Alex Garcia never imagined she'd meet a talent on Nash's level… in Asia.
Kirisaki Daiichi extended their lead.
And yet—Kaijō didn't panic.
There was no collapse in morale, no confusion.
They had come into this game fully expecting a brutal fight.
Even the possibility that Kise might lose to Tendou—they were prepared for that too.
"At this stage, Kise still isn't a match for that monster."
Which meant the others had to step up.
From the sidelines, Coach Takeuchi made a hand signal.
The Kaijō players nodded—they understood.
Their next offensive play began.
This time, Kise didn't ask for the ball.
Instead, he drifted to the far side of the court.
He stood at the left wing three-point line, while the rest of the team positioned themselves on the right.
"They've given up trying to let the ace decide the game. Kise's being used as bait."
Kaijō's intent couldn't be clearer.
If their ace couldn't beat Tendou one-on-one… they'd just pull him away from the action.
They were confident that, as a team, they could go toe-to-toe with Kirisaki Daiichi.
And under normal circumstances—that confidence was well-earned.
But Kirisaki Daiichi had an extra weapon hidden in plain sight:
#25 traitor—Momoi Satsuki.
Thanks to her scouting, Kirisaki Daiichi had received detailed intel on Kaijō… more than a week ago.
Hanamiya Makoto was already a brain-type player, but with Satsuki's data?
He was now playing chess while Kaijō was still playing checkers.
From the start, Kirisaki Daiichi's "Spiderweb Defense" enveloped Kaijō's entire half-court.
Kasamatsu faked left and passed right, hoping to slip the ball to Moriyama, their number two option.
But Hanamiya grinned wickedly.
He raised a hand—and intercepted the pass with ease.
"You thought a pass that obvious would fool me?"
Then, without missing a beat—
"What's in your heads, crap for brains?"
As Kasamatsu chased to recover his mistake, Hanamiya swung an elbow into his gut, grinning like the devil.
The brats from Kirisaki Daiichi had never once dropped their dirty tricks.
Kasamatsu gasped in pain, slowed down just long enough for Hanamiya to launch a fast break.
Yamazaki caught the pass and, with a smooth euro-step, laid it in.
"Even without Tendou, they still have Hanamiya—one of the Uncrowned Kings!"
"That guy's as nasty as ever…"
Seirin's players bristled with frustration.
But regardless of how much they hated him—Hanamiya was one of the Uncrowned Kings.
A player on the same tier as Kiyoshi Teppei.
"But doesn't it feel like Kirisaki Daiichi's players… know Kaijō too well?"
Riko Aida noticed something off.
If Hanamiya's steal could still be attributed to talent, then Yamazaki's easy score against Moriyama was harder to explain.
Kaijō was a powerhouse.
The top dog in Kanagawa.
Every player on the roster was a national-level talent.
And yet Yamazaki had driven past Moriyama like he knew exactly what Moriyama would do next.
Elsewhere in the stands, Tōō Academy had already locked their eyes on Momoi.
"Why's everyone looking at me like that?" Momoi blinked innocently.
Aomine rolled his eyes.
"Don't pretend you're innocent."
Imayoshi just sighed.
"This year's Tōō is a headache. Aomine won't listen to anyone, and Momoi's practically working for the enemy…"
"This doesn't look good for Kaijō."
"Scratch that—it looks really bad."
Barely half a quarter had passed, and Kaijō was already down by 8.
One more basket, and they'd be staring at a double-digit deficit.
Kasamatsu knew he had to do something.
Passing had become dangerous.
To avoid "that monster," Kaijō's players had compressed themselves into a tight area—
Which limited their options severely.
"Fine. If I can't pass—then I'll just do it myself!"
He grit his teeth and drove right at Hanamiya.
"Heh… you never learn, do you?"
Hanamiya smirked, bodying up on him without mercy.
Every move Kasamatsu made had already been predicted.
He was doing exactly what Momoi's data had told them he would.
Even under normal defense, breaking through Hanamiya was hard.
Add in some dirty play? It became near impossible.
But even after eating a hard bump, Kasamatsu didn't give up.
Gritting his teeth, he powered through. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn N0velFire.ɴet
The spin. The stop. The sudden pull-up jumper.
It was Kasamatsu's signature move.
"You idiot—how do you expect that to land?"
Hanamiya jumped up to contest, timing his leap perfectly.
"That's where you're wrong."
"Basketball is full of unknowns. You can't beat me with data alone."
"And with Hayakawa under the rim? We'll control the board!"
The ball struck the rim hard.
But just like Kasamatsu predicted, Hayakawa leapt above the crowd and snagged the rebound with insane vertical lift.
Kasamatsu followed through, cutting to the lane—
Received the pass—and finished the layup.
The Kaijō bench erupted.
Fans who had come all the way from Kanagawa shouted with joy.
Their chants thundered through the gym, drowning out even the posh cheers of Kirisaki Daiichi's upper-class students.
Despite being the away team, Kaijō had seized momentum.
In the roar of the crowd, Kasamatsu struck again.
He pounced from the wing, stealing a pass to Yamazaki, who had just begun his move.
Kaijō immediately launched a fast break.
Moriyama trailed and sank a transition three.
Just like that, Kaijō clawed back into the game.
"No one gets left open. Lock them all down!"
Kasamatsu's shout rallied the team.
All of Kaijō came alive.
Kise, watching from the wing, felt a rush of emotion.
"I'm really glad I came to Kaijō…"
He was proud—genuinely proud—of his teammates.
He wanted to go to battle with them.
The arena buzzed with energy.
Crowd, commentary, even the virtual audience—everyone was on fire.
The crowd noise dropped.
The camera shifted to Tendou.
"He's about to get serious…"
He waved to Hanamiya, who was struggling against Kasamatsu's pressure.
Hanamiya passed the ball to him without hesitation.
"You're not getting by me that easily, Tendou!"
Kise spread his arms wide, legs braced, locking eyes with his old teammate.
A classic defensive stance.
He watched the ball bounce up…
"The ball… it disappeared?!"
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