Bab 8.breaking the falcon's lock

The deafening roar of the crowd resonated throughout the gymnasium rafters. The scoreboard displayed Shutoku 24 - 18 Seirin at the conclusion of the first quarter. Midorima Shintaro's limitless high-arc three-pointers continued to tear through Seirin Baru’s rim, while Ariaki Tetsuya's passing lanes remained completely sealed under Takao Kazunari's all-encompassing court vision.

"Time's up! Second quarter, begin!" the referee’s voice echoed across the hardwood.

Takao smirked mockingly as he crossed paths with Ariaki at mid-court. "I told you, Aki-chan. My Hawk Eye grants me a 360-degree field of vision. Erasing your presence means nothing when I can see every single corner of the court!"

"Aki," Hoga called out, wiping the sweat off his brow with his jersey sleeve. His dark eyes burned with wild, predatory instinct. "If standard passes won't work, we take it by force."

Ariaki looked down at his hands, closing his eyes for a split second to focus the energy flowing through his newly developed, denser muscular frame—the direct result of relentless physical conditioning.

"Keep up with my timing, Hoga-kun," Ariaki said softly, his voice sharp and unyielding. "I am no longer just hiding in the dark."

Seirin Baru took possession. Izuki advanced the ball past half-court and fed it to Ariaki at the point guard spot. Takao instantly pressed up tight, spreading his arms wide with a fierce, confident grin.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Takao shouted.

Instead of executing an instant touch pass as usual, Ariaki did something that left everyone in the gymnasium stunned: he drove hard toward the paint on his own!

"What?!" Takao’s eyes widened. He's trying to blow past me with a direct dribble?!

With a significantly lower center of gravity and far more powerful leg drive than during his middle school days at Teiko Lama, Ariaki's initial acceleration was startling. Utilizing his own Hawk Eye, Ariaki detected the exact blind spot in Takao's reaction time. The moment Takao shifted his weight to cut off the angle, Ariaki dipped his shoulder and executed a lightning-fast crossover!

"He's... fast!" Takao gritted his teeth, scrambling to recover.

Just as Midorima stepped forward to collapse the lane, Ariaki whipped his wrist with explosive force. The ball zipped low to the floor—a high-velocity Drive Pass that demanded elite reflexes to catch.

"HOGA!"

Hoga, cutting in from the opposite baseline, exploded into the air. He snatched the bullet pass out of mid-air with one hand and slammed a ferocious, rim-rattling dunk!

BANG!

The basket frame shook violently as the arena crowd erupted into loud cheers.

"WOAH! What kind of connection was that?!"

"That pass blew straight through Shutoku's tight defense!"

Midorima pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his taped left fingers, his green eyes narrowing sharply at Ariaki.

"Your body is no longer as fragile as it was at Teiko Lama, Tetsuya," Midorima muttered coldly under his breath. "You built up your physical strength just to withstand the friction of those high-speed passes. But... that still won't be enough to reach my shots."

On the next possession, Shutoku swung the ball back to Midorima beyond the arc. Hoga immediately leaped with maximum exertion to contest the shot, but Midorima stayed grounded—it was a flawless pump fake!

Hoga bit on the fake and sailed past. Midorima calmly set his feet, rose up, and released another high-arching rainbow shot with absolute form.

However, before the ball could clear his fingertips, a shadow materialized out of his blind spot.

"I won't let you!"

Using his Hawk Eye to calculate the exact trajectory and timing, Ariaki leaped from Midorima's side and managed to tip the bottom of the ball with his index finger!

TAP!

"What?!" Midorima's eyes widened in genuine shock.

The shot altered trajectory in mid-air, clanking hard off the front rim!

"REBOUND!" Hyuga barked. Hoga, having just landed, instantly exploded back up to claim the loose ball in mid-air.

Ariaki landed on the hardwood, breathing heavily, but his blue eyes flashed with cold, decisive focus.

Meanwhile, high up in the second-floor spectator balcony, a tall, muscular teenager with dark skin and messy dark blue hair leaned against the wall, casually eating a sandwich. He wore the dark tracksuit of Touou Barat High.

"Heh... Tetsuya," muttered Aoki Ren—the former Ace of Teiko Lama who had once shattered Ariaki's spirit. Aoki grinned dangerously, a wild glint in his eyes. "You're playing a lot bolder now. Hurry up and win this match... so I can show you that your shadow will never touch my light again."