Aomine's finishing move had been strong
but what truly stood out…
was the one who created the early tempo advantage for him.
Kuroko Tetsuya.
The entire arena was silent.
Even now
Nobody had recovered from the shock of Kuroko's misdirection frame-shift, that ghost-like warp through the court.
And when they finally snapped back to their senses
Everyone suddenly realized…
That Seirin's quiet ghost of a player had just gone from backcourt to frontcourt, practically weaving through every single Tōō defender!
"Um…"
"Did I imagine that?!"
"Why did it look like…"
"That Seirin guy moved like a phantom?!"
"Phantom…?"
"That matches. That's the Generation of Miracles' Phantom Sixth Man. That ability suits the title perfectly… but we've never seen that move before! Was he hiding it this whole time just to deal with Aomine and Kise?!"
Baseline, Tōō Academy.
Aomine and Kuroko had already returned to defense.
Kise couldn't help smiling as he looked at Aomine, who was also grinning.
"Wow, Kurokocchi is amazing~! If he starts with something that crazy…"
"Should I open with my strongest move too~?"
Smack.
Inbound from Tōō.
Aomine caught the ball from Susa Yoshinori.
He tilted his head toward Kise and flashed that familiar, fiery grin.
"Nope~"
"Hey~"
"Let me have some fun first!"
Tōō's offensive possession.
Seirin tightened their formation—especially Haizaki Shōgo, who immediately locked onto the heavy shade of blue ahead.
There was no mistaking him.
Aomine Daiki.
"He's attacking right away…"
"And from the baseline too…"
The chatter stopped abruptly, because Aomine met Haizaki before even crossing half-court.
And clearly
Aomine's target from the beginning… was Haizaki.
"Haizaki…"
"You did good."
Everyone on Tōō—except Kise—froze in surprise.
It was the first time they'd ever heard Aomine praise an opponent.
And…
His aura was different.
"To beat you, this much is expected," Haizaki answered, voice far calmer and heavier than before.
"Kuroko's ability is impressive. I acknowledge that…"
"But…"
"It's still not strong enough."
Aomine's tone and expression slid right back into the version Haizaki hated most—the one that looked like he was enjoying the hunt for a worthy opponent, but in truth…
Was looking down on everyone.
Haizaki lowered his hips.
Defensive stance sharpened.
He raised his eyes.
"I'll make you taste a defeat you'll never forget, you stupid moron."
"Heh~"
"If you can."
Maybe it was Aomine's gaze from above.
Maybe it was their lifelong rivalry.
Either way, spinning rings of light flashed across Haizaki's pupils.
"Aomine…"
"Here's a warning."
His vision flipped into the black-and-white world of Emperor Eye, the monstrous version he'd developed.
Images of Aomine flashed violently through his mind
Shff!
Haizaki lunged!
But
The moment Aomine saw those rings of light, he activated:
Icebound Domain.
Within the blizzarding surge of frost spiraling around him, Haizaki tried to destroy Aomine's dribble using his Emperor Eye
But what reflected back was a seamless wall of snow-white movement.
His hand
Closed on nothing.
Aomine smiled, glancing down at him.
"Haizaki, here's my advice
If you're gonna copy Akashi, don't imitate his second personality's speech patterns too.
Even Akashi hates that."
He spun.
Shoulders faking left, then right
Between-the-legs turn.
V-cut.
Step-back.
Aomine strung together a complete sequence, every motion clean, sharp, textbook-perfect.
Haizaki tried to recover after missing the steal, but the rhythm was already broken.
And
Aomine wasn't using his streetball moves.
Every technique
Was pure fundamentals.
"At this rate, your monster-immersion black hole won't help you. Face it, Haizaki…"
"Your monster…"
"Is just a counterfeit!"
BOOM! BOOM!
Icebound Domain roared.
Aomine's dribble hammered like thunder across the frozen floor of Haizaki's senses.
Haizaki's body froze for an instant, like being trapped inside solid ice.
And through the swirling crystals
Aomine blew past him.
Next second
CLANG!
Aomine slammed a one-handed dunk over Kiyoshi Teppei, hanging briefly on the rim.
Tōō vs Seirin: 2–2
Haizaki stood frozen, eyes wide.
Aomine…
Had gotten even stronger.
That momentary loss of bodily control was too similar to an Emperor Eye ankle-break.
Except
The Emperor Eye destroys balance violently.
Aomine froze the opponent in place.
But the result was the same.
Spectator seats.
Midorima narrowed his eyes.
"That dribble just now…
Aomine's control reached nearly the same level as an Emperor Eye ankle-break…"
He turned to Shigure Akihito.
"Senpai…
Was Icebound Domain always this strong?"
Akihito smiled faintly.
"No.
Aomine developed it beautifully."
Beside them, Murasakibara mumbled:
"Haizaki looks kinda happy though~"
On court.
Seirin's side.
Haizaki lowered his gaze, fists clenching—not in frustration…
But in excitement.
"Leave Aomine to me," he said.
Hyūga Junpei nearly argued.
But the moment he looked into Haizaki's sharp, focused eyes—the kind that appeared only when Haizaki tied his hair back
He swallowed his words.
"…Alright."
"It's yours."
Kagami looked confused by the captain's decision, but when he saw Haizaki's expression…
He understood.
Kiyoshi inbounded.
Haizaki caught the ball, eyes burning.
"I'm going to—"
"Rip him apart."
Seirin attack.
BOOM!
The audience was stunned.
Haizaki matched Aomine's speed
Move for move.
Icebound Domain swirled, trying to freeze him again
but the problem wasn't the frost.
It was the Emperor Eye.
Haizaki combined:
Monster Immersion: Aomine
+
Monster Immersion: Akashi
The synergy blew past ordinary limits.
CRACK!
CRACK!
The ice-locking effect shattered, raising Haizaki's speed to Aomine's level.
Then
Emperor Eye.
Haizaki's pupils gleamed with cold precision.
In his monochrome field
Aomine's knees buckled for an instant.
A destructive, dual-source ankle-break.
Even while using Icebound Domain
Aomine staggered.
Just like Haizaki earlier, he completely lost the chance to recover.
Haizaki slipped past him.
"I'm not losing"
"Aomine!"
SHHH!
Shoe friction screeched past Aomine's ear.
Then
under the gaze of every spectator
Haizaki rose.
And then
Performed Aomine's own signature move:
Formless Shot.
"What the—"
"What kind of shot is THAT?!"
CLANG!
A wild, exaggerated one-handed mid-range sling shot
Haizaki scored his first basket.
Tōō vs Seirin: 2–4
"Haizaki…"
"You bastard…"
"That was amazing!"
Haizaki grinned back.
"More's coming.
Why don't you go ahead and activate the Zone now, you dumb freak?"
Minutes later, as Haizaki and Aomine kept tearing each other apart in a back-and-forth duel…
Kise finally jumped in.
On the court.
Kise suddenly asked for the ball from Wakamatsu.
Wakamatsu, long annoyed by Aomine's solo-play, immediately passed it.
Then
Kise used an ultra-fast Aomine dribble, blew past Kagami, stopped suddenly
A step before mid-court
And raised the ball.
Behind him, the entire Seirin team saw
Midorima's silhouette.
SWISH!
Kagami, still recovering from the fake, couldn't even jump.
The ball arced impossibly high and swished cleanly through the net.
"That's?!"
"That's so far!"
"His form and arc—exactly like Midorima Shintarō!"
"Midorima's ability: as long as the shot isn't blocked, it's 100% accuracy, and his range covers the entire court!"
"Wait—can the Generation of Miracles swap abilities with each other?!"
"No—Kise and Haizaki were known for copying since middle school. Haizaki was stronger back then though—he could even mimic Lightning Dribble and Reo Mibuchi's shots."
Spectator seats.
Midorima's eyes sharpened.
Kise's imitation wasn't perfect—not compared to Haizaki's monster immersion
but the idea was terrifying:
A single player wielding the combined abilities of the Generation of Miracles.
"No idea what level he's reached now…"
"But…"
"Just my ability plus 4.7 Aomine is already strong enough."
Shigure Akihito chuckled.
"Kise's copying is a shortcut compared to Haizaki's long-term craft…
but he's faster than I expected."
How interesting.
On court.
Kise was unleashed.
And on the other side
Kuroko smoothly took over Seirin's offense from Haizaki, guiding the flow with misdirection as their point guard.
But on defense
Kagami struggled.
Formless shots tossed like sandbags.
Reckless dribbling.
Three-pointers drifting farther and farther from the arc
Kagami was getting shredded.
Worse
During a breakaway, Kagami chased with everything he had
But Kise smiled.
In mid-air…
According to Akihito and Midorima watching from the stands
Kise waited for Kagami to catch up.
Then he absorbed the contact
swung the ball around in a huge one-arm loop
And snapped his wrist behind his back
Formless Shot.
SWISH!
BEEEP!
Whistle.
And at the scorers' table—
A flag rose.
"White No.10—defensive foul!"
"Black No.6—basket counts!"
"One free throw!"
END OF CHAPTER
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