Chapter 39: Knocked to the ground

Murasakibara was hanging firmly on the basket, resembling a beast. Under his unparalleled strength, both Taiga and Shota were knocked to the ground. They looked up at Murasakibara, feeling he was like a monster. Was he really the same age as them?

Meanwhile, the audience erupted in deafening cheers.

"Too violent!"

"Brutal, Jianguang and the others seemed to be overpowered!" 

Back on the court, Kise was not in a good mood despite scoring. The ball wasn't thrown by him, and he had been defended earlier. He knew that when he shot, Aizen had touched it. This was unacceptable to Kise. He could miss, but he couldn't be blocked. Twice in a row, Aizen had successfully defended his shots. It was incredible! How could Aizen be so strong? He shouldn't be able to beat him now. Even if Aizen had improved, how could he have surpassed him? Kise, a real genius, believed that with time, he could surpass anyone. But what was wrong now?

As Kise was lost in thought, Aomine Daiki walked over. His tone was blunt: "If you're only at this level, don't waste time."

He then softened a bit, "Next, it's his turn to attack. If you can't defend, let me handle it." Aomine then ran back, ignoring Kise's emotions.

Kise's face turned red and blue with embarrassment. However, he felt his potential burst out, spurred by Aomine's words. He would not lose.

Kise muttered, "I was just careless. That was just a warm-up. I'll defend you right away."

…

…

The game resumed with Aizen holding the ball. Under the gaze of the entire audience, he calmly controlled the ball and moved forward. Aizen thought of Murasakibara's dunk earlier. He realized this game would be very challenging. He couldn't give the opponent any chance. If the basketball left his field of vision, his teammates couldn't be relied on. Aizen had to completely block the opponent on defense to maintain a stalemate; otherwise, the opponent would soon pull ahead.

Aizen looked at the Teikō players in front of him. They were all incredibly strong. Each of them seemed like a monster, but Aizen felt no fear, only anticipation. This was fun. Compared to previous games, he could now truly experience the joy of basketball.

"Haha, since this game is going to be an all-out offense, let's see how strong your defense is!" Aizen's eyes skipped over Kise and focused on Murasakibara under the basket. Aizen dribbled past half-court and stood at the top of the three-point arc. Kise approached him, his face serious. Seeing his expression, Aizen couldn't resist teasing him.

Aizen smirked, "Don't be so nervous. What are you afraid of? Relax, you have teammates behind you." Aizen looked at Kise, but his gaze pointed at Murasakibara behind him.

Kise retorted, "I'm not afraid. Come on!" He was already in a bad mood, and Aizen's taunting made him even more irritable.

Seeing this, Aizen didn't hesitate and started to break through. In the previous rounds, Aizen had gauged Kise's strength. He understood Kise's talent but knew he wasn't good enough yet. Aizen activated [Metavision] and quickly changed his dribble. The speed was fast, but manageable for Kise. 

In an instant, Aizen saw a weakness in Kise's right thigh through [Metavision]. He didn't give Kise a chance to adjust his center of gravity and exploited the weakness, bursting past him. Kise gritted his teeth and adjusted, trying to catch up. Seeing Kise's persistence, Aizen activated [Confrontation Core] and hit him hard. Kise staggered back several steps.

With no obstacles, Aizen burst out at full speed towards the basket. He was already at the edge of the restricted area, where the hit rate displayed in [King's Domain] was 100%. If he shot from there, he would definitely score. But Aizen looked at Murasakibara under the basket, where the hit rate dropped to 40%. Aizen wanted to challenge him.

Without hesitation, Aizen charged directly at Murasakibara, stunning everyone. What was he doing? Before anyone could react, Aizen had already entered the restricted area and jumped towards Murasakibara. It looked like he was going to dunk on him! Murasakibara reacted in disbelief. He didn't expect Aizen to be so audacious and jumped to block the shot.

In mid-air, Aizen activated [Confrontation Core] to control his stability and then used [Metavision] to predict the next 0.5 seconds. The deduced image flashed before Aizen's eyes, revealing Murasakibara's blocking route. Aizen raised his left hand and unleashed 88 points of strength, blocking Murasakibara's arm. Murasakibara's confident expression changed instantly. He didn't expect Aizen to anticipate his move.

Before Murasakibara could react, he was hit by a huge force. "Bang!!" Aizen dunked over Murasakibara, flipping him to the ground with his momentum. Murasakibara, having never experienced this before, looked up at Aizen in shock.

The crowd went wild, and Aizen's teammates were ecstatic. After landing, Aizen couldn't control his emotions. It felt so damn good! "Ahhh!!" Aizen yelled, looking at Murasakibara on the ground.

Taiga and Shota rushed over, equally excited. Aizen's play boosted their morale and avenged them. The excitement inside the court mirrored the frenzy outside. The audience couldn't contain their emotions and shouted loudly!

"He did it on purpose. He had a chance to shoot but went for the dunk!" "Too daring!!" "..."