Chapter 61

With Ogiwara tightly guarding him, Aomine found himself with limited room to maneuver after Kagami double-teamed. Forced to pick up his dribble, Aomine remained composed and searched for an opening in the defense.

Observing Aomine pick up the ball, Ogiwara backed away slightly to avoid a foul. Aomine seized this opportunity, as Ogiwara's slight retreat created space for a jump shot.

Aomine executed a high fadeaway jump shot, aiming to evade Kagami's potential block. Hanging in the air, he waited for the right moment to release the ball. However, he was so late to release his shot, resulting in his body almost flat above the floor.

Aomine released the ball, believing Kagami wouldn't be able to disturb his shot. Unfortunately, due to the delayed release, Ogiwara, who hadn't contested the shot after he jumped, had the chance to block it.

Given his low position, Aomine's shot was close to the ground, making it easier to block with proper timing. Ogiwara capitalized on this, waiting for the perfect moment and benefitting from Kagami's pressure on the shot release angle.

Ogiwara successfully blocked Aomine's shot and immediately chased after the loose ball. Aomine, unable to pursue the ball, landed on his back.

The loose ball rolled towards Shun, who took a small step forward to gather it, initiating a fast break. Shun and Ogiwara sprinted down the court, with only Imayoshi ahead of them in a 2-vs-1 situation.

Sakurai and Susa followed closely behind, with Junpei trailing them. As they crossed the halfcourt line, Shun passed the ball to Ogiwara, who quickly returned it to Shun after crossing the three-point line.

Imayoshi was uncertain where the ball would end up and attempted to prevent an easy score. As Shun received the ball again, he glanced behind to see Sakurai and Susa closing in.

Reacting to this, Shun slowed down slightly, enticing the two defenders to chase closely. As they closed the gap, he swiftly passed the ball outside to Junpei, who had stopped at the three-point line.

With no opponent nearby, Junpei ensured a solid aim before calmly releasing his shot. The ball smoothly sailed through the air, swishing through the net.

Junpei's three-point shot forced Too Academy's coach to call a timeout, recognizing his team's consecutive errors.

The crowd, initially confident in Too Academy's lead, was taken aback and exhilarated by Seirin High's consecutive scores. The score now stood at 65-52, with Too Academy's lead reduced to 13 points compared to their previous 20-point advantage before Seirin High's timeout.

While this game wasn't necessarily boring, the crowd had assumed that Too Academy's 20-point lead made it comfortable enough for Seirin not to be able to close the gap. This was especially true considering Seirin's struggle to contain Aomine's offensive onslaught.

However, against all expectations, when Seirin reintroduced their original starting lineup, with Kuroko back in the game, it was as if they had been injected with a performance-enhancing boost. Suddenly, all the players on Seirin gained confidence and drive, unlike before the timeout when they struggled to make any headway against Too Academy's lead.

With Kuroko's presence, they immediately scored consecutively and even managed to stop Too Academy's offense twice, including blocking Aomine's shot. Although Coach Harasawa remained confident in his team's chances of winning, he became increasingly frustrated with his players' consecutive errors, particularly their defensive lapses during fast break situations. Seirin capitalized on these opportunities to score easy baskets through fast breaks.

After the players sat on the bench, Coach Harasawa reprimanded them and encouraged them to improve their defensive efforts, particularly in fast break situations. The quick timeout swiftly ended, and the game resumed with less than three minutes remaining.

Following the timeout, the game picked up pace, resembling the faster tempo of the first half. Too Academy players increased their defensive pressure, as their coach had instructed. However, thanks to Kuroko's presence, Seirin continued to find ways to score, particularly with Kuroko's unstoppable passes, allowing them to keep the game within reach.

On the other hand, Too Academy's offense returned to its usual form, especially Aomine's offense. After having his shot blocked, he became more cautious and made extra efforts to find open shots, knowing that Kagami, Ogiwara, and Kuroko were closely guarding him.

Although Seirin still couldn't completely stop Aomine, they managed to significantly impede his progress. Almost all of his shots were heavily contested, slowing him down considerably. Kuroko even came close to stealing the ball from him on a couple of occasions, only to be thwarted by Aomine's exceptional instincts and reflexes.

With that, the third quarter concluded, and the score stood at 80-70, with Too Academy's lead reduced to just ten points. As the game paused for a break, the crowd grew louder and more excited in anticipation of the final and decisive fourth quarter.

Shortly after the start of the fourth and final quarter, players from both teams quickly took their positions on the court upon hearing the buzzer. This quarter would be crucial for both teams in their quest to win the game.

Since three teams out of the four would advance to the Interhigh Tournament, the winner of this game would secure an immediate spot in the tournament, needing just one win to qualify.

The game began with Seirin High in possession of the ball. Shun received the inbound pass and brought the ball down the court. As he crossed the halfcourt line, he signaled for a play, prompting his teammates to move strategically around the court.

Once his teammates were in position, Shun swiftly passed the ball to Kuroko in the middle of the court. However, before Kuroko could redirect the pass to Ogiwara, an unexpected turn of events occurred. Aomine intercepted Kuroko's pass.

The entire Seirin High team was stunned, as it was the first time Kuroko's pass had been intercepted. Aomine, after intercepting the pass, didn't immediately go for a fast break. Instead, he addressed Kuroko, saying, "It seems like you and your team were getting carried away. While I had planned to surprise Ichigo with this, but you leave me no choice."

Kuroko noticed that Aomine, standing in front of him, exuded an intense pressure that was even more intimidating than before. Some onlookers even observed blue lightning streaks in Aomine's eyes. While it wasn't the first time Midorima had seen this in a game, as his current teammate had displayed it in middle school, it was still a shocking development for him. He hadn't expected Aomine to easily and effortlessly access the Zone. What surprised him even more was how Aomine seemed to have control over entering and exiting the Zone, almost like flipping a switch.

On the other hand, Ichigo wasn't particularly surprised by this turn of events, as he had learned from the anime that Aomine could easily tap into the Zone after witnessing Kagami use it.

Aomine brought the ball up the court slowly, seemingly waiting for the Seirin team to set their defense. As he crossed the halfcourt line, Ogiwara attempted to pressure him, just like last time. However, before Ogiwara could get close to Aomine, he was left behind, seeing only a blue blur pass him by.

Ogiwara turned around to witness Aomine already soaring through the air, going for a dunk. The entire Seirin team was caught off guard by Aomine's incredible speed, unable to rotate and provide help defense in time. They could only watch as Aomine effortlessly executed the dunk.

The stadium fell into stunned silence, feeling the atmosphere around Aomine change. Despite the shock, the Seirin High team quickly inbounded the ball after Aomine's basket. Shun took control and brought the ball down the court, signaling for a play. This was his first time facing a player in the Zone, so he wasn't sure how to compare a normal player to one in the Zone.

Thinking that Aomine's steal of Kuroko's pass might have been a lucky occurrence or a mere coincidence, Shun still went for a play centered around Kuroko's passing. However, as he passed the ball to Kuroko, he once again saw a blue blur intercepting his pass.

With little time to react, Shun turned his head and witnessed Aomine wide open on the other side of the court. Aomine didn't opt for any flashy moves, simply going for an emphatic jam, increasing the score to 84-70.

Aomine slowly returned to his defensive position, his expression cold as ice. Shun observed this and realized that Aomine had reached a different level compared to the first three quarters. It felt as if he was finally witnessing Aomine's true form, unlike the previous quarters where Aomine had only revealed a fraction of his abilities.

Kuroko observed as Aomine slowly returned to his defensive position. With Aomine currently in the Zone, their chances of winning seemed to diminish with each passing moment.

Although Kuroko still held onto the belief that their team could emerge victorious, he couldn't ignore the reality that without someone capable of matching Aomine's level, their chances of winning were almost nonexistent.

All Kuroko could do was rely on the hope that Kagami would rise to the occasion and elevate his game during this crucial match. Otherwise, they would be left with no choice but to witness one of the member of the Generation of Miracles once again dismantle their team, just as they had done before.