37 36- Teiko VS Ousai 3

Sorry for disappearing for a few days, I announced on my og novel that my grandfather died a few days ago and this made me extend my rest for a few days sorry about that, but I'm back, also I came to promote my new novel going for the WPC, [God To Machine] please go check it out <3

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*Roar!

With Akagi's gorilla-like roar, the crowd could not help but yell from excitement! this match doesn't seem to be a middle schoolers basketball match anymore, it was already comparable to an NBA match, there was also the special effect that seemed to appear from time to time

4 players of the Ousai have now entered the zone, and all of them were like beasts, Tanaka then turned his head to Sora who hasn't entered the zone yet, he seemed to be thinking of something, "What are you thinking about?" Tanaka stood beside him and asked.

"I'm thinking about how to enter the second stage of the zone that you showed me" Sora truthfully answered, yesterday, Tanaka gave him a prize for entering the zone by showing him the second stage of the zone.

The zone has three stages, the entry stage, the stage where every player who entered the zone starts from, next is The Circle of Zone Stage, also known as the peak state, the state where the player will make a circle of the zone around him and take every detail into his brain, it's a move that came from iai technique of kendo.

Tanaka had only shown it once to Sora and Sora immediately got excited and also wanted to enter the second state of the zone but Tanaka knew Sora was still far away from reaching it, Tanaka patted on Sora's shoulder, "Focus on the game, we will talk about it next time"

"Captain, can you show it to me once again?" Sora asked as he looked at Tanaka.

Tanaka looked at Sora then at the players around him, then shook his head, "It's not time yet, it will cause more damage than good" Tanaka sighed then continued to the game, Sora looked around and also saw what was happening and nodded, "Pass me the ball!"

Sora yelled loudly as he saw Hiruma was able to steal away the ball, like a bullet the ball appeared on Sora's hands in perfect fit, Sora didn't need to change his form anymore and shot the ball, as the ball flew into the air, Sora immediately ran back to defending.

I have become selfish, I don't like that he thought, then as he ran back, he took a glance at the stands where he saw his mother's eyes were fixated on him, Sora smiled, at her 'Yes, I play for my mother and my team' Sora took a deep breath and when he turned around, lightning started trailing his eyes.

"...."

"I finally got it" Kōzō Shirogane the coach of Teiko suddenly exclaimed which startled Momo and Haizaki near him, "What did you get coach?" Momo asked.

You see, I wondered how the potentials of the players of the Ouisai Team were stirred up to such extent, to think I forgot about that, I really have become old haha" Kōzō Shirogane started laughing.

"What is it exactly coach?" Haizaki asked curiously.

"Hmm, let's say, you know gems are made under the pressure of a heavy mountain, and in the Ousai Team, it was not just the mountain that was pressuring them but another world of a talent," Kōzō Shirogane said.

"You mean the reason why they are improving very fast is because of Tanaka?" Momo asked in surprise.

"Yes, what a talent can pressure is not just his enemies but also his allies, and the people close to him even carried the greatest pressure, as far as I can see, they are not willing to be left behind, I can see it on their eyes, they want to stand side by side with Tanaka" Kōzō Shirogane smiled. As a person who loved basketball, he was very happy to see talents blooming in the country.

He looked at his players and saw how they look now, if this was like the past games, they will surely look bored in the games, or even not bothering to play seriously but this time, he could see they were struggling, a team that was so strong started losing, they were losing their pride, but he could see the smile on their faces, the enjoyment they were feeling playing the game.

"It looks like I don't have to worry about them anymore"

"The future of japan basketball is getting very bright" Kōzō Shirogane commented and finally sat back on the chair and just continued watching the match.

The match continued and Tanaka looked at the scoreboard, the Ousai was already leading by 40 points with 4 minutes left on the clock, he then turned towards his teammates, "Let's focus on defense, show me how much you improved!" Tanaka yelled.

"Yeah!" the team replied with a loud imposing roar.

Seeing this, the Teiko players looked at each other and nodded, for the past few minutes, they were the ones who have been defending and were still not being able to push the Ousai back, now that they were given a chance, they won't let it go.

Akashi dribbled forward and was met by Hiruma, if this was earlier, the ball should have already been stolen from his hands the moment Hiruma stepped in front of him, but this time, Hiruma only stood in front of him and raised his hand.

Akashi dribbled forward and did a crossover, Hiruma easily followed him but this was Akashi's purpose, he immediately passed the ball towards Aomine who was in the middle but just as the ball was about to leave his hand, a figure appeared in front of him.

It was Hiruma "He read that!?" Akashi exclaimed in shock he immediately shifted his body and stopped his pass, and just as he was able to take the ball back into his arms, 2 more figures immediately surrounded him.

Asahi and Sora joined the fray, Akashi looked around struggling to pass the ball but he was in a tight defense, he could not see anything at all.

*Whistle!

"Shot clock violation!"