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"I suspect this is a prerequisite for the [Pinnacle of Perfection]."
Hmm?
Hearing Karupin's words, Ryu immediately perked up.
"The Pinnacle of Perfection?"
"There's no mistake. Your aura is the same as Ryoma's, only pitifully weak."
Karupin's words filled Ryu with elation.
He quickly asked, "Does that mean I can unlock the [Pinnacle of Perfection] on my own?"
Thinking of this, Ryu was too excited to speak.
This is the [Pinnacle of Perfection]! The strongest gate in the [Selfless Realm].
Karupin rolled its eyes at Ryu, retorting irritably, "You big idiot! What do you think the 'Pinnacle of Perfection' is? You haven't even unlocked the 'Selfless Realm' yet! You dare dream of unlocking the 'Pinnacle of Perfection'? You only possess the aptitude for it."
Ryu wasn't discouraged at all.
He was actually quite happy.
Before, he had nothing, yet he lived a carefree life. Now he had even more. Since he had the aptitude to unlock the 'Pinnacle of Perfection', it meant he could awaken it under the right circumstances.
Ryu asked Karupin telepathically, "According to what you just said, if I only need to unlock the first two gates of the 'Selfless Realm,' can I save 500,000 'Cat Energy'?"
Karupin thought for a moment, then replied, "Theoretically, yes, provided you can awaken the 'Pinnacle of Perfection' on your own. Otherwise, everything will be fleeting."
Ryu fell silent. He was deep in thought.
Just then...
The whistle blew for the second quarter.
Without a doubt, Ryu quickly stood up and walked onto the court with everyone.
He was like a dying ember meeting a bright flame, suddenly radiant.
Seeing this, the Kamata Nishi team felt a chill.
They had thought things would get better after the first quarter.
But seeing Ryu's appearance, they realized how naive they had been.
Whistle…
The referee blew the whistle for the second quarter.
Teiko had won the ball in the previous quarter, so it was Kamata Nishi's turn this quarter.
The captain of Kamata Nishi charged forward with the ball.
As he crossed the center line, he glanced specifically in Ryu's direction.
There was no way around it; once bitten, twice shy. He was now traumatized by Ryu.
Seeing that Ryu remained stationary, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
However, just then, he heard a sharp crack, and the basketball in his hands was mercilessly swatted away by Akashi.
"Damn it…"
The captain of Kamata Nishi blamed himself for being too careless.
He had only focused on Ryu and neglected the rest of Teiko.
Akashi didn't care about his inner thoughts.
After stealing the ball, Akashi immediately controlled it, then scanned the entire court before finally passing it to Midorima.
Midorima stood in front of Kamata Nishi's three-point line, his deep green eyes behind his glasses instantly locking onto the basket.
Without hesitation, he jumped and launched his shot before the opposing shooting guard could even reach him.
Midorima's three-point shooting artistry seemed to come alive.
It unfolded before everyone's eyes like a needle threading through cloth. It was still as precise as ever, as high as ever.
The ball piercing perfectly through the rim was the pinnacle of this art.
A burst of applause and cheers erupted from the stands.
Kamata Nishi attacked again.
However, they seemed to be under a spell, repeatedly making mistakes on offense.
Many times, the ball rolled to the feet of Ryu simply because they lost their grip.
The spell continued.
The basketball returned to Ryu's hands.
He looked at the five members of Kamata Nishi opposite him and asked with a smile, "Do you guys enjoy playing basketball?!"
Ryu's words, like a demonic whisper, echoed in the ears of the Kamata Nishi players.
Enjoy? After being utterly defeated by you guys, what's there to enjoy?
Ryu wasn't really asking them; if anything, it was more like stating his own emotions.
Without waiting for a reply, Ryu transformed into a streak of silver lightning, dribbling past three Kamata Nishi players and slamming the ball into the basket.
For the next few minutes, Ryu displayed his incredible power, replicating his dominant performance from the first quarter, almost forcing Kamata Nishi to give up.
If it weren't for their last shred of pride, they probably would have already surrendered.
Ryu, now riding high again, caused the scoreboard to jump rapidly until the final whistle blew for the second quarter.
Everyone stared dumbfounded at the astonishing score on the scoreboard.
105 to 23. Teiko led Kamata Nishi by 82 points, and in just two quarters.
Terrifying.
Everyone secretly gasped.
In the stands, some other school teams who had come to watch the game couldn't help but feel a little fortunate.
Imagine if they were the ones facing Teiko down there. This was unthinkable, too terrifying.
This also etched Teiko's name deeply into everyone's hearts.
At the same time, they also gained a formidable demon king in their hearts.
That was Teiko's number 95, a prodigy from the Generation of Miracles, Shirogane Ryu.
Teiko's back-to-back championships were practically a done deal.
Even so, Ryu showed no signs of stopping.
From the third quarter onward, he seemed to become increasingly exhilarated. He was like a tireless perpetual motion machine, running, defending, stealing, shooting…
Murasakibara stood under his own basket, watching this solo performance by Ryu.
Ryu was creating miracles and also making history. He finally achieved the incredible feat of scoring 100 points.
The entire arena erupted in a frenzy of cheers.
As time ticked by, Kamata Nishi had long since given up on the game. The light in their eyes had completely vanished. The five men moved stiffly across the court like zombies.
At this moment, every muscle in Ryu's body was trembling slightly. He was almost completely exhausted. Large drops of sweat had already soaked through his number 95 jersey.
When the final whistle blew for the third quarter, Ryu walked slowly back to the bench.
This time, everyone stared at Ryu as if he were a monster.
They could accept Ryu's strength before, and they could also accept Aomine's sudden rise.
But Ryu's extraordinary power, almost godlike, left them unsure whether to accept it.
They simply couldn't comprehend it!
100 points by a single player—is this score even normal?
This wasn't a scene of bullying weaklings; this was the finals!
Ryu sat exhausted on the bench. He had no strength left and couldn't stand up at all.
"Assistant Coach, let's make a substitution in the final quarter!"
The assistant coach didn't say anything and immediately agreed to Ryu's request. He wasn't joking; if he disagreed, he'd probably be chewed out by the entire team!
Meanwhile, in a corner of the stands, the disheveled old man glanced one last time at Ryu in Teiko's rest area, then turned and left.
The instant he turned around, a strange curve appeared at the corner of his mouth, hidden beneath his thick beard.
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It's really frustrating.
Could you subscribe? I want to reach 20 subscribers.
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