The gymnasium air crackled with tension as the seniors regrouped, their initial shock giving way to focused determination. Renji's eyes narrowed as he surveyed his teammates, a silent communication passing between them that spoke of years playing together.
"Cold Command," he had said, and those two words transformed the First String from five individual players into a single, synchronized organism.
As they inbounded the ball, Rando felt a shift in the atmosphere. The seniors moved differently now—more fluid, more connected, their individual movements creating a complex pattern that was beautiful in its efficiency. This wasn't just basketball; this was art.
Renji brought the ball upcourt with measured control, his dribble low and tight. His eyes scanned the court, not just seeing what was happening but anticipating what would happen next. The other freshmen spread out in a basic defensive formation, but their inexperience was painfully obvious against the seniors' practiced precision.
"Screen right!" Daigo called out, trying to alert his teammates to Haruto's movement.
But the warning came too late. Haruto had already set a perfect pick for Toma, who curled around it with explosive speed. Simultaneously, Shunpei cut baseline while Keisuke established position in the low post. The coordinated movement created multiple threats that the freshmen couldn't possibly cover.
Renji delivered a bullet pass to Toma, who caught it in stride and immediately attacked the gap in the defense. Riku rotated to help, but his defensive footwork was sloppy, leaving him off-balance and vulnerable.
Toma recognized the mismatch instantly and exploded toward the basket. It should have been an easy layup—except Rando was already moving to intercept, his Zone-enhanced reflexes allowing him to cover ground that seemed impossible.
[Zone State: Active]
[Defensive Anticipation: Trajectory Predicted]
Toma spotted Rando's rotation and adjusted mid-drive, whipping a no-look pass to Shunpei cutting along the baseline. It was a brilliant read—the kind that demonstrated the seniors' basketball IQ and teamwork.
Shunpei caught the pass and rose for what should have been an uncontested layup. But as he reached the apex of his jump, a massive shadow fell across him.
Hinata Kurobane had materialized as if from nowhere, his 220-centimeter frame creating an impenetrable wall between Shunpei and the basket. His expression remained impassive, but there was something in his eyes—a primal intensity that made Shunpei hesitate for a crucial fraction of a second.
[Titan Defense: Activated]
[Mental Suppression Aura: Affecting Target]
That moment of hesitation was all Hinata needed. His massive hand engulfed the ball, plucking it from Shunpei's grasp with casual ease. There was no violent swat, no dramatic rejection—just the simple, devastating efficiency of a perfect block.
"What the hell?" Shunpei muttered, landing with a look of disbelief.
Hinata didn't celebrate or taunt. He simply pivoted and delivered a perfect outlet pass to Rando, who was already streaking toward the opposite basket.
But this time, the seniors were ready.
They recovered with impressive speed, their transition defense forming a wall that even Rando's Zone-enhanced abilities couldn't easily penetrate. Renji and Toma positioned themselves at the three-point line, while Keisuke and Haruto protected the paint. Shunpei sprinted back to provide additional help.
Five defenders, all in perfect position. All communicating, switching, rotating with the synchronicity that came from countless hours of practice together.
Rando pulled up at the top of the key, assessing his options. His freshmen teammates were scattered across the court, their positioning random and ineffective. They were five individuals, not a team.
"Pass!" Daigo called, waving his arms frantically despite being closely guarded by Renji.
Rando ignored him. In the Zone, there was no need for teammates—only obstacles to overcome.
He attacked, driving hard toward Toma and Shunpei. His crossover was lightning-quick, the ball flowing between his hands with hypnotic rhythm. But as he attempted to split the defenders, something unexpected happened.
Toma and Shunpei moved in perfect unison, their defensive positioning so precise that even Rando's unpredictable handling couldn't find a gap. As he tried to change direction, Renji was already there, having anticipated the move before Rando even made it.
[Warning: Coordinated Defense Detected]
[Recommendation: Reassess Approach]
For the first time since entering the Zone, Rando felt contained. The seniors' teamwork was neutralizing his individual brilliance, their collective intelligence anticipating his moves before he made them.
He was forced to pick up his dribble, trapped by three defenders with nowhere to go.
"Ball!" Keisuke called, and Rando realized he was about to be stripped.
In desperation, he attempted a jump pass to Yuto, who was standing unguarded at the wing. But Renji's hand deflected the pass, sending the ball careening toward the sideline.
Toma recovered it before it went out of bounds and immediately pushed the pace, the seniors transitioning from defense to offense in the blink of an eye. Their fast break was a thing of beauty—five players moving as one, the ball never staying in any player's hands for more than a second.
The freshmen scrambled to get back, but their transition defense was chaotic and disorganized. Gaps appeared everywhere, and the seniors exploited each one with surgical precision.
Toma found Shunpei with a perfect bounce pass, who then delivered a no-look dish to Keisuke cutting down the lane. As Keisuke rose for the layup, Hinata rotated to contest.
But this time, the seniors were prepared for the giant's presence.
Instead of challenging Hinata directly, Keisuke executed a perfect pump fake. As Hinata left his feet, Keisuke pivoted and delivered a behind-the-back pass to Haruto, who had established position on the opposite block.
With Hinata now out of position, Haruto had a clean look at the basket. He rose and slammed the ball home with authority, the seniors' first points of the game.
6-2.
"That's how it's done!" Renji called as the seniors jogged back on defense, their confidence visibly restored.
Coach Yamashiro nodded slightly from his position on the bench, his eyes still tracking every movement on the court with analytical precision despite his seemingly disinterested posture.
Rando inbounded the ball to Daigo, who brought it up court with nervous energy. The seniors applied immediate pressure, their defensive intensity forcing Daigo to pick up his dribble near half-court.
"Help!" he called, looking desperately for an outlet.
Rando cut hard toward him, but Renji anticipated the move and intercepted the pass. The seniors were in transition again, their ball movement so quick and precise that it seemed like they were playing at a different speed than the freshmen.
Renji to Toma to Shunpei to Keisuke and back to Renji in the span of three seconds. Each pass was more precise than the last, each cut more purposeful. The freshmen's defense, already disorganized, began to collapse under the pressure of this relentless ball movement.
[Analysis: Opponent Team Play Rating – A+]
[Weakness: None Detected in Current Formation]
Renji found Toma with a perfect skip pass, catching the freshmen in a defensive rotation. Toma rose for a three-pointer, his form textbook perfect.
The ball arced toward the basket, its trajectory true—until a massive hand appeared from nowhere, swatting it away at its apex.
Hinata had covered an impossible amount of ground to make the block, his timing so perfect it seemed preternatural. The ball ricocheted off the backboard and into Rando's waiting hands.
This time, Rando didn't hesitate. He activated the Zone fully, feeling the familiar surge of power as his perception sharpened and time seemed to slow around him.
[Zone State: Maximum Output]
[Warning: Increased Stamina Consumption]
He exploded down the court, the ball an extension of his body as he weaved between defenders with supernatural agility. The seniors attempted to form their defensive wall again, but Rando was moving too fast, his changes of direction too unpredictable.
He reached the three-point line and found himself confronted by Renji and Toma, both in perfect defensive position. Most players would pull up or look to pass.
Rando attacked.
His crossover was so violent it seemed to distort the air around him. The ball blurred from one hand to the other as his body feinted right before exploding left. Both defenders moved to intercept, but they were grasping at shadows—Rando had already changed direction again, the ball seemingly attached to his fingertips by invisible strings.
[Lightning Crossover Drive: Executed]
[Effect: Multiple Defender Freeze]
He split the defenders and drove hard toward the basket, where Haruto waited as the last line of defense. The senior center established position, his 206-centimeter frame forming an imposing barrier.
Rando gathered his dribble and soared upward. Haruto rose to meet him, their bodies colliding in mid-air.
What happened next defied explanation.
Somehow, Rando contorted his body around Haruto's, twisting in mid-air like a gymnast. The ball, which had been in his right hand, transferred to his left during this aerial adjustment. As gravity began to reclaim them both, Rando extended his arm and slammed the ball through the hoop with thunderous force.
8-2.
The pattern continued for the next several possessions. The seniors' teamwork would create opportunities, only for Hinata to erase them with his defensive dominance. Then Rando would counter with his Zone-enhanced individual brilliance, scoring points that seemed impossible given the level of defense.
But as the quarter progressed, a subtle shift began to occur. The seniors, under Renji's calm guidance, adjusted their strategy. Instead of trying to attack Hinata directly, they began to use more complex offensive sets designed to pull him away from the basket or catch him in rotation.
"Formation Delta," Renji called, and the seniors shifted into a new alignment.
What followed was a basketball clinic. The ball moved with dizzying speed, each pass setting up the next in a cascade of coordinated movement. Screens, cuts, dribble handoffs—all executed with such precision that it seemed choreographed rather than improvised.
The freshmen, still relying on individual effort rather than teamwork, found themselves constantly a step behind. Even Rando, with his Zone-enhanced perception, struggled to track all the movement.
[Warning: Defensive Coverage Compromised]
[Multiple Threats Detected – Unable to Neutralize All Simultaneously]
Renji delivered a perfect bounce pass to Keisuke, who had established position in the low post. As Hinata rotated to contest, Keisuke immediately kicked the ball out to Toma, who was wide open on the wing.
Toma rose for the three-pointer, his form perfect. This time, there was no Hinata to contest—he had been pulled out of position by the seniors' ball movement.
The shot found nothing but net.
8-5.
"That's it!" Renji called as they jogged back on defense. "Keep moving the ball!"
The seniors had found their rhythm now, their initial shock at Rando and Hinata's abilities replaced by confident execution of their system. They weren't trying to match the freshmen's individual talent—they were neutralizing it with superior teamwork.
On the next possession, Rando found himself hounded by multiple defenders every time he touched the ball. The seniors had clearly identified him as the primary threat and adjusted their defense accordingly.
[Warning: Targeted Defensive Pressure]
[Zone State: Stamina Consumption Critical]
Rando felt the first hints of fatigue creeping in. The Zone, for all its power, came with a cost—accelerated stamina consumption. He couldn't maintain this level of output indefinitely, especially not against five coordinated defenders who were now specifically game-planning against him.
He drove hard toward the basket, attempting to split a double-team, but Renji and Shunpei moved in perfect unison to cut off his path. Forced to pick up his dribble, Rando looked desperately for an outlet.
"Here!" Daigo called, waving his arms frantically.
Rando had no choice. He passed to Daigo, who immediately attacked the gap in the defense. But his dribble was too high, too loose—a fatal mistake against defenders of this caliber.
Toma poked the ball free, and the seniors were in transition again. Their fast break was clinical, the ball never touching the ground as it moved from player to player with pinpoint accuracy.
Renji finished with a layup that seemed almost anticlimactic after the beautiful sequence that preceded it.
8-7.
The gap was closing.
As the quarter progressed, a clear pattern emerged. When Rando had the ball and could activate the Zone, the freshmen scored. When he didn't, the seniors' superior teamwork created advantages that even Hinata's defensive presence couldn't completely neutralize.
The seniors began to implement a box-and-one defense, with four players in a zone and one (usually Renji) shadowing Rando wherever he went. The strategy was clear—deny Rando the ball and force the other, less skilled freshmen to make plays.
It was working.
[Warning: Offensive Opportunities Decreasing]
[Zone State: Limited Activation Due to Reduced Ball Possession]
Rando found himself increasingly frustrated as the seniors continued to deny him touches. When he did get the ball, he was immediately swarmed by multiple defenders, forcing him to give it up or take contested shots.
Meanwhile, the seniors' offense continued to evolve, finding new ways to attack that minimized Hinata's impact. They used more perimeter-oriented sets, pulling Hinata away from the basket and creating driving lanes for their guards.
By the eight-minute mark, the score had tightened to 12-10, with the freshmen clinging to a narrow lead.
Coach Yamashiro sat up slightly from his reclined position, his eyes tracking the action with increased interest. There was something calculating in his gaze as he watched the seniors implement their adjustments.
Rando, recognizing the need to counter the seniors' strategy, began to move more without the ball, using screens and cuts to free himself from Renji's shadow. It was a departure from Aomine's typical isolation-heavy style, but necessary given the circumstances.
When he finally did receive a pass from Yuto, Rando immediately activated the Zone, feeling the familiar surge of power as his perception sharpened.
[Zone State: Activated]
[Warning: Limited Duration Due to Previous Exertion]
He attacked immediately, driving hard toward the basket. The seniors' defense collapsed around him, all five players rotating to cut off his path.
In a moment of clarity, Rando saw what was happening. They were so focused on stopping him that they had left his teammates completely unguarded. It was a calculated risk—betting that the other freshmen couldn't make them pay for their defensive commitment.
For the first time in the game, Rando made the team play.
As he drew the entire defense toward him, he spotted Masaki standing alone at the three-point line. With a flick of his wrist, Rando delivered a perfect skip pass that cut through the defense and landed in Masaki's hands.
Masaki, surprised to receive the ball in such an open position, hesitated for a moment before rising for the shot. His form was awkward, his release point inconsistent—but the ball found its way through the net nonetheless.
15-10.
"Nice pass!" Daigo called, slapping Rando on the back as they jogged back on defense.
Rando nodded, a new understanding dawning. Perhaps there was value in teamwork after all—not as a replacement for individual brilliance, but as a complement to it.
The seniors, recognizing the adjustment, quickly abandoned their box-and-one defense. They couldn't afford to leave the other freshmen completely unguarded, even if their skill level was significantly lower than Rando's.
This created new opportunities for Rando to receive the ball and activate the Zone. When he did, the results were devastating—crossovers that left defenders frozen, layups that defied physics, dunks that shook the backboard.
But the seniors countered with their own adjustments, their teamwork creating high-percentage shots that slowly chipped away at the freshmen's lead. They began to implement more pick-and-roll actions, forcing Hinata to make difficult decisions in space.
When Hinata stepped up to contest the ball-handler, they would slip the screener for easy baskets. When he stayed with the screener, they would attack the paint with quick drives.
It was basketball chess at the highest level—adjustments and counter-adjustments, each team searching for the slightest advantage.
As the quarter neared its end, the score stood at 22-18, with the freshmen still leading but the seniors closing the gap with each possession.
In the final minute, Renji orchestrated a beautiful sequence that resulted in a wide-open three-pointer for Toma. The shot was pure, cutting the lead to just one point.
22-21.
With thirty seconds remaining, Rando received the inbound pass and immediately activated the Zone. The seniors' defense tightened around him, but he was determined to score before the quarter ended.
He attacked with renewed vigor, his crossover leaving Renji momentarily off-balance. As the help defense rotated, Rando spotted Hinata rolling to the basket after setting a screen.
In a move that surprised everyone—including himself—Rando delivered a perfect lob pass that only Hinata's massive frame could reach. The giant caught the ball at its apex and slammed it home with authority, his first offensive contribution of the game.
24-21.
The seniors quickly inbounded the ball, pushing the pace to get one final shot before the quarter ended. Their ball movement was crisp, their execution flawless as they worked for the best possible look.
With five seconds remaining, Shunpei found himself open at the three-point line. His shot was true, tying the game as the buzzer sounded.
24-24.
The first quarter had ended in a deadlock—individual brilliance matched against collective excellence, raw talent against refined skill.
As the teams gathered for the brief break between quarters, Rando found himself breathing heavily. The Zone, for all its power, had taken a toll on his stamina. He couldn't maintain that level of output for the entire game.
"You okay?" Daigo asked, noticing Rando's fatigue.
Rando nodded, though the truth was more complicated. He had discovered something important in that first quarter—a limitation to his Aomine-based abilities.
While the Zone gave him overwhelming power, it was unsustainable over extended periods. He needed to be more strategic about when to activate it.
[System Analysis: Zone State Usage]
[Recommendation: Selective Activation to Conserve Stamina]
[Optimal Strategy: Zone Activation Only for Critical Possessions]
By the end of the first quarter, the score was tied at 24-24—a testament to both the offensive firepower on display and the strategic adjustments made by both teams.
As the buzzer sounded to end the first quarter, Coach Yamashiro finally stood from his bench, stretching lazily despite the intensity of the game he had just witnessed.
"Five-minute break," he announced, yawning dramatically. "Then we see what you're really made of."
The players dispersed to their respective benches, exhausted but exhilarated by the battle that had unfolded. This wasn't just a practice game anymore—it was a test of philosophies, a clash between individual greatness and collective excellence.
And they were only halfway through the tryout.