Chapter 96: The Third Ultimate Move I’m Giving You
“Ah…”
Reo Mibuchi’s pupils trembled, his mouth hanging open as he stared in disbelief at what had just happened.
On Rakuzan’s bench, the first-years were just as stunned, mouths agape as they muttered,
“Reo-san’s [Heaven]… it’s been broken again…”
Miyamoto Tokima watched the scene with a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips. The reason Shintaro Midorima had been jumping higher than before was simple—during the break, Miyamoto Tokima had given him a piece of advice.
He had told Midorima that when Reo Mibuchi used [Heaven], all he needed to do was take a small step forward before pushing off. That way, he could jump higher than with a straight vertical leap.
Clearly, Midorima grasped the idea instantly. He put it into practice right away and completely sealed Reo Mibuchi’s [Heaven].
Seijuro Akashi caught the blocked ball and shouted,
“Fast break!”
Daiki Aomine’s face lit up as he exploded toward the frontcourt, moving like a black panther locking onto its prey.
On the bench, Shuzo Nijimura clenched his fists as he glared at Aomine on the court, seething inwardly.
‘You idiot! Your stamina hasn’t even fully recovered and you’re already activating your Animal Instinct again. Are you trying to make sure your legs give out tomorrow morning?!’
But Aomine didn’t care in the slightest. With his Animal Instinct fully unleashed, he looked like a war god—catching the ball in midair, spinning once, and slamming it down through the hoop.
With that dunk, the score became 80–52.
At that margin, the audience could no longer see any hope for Rakuzan.
“This is terrifying… Teikō is already up by 28 points. Rakuzan’s completely cornered.”
“Yeah. Who would’ve thought someone other than ‘Magic Cube’ could block ‘Yaksha’s’ shot?”
“I never imagined the finals would turn out like this. It’s totally one-sided.”
Teppei Kiyoshi sat in the stands, silent for a long time. He knew Rakuzan’s style well—almost all of their offensive pressure rested on Reo Mibuchi.
Every one of Rakuzan’s tactics revolved around him. Now that Reo had gone cold, Rakuzan’s chances were all but gone.
And just as Teppei had predicted, once Reo Mibuchi’s [Heaven] was sealed by Shintaro Midorima, [Earth] also lost its original power.
Rakuzan fell completely into a scoring drought. The other four players had no way to score against Teikō’s remaining lineup.
Reo tried creating mismatches after pick-and-rolls, but every time, Miyamoto Tokima abandoned his own assignment and rushed over to help defend.
That made it impossible for Reo to isolate anyone at all.
The third quarter ended under these circumstances. The score stood at 98–52, with Rakuzan failing to score a single point in the latter half of the period.
Rakuzan was plunged into utter despair.
Miyamoto Tokima looked at Reo Mibuchi’s back and found his answer.
At present… Reo Mibuchi had not developed [Void].
Then another thought crossed Tokima’s mind. A mischievous urge surfaced, and he decided to give Reo Mibuchi one more small “Teikō shock.”
...
After the break, Rakuzan’s bench was shrouded in lifeless silence. There was no fighting spirit left to speak of.
Everyone was drowning in despair.
At that moment, Rakuzan’s point guard clenched his fists and spoke firmly,
“This is my final year. I don’t want to leave any regrets. Even if we lose, I’ll accept it—but I won’t give up. I’ll stand on this court until the very last second.”
The other two third-years looked at him. After a brief silence, they spoke as well,
“I… don’t want to leave with regrets either.”
With that final resolve, Rakuzan took the court once more.
On Teikō’s side, Miyamoto Tokima and Shintaro Midorima switched positions. That meant Reo Mibuchi would once again be facing Miyamoto Tokima’s defense.
But this time was different.
Rakuzan already knew there was no hope left in this game, so Reo didn’t insist on holding the ball anymore.
Instead, he handed it off to the graduating third-years, letting them run the offense. At the very least, he wanted them to finish their last game on the court.
The result was obvious.
The shot was blocked without any suspense.
After the block, Daiki Aomine passed the ball to Miyamoto Tokima.
Tokima dribbled up to Reo Mibuchi, a smile suddenly appearing as he spoke,
“So, you only have two ultimate moves?”
Reo looked at him and nodded, resigned.
Seeing that, Tokima smiled faintly.
“Then the next one will be the third ultimate move I’m giving you. Pay close attention.”
Reo froze for a moment, unsure what Tokima was planning, but he still dropped into a low stance and defended seriously.
Tokima suddenly gathered the ball, bent his knees slightly, and raised both arms as if to shoot.
Reo was puzzled.
‘A normal shot?’
Then Tokima’s body paused—only to jump again immediately afterward.
The Rakuzan bench suddenly lit up with hope.
“Great! It’s just a regular shot! Reo-san will definitely block it!”
Reo thought the same. Just as he prepared to jump for the block, he suddenly realized—
‘W-why… why can’t I jump?!’
Fear flooded Reo Mibuchi’s eyes as he stood rooted to the spot, watching Tokima calmly sink the ball.
The first-year on the bench froze mid-celebration.
“Reo-san… why didn’t you jump?! That was just a normal shot!”
On the court, Rakuzan’s power forward was equally shocked.
“Reo! Why didn’t you defend that? It was just a regular shot!”
Reo turned his head stiffly, murmuring in terror,
“I… I couldn’t jump…”
The power forward was stunned, convinced Reo was making excuses.
“What do you mean you couldn’t jump? Are you joking?!”
On the next possession, Rakuzan still failed to score. The ball ended up in Miyamoto Tokima’s hands again—this time guarded by the power forward.
Staring at Tokima, the power forward scoffed inwardly.
‘Can’t jump? That’s just an excuse.’
Tokima dribbled up to him, gathered the ball, bent his knees, and began to push off. Halfway through, he paused—then exploded upward again and released the shot.
In that instant, the power forward finally felt exactly what Reo Mibuchi had felt before.
He raised his right hand high, frozen in place, eyes filled with fear as he watched the ball drop through his own hoop.
‘It’s true… I really… can’t jump…’
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