Physical Limits: Flexible Support

Dawn in the Nagano mountains was leaden gray, carrying a chill that pierced to the bone. When a sharp whistle tore through the morning silence, the Teikō players jolted from their icy beds like spinning tops being whipped. Countless fine steel needles stabbed into their muscles with every movement. The embers of yesterday's "Hellfire Quenching" had yet to die, and a new purgatory had already begun.

Morning runs took place in the freezing wind below zero.

The snow-covered mountain path was slippery and rugged. Every step was accompanied by the wail of muscles and the burning of lungs. The cold wind was an icy blade, scraping across exposed skin and stealing away the last trace of warmth. Aomine Daiki still led the pack, but his stride was noticeably heavy. Every breath carried a cloud of white mist, and the fire in his eyes was no longer pure wildness, but stubbornness mixed with exhaustion. Midōrima Shintarō's rhythm remained steady, but his face was pale, and his fingers trembled slightly whenever he pushed up his glasses. Murasaki-bara Atsushi's huge body was like a moving iceberg. Each step left deep footprints, and his gasps sounded like a battered bellows. Kise Ryōta gritted his teeth and tried to imitate Aomine's running form, but he was clearly struggling, his movements badly distorted. Kuroko Tetsuya was like a silent shadow, still persisting despite his unsteady steps.

Bai Ze You adjusted his breathing as the cold air sliced at his windpipe like broken glass. The soreness in his muscles surged like an avalanche, especially around his core. Every time he raised his legs, it tugged at the exhaustion buried deep within him. The cold stiffened his joints, and his reactions seemed half a beat slow. He forced himself to focus, sinking his awareness deep into his body, feeling every muscle contract and relax. Using the fine control he had honed since childhood, he conserved his strength and maintained a relatively steady pace.

Yet the limits of their stamina hung over every player like a massive shadow. Continuous high-intensity training, combined with the bite of the cold, had long since drained their reserves. Every step felt like walking on cotton, or dragging heavy shackles. Their vision began to blur, their thoughts grew sluggish, and all that remained was the mechanical movement of their legs and their harsh breathing.

Nijimura Shūzō ran along the flank of the formation. His face was even paler than yesterday, and fine beads of cold sweat mixed with the white vapor of his breath at his temples. Every step sent pain through his side like a blunt weapon smashing into him, drawing his brows tight and shortening his breaths. Yet he continued to force himself onward, shouting hoarsely, "Keep going! One last lap! Don't stop!" His voice had lost its usual volume, but it carried a heavy weight that made the heart tremble. Momoi Satsuki watched from afar, her heart tightening. The captain's nearly unsteady figure and the hand clamped over his side magnified her unease.

Basic training was repeated on the cold, hard floor.

Push-ups, shuttle runs, frog jumps... Every movement had become torture. Their muscles screamed, while the burning pain caused by accumulated lactic acid nearly swallowed their reason. Sweat had barely seeped from their pores before the cold froze it, forming a layer of icy salt on their skin. Every time their bodies touched the freezing floor, a bone-deep shiver ran through them.

Bai Ze You gritted his teeth as sweat mixed with crystallized frost and dripped from his chin. His legs felt as though they had been filled with lead. His arms were so sore and swollen he could barely lift them, and his lungs burned fiercely. The limits of stamina! The phrase had never been etched so clearly into his awareness. Every shuttle run felt as if his legs were about to cramp; every push-up descent made his arms tremble violently, as though they could collapse at any moment.

At that moment, Akashi Seijūrō's icy voice stabbed into the air like a steel needle:

"Bai Ze You! Last set of shuttle runs! Extra training!"

"Objective: Complete ten full-speed shuttle runs consecutively! Time: 1.5 seconds faster than standard! Failure means starting over!"

The order allowed no argument. Bai Ze You did not even have the strength to wonder whether this was another punishment from Akashi to "end his hesitation." Instinct had already driven him toward the baseline. He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing all his fatigue and soreness, and summoned the last trace of strength from deep within his body!

Start! Sprint!

The icy air split apart! His muscles wailed at the edge of their limits!

Turn! Sprint again!

His vision began to sway, and his eardrums buzzed!

On the third turn, his step staggered, and he nearly fell! The freezing floor was right before him!

Don't fall!

At the instant his body lost its balance, Bai Ze You's bone-deep sense of balance and core strength erupted! His waist and abdomen forcibly contracted and twisted like the toughest spring! At the moment he was about to hit the ground, his body completed a tiny gyroscopic rotation at an incredible angle! His left foot planted itself like a nail, dragging his runaway center of gravity back into place! At the same time, his feet did not pause for even a moment. Using the tiny inertia from the rotation, he launched into another full-speed sprint!

"What a close call!" someone shouted from the sidelines.

Momoi's heart rose into her throat, and her pen hovered in midair.

Relying on that unbelievable flexibility and sense of balance to force his body steady, Bai Ze You wrung out the last trace of his strength and completed the remaining shuttle runs. When he crossed the finish line, his body pitched forward like a puppet with its strings cut. He caught himself with both hands on the cold, hard floor and gasped for breath. Sweat dripped from his forehead and nose like streams, rapidly freezing on the floor.

"Time... met the standard." The third-year student acting as timekeeper announced the result, his voice carrying a trace of disbelief. To complete such an inhuman balance adjustment and still meet the standard at the limits of his stamina was simply inconceivable.

Akashi Seijūrō nodded expressionlessly. No emotion could be seen in his crimson eyes as he calmly ordered, "Rest for thirty seconds. Prepare for the next exercise."

Thirty seconds of panting felt like sweet dew in the desert. Bai Ze You collapsed onto the floor, his chest heaving violently, his heart seeming ready to burst from his ribs. He lowered his head and looked at his faintly trembling hands. That balance adjustment beyond his limits had nearly drained his final strength. Flexibility... wasn't merely a weapon for offense. It was also the foundation supporting him as he broke through his physical limits!

The afternoon scrimmage training was even more intense.

The fatigue in their muscles had reached its peak, and every clash made their bodies feel as if they were about to fall apart. Akashi clearly had no intention of relaxing his "test" of Bai Ze You. During the team scrimmage, he deliberately arranged for Kishimoto Minori, acting as a simulated power defender, and Minami Ryō, acting as a simulated predictive interferer, to take turns focusing on Bai Ze You. He also set up help-defense traps along Bai Ze You's breakthrough routes, recreating Toyotama's "Triple Chain." The intensity was even greater than the original!

Every time Bai Ze You received the ball, it was accompanied by violent physical contact. Kishimoto's collision was like that of a raging bull, making his already exhausted body suffer even more. His chest ached dully, and his feet felt unsteady. Minami's snake-like steals and predictive interference made every dribble feel like walking on thin ice. The help defenders were like moving walls, compressing his already narrow space.

His drained stamina made his movements lose their fluidity. The deception of his fake moves declined, and his lateral movement slowed as well. Mistakes began to increase. One barely completed breakthrough ended with Kishimoto knocking him straight to the floor with a dull thud.

"Tch! Shiro! Can you handle it or not?" Aomine shouted from nearby, irritation in his voice.

Midōrima pushed up his glasses without saying a word.

Akashi's icy gaze pressed down like invisible weight.

Bai Ze You pushed himself up from the floor. A dull pain radiated through his side from the collision just now, while sweat mixed with dust and blurred his vision. Frustration and extreme physical exhaustion surged over him like a tide, nearly drowning him. The shackles of his physical limits were so heavy they made it hard to breathe.

At that moment, they launched a half-court offensive. Bai Ze You received the ball at the top of the arc, and Kishimoto immediately pressed against him like a mountain of flesh, the immense force compressing his space. Minami prowled nearby like a phantom, ready to strip the ball at any moment. In the paint, Murasaki-bara Atsushi's massive body was also watching him hungrily.

The Triple Chain had appeared again! The ultimate test under exhausted conditions!

Bai Ze You's arms were numb with soreness, and even dribbling was becoming difficult. Kishimoto's collision made him stagger, and he nearly lost his balance. He clenched his teeth and forced himself to remain calm! Under the extreme pressure, his body's instincts were awakened!

He did not choose to resist Kishimoto's strength head-on. Instead, at the instant Kishimoto crashed into him, he used his extraordinary flexibility. His body became like a willow branch without bones, sliding sideways to dissipate the force along the direction of the impact! At the same time, his core strength locked his center of gravity in place, preventing him from being knocked away!

Bang! Most of the collision's force was deftly neutralized!

A flicker of surprise crossed Kishimoto's eyes!

At the same moment, Bai Ze You's right wrist snapped with a magician's dexterity! A highly deceptive in-and-out dribble feinted a drive to the right! The fake movement of his shoulder and gaze was utterly convincing!

Minami's pupils contracted, and his center of gravity instinctively shifted right!

Now!

Bai Ze You's core strength erupted again! He forcibly pulled his body back from the posture of the rightward feint! At the same time, his left foot slammed into the floor! His body, like a spring compressed to its limit, shot instantly toward the left! A lightning-fast crossover!

Even in a state of extreme exhaustion, his body displayed coordination and explosive power beyond its limits! The scale and speed of the change in direction were completely unlike those of someone whose stamina was depleted! Minami was shaken cleanly off him, his center of gravity completely lost!

Past two! Kishimoto and Minami were escaped in an instant!

But the price of that burst was enormous! The sudden explosion nearly drained the last of his strength! Brief darkness flashed across his vision, and his steps became unsteady! In the paint, Murasaki-bara Atsushi moved across like an awakened beast, his massive palm sweeping through the air as it came down to block him!

Murasaki-bara ahead, Kishimoto and Minami chasing from behind! His stamina was exhausted! There was nowhere to retreat!

In the desperate situation, a look of resolve flashed through Bai Ze You's eyes. He did not slow down. Instead, he poured his last strength into his legs and leaped toward Murasaki-bara Atsushi's enormous palm with everything he had!

The aerial collision was no contest. Bai Ze You, whose strength had long since run dry, was like a man crashing into an iron wall! The enormous impact instantly knocked his body off balance and sent him flying backward!

"It's over!" Momoi covered her mouth, and her clipboard nearly slipped from her hand.

Aomine's eyes widened.

Akashi's gaze tightened.

However, just as his body spun out of control and he was about to crash heavily to the floor, at the instant the attack was about to fail completely, Bai Ze You's bone-deep flexibility and sense of balance once again played a decisive role!

His waist and abdomen forcibly contracted like the toughest rubber band! In midair, he forced his body into an extreme fold and twist! The range of the movement nearly exceeded the limits of human joints! It was not meant to evade the block, but to forcefully adjust his shooting angle and posture at the instant he had completely lost his balance!

At the same time, with his body twisted to its limit and his strength nearly gone, his ball-holding right wrist relied on years of refined muscle memory and soft touch to make an extremely subtle wrist flick, sending the ball gently toward the hoop! The movement was filled with a sense of artistry born from despair!

The basketball carried heavy backspin and traced an unbelievable arc, barely clearing the tips of Murasaki-bara Atsushi's fingers. It bounced twice on the rim and finally rolled into the net!

The shot was good!

"Beeeep!" The referee's whistle rang out! Blocking foul! One free throw!

Bai Ze You crashed heavily onto the freezing floor. The tremendous impact blackened his vision, and agonizing pain filled his chest, nearly suffocating him. He lay on his back, gasping for air. The icy air poured into his lungs like knives, every breath bringing tearing pain. Sweat drenched his entire body like a waterfall and quickly froze beneath him. He no longer had the strength to lift even one finger.

The entire gym fell silent. Everyone had been shaken by that unbelievable basket, completed with his stamina utterly depleted and his body completely out of control!

Kishimoto and Minami stood frozen in place. Murasaki-bara Atsushi looked at his own palm, then at Bai Ze You, who was gasping on the floor like a dying man, and showed a rare expression of surprise. Aomine's mouth hung open. Midōrima's hand froze halfway to his glasses. In Akashi Seijūrō's crimson eyes, a ripple called "shock" passed clearly for the first time.

Flexible Support!

When his strength was gone and his balance had collapsed, it was that bone-deep flexibility and control over his physical limits that forcibly supported him through the impossible finish! This was not merely a victory of technique, but the perfect fusion of will and talent!

Momoi Satsuki's eyes glimmered with tears as she tremulously wrote on her clipboard:

**"Observation Record: Physical Limit Breakthrough!"**

**"Method: Flexibility (force dissipation + forced midair posture correction) + Sense of balance (control at the edge of imbalance) + Core strength (final burst) + Touch (muscle memory)"**

**"Effect: Completed a high-difficulty 2+1 under desperate conditions! Mental will rating: S++!"**

**"Conclusion: Flexibility talent is not merely a weapon, but also the life support that breaks through the shackles of physical limits!"**

Nijimura Shūzō endured the agony in his side and his physical exhaustion and walked to the center of the court. He looked at Bai Ze You, who was nearly spent on the floor, then swept his gaze over the other players, who were equally exhausted but whose eyes were filled with shock. In a hoarse voice, he shouted:

"Did you see that?! This is Teikō's Will! This is proof that we never give up! Bai Ze You has shown you through his actions that as long as your will does not break, your body can create miracles!"

"Today's training... ends here!" Nijimura's voice carried a faint, imperceptible tremor. "Everyone, go ice yourselves immediately! Replenish your energy! Tomorrow... we continue!"

The players seemed to have been granted a reprieve from death. Supporting one another, they dragged their leaden legs toward the sidelines. Aomine and Kuroko helped Bai Ze You to his feet. He could barely walk, and his entire weight pressed down on his teammates.

Nijimura watched the players leave. Just as he was about to relax, a violent, uncontrollable cough suddenly seized him! He quickly covered his mouth with one hand, his body trembling violently. When the coughing subsided, he opened his palm. A startling smear of bright red stained it!

Blood stood out starkly beneath the pallid lights.

Momoi happened to turn around and saw the scene! Her heart abruptly stopped! A cry caught in her throat, leaving only boundless terror and cold fear!

Nijimura Shūzō quickly clenched his fist and hid the bloodstained palm in his pocket. He forced a calm expression onto his face and gave Momoi, who was looking at him, a slight shake of his head, signaling her not to say anything. Then he straightened his back and, as though nothing had happened, walked with heavy steps alone into the deeper shadows of the gymnasium.

At the limits of his stamina, Bai Ze You had used flexibility to support an almost miraculous finish. Yet Teikō's captain was using his own spine to single-handedly support a dynasty on the verge of collapse, along with a burden known by no one. The sweat of winter had yet to freeze, but a new shadow had already descended. Momoi stood where she was, watching Nijimura's back disappear into the shadows, then looking toward Bai Ze You being supported away. She felt that the chill of these mountains had already seeped into her bones.