The Court Fell Silent, and a Miracle Descended!

"Is... is it going in?"

A substitute stared at the basketball falling straight down, his voice trembling beyond recognition, as though he were witnessing the most unbelievable sight in the world.

"No... impossible... absolutely impossible!"

Another player rubbed his eyes furiously. He would rather believe he was dreaming.

"The angle... the angle seems... just right?"

Kiminobu Kogure's glasses had slipped to the tip of his nose. He stared fixedly at the ball, his mind completely blank from the sight before him.

Hanamichi Sakuragi's laughter caught in his throat. His mouth hung open, and the expression on his face shifted from mockery to shock, then from shock to utter stupefaction.

Ryota Miyagi instinctively took two steps forward, as if trying to see more clearly. He felt as though his heart were about to leap out of his throat.

The muscles on Takenori Akagi's stern face twitched uncontrollably. As a traditional interior player, the very foundations of his basketball worldview were being violently shaken at this moment.

Kaede Rukawa, the genius who was always indifferent to everything, was now completely captivated by that ball as well. For the first time, an emotion called "shock" was reflected in his cold eyes.

Coach Anzai had already risen from his seat. His plump body trembled slightly with excitement as he kept muttering, "It's here... it really came..."

Under the ghost-struck stares of everyone in the gym—

The basketball that had traced an impossibly high arc descended precisely, vertically, without the slightest deviation...

Straight through the center of the net!

Swish!

A crisp, pleasant sound of a clean basket, yet it boomed like thunder!

In the deathly silent gym, that sound was magnified countless times, striking viciously against every person's heart!

It went in!

From the baseline to the hoop—a full twenty-eight meters!

An ultra-long-distance shot with perfect form, a flawless arc, and a clean swish!

A miracle!

This was absolutely a miracle!

Time completely froze at that moment.

The entire gym was silent enough to hear a pin drop.

Everyone seemed to have been immobilized by a spell, frozen in place with their heads tilted upward, as though they had become statues.

That incomprehensible scene and the crisp, heart-pounding sound of the ball going through the net replayed over and over in their minds.

No one knew how much time had passed—perhaps seconds, perhaps minutes.

"Gulp."

Someone swallowed with difficulty, and the sound was especially jarring in the silence.

That sound was like a switch.

In an instant, the entire gym exploded!

"I... holy shit!!! It went in?! It really went in?!!"

"My eyes aren't playing tricks on me, right?! Somebody hit me! Tell me this isn't real!"

"The baseline! That was the baseline! Did he kick the basketball like a soccer ball?!"

"A monster! He's a monster! No! He's a god! The god of basketball!!"

The players on the bench went completely insane. They screamed incoherently, embraced one another, and vented the shock in their hearts in every way they could.

With a clatter, Ayako's pen and clipboard fell to the floor. She covered her mouth, her beautiful eyes filled with an unbelievable light.

"No way..." Ryota Miyagi's legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed to the floor. He pointed at Shirakawa's back, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.

"This... this isn't even basketball anymore..." Kiminobu Kogure muttered. He felt that his worldview, built over more than twenty years, had been completely overturned at that moment.

"That... that white-haired fox... what kind of witchcraft did he use?" Hanamichi Sakuragi's voice was full of fear. He even instinctively took two steps back, as if Shirakawa were some monster that ate people.

Takenori Akagi clenched his fists until they crackled. His heart roared and shouted!

"Winning the national championship... maybe... maybe it really isn't a dream!"

He looked at Shirakawa's not particularly imposing back, and for the first time, a blazing fire called "hope" ignited in his eyes!

Meanwhile, Kaede Rukawa slowly lowered his head and looked at his hands.

He recalled their one-on-one just now, that disappearing dribble, and that behind-the-back Formless Shot.

And now, there was this miracle-like full-court three-pointer on top of it all.

For the first time, he doubted himself.

Did the basketball he had always believed in—the kind that crushed opponents through individual ability—still have any meaning in the face of such an absolute, unreasonable "divine skill"?

For the first time, a feeling called "powerlessness" invaded the genius's heart.

And at that moment, the instigator behind all of this, Shirakawa, finally slowly turned around.

He looked at his teammates, who seemed as though they had been struck by lightning, and gave them an innocent smile.

"Well? I told you I'd show you something interesting."

His tone was as casual as if he had just made a free throw.

Interesting?

This was fucking interesting?!

This was fucking terrifying! A supernatural incident!

Everyone was screaming inwardly, but not a single person dared say it aloud.

They looked at Shirakawa as if he were an alien wearing human skin.

Shirakawa shrugged and tossed the ball to the still-dazed Miyagi.

"All right, Coach. If there's nothing else, can we call it a day? I'm hungry."

With that, he walked straight toward the sideline, preparing to collect his things.

As if the history-making shot from just now really had been nothing more than a trivial little matter to him.

His calm, unruffled manner only drove everyone even crazier.

"W-Wait!"

A voice like a ringing bell stopped him.

It was Takenori Akagi!

Shohoku's captain strode toward Shirakawa step by heavy step.

His towering figure almost completely engulfed Shirakawa.

His face bore an unprecedented gravity and solemnity.

He stared hard into Shirakawa's eyes and squeezed out several words through gritted teeth, one by one.

"That shot just now... was luck, right?"