The heavy door to Teikō's locker room swung open, and the roar of the second half hit them like a wave of heat. Bai Ze You walked at the very front of the team. The heaviness that had weighed down his steps when he was locked down in the first half had vanished, replaced by a restrained sharpness. His sweat-soaked white jersey clung to his body, outlining smooth muscle lines. His gaze was as tranquil as the deep sea before a storm. What burned within it was no longer irritation, but the cold flame called "breaking through," kindled by Captain Nijimura and tempered by Akashi's words.
Kishimoto Minori still came forward with a vicious grin, his huge body like a moving mountain of flesh, carrying undisguised malice. "Little white-hair, had enough rest? Ready to keep getting crushed by me in the second half?"
Minami Ryō followed beside Kishimoto like a ghost, his gaze sharp as a blade, firmly locking onto Bai Ze You's every subtle movement.
Bai Ze You did not respond to Kishimoto's trash talk. His eyes did not even flicker. He merely adjusted his wristband slightly, calmly sweeping his gaze across the court before letting it settle on Toyotama's basket. His body sank slightly, his center of gravity lower than in the first half, as if all his strength had been concentrated between his feet and abdomen. An invisible aura spread around him—the focus belonging to the "Phantom," refined into harmony after being driven to the brink.
Teikō had possession for the first attack of the second half. Akashi Seijūrō advanced while dribbling, his crimson eyes like the most precise radar, instantly detecting that Toyotama's defensive focus was still firmly fixed on Bai Ze You. Kishimoto clung to him like a parasite, Minami waited for his chance, and the weak-side defenders watched hungrily as well. The Triple Chain remained as imposing as ever!
Akashi did not force the ball to Bai Ze You. Instead, he lobbed it to Atsushi Murasaki-bara, who had established position inside. Murasaki's massive body drew a double-team. His attempt to force his way through failed, so he passed to Aomine, who had been left open outside. Aomine caught the ball and forced a drive that drew a foul, making one of two free throws.
43:42! The score remained deadlocked.
Toyotama's attack failed, and Teikō counterattacked. Akashi once again brought the ball across half court. This time, his gaze met Bai Ze You's in midair, followed by an almost imperceptible nod. The chain-breaking operation begins!
Bai Ze You did not wait in place. Instead, he began active, constantly changing off-ball movement! He no longer tried to match Kishimoto's strength head-on. Like a slippery fish, he darted through the jungle of Toyotama's defense with the help of his teammates' screens!
Kishimoto chased him relentlessly, gnashing his teeth! His strength advantage became a burden during the pursuit! Bai Ze You used a solid Murasaki screen to instantly shake Kishimoto off by half a step! Just as Kishimoto roared and forced his way through the screen, Akashi's pass arrived in Bai Ze You's hands with surgical precision!
Receiving position: one step inside the three-point line at a 45-degree angle on the right! Minami pounced immediately, like a venomous snake that had been waiting for this moment! At the same time, Kishimoto broke free of the screen and viciously slammed into Bai Ze You from the side and rear like a raging bull!
The double-team reappeared! A slaughter of strength and anticipation!
At the critical moment, the instant Bai Ze You received the ball, his center of gravity flowed strangely like quicksilver! He did not immediately dribble or shoot. Instead, he performed a huge, utterly convincing shot fake! His shoulders, gaze, and even the direction of his toes perfectly deceived Minami as he rushed to defend! Minami's center of gravity was lifted in an instant, and his body leaped uncontrollably to block the shot!
The fake sent Minami airborne!
The instant Minami's feet left the floor, Bai Ze You moved! He did not shoot. Pivoting on his left foot, his body like a drawn bowstring, he suddenly assumed a hard dribble with a shoulder drop to the right! The motion was huge and filled with power, aimed squarely at Kishimoto's collision from the left!
A savage glint flashed in Kishimoto's eyes. "You think you can force your way through? You're dead!" He grinned viciously, pouring all his strength into his left shoulder as he prepared to teach Bai Ze You an unforgettable lesson!
However! Just as Kishimoto's strength was about to connect and his center of gravity had shifted completely to the left, Bai Ze You's core muscles erupted with terrifying power! His seemingly full-force drive to the right was actually only a reverse fake, even more convincing than the first!
Bang!
Kishimoto crashed into an imaginary wall at full force! His strength missed completely, and the enormous inertia sent him stumbling forward!
At the instant Kishimoto's force missed, Bai Ze You's waist and abdomen contracted and twisted like the most precise spring! With his left foot as the axis, his center of gravity completed an inconceivably small but lightning-fast extreme rear turn to the left! At the same time, he flicked his right wrist nimbly, and the basketball seemed glued to his hand as he completed a behind-the-back dribble and hand switch at an extremely low height!
Slide! Redirect the force! Extreme turn! Behind-the-back hand switch!
The entire sequence was completed in one fluid motion within the cramped space and in the blink of an eye! It overflowed with supreme flexibility and body control!
Bai Ze You cleverly absorbed, redirected, and transformed the force of Kishimoto's full-power impact into momentum for his own rotation using the turn and slide! Kishimoto not only failed to hit him, but, thrown off by his missed force and unbalanced center of gravity, he stumbled forward and nearly collided with Minami, who had just landed!
And Bai Ze You, like a white spirit gracefully turning at the heart of a storm, completed his turn and hand switch at the instant Kishimoto and Minami collided in a tangle from their momentum, then slipped straight through the fleeting gap beside them!
"He's through!!!" The commentator's voice cracked with excitement!
"My God! How did he do that?!"
The stands erupted with deafening gasps and cheers!
The first layer of the flexible breakthrough method: absorbing and borrowing force! Overcoming hardness with softness!
Bai Ze You broke through the double-team, and the path ahead opened wide! But Toyotama's Zone Defense reacted with astonishing speed! Two inside players immediately collapsed inward like two heavy gates, sealing off his direct path to the basket!
They had met at a narrow pass! There was nowhere to retreat!
Bai Ze You's gaze was icy, and his speed did not slow at all! Just before he collided with the help defender, his body once again displayed inhuman balance and core strength! He did not choose to force his way through or stop for a jump shot. Instead, while sprinting at full speed, his body moved like a supple vine, pivoting on his right foot to perform an exaggerated, dance-like wide Eurostep!
His body first leaned sharply toward the front left, baiting the left-side help defender into shifting his center of gravity to block him! Then his core strength exploded, forcibly pulling his body back as his left foot slammed against the floor, sending him gliding toward the front right like a specter! The entire motion flowed like running water, filled with deception and beauty! Both help defenders were completely thrown off by his shifting center of gravity, like clumsy wooden posts!
The second layer of the flexible breakthrough method: center-of-gravity deception and evasive movement in tight spaces!
After shaking off the final two barriers, Bai Ze You faced the basket! Without hesitation, he took a hop step and leaped! Toyotama's center roared and jumped from behind, his massive hand slicing through the air as it struck fiercely at the ball!
In midair, Bai Ze You's waist and abdomen exploded with power once more, as tough as a drawn bowstring! His originally outstretched body forcibly performed an extreme body fold and tuck, while he flicked the wrist of his ball-holding right hand. Instead of attempting a difficult underhand scoop, he folded his body to its limit, nearly losing his balance, and gently tossed the ball toward the basket with an almost flicking motion!
The basketball carried heavy backspin. As if given life, it traced a strange arc, curving around the shot-blocker's fingertips and brushing the backboard before softly bouncing into the net!
"Bweep—!"
The referee's whistle sounded again!
Hándǎ foul! One free throw!
Another three-point play!
The entire arena erupted! Teikō's supporters shouted wildly, and Bai Ze You's name rang through the heavens!
"Bai Ze! Bai Ze! Bai Ze!"
"Phantom! Unbeatable!"
Bai Ze You landed from the air. This time, he stood firmly without stumbling. He breathed slightly harder, his chest rising and falling, but his gaze remained sharp as a blade as he coldly swept it over the ashen-faced Kishimoto and Minami before settling on the scoreboard. He raised his right hand and pointed his index finger at the sky, as if proclaiming the return of the "Phantom"!
The third layer of the flexible breakthrough method: the art of finishing while off-balance!
This astonishing three-point play completely shattered Toyotama's carefully constructed "Triple Chain"! Kishimoto's prized strength-based suppression had been neutralized and toyed with by Bai Ze You's supreme flexibility and skill; Minami's precise anticipation had become a laughingstock before even more convincing and varied fakes and rhythm changes; and the swarm tactics of the Zone Defense had collapsed before his inconceivable evasive movements in tight spaces and off-balance finishing!
The way the Phantom breaks through is to use the greatest flexibility, balance, and deception to turn the opponent's chains into threads for his own dance!
Bai Ze You calmly sank the free throw. 46:42!
That basket was like opening Pandora's box! Teikō's offense was completely awakened! Bai Ze You was no longer a gear that had been locked down, but a White Storm tearing through the defense!
* He used a convincing fake to send Kishimoto flying, drew Minami over to help, then delivered a brilliant through-the-legs bounce pass to the cutting Aomine, helping him complete a powerful dunk!
* Against Minami's tight coverage, he used a rhythm-change stop-and-go, easily shaking him off, then calmly sank a three-pointer after receiving the ball! His hand moved like a blade, answering the opponent's contempt for his range!
* During a defensive fast break, he even caught Akashi's long pass and, facing Kishimoto's recovery block, performed a light hand-switch scoop in midair. It was like dancing on the edge of a knife, and he sent the ball into the basket once more!
Toyotama's defense completely collapsed. Kishimoto Minori panted like an ox, his eyes filled with frustration and disbelief. His strength looked so clumsy and ridiculous before Bai Ze You's flexibility. Minami's face was pale, his anticipation failing again and again before Bai Ze You's more exquisite fakes and rhythm changes. As for the Zone Defense? Before Bai Ze You's devastating drives and precise passes, it was riddled with holes!
The flexible breakthrough method had not only broken the chains—it had also ignited the flames of the entire Teikō team!
Final score: Teikō 95 : Toyotama 72. A game that had seemed fiercely contested in the first half ultimately became a crushing Teikō victory in the second!
After the game, Bai Ze You was surrounded by his teammates. Aomine laughed and slapped him hard on the back. "Beautiful work! Shiro! You ran circles around those two bastards! That felt great!"
Midōrima Shintarō pushed up his glasses. "Second-half efficiency restored to S-rank. A key Point of breakthrough. The application of flexibility and technique has reached a new level."
Murasaki-bara Atsushi said, "Ah, you slipped away pretty smoothly."
Akashi Seijūrō walked up to Bai Ze You, clear approval in his crimson eyes. "A perfect breakthrough, Yū. You proved that the 'Phantom' is flawless."
A faint smile rested on Bai Ze You's face, sweat glinting beneath the lights. He looked toward the sideline, where Momoi Satsuki was applauding vigorously, tears of excitement shimmering in her eyes. The section on Bai Ze You's "way to break through" on her clipboard was densely filled with writing:
"Observation Conclusion: Flexible Breakthrough Method"
"Core: Absorb and Borrow Force (overcome strength) + Center of Gravity Deception (break anticipation) + Tight-Space Finishing (break the help defense)"
"Performance: In the desperate situation of the 'Triple Chain,' overcome hardness with softness, break force with skill, and shatter reality with illusion! Achieved a dual elevation of individual ability and Tactical Value!"
"Rating: S++ (Master of Breaking Through Adversity)"
Beside the diagram of the Phantom Gear on the team tactics page, she had drawn a shining arrow pointing to an even higher position:
"Status update: Overclocking! Breaking the shackles, doubling efficiency!"
Bai Ze You took the towel Kuroko handed him and wiped away his sweat. He looked toward the deeper stage of the National Tournament, his eyes growing more profound and resolute. Toyotama's "Triple Chain" had not locked him down. Instead, it had become the whetstone that tempered his "Phantom." He had found the way to break through extreme targeted defense. He knew that stronger opponents and tighter tactics awaited him ahead. But at this moment, only one conviction filled his heart:
No matter what kind of chains they forged, he would break them with flexibility! The White Phantom would never stop!
Before you continue