Yukio Kasamatsu did not hesitate any longer. He passed the basketball straight over.
Ryota Kise caught the ball, looked at Tatsuya Himuro, and smiled.
"I still haven't figured out how you pulled off that shot, but seeing through your skills is only a matter of time for me!"
Ryota Kise was full of confidence, the kind that came from real strength.
Tatsuya Himuro froze for a moment, but quickly recovered.
He smiled gently.
"Then I'll look forward to it."
Ryota Kise's lips curved up as he asked, "Are you ready?"
Tatsuya Himuro's expression turned serious, and his defensive stance became sharper.
"Yeah."
The very next second after Tatsuya Himuro answered, Ryota Kise moved.
Like a wild horse breaking free of its reins, Ryota Kise pushed his speed to the limit in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, he had blown past Tatsuya Himuro with a single step.
Tatsuya Himuro's heart jolted.
'So fast!'
He had not expected Ryota Kise's speed to have improved this much.
But then again, it made sense.
After losing in the Summer Cup, Ryota Kise had quit his modeling job and thrown himself completely into basketball.
In other words, ever since the Summer Cup ended, Ryota Kise's life had consisted of nothing but eating, sleeping, and training.
He had become a complete training maniac, just like Daiki Aomine.
Ryota Kise's talent had already been top tier, and with that level of intense training added on, his growth had been enormous.
On the court, after Ryota Kise blew past Tatsuya Himuro in one step, he did not slow down at all. He kept charging straight into the paint.
Seeing this, Teppei Kiyoshi hurried over to help defend.
When Ryota Kise saw Teppei Kiyoshi stepping up, he slowed down slightly.
Just as everyone was waiting to see how Ryota Kise would get past Teppei Kiyoshi, he made his move.
Ryota Kise stopped right in front of Teppei Kiyoshi, then...
A floater.
Off the court, Makoto Hanamiya's gaze trembled.
Kentaro Seto's expression also turned grave, and he said in a low voice, "Makoto Hanamiya..."
Makoto Hanamiya nodded and replied grimly, "It's very similar to mine... No, it's practically a copy of mine!"
It was no wonder Makoto Hanamiya said that.
The speed and accuracy of Ryota Kise's floater on the court were exactly the same as Makoto Hanamiya's back in middle school.
Teppei Kiyoshi had been caught off guard for a moment and could not react in time. He could only watch as the basketball arced over his head and dropped into the basket.
Seeing that familiar move, Teppei Kiyoshi's face filled with surprise.
"You..."
Ryota Kise's lips lifted slightly.
"Hehe, pretty surprising, right?"
Teppei Kiyoshi froze for a moment, then smiled as well.
"Yeah, it is. I didn't expect you to be able to do that too."
Ryota Kise waved his hand and laughed.
"Of course I couldn't let you expect it. Otherwise, how would it catch you off guard?"
After saying that, Ryota Kise turned and went back on defense.
Teppei Kiyoshi watched his back, shook his head helplessly, and muttered, "[Copying]... He really is troublesome."
On the other side, Yukio Kasamatsu crept up to Ryota Kise with a gloomy look on his face, his expression oddly unsettling.
Ryota Kise felt a chill run down his spine under that stare and quickly put some distance between them.
"Kasamatsu-senpai, I'm not really used to you suddenly getting this close!"
Yukio Kasamatsu instantly returned to normal, though his face flushed a little.
He reached out and smacked Ryota Kise on the head, shouting, "You little brat! You could use a floater and you didn't even tell me!"
Ryota Kise rubbed his head awkwardly.
"Um... Kasamatsu-senpai... you never asked!"
The air went silent for a moment.
Yukio Kasamatsu coughed awkwardly twice and said, "Uh... well... anyway, next time, you have to tell me!"
Ryota Kise smiled bitterly and asked, "Tell you what?"
Smack!
"Ah! Kasamatsu-senpai, why did you suddenly hit me on the head?"
"To make you grow a brain!"
...
Possession changed.
This time, Seirin made a slight adjustment to their tactics.
They did not pass to Tetsuya Kuroko to move the ball, nor did they give it to Tatsuya Himuro for an isolation.
Instead, they chose to give the ball to Taiga Kagami and let him attack one on one.
Because Taiga Kagami played power forward, his matchup was not Ryota Kise, who was a small forward, but Mitsuhiro Hayakawa, who also played power forward.
To put it plainly, the Kaijō players felt that it was not yet time for an ace showdown.
After receiving the ball, Taiga Kagami did not overthink it. He immediately launched his attack.
He was fast and full of power, driving off his right foot as he broke toward the left side.
The specialized training Riko Aida had designed for Taiga Kagami had already made his left hand much less stiff.
That meant Taiga Kagami now had more variety in both his offensive methods and his choices on attack.
Facing Taiga Kagami's drive, Mitsuhiro Hayakawa naturally was not going to let him have it easy.
As the very picture of a hot-blooded player in the original series, Mitsuhiro Hayakawa could be called one of the most fiercely spirited and passionate players.
Of course, what stood out most about Mitsuhiro Hayakawa was still his incredible Explosive Jump.
That Explosive Jump let him reach his highest point in an instant.
In the original series, Mitsuhiro Hayakawa's Explosive Jump seemed to be focused entirely on rebounding, with almost no signs of it showing elsewhere.
But now, things seemed a little different.
Mitsuhiro Hayakawa suddenly slid sideways in an instant, cutting off Taiga Kagami's attack.
Clearly, the current Mitsuhiro Hayakawa could already apply his Explosive Jump to other areas as well.
However, Taiga Kagami did not seem worried about that.
While dribbling, Taiga Kagami suddenly accelerated.
Dribble acceleration!
The sudden burst of speed caught Mitsuhiro Hayakawa off guard, leaving him unable to react.
Taiga Kagami charged into the paint. Even when faced with Kōji Kobori's help defense, he showed no fear at all.
"Haaah!"
Taiga Kagami let out a roar, then planted his left foot hard against the floor and sprang upward, raising the basketball high above his head with his right hand.
Fire Blazing to the Sky!
Kōji Kobori gritted his teeth and jumped with him, stretching out both hands as if defending his own territory.
But soon, Kōji Kobori began to panic.
Because...
he was starting to fall.
Kōji Kobori's body gradually dropped, while Taiga Kagami's body was still rising.
Kōji Kobori's face filled with disbelief and distress.
'How is this possible... He's actually... still getting higher...'
...
...
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