Murasakibara's Restricted Area: A Battle of Strength and Balance

The air in the Teikō First Team Training Hall still carried the aftertaste of yesterday's one-on-one battle. The smell of sweat mingled with the scent of new basketball leather, brewing another round of collisions. When Bai Ze Yū stepped onto the court, he could clearly feel several gazes instantly locking onto him like searchlights—the deep-blue eyes of Aomine Daiki, burning with undisguised flames of revenge; Akashi Seijūrō's mismatched eyes, cold as mirrors, conducting a meticulous appraisal; and... the purple gaze, tinged with lazy confusion, cast by the enormous shadow crouched beneath the basket like a silent mountain.

"Today," Nijimura Shūzō's booming voice cut through the undercurrent in the gym. His sharp gaze swept across the court before finally landing on Yū. "We'll focus on practicing offense and defense in the restricted area! Bai Ze, you and Murasaki-bara are on one team—the Red Team—and you'll be on offense! Everyone else, take turns defending!" The intent behind the arrangement was obvious—Nijimura wanted to see with his own eyes how this "phantom," known for his flexibility and technique, would challenge the absolute wall of strength at Teikō's interior!

"Ugh..." Murasaki-bara Atsushi slowly tore open a packet of Umaibo and stuffed it into his mouth, mumbling indistinctly, "...What a pain." His half-lidded purple eyes flicked toward Yū with an almost indifferent appraisal, as though he were assessing the durability of a new toy.

The whistle blew! Practice began!

The first group of defenders took the court: two sturdy, experienced third-year interior players. They stood to Murasaki-bara's left and right like two iron towers, trying to use their bodies and strength to push him out of the paint. Murasaki-bara merely raised his eyelids slightly. His massive body stood rooted to the spot, utterly unmoving. He did not even fully spread his arms. Relying solely on his terrifying physique and absolute strength, he pinned both defenders firmly behind him! It was like an adult bullying children!

"Ball." Murasaki-bara lazily extended his enormous palm.

The outside point guard, Sato, immediately lobbed the ball in. Murasaki-bara caught it and did not even jump. He merely rose onto his toes, lightly flicking up his huge arm. The basketball sailed over the fingertips of the two defenders leaping desperately to block it, as if launched by a catapult, and slammed into the hoop with a clang! The basket frame let out a pained groan!

Absolute physical dominance! Pure overpowering strength! After landing, the defenders rubbed their aching shoulders, their faces filled with helplessness and frustration.

"Next!" Nijimura's voice remained perfectly even.

Group after group of defenders took turns, trying to limit Murasaki-bara with double-teams, fronting, petty fouls, and every other method they could think of. But the result was always the same—in the face of Murasaki-bara's primordial-beast-like absolute strength, all their efforts were like an insect trying to stop a chariot, crushed with ease. He was an impassable Wall of Sighs, standing in Teikō's restricted area and declaring that no one could pass.

"Bai Ze, your turn!" Nijimura's gaze shifted to Yū, who was warming up on the sideline.

The air instantly fell silent. Everyone's eyes focused on the silver-gray-haired figure. Challenge Murasaki-bara? With that seemingly unimposing body? It was no different from throwing an egg against a rock!

Yū calmly removed his training jacket, revealing the Red and White Training Uniform beneath. He flexed his wrists and ankles, his amber eyes quietly fixed on the enormous purple figure beneath the basket. There was no fear in them, only an almost icy concentration. He knew this was more than practice. It was a trial to determine whether he could establish himself within Teikō's interior system.

"Hey, kid," Murasaki-bara said around a mouthful of Umaibo, his indistinct voice carrying a hint of boredom. "Don't crash into me too hard, okay? You'll break." His tone was flat, yet carried the matter-of-fact indifference of someone looking down at an insect.

Yū did not respond. He took his position near the free-throw line and signaled to Sato, the point guard. The basketball came flying over and landed securely in his hands.

He moved!

Yū did not linger outside. The instant he caught the ball, he suddenly lowered his center of gravity like a cheetah ready to pounce and launched himself forward! His First Step was not as violently explosive as Aomine's, but it was still astonishingly fast. With unstoppable resolve, he charged straight into the restricted area! His target—the heart of the paint guarded by Murasaki-bara Atsushi!

"Is he trying to get himself killed?!" someone shouted from the sideline. A direct assault on Murasaki-bara's restricted area? What difference was that from suicide?!

A genuine flicker of surprise finally appeared in Murasaki-bara's lazy purple eyes before transforming into a trace of cold mockery. He did not even fully leave his position. He merely adjusted his stance slightly, his massive body becoming a moving wall that instantly sealed off Yū's driving lane! His enormous palm opened like a vast net waiting for its prey to throw itself in! Terrifying pressure, as tangible as a tsunami, swallowed Yū in an instant!

He was about to collide with that purple wall of flesh! At that critical moment, Yū's sprinting body suddenly took a huge step toward the front left at full speed! His entire body leaned sharply left, his gaze stabbing toward the left lane, while his right hand thrust the basketball dramatically toward the front left! A huge, blatantly obvious Fake Move to drive left!

Murasaki-bara's pupils shifted slightly. The angle of Yū's sinking shoulder, the focus of his gaze... it was too realistic! His enormous body instinctively moved half a step to the left, almost imperceptibly. Though the movement was tiny, for someone of his size, it was enough to create a momentary delay!

The instant his center of gravity shifted, Yū's right wrist, controlling the ball, flicked with such speed that it seemed to vanish! The basketball traced a bizarre V-shaped path through the tiny space between his legs and transferred to his left hand! At the same time, his body, having baited his opponent's center of gravity, used the strength of his waist, abdomen, and core to pivot on his right foot and execute a lightning-fast Spin Move that left behind only an afterimage! Murasaki-bara saw his vision blur, then felt a gust of wind sweep past his side!

"A crossover into a spin! He's trying to slip along the baseline!" someone shouted from the sideline.

But Murasaki-bara's reaction was far beyond ordinary! Relying on terrifying instantaneous explosiveness, his massive body forcibly halted its leftward momentum and shifted one step to the right like a collapsing mountain! The enormous shadow descended again! His giant palm came down with a howl of wind, viciously swatting at the basketball Yū had just raised for a layup! The block angle was nearly flawless!

The desperate situation had returned!

In midair, Yū saw Murasaki-bara's indifferent face and the enormous palm blotting out the sky reflected in his pupils. Time seemed to freeze. Momentum carried him upward, and he was about to crash into that palm of death! In the final fraction of a second, Yū's airborne body once again performed a movement beyond its limits!

He did not force a layup and collide head-on! His body forcibly bent backward in midair, folding into an Arch Back! His powerful core strength and flexibility granted him precious hang time! At the same time, with his left hand holding the ball while his body was twisted to its limit and nearly off-balance, he relied on muscle memory formed through countless repetitions and an astonishing sense of space to give his wrist an incredibly gentle flick, changing the layup into an Off-balance Floater! With fierce backspin, the basketball followed an extremely low, bizarre arc that nearly grazed Murasaki-bara's fingertips, narrowly escaping the reach of that sky-shrouding palm!

Swish!

The basketball brushed against the backboard and spun into the net!

"It went in—!!" A massive wave of astonishment swept through the gym again! He had directly attacked Murasaki-bara's restricted area and, under absolute strength-based suppression, scored once more through unbelievable flexibility and midair adjustment!

Murasaki-bara landed, his massive body kicking up a gust of wind. For the first time, he did not immediately go retrieve the ball. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, his lazy purple eyes opening fully as he carefully studied Yū, who had just landed and was breathing lightly. Even his chewing of the Umaibo stopped. "...That flexibility... What a pain..." he muttered. His tone was no longer pure indifference. There was now a childish irritation at having his peace disturbed.

"Beautiful, Bai Ze!" Nijimura Shūzō shouted, his praise completely undisguised. "Keep attacking! That's how you do it!"

Aomine Daiki stood on the sideline with his arms folded, excitement burning in his deep-blue eyes. He had seen Yū's fearlessness and intelligence when facing absolute strength, and it made the fighting spirit inside him grow even more restless. Akashi Seijūrō lightly tapped his fingers against his sleeve, calculation flashing in his mismatched eyes. That attack just now... using a Fake Move to bait Murasaki-bara's center of gravity into a momentary delay, then using speed and a spin to create space, and finally finishing with extreme flexibility and touch... a perfect small-on-big template for attacking the restricted area! He picked up Momoi's Shorthand Notebook and quickly wrote: Core of restricted-area mismatches.

Practice continued. Yū completely abandoned his conservative strategy of shooting from outside, even though his Mid-Range Shot was accurate, and charged again and again into the restricted area guarded by Murasaki-bara! He used his top-tier off-ball movement and his teammates' screens to search for chances to cut beneath the basket. Every attack after receiving the ball was like dancing on the edge of a blade!

Facing Murasaki-bara's enormous palm that blocked out the sky, Yū pushed his physical gifts to the limit. He no longer sought head-on clashes, instead relying on all kinds of unbelievable evasions and finishing methods:

Extreme Layup: During one fast break, he charged into the restricted area at high speed. The instant Murasaki-bara's enormous palm came down to block him, his body twisted and folded in midair, completing a difficult layup like a gymnast before scoring a reverse layup from the other side of the hoop!

Off-balance Floater: During a set play, he used a teammate's screen to shake off the first defender. Facing Murasaki-bara's help defense, he was knocked completely off balance and seemed about to fall, yet he relied on powerful core strength and soft touch to toss the ball toward the hoop one-handed. The basketball traced a bizarre arc and dropped cleanly through the net!

Timed Bank Shot: After a beautiful spin move shook off the defender, he faced Murasaki-bara and used a convincing shot Fake Move to lure him into jumping early. He then lowered his center of gravity and waited until Murasaki-bara began descending before calmly jumping and scoring off the backboard!

Every successful score was accompanied by the substitutes' barely restrained cries of surprise and Nijimura's increasingly thunderous cheers! Yū was like a nimble cheetah weaving beneath an elephant's feet and waiting for its chance, repeatedly challenging that seemingly impassable wall of strength with unparalleled flexibility, balance, and timing!

"Ugh... So annoying..." Murasaki-bara Atsushi's complaints grew louder and louder. For the first time, clear irritation and impatience appeared on his perpetually lazy, sleepy face. Yū's slippery, phantom-like movements and endless finishing methods left him feeling more stifled than ever before. The absolute strength and physical dominance he took pride in seemed to have lost their usual power against this silver-haired kid! The laziness completely faded from his purple eyes, replaced by anger that had been constantly provoked and finally ignited! Like a sleeping volcano beginning to awaken!

"Don't think you're scoring again!" When Yū once again used a screen to cut beneath the basket and receive the ball, Murasaki-bara let out a deep growl! His massive body exploded with terrifying speed and instantly arrived to provide help defense! His enormous palm came down with unprecedented ferocity and focus, howling through the air as it viciously swatted at the floater Yū had just released, like swatting a fly!

This time, Murasaki-bara was no longer blocking casually. He attacked with the murderous intent of someone completely enraged! Faster speed! A more vicious angle! A wider range!

"This is bad!" someone cried from the sideline.

In midair, Yū felt the unprecedented threat of death! Murasaki-bara's enormous palm seemed to cover the entire sky! There was nowhere to evade!

At the critical moment, Yū's body displayed flexibility and reaction speed beyond its limits! He did not try to dodge the enormous palm's vast coverage. Instead, he moved toward the block and forcibly folded his body backward and to the right, bending to the extreme! His entire body nearly curled into a ball in midair! At the same time, with his body twisted to its limit, he pressed down sharply with the wrist of his right hand, relying on ball control honed countless times on the edge of life and death and powerful wrist strength to change the floater into an extremely subtle, tiny-flick finger-roll layup!

The basketball did not fly high. Instead, like a nimble hummingbird, it skimmed beneath the lower edge of Murasaki-bara's enormous palm, lifted slightly by the force of his full-power block. It passed perilously through that nearly impossible gap, only a few centimeters high!

Swish!

The faintest brushing sound came from the net!

The basketball went in!

And Murasaki-bara's seemingly victorious palm, howling through the air, slammed viciously into... nothing! The enormous momentum even made his massive body stagger slightly!

"Hiss—!!!" The entire training hall instantly filled with a chorus of sharp intakes of breath! Silence! Absolute silence!

Everyone stared at the scene in stunned disbelief! With Murasaki-bara Atsushi completely enraged and blocking with all his strength, Yū had actually scored again with that unbelievable extreme fold and fingertip layup?! This was no longer technique. This was art! The pinnacle of bodily control!

Murasaki-bara Atsushi slowly turned around. His massive body rose and fell slightly, his heavy breaths radiating heat. He lowered his head and looked at his empty, enormous palm, then at the basketball rolling beside his feet. Several seconds of silence passed. The training hall was quiet enough to hear a pin drop, and everyone held their breath.

Suddenly, Murasaki-bara jerked his head up! His usually half-lidded purple eyes were now fully open, a nearly tangible blaze of completely ignited fury and violence burning deep within his pupils! Like a sleeping volcano finally erupting! He glared at the silver-haired figure before him, who was breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. His voice was low as rolling thunder, carrying heart-stopping pressure:

"You... are really annoying!"

This growl was no longer a lazy complaint. It was the roar of a king of strength driven completely into a rage, his dignity challenged! Pressure far more terrifying and suffocating than before spread outward from Murasaki-bara like a tangible shock wave! The entire restricted area seemed to transform into the center of a storm!

Yū breathed heavily, sweat streaming down him like little streams and soaking through the Red and White Training Uniform, clinging to his slightly trembling yet still upright body. That last fingertip layup had nearly exhausted all the strength in his waist and abdomen, as well as his concentration. He raised his head and met Murasaki-bara's violet eyes, blazing with fury, without the slightest retreat. At the corner of his mouth, an extremely faint yet unmistakable curve appeared, carrying a hint of challenge.

"Likewise."

The air seemed to solidify into steel. The battle between strength and balance had only now truly entered its white-hot death match! A sharp gleam flashed through Nijimura Shūzō's eyes. Akashi's fingers stopped tapping. Aomine bared a battle-hungry grin. Momoi's Shorthand Notebook was squeezed until her knuckles turned white... Everyone knew that the true storm within the restricted area had only just begun! The collision between the White Phantom and the purple giant tower was destined to erupt into even more earth-shaking roars across this battlefield!