Chapter 168 - 169

Chapter 168: It’s Over

Sensing the heavy atmosphere in the locker room, Ryota Kise decided he had to do something.

He stood up, his voice unwavering as he spoke to the seniors present,
“Seniors, the game isn’t over yet. If possible, please give me the ball in the second half. I’ll give everything I have to win this game!”

The other members of Kaijō lifted their heads and looked at Kise. When they met his resolute gaze, the desire to win that had been buried deep inside them was reignited once more.

Yukio Kasamatsu felt the change within himself. He let out a relieved smile, then stood up and shouted,
“Everyone! The game isn’t over yet! Let’s keep fighting!”

...

“It’s… over…”

Yukio Kasamatsu knelt on the floor, his eyes unfocused as he stared at the scoreboard in a daze.

The numbers on it were painfully glaring.

118–41.

In the entire second half, Kaijō had managed to score only four points.

Those four points all came from Ryota Kise against Shogo Haizaki.

After noticing this, Miyamoto Tokima immediately had Shuzo Nijimura switch onto Ryota Kise on defense.

What followed was obvious.

Ryota Kise was completely shut down.

He fought until his stamina was completely exhausted, yet he still failed to score a single point against Shuzo Nijimura.

Ryota Kise collapsed onto the bench, disbelief written all over his face, a look of confusion slowly surfacing.

‘Lost… I lost… Is the gap… really this big?’

He stared blankly at his own hands, his heart unable to calm down for a long time.

Back at Teikō, he had been the favored prodigy. Even in one-on-one matchups against Daiki Aomine, he could still score.

But now, even after activating one-way [Copying], he didn’t even have the qualification to score a single point against Shuzo Nijimura.

He was completely sealed off here, as if he were a fake member of the Generation of Miracles.

(PS: Here, Shuzo Nijimura is using a semi-Zone state—on the verge of entering the Zone, but not quite there. Simply put, it’s the peak of his normal state.)

(As for Ryota Kise’s [Copying], it cannot fully replicate Daiki Aomine. As mentioned earlier, Kise made a change—what he copied was a weakened version of Aomine, not the real Aomine. So there’s no need to dwell on this or criticize it.)

For a moment, Ryota Kise was utterly lost.

On the court, the Kaijō players stood there in a daze.

Brutal.

Absolutely brutal!

They had never been beaten like this before, nor had they ever imagined they could be beaten like this.

This year, Ryota Kise—one of the Generation of Miracles—had joined Kaijō.

Their hearts had been filled with joy, and their dreams of winning the championship had grown stronger than ever.

They truly believed this year was their best chance to claim the title.

Yet here they were, mercilessly swept aside by Kirisaki Daiichi.

Hope?

There was no hope.

Only despair.

In the second half, Kirisaki Daiichi was like a demon.

On defense, they were like a massive spiderweb, wrapping up every single Kaijō player.

Any pass thrown against Kirisaki Daiichi was meaningless—every single one was intercepted.

Their offense was even more terrifying.

Shuzo Nijimura was like a god of war, casually tearing apart Kaijō’s defense.

No one could stop him—not even Ryota Kise.

Ryota Kise’s one-way [Copying] was completely useless in front of Shuzo Nijimura.

Nijimura didn’t need any flashy techniques.

Either he blew past his defender in a single step, or he used physical contact to force the ball in.

It could be said that Ryota Kise was utterly crushed by Shuzo Nijimura, left in a pitiful state.

And when Kaijō tried to double-team Nijimura, he would selflessly pass the ball out.

No matter who caught the ball, as long as they had an open look, they shot without hesitation.

Kirisaki Daiichi’s offense completely shattered Kaijō’s spirit.

Even the spectators in the stands were stunned by how the second half unfolded.

“No way… Kaijō only scored four points in the second half…”

“So this is Teikō’s former captain, Shuzo Nijimura?”

On Seirin’s side.

Junpei Hyuga was already dumbfounded. He still clearly remembered how intense their practice match against Kaijō had been.

Even without Ryota Kise on the court, Seirin had nearly been defeated by Kaijō.

That alone showed how strong Kaijō really was.

But now? This Kaijō High School that had once given them so much trouble looked like a toddler who had just learned how to walk when facing Kirisaki Daiichi.

“Kirisaki… Daiichi… how can they be this strong…”

Riko Aida’s expression was equally grim as she watched Kirisaki Daiichi’s display.

The first thing that came to her mind was what it would be like when Seirin eventually faced Kirisaki Daiichi themselves.

It would probably be even more brutal than what Kaijō was experiencing.

Taiga Kagami clenched his fists tightly, his eyes locked onto Shuzo Nijimura on the court.

‘So back then… you weren’t even using your full strength? Or maybe… you still aren’t using it now!’

A deep sense of crisis welled up inside Kagami. He felt that if he didn’t get stronger soon, he might really be completely crushed.

Before, the mountain standing in front of him had been the Generation of Miracles.

Now, another mountain had appeared—one even greater than the Generation of Miracles.

A mountain that even the Generation of Miracles would have to face.

Tetsuya Kuroko’s expression was just as serious. He hadn’t expected Shuzo Nijimura to change this much after going to the United States.

In his mind, Nijimura had never been on par with the Generation of Miracles.

But reality was unexpected—Nijimura hadn’t just reached their level, he had even surpassed it.

Of course, that was only natural.

After all, the training Shuzo Nijimura underwent in the United States was far beyond normal.

His training volume was modeled after Jason Silver.

Jason Silver never trained like this in the original story.

But now, under Miyamoto Tokima’s intervention, Jason Silver’s training intensity had increased drastically.

Simply put, if the current Jason Silver were to face the future Generation of Miracles…

Crushing victory.

Absolute domination.

Because the current Jason Silver… had opened the [Gate].

On Tōō’s side.

Daiki Aomine sat on the bench, his face filled with shock.

‘Senior Nijimura… what exactly did you experience in the United States?’

Aomine felt a familiar presence emanating from Shuzo Nijimura.

That presence wasn’t Animal Instinct.

It was the [Gate]—that supreme, towering Gate.

‘Zone… you’ll definitely be able to enter the Zone!’

Aomine’s excitement continued to rise. But this excitement wasn’t just the thrill of meeting a powerful opponent—it also carried a heavy sense of pressure.

In the past, only Miyamoto Tokima had ever given Aomine that feeling of crisis.

That pressure had driven him to train relentlessly, all for the sake of one day surpassing Miyamoto Tokima.

But now, another source of that same pressure had appeared.

Shuzo Nijimura.

And the most terrifying part was—

Both of the people who gave him that sense of crisis… were on Kirisaki Daiichi.

.......

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Chapter 169: Self-Doubt

Shūtoku’s side.

Kazunari Takao was already starting to question his entire life. He immediately turned his head and asked,

“Midorima! That guy on the court—that’s your junior high teammate, right? He actually got… beaten like that…”

Shintaro Midorima wasn’t calm either. He forced himself to stay composed and pushed up his glasses.

But the slight tremble in his hand gave away the turmoil inside him.

“Yeah… Kise was indeed my teammate in junior high.”

Kazunari Takao swallowed hard and muttered,

“And the one from Kirisaki… your junior high captain… his strength…”

Shintaro Midorima’s hand, still clutching his lucky item, continued to tremble.

“He’s very strong. Even I’m not confident I could beat him.”

Taisuke Otsubo gritted his teeth.

“How did they become this strong? Just because they added two players? Last year, Kirisaki was eliminated in the quarterfinals!”

Shintaro Midorima took a deep breath and began analyzing calmly.

“As expected, Kirisaki is now our strongest opponent.”

“First, there’s Senior Nijimura. The one he defeated wasn’t just Kise—he defeated Aomine as well.”

“Kise’s one-way [Copying] was of Aomine. But the Aomine he [Copied] couldn’t even score a single basket against Senior Nijimura.”

“That means Aomine can’t beat Senior Nijimura. Of course, it’s possible Aomine has other powerful trump cards. But at least from what we’ve seen, that’s the case.”

“And you’re all overlooking one extremely important fact. That is…”

Shintaro Midorima closed his eyes, his tone heavy.

“Miyamoto… never made a move.”

(PS: During the Teikō era, everyone developed separately. Daiki Aomine didn’t need to go all out in games and instead became obsessed with training. He only revealed a bit of his true strength when playing one-on-one with Kise. Midorima preferred training alone and didn’t like getting involved with others, so he never saw Aomine’s full power. Please don’t flame!)

The moment those words fell, everyone from Shūtoku was shaken.

That’s right.

Miyamoto never made a move at all.

In the first half, the game had been taken over by Shogo Haizaki.

Under Haizaki’s control, Kirisaki led Kaijo by twelve points.

In the second half, it was Shuzo Nijimura who took over.

With Nijimura in command, Kaijo managed to score only four points. For the rest of the time, they didn’t score at all.

Two terrifying players—both acknowledged Miyamoto as their leader.

Didn’t that mean Miyamoto’s strength was even more terrifying than theirs?

The third and second scoring options had already crushed the [Generation of Miracles]. Then what about the first scoring option?

A dimensional gap?

Seirin and Tōō realized this as well.

And precisely because they realized it, the sense of crisis in their hearts intensified.

Kirisaki was too strong—so strong it felt suffocating.

Daiki Aomine reacted the most directly. He stood up and headed straight for the exit.

He was going back to train.

Only training would allow him to deal with Kirisaki.

Kosuke Wakamatsu hurriedly called out when he saw him get up.

“Aomine! Where are you going?”

Without turning his head, Daiki Aomine waved a hand casually.

“Going back to train.”

Shūtoku’s side.

Shintaro Midorima stood up and said to his teammates,

“Everyone, we need to increase our training intensity. In the Summer Cup, we’ll be facing Kirisaki soon.”

The Shūtoku players all nodded and stood up together, walking out of the gym.

They were going back for extra practice.

As for Seirin, it was the same. The entire team stood and left, already thinking about countermeasures.

This match had impacted them too deeply.

It felt like a mountain pressing down in front of them, making it hard to breathe.

But before they could face this mountain, there was another one waiting for them.

Tōō High School.

On the court.

The Kaijo players still hadn’t accepted reality. They stood frozen in place.

“Beep! Both teams, line up and exit!”

The referee gestured for both teams to exchange sportsmanship greetings before leaving the court.

Only then did the Kaijo players step forward.

Shogo Haizaki looked at Ryota Kise, who stood there like a puppet with its strings cut, and sneered,

“What? Already lost confidence?”

“Weren’t you the one talking about hope all the time? Can you still see it now?”

Ryota Kise didn’t respond. He had neither the energy nor the mood to deal with Haizaki’s mockery.

The brutal scoreline left him completely lost.

Only now did he understand what Shogo Haizaki had meant at halftime.

【Then I hope you can still see hope in the second half.】

Hope?

I can’t see it. I really can’t.

From Shuzo Nijimura, Ryota Kise couldn’t see even the slightest possibility of victory.

If even Shuzo Nijimura was this strong, then what kind of strength did Miyamoto possess—the person Nijimura willingly followed?

Now Ryota Kise finally understood why the [Generation of Miracles] all aimed to defeat Miyamoto.

Because he…

was too strong.

Miyamoto sensed Ryota Kise’s emotions.

Confusion.

He had seen that expression many times before.

It belonged to people whose confidence had been completely shattered.

Most of them ended up the same way.

They gave up basketball.

As for whether Ryota Kise would quit, Miyamoto didn’t know.

But he believed that under the interference of the World’s Will, Ryota Kise would never abandon basketball.

So he couldn’t be bothered to interfere. After all, he and Ryota Kise weren’t that close.

Besides, this was the guy who had let Akashi bully his little brother.

Now that Ryota Kise had been taught a lesson, the next one would be the true culprit behind bullying his little brother—

The second personality of Seijuro Akashi.

Miyamoto had already made up his mind.

If he didn’t beat the second personality of Seijuro Akashi into questioning his own existence, he wouldn’t stop.

Damn it. Shogo Haizaki was part of the Miyamoto family—his own little brother. If someone bullied him like that, how could he not settle the score?

...

Inside the restroom.

Water continued to rush over the sink with a steady splash.

Ryota Kise scooped up some water with both hands and splashed it onto his face, trying to wake himself up with the cold.

After doing so three or four times, he turned off the faucet.

He lifted his head and looked at himself in the mirror.

His hair was messy, droplets clinging to his face.

His expression was utterly dejected. Even his once-bright eyes had dimmed.

Ryota Kise stared at the dispirited version of himself in silence.

‘I lost… I lost so completely… I couldn’t even score a single point against him.’

He finally understood why Daiki Aomine had laughed when he declared that he would defeat Miyamoto.

With his current strength, he couldn’t even beat Miyamoto’s teammates. How could he talk about defeating Miyamoto himself?

He didn’t even have the right to make Miyamoto take action.

Ryota Kise knew very clearly that Miyamoto had shown no intention of making a move in this game.

That meant Miyamoto simply looked down on him—believing he wasn’t even worth stepping onto the court for.

‘Not even… qualified… to make you move…’

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