Aomine Style!
Kise wasn't holding back—just conserving energy. Instead of using his Perfect Copy, he simply mimicked Aomine's aggressive, freeform playstyle. With a lightning-fast crossover, he lunged at Kota's lead foot.
Target the Weakest Link
Death Bind (Harassment version)
Since it was early in the match and no one besides Kota had scored yet, "Target the Weakest Link" triggered — based on stats, not reputation. Even Kise, the most talented player on the court, wasn't immune.
With both defensive talents stacking, Kota's defense ramped up instantly.
Kise tried driving into the paint, but the moment he passed the free-throw line, it felt like he ran into a brick wall — Kota slid into position perfectly. Thanks to his new bulk, Kise lost his balance and fumbled the ball.
Hayakawa scooped up the loose ball and quickly dished it to Kota. Without hesitation, Kota signaled the fast break. Since Kise was still stumbling to regain his footing, he couldn't get back in time. A clean 5-on-4 resulted in a wide-open three-pointer—drained.
BEEP—
Coach Takeuchi blew the whistle, eyes gleaming in surprise. He hadn't expected Kota's defense to level up this much.
He wasn't the only one impressed. Kasamatsu also took notice.
"Kota's defense got way stronger. And he bulked up too... Freaking monster in the making."
Kise wiped his face, resetting himself. He turned to Kasamatsu.
"Senpai, let me take the point."
"You sure? ...Wait, don't tell me—"
Kasamatsu nodded. He knew what Kise was planning.
"You've really improved, Kota. If I don't start taking this seriously, I might lose my ace status."
Dribbling past half-court, Kise flashed a grin at Kota.
What's he up to now? Kota narrowed his eyes — but before he could react, a golden shimmer flickered in Kise's gaze.
Perfect Copy!
A golden blur shot past Kota. His pupils shrank — he could just barely keep up, even with his new and improved defense.
Kota gambled on a behind-the-back steal, spinning to intercept. But Kise's pupils shimmered again.
Emperor Eye
In that instant, it was as if Kota's movements slowed down, like a tape in slow motion — everything laid bare to Kise's eyes. He switched hands to avoid the steal, glided through Hayakawa and Kobori, and scored with a graceful pull-up jumper.
"Damn it… Perfect Copy is straight-up unfair."
Kota bit his lip. He'd never gone head-to-head like this against a Generation of Miracles player. He'd always known they were strong, but now he felt it.
"Isn't it weird? Getting stronger just makes the gap feel bigger…"
Once Kise activated the Emperor Eye and took over ball control, the rhythm of the entire game fell into his hands. Facing Kise with Perfect Copy was like going up against all five Generation of Miracles players at once — overwhelming and hopeless.
Since this was just a team scrimmage, they were only playing two quarters. Takeuchi had made that clear from the start.
After Kise dominated the first quarter, Kota's team got pushed back hard. But in the second quarter, when Kise finally ran out of gas and dropped Perfect Copy, Kota led a comeback and tied the game—until Kise switched it back on at the end, mimicked Midorima, and nailed two ridiculous deep threes to win the game.
Final Score: 59–52.
Only a 7-point difference on paper—but in terms of pure skill, it felt like a canyon.
Kota stared at the scoreboard, a headache creeping in.
Three months of grueling training… and I'm still just a background character when I face a Generation of Miracles guy one-on-one.
Even if he had a talent advantage against Akashi, what if Akashi activated Zone? Sure, if Kise also entered Zone, they might win — but that's not what Kota wanted.
"I don't want to just win—I want to overwhelm Akashi. If the national youth team's going to pick me over him, it has to be because I'm better. Not because I'm lucky enough to have stronger teammates."
"Sigh… Still stuck being the number two guy, huh?"
Kota sighed deeply. Seeing how effortlessly a non-Zone Kise handled him put a dent in his ambition to join the national team.
"Yo Kota, what's with the gloomy muttering? Come on, losing to a genius like me isn't shameful!"
Kise draped his arm around Kota's shoulder with a grin. It had been a while since they'd had this much physical contact—Kota looked like he was trying not to suffocate.
"Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking about whether Pippen could've actually surpassed Magic."
Kota scratched his nose, clearly trying to change the subject.
"Magic? You mean like… one of those street magicians?"
Kise blinked, clearly confused, then shrugged and added:
"Oh yeah! While you were gone, I hung out with Aomine! We talked about how to enter the Zone and the national youth team stuff. I got invited, but he didn't—he's super jealous now."
"Wait, hold up—WHAT?!"
Kota suddenly shot up like he got zapped, ignoring the second half of Kise's sentence.
"Did you say... how to enter the Zone?"
"Yeah. Aomine explained it, but it was kind of abstract. Something about being completely focused and then pulling some kind of 'trigger' — like firing a gun or something."
Kise frowned as he tried to recall Aomine's words. It didn't make much sense, but he just repeated them.
Kota sat down on the bench, chin in hand, thinking hard.
In the original series, the ones who entered the Zone were Kagami, Aomine, Akashi, Murasakibara, and Kise.
Among them, Murasakibara didn't exactly "love" basketball, yet he still managed to enter the Zone. That means...
Maybe loving basketball isn't actually a requirement.
Maybe you don't need to be a genius either.
The key isn't love or talent — it's complete mental focus.
Zone doesn't give players magical power-ups — it just unleashes every last ounce of their natural potential. Most people simply can't focus their mind 100% on basketball. That's why it seems like only geniuses can use it.
In other words, "genius" or "passion" aren't the requirements — absolute focus is.
Kota's mind cleared. He ignored Kise's calls and bolted onto the court, grabbing a ball and dribbling it.
He pulled up his talent screen.
One skill had always been passive — never even tried activating it.
He took a deep breath.
Calm down. Total focus... total focus...
Two lifetimes' worth of experience had made his mental fortitude stronger than most.
[Talent Activated: Overthinker]
The system's cold voice rang in his head.
Kota frowned. He was focused. He was sure of it.
So why wasn't he feeling anything? Did he miscalculate? Was Zone really just for the gifted?
"…Wait a sec. Kise said something about pulling a trigger."
In the anime, Kagami's trigger was his signature Meteor Jam.
"What's my signature move?"
Suddenly, Kota's eyes lit up. He glanced back at the talent panel.
"No way. Don't tell me it's...it?"