King's Blessing!

"Awesome (Amazing!)~~"

"What a beautiful goal!"

"I didn't expect Teiko to have such a formidable dark-skinned kid besides Ken Kaneki."

"Teiko!", "Teiko!", "Teiko!"

Daiki Aomine's sudden rise to prominence excited the spectators at the sidelines. The crowd, which had been one-sidedly cheering for Shibuya First Junior High, now had sparse shouts of support for Teiko Junior High School.

"Hey, Blondie! Do it again!" Daiki Aomine seemed not to hear the cheers from the sidelines. His expression was excited, his battle-ready gaze fixed on Kotaro Hayama.

"Aomine's current state seems a bit strange, Coach," Seijuro Akashi asked Kōzō Shirogane beside him curiously. "It's like..."

"Like Kaneki just now?" Kōzō Shirogane seemed to know what Seijuro Akashi was going to say and finished his sentence. "No, it's completely different. I don't doubt Aomine has the talent, but his current level isn't enough."

"I don't quite understand," Seijuro Akashi nodded slightly. "Please enlighten me, Coach."

"Kaneki's current state is called the zone. Explaining what the zone is... is rather pale in words. You'll understand when you experience it yourself later," Kōzō Shirogane said thoughtfully as he watched the players on the court. "But Aomine's current situation can only be said to be him entering a better state under Ken Kaneki's lead. It's still far from the true zone."

"Coach, are you saying I might enter the zone in the future too?" Seijuro Akashi keenly grasped the detail in Kōzō Shirogane's words.

"Maybe, who knows," Kōzō Shirogane smiled, looking at the court, and said nothing more. Seijuro Akashi also nodded thoughtfully, not pressing further, and silently continued watching the game.

"Pass it, Blondie," Daiki Aomine looked at Kotaro Hayama in front of him and smiled happily. "You can't get past me."

"Tch, annoying," Kotaro Hayama knew he couldn't back down now, or the team's morale would crumble. He gritted his teeth and started dribbling, looking for an opportunity to break through. As the force in his hands increased, the ball's shadow became denser. The sound of the basketball hitting the floor was like thunder. Reporters sitting on the sidelines, watching and taking pictures, even started putting on earplugs.

"Now!" The instant Daiki Aomine shifted his weight to the right, Kotaro Hayama's pupils accurately captured it. He switched the ball to his left hand, his body like an orange-yellow meteor streaking across the court. He was about to break through Daiki Aomine's defense.

"Weak... too weak!" Electric sparks flashed in Daiki Aomine's eyes, and the blue color within the sparks was already faintly visible. "Your skills are pathetic, your movements are too slow!"

Daiki Aomine's long arm whipped out like a long whip, hitting the basketball. The ball instantly slipped from Kotaro Hayama's control and flew out of bounds.

"Honestly, Aomine, be a little gentler," Shintaro Midorima shook off Keisuke Kobayashi's tight defense with a no-ball feint and steadily caught the ball before it went out of bounds.

"Fast break!" Shintaro Midorima roared and threw the ball forward.

"Hurry back on defense!" The moment the ball left his hands, Kotaro Hayama realized what might happen and dashed back to the backcourt without stopping.

"Good awareness!" Daiki Aomine's voice came from behind Kotaro Hayama. "But don't get in my way!"

Kotaro Hayama felt a gust of wind and Daiki Aomine had already passed him from behind.

"How is that possible? I started moving first!" Kotaro Hayama stared dumbfounded at Daiki Aomine's retreating back. He remembered very clearly that the moment the ball left his hands, he started running back. At that time, Daiki Aomine was still watching where the ball was going...

Under Kotaro Hayama's gaze, Daiki Aomine leaped up in the paint, caught Shintaro Midorima's pass, and casually tossed the ball towards the hoop before landing. With a swish, the ball went in. Daiki Aomine successfully completed a full-court alley-oop layup.

"Ooooooooh!" The spectators in the stadium, seeing this incredible dunk, cheered excitedly.

"Nice Pass!"

"Unbelievable... This season's scoring is even more incredible, this is an alley-oop!"

"Well done, dark-skinned kid!"

The cheers from the sidelines surged like a tide, engulfing the Shibuya First Junior High players with a suffocating feeling, like drowning.

"Timeout requested!" Keisuke Kobayashi took a deep breath and looked at the referee, wanting his teammates to regroup and to break Teiko Junior High's hot streak.

"Shibuya First Junior High requests a timeout!" The referee's whistle blew, and the players on the court returned to the bench for a brief adjustment.

"Well done!" Kōzō Shirogane patted Ken Kaneki's shoulder as he walked at the front of the team, saying with relief.

"Thank you, Coach!" Ken Kaneki nodded, patted Kōzō Shirogane's hand off his shoulder, and returned to the bench to rehydrate. It was then that he noticed a new message from the System.

"Congratulations to the host, one Skill has been upgraded. Please check it, host!"

Ken Kaneki opened his status interface, and indeed, the "zone" entry had disappeared, replaced by "King's Blessing." Ken Kaneki curiously clicked on the skill description to view its details.

Skill: King's Blessing (zone 2.0), Skill Type: Concept, Skill Entry: Protection, Skill Level: ss+ (can grow to sss), Skill Effect: When the host is in the zone state and teammates are in a poor condition, and the opponent has scored two or more consecutive goals, the host can trigger it by completing either "interrupt the opponent's next shot" or "score a response goal." After the skill is activated, all players on the court will simultaneously enter a pseudo-zone state, with stamina consumption increasing by 80%, all physical attributes except durability increasing by 40%, and accuracy increasing by 40%.

"Damn it, a bunch of trash, even my hot streak," Ken Kaneki cursed with a laugh. "But I like it."

Kōzō Shirogane looked at the children before him, making no arrangements or instructions. He knew that with Ken Kaneki here, he didn't need to worry about these things.

"Dad, it looks like Shibuya is in a bit of trouble..." Reiko Aida noticed the change in momentum on the sidelines. "And the cheers for Shibuya First Junior High have gotten so much quieter..."

"These things off the court are minor matters," Kagetora Aida said calmly, as if everything was within his expectations. "Although I don't know what happened to the Teiko kids, based on the current situation, their condition is more than twice as good as in the previous game."

"Then... can they still win...? Shibuya..."

"Win? They should worry about getting past themselves first," Kagetora Aida scoffed. "The wave of attacks they just unleashed was their best performance since they started playing. To be ruthlessly crushed under such circumstances... an ordinary person might not even have the courage to continue playing. If they can't overcome this hurdle, they're doomed."