore a shocked expression.
He had expected Murasakibara's growth this year to be tremendous, but…
Not to this extent.
That block had been focused on knocking the ball loose, yet even so, he'd nearly been overpowered by Murasakibara's raw grip strength.
And then there was his dunk. Just how much force did it take to rip a hoop from the backboard like that? Most importantly—what was the true depth of Murasakibara's potential?
Across from him
Murasakibara Atsushi: "...Eh~?"
Why did it end up like this?
Meeting his bewildered eyes, Midorima frowned.
"No matter how strong your body or how high your jump, it's easy to stop you. The reason is simple—because in the end, you always dunk."
"The final height of your shot always collapses to the rim. Knowing that, I just have to time my jump and disrupt you there."
Off-court
Aomine clapped his palm with realization, echoing Murasakibara's own confused thought.
"Ah. I see."
Haizaki muttered, "Easy for you to say…"
That last-moment shift of power wasn't easy at all. First, Midorima had to endure the direct clash, getting pushed back by Murasakibara's overwhelming strength. Then, in the instant the ball moved toward the rim and Midorima was forced into a losing position, he had to suddenly switch to redirecting the ball
Neutralizing.
Guiding.
Ultimately… destroying.
A hair's breadth off, and Murasakibara's power would crush him.
On the court—
"Green-chan~," Murasakibara muttered, "your turn."
"But…" He glanced at the rim still in his hands, scratching his head with mild annoyance. "There's no hoop anymore, y'know~."
"It doesn't matter."
Standing beneath the basket, Midorima picked up the ball at his feet. His words were calm, but as he raised the ball, his intent was unwavering.
"...!?"
"A shot? But there's no hoop!"
"Wait—"
"No way!"
"You've got to be kidding! There's a limit to exaggeration, right?!"
Yes. Thanks to Murasakibara, this half of the court no longer had a rim. But Midorima wasn't aiming for this side. His shot was directed at the other basket on the far end of the court!
It was reckless. It was absurd. But in Midorima's mind, one voice echoed clear
You can.
You will.
He lifted the ball.
He leapt.
He released.
Behind his glasses, his emerald-green eyes snapped open at the moment of release.
The ball arced impossibly high—soaring across nearly the entire length of the court…
And swished straight through!
The gym froze.
Midorima stood rooted to the spot, staring down at his left hand. In his eyes swirled disbelief, exhilaration, and a gleam of newfound certainty. Everyone else turned to stare at him, motionless, as if struck by lightning.
"Green-chan~…"
"That was amazing~!"
"Even stronger than Smiley-senpai!"
Murasakibara's jaw dropped, forgetting entirely that he had been supposed to defend.
On the sidelines, Haizaki squinted at the distance of that shot, realizing he had been wrong about Midorima all along. Perhaps… this guy was the most dangerous of them all.
Against such a player, the only option was full-court pressure. Otherwise, with that kind of limitless range and accuracy, he could score at any time, from anywhere.
On the court
Midorima Shintarō: "…"
He had imagined this moment before—when facing Shigure, or Captain Nijimura, or in the future, teammates like Murasakibara.
To go farther. Higher. Sharper.
And now…
It was reality.
My three-point shot
No, I should say, I… am the strongest!
END OF CHAPTER
CROWN BEFORE THE MIRACLES
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