Inside the Teikō Basketball Gym, the early morning sunlight streamed through the high windows, casting slanted beams across the polished wooden floor. The air was thick with the mixed scents of sweat, rubber, and cleaning solution, along with the rhythmic echo of basketballs striking the ground. Unlike yesterday's soreness after the high-intensity flexibility training, today's focus had quietly shifted to another fundamental that supported the core ability of the "White Phantom"—balance.
Captain Nijimura Shūzō stood at the sidelines, his sharp gaze sweeping over the First Team members undergoing specialized training. His eyes eventually settled on Bai Ze You. The first-year middle school student had displayed astonishing flexibility yesterday, but Nijimura knew that flexibility alone was far from enough in intense aerial contests. The true "staying-aloft secret" of an aerial player lay in maintaining a stable core and executing technical movements precisely despite high-speed motion, bodily contortions, and even collisions.
"Yū!" Nijimura's voice rang especially clearly through the empty gym. "Come over here."
Bai Ze You stopped his dribbling practice and jogged over, a focused look on his face. "Captain."
Nijimura pointed to an area beside them covered with thick mats. Several strange-looking pieces of equipment had been placed there: a low balance beam, a balance pad with a hemispherical base—a BOSU ball—and several solid balls of different sizes and weights.
"Yesterday's 'Aerial Ballet' was impressive," Nijimura began bluntly. "But don't forget, even the most graceful ballet dancer needs extreme balance to stay on their feet. Aerial contests on the basketball court are a hundred times more brutal than those onstage. Your opponent won't wait for you to strike a pose before blocking your shot."
He picked up a solid ball and handed it to Bai Ze You. "Stand on that balance pad with one foot."
Bai Ze You did as instructed, shifting his weight onto his left foot and carefully stepping onto the hemispherical balance pad, which was soft yet firm. The ball immediately began to wobble, and his body swayed involuntarily. He only barely managed to steady himself by spreading his arms.
"Now, catch this ball, then pass it smoothly back to me. Keep your body stable throughout." As he spoke, Nijimura gently tossed the solid ball toward Bai Ze You.
Bai Ze You reached out to catch it atop the wobbling balance pad, but his center of gravity was instantly thrown off. He nearly fell, and the ball slipped from his hands and rolled away.
"See that?" Nijimura said as he picked up the ball. "In a contest, an opponent's collision, interference from a block, and even the recoil from your own movements are constantly disrupting your balance. What you need is to mobilize every muscle group in your body—your core, lower body, ankles, even your toes—the instant you lose balance, or even before, making minute compensations to find that dynamic, delicate 'fulcrum' again."
Nijimura demonstrated himself. He stood firmly on the balance pad, his body rising and falling slightly as though rooted to it. When the solid ball was tossed to him, his core visibly tightened the instant he caught it, while the ankle of his supporting leg made minute, rapid adjustments. The entire movement was smooth and natural. He caught the ball securely, then passed it back just as steadily.
"Core strength is the foundation, but proprioception is more important. You need to train your proprioception—to accurately sense the position, angle, and exertion of every part of your body without looking. That determines whether you can instinctively adjust when you lose sight of things in midair or get hit." Nijimura pointed at the balance beam and BOSU ball. "These tools are meant to 'disrupt' your balance and force your body to 'search for' it."
The next hour was an entirely new challenge and torment for Bai Ze You.
* Shuttle Runs on the Balance Beam: The narrow wooden beam demanded precise foot placement with every step. The slightest distraction or lapse in core tension would send him tumbling off. He forced himself to accelerate while maintaining dynamic balance at high speed.
* Passing and Catching on the BOSU Ball: Standing on the wobbling surface, he caught basketballs and solid balls tossed by Nijimura from different angles and with varying force. Every catch battered his balance, and every pass required him to gather his strength again on the brink of losing it. Sweat slid down his temples and dripped onto the shifting surface.
* One-Legged Stance with Eyes Closed: He stood on one leg atop the balance pad with his eyes closed, abandoning his reliance on vision and depending purely on feedback from his muscles, joints, and nerve endings to maintain balance. Time seemed to stretch out, every second challenging the limits of his bodily awareness. He could clearly feel the minute tremors in the muscles beneath his foot and the tension in his calf tendons.
* Shooting Simulation While Off-Balance: Whenever he stood on the balance pad with his center of gravity unstable, Nijimura would suddenly give him a light push. Bai Ze You had to imitate a shooting motion at the instant his body tilted and he was about to fall, exploding through his core and keeping his arm pointed steadily at the "basket" (a marked point on the wall). The movement was exceptionally difficult. At first, he could barely control his posture, and his shooting form warped completely.
"How does it feel?" Nijimura asked, watching Bai Ze You's slightly trembling legs and sweat-soaked practice jersey.
"Very... difficult." Bai Ze You panted and wiped away his sweat, but his eyes shone unusually brightly. "But it's amazing. When my eyes are closed and my body sways to the limit before pulling itself back, it's almost like I can really 'hear' my muscles and bones 'speaking.'"
A hint of approval flashed through Nijimura's eyes. "That's proprioception awakening. Remember this feeling and carve it into your bones. In a real game, when you're knocked aside in midair, when you force your body to twist to evade a block, or when your vision is obstructed, this is what will support you through that final shot or pass. This is the staying-aloft secret of the 'White Phantom'—creating balance within imbalance, and finishing before you fall."
After the basic training ended, Nijimura arranged a small-scale 3v3 scrimmage. Bai Ze You was placed on the substitute squad, while their opponents included Aomine and several key rotation players.
The game was played at high intensity. Aomine was as swift and ferocious as a cheetah, repeatedly using his speed and strength to drive into the paint and score. When it was Bai Ze You's turn to attack, he caught the ball on the wing and faced tight pressure from his defender. He did not rush to drive. Instead, he used a Rhythm Change and a small Fake Move in front of his body to shake open a sliver of space.
That single sliver of space!
Bai Ze You exploded forward, took one dribble, and rose straight up. Yet the instant he jumped, Aomine's astonishing explosiveness revealed itself. Like a dark shadow striking from the side, he leaped high, his massive hand slicing through the air as it slammed toward the basketball in Bai Ze You's hands! The timing and height were perfect. It looked certain to be a vicious backboard block.
On the sidelines, Momoi Satsuki instinctively covered her mouth, her pen hovering above the record board.
At the critical moment, the sensation of struggling on the edge of imbalance during training flashed through Bai Ze You's mind. Driven into overdrive by frantic nerve signals, his core muscles suddenly locked tight! His body, which had leaped with its head lowered, seemed to be shoved by an invisible hand in midair, forcibly tilting backward and to the side into an extreme lean. The movement was so wide that he nearly lost his balance and fell.
But just as his body reached its limit and seemed about to spin out of control, the flexibility Bai Ze You had painstakingly trained yesterday came into play. His waist and abdomen contracted like a spring, providing an upward pulling force. At the same time, the proprioception that had been "disrupted" countless times during training awakened! His supporting leg—his right leg—seemed to find a virtual fulcrum in midair, guiding his entire body through a delicate posture adjustment within an almost nonexistent space. His uncontrolled backward lean became a stable fadeaway shooting posture with a slight drift!
"What?!" Aomine's fully extended hand barely skimmed beneath the basketball!
And Bai Ze You, during that brief moment of staying aloft—when his body appeared to have lost balance, only to be pulled back under control by his core strength and exquisite sense of balance—softly flicked the ball away with his wrist.
The orange basketball traced a higher arc than usual. Under Aomine's stunned gaze and Nijimura's approving watch, it swished cleanly through the net with a "swish!"
The instant he landed, Bai Ze You staggered once before steadying himself and sucked in deep breaths. That split-second adjustment had placed an enormous strain on his core and nervous system, but excitement burned in his eyes. He had truly felt the power of the "art of balance" in actual combat—the almost-cheating airtime granted by absolute control over his body under extreme pressure!
"Tch..." Aomine landed and looked at the basketball still rolling beneath the net, then glanced at Bai Ze You. Rarely, he did not immediately go retrieve the ball. He merely muttered, "That guy... moves through the air like a slippery eel."
On the sidelines, Momoi Satsuki's suspended heart finally settled. She quickly wrote on the record board: "Mid-air Posture Correction Ability (core + balance + flexibility synergy)—abnormally prolonged airtime, with significant effectiveness in evading blocks." She looked at Bai Ze You's slightly tired yet satisfied profile, the corners of her lips lifting unconsciously. Then she quickly sketched a stick figure performing a midair fadeaway shot in the blank space beside it.
Nijimura Shūzō folded his arms, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. He had seen the second foundation stone being carefully honed within Bai Ze You. Flexibility gave him the possibility of evasion and extreme movements, while balance gave him the stability and deceptiveness to control everything in midair and execute his movements perfectly.
The wings of the "White Phantom" were quietly taking shape inside the Teikō gym.
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