Although Aizen had been pushed aside by Maki in one move, his Strength stat of nearly 90 points was no joke.
To be honest, if he hadn’t still been adjusting, Maki might not have even been able to budge him.
The moment Maki drove past him, Aizen turned and sprinted after him, moving even faster than Maki himself.
Shirogane Kozo rubbed his eyes, ‘This kid Aizen had some real skills.’
That was only natural—he was a guy with Speed pushing 80 points.
If he couldn’t catch up to Maki—who was dribbling the ball—while he himself was off the ball, he wouldn’t deserve to be mentioned alongside the Generation of Miracles.
“Maki, watch your back!”
“What?”
At that moment, Maki’s attention was entirely focused on Murasakibara.
After pulling the ball back to avoid the block, the ball had already left his hands—he couldn’t adjust in time.
Then Maki felt a massive shadow appear behind him.
He turned around and saw Aizen coming from behind, reaching out and pinning his layup directly onto the backboard.
“A chasedown block!
Right off the backboard!”
The reporters were stunned.
On his very first appearance, Aizen’s incredible athleticism had already shocked everyone present.
“His arms are so long—his wingspan must be at least 20 cm longer than his height!”
A wingspan exceeding height by over 20 cm—that kind of proportion was genuinely a gift from nature.
Teiko’s assistant coach was completely dumbfounded, ‘Was this the same clueless amateur who’d only been able to do ‘one fadeaway to three bricks’ during his tryout?’
‘Could it be that he really was a genius?’
Aizen was completely focused on the game.
Without a word, he grabbed the ball after landing, turned, and sprinted toward the other end of the court.
His ball-handling was rock-solid—after all, it was national-level.
Maki’s eyes changed when he looked at Aizen.
Whether or not he’d underestimated him, the fact remained that Aizen had stopped him.
He immediately chased after him, only to discover that even without the ball, he could barely keep up?
Fortunately, Maki was experienced.
He used his strong body to press against Aizen, trying to force a turnover.
But unexpectedly, Aizen didn’t back down at all in the physical battle—every bit of muscle on him was the real deal, no fluff.
And there was a nearly 10-kilogram weight difference between them!
Although he couldn’t force a turnover, Maki successfully slowed Aizen down through pressure.
All he had to do now was wait for his teammates to get back on defense.
But when they got back, it wasn’t Kainan’s players who arrived first—Teiko’s players beat them to it, coming to support Aizen.
“Over here, Aizen!”
Nijimura Shuzo was the first to arrive, already at Kainan’s free-throw line, hands outstretched and ready to receive the pass.
Aizen glanced over.
Maki followed his gaze and saw that there wasn’t a single defender around Nijimura Shuzo.
Kainan’s players felt this possession was almost certainly lost.
In the middle of his sprint, Aizen raised his ball-handing right hand, preparing to pass.
“Don’t even think about it!” Maki’s eyes narrowed.
He immediately made a judgment call and reached out to intercept the connection between Aizen and Nijimura Shuzo.
Swoosh.
The ball left Aizen’s hands in the next instant.
Everyone quickly scanned the court and saw the ball land in Aomine’s hands.
It was a LeBron James-esque ‘no-look pass’—even Nijimura Shuzo had been fooled, still holding his hands up in a receiving position.
As for Maki, he felt the ball graze past his cheek and fly off in a direction completely opposite to what he’d expected.
BOOM!
The rim let out a thunderous sound.
With the unexpected pass leaving Kainan unable to defend, Aomine took two steps, leaped up, and slammed the ball through the hoop with one hand.
Teiko’s assistant coach adjusted his glasses.
A month ago, the ‘one fadeaway to three bricks’ routine had shown him that Aizen was a complete basketball novice.
But now, a month later…
‘This defense, this ball-handling, this athleticism, this passing…’
‘A genius!’
Aizen’s no-look pass stunned everyone in the arena—it was full of creativity and flair.
“Hahahaha, that’s how you play!
Aizen, I knew you had it in you!” Shirogane Kozo burst out laughing immediately.
With just that one play, Shirogane Kozo knew Teiko had struck gold once again!
The assistant coach was speechless: ‘That’s not what you were saying at the beginning.’
The reporters quickly recorded everything, adding Aizen to their list of players to watch.
With one defensive stop and one offensive play, Aizen had won over everyone in the arena.
Including Maki.
Although the point deficit was still 16 points, Maki got serious.
This time, he didn’t underestimate Aizen.
He raised his hand at the top of the three-point arc, signaling his teammates to clear out—he was going one-on-one with Aizen.
Aizen didn’t panic.
He spread his arms wide and stood in front of Maki.
Shirogane Kozo also watched Aizen intently.
This was the moment to test Aizen’s true ability.
After all, one successful defensive stop wasn’t enough to convince anyone that Aizen truly had what it took.
At least he had to do it twice in one night!
Maki didn’t use any fancy dribbling moves.
How fast his first step was didn’t need much elaboration.
In fact, in the Slam Dunk series, he was a player qualified to compete for the title of best high school player in the nation.
Did you think the title ‘Emperor Maki’ was just for show?
Aizen immediately pressed up on him.
Momoi’s scouting report had told him that although Maki’s athleticism was incredible, most of his scoring came in the paint.
In other words, like Magic Johnson, he didn’t have reliable mid-range or outside shooting—Aizen could comfortably play aggressive defense.
Maki was completely unafraid.
But when he tried to power through, he found he couldn’t move Aizen at all—his body barely even budged.
‘What the hell!’
Aizen’s physical resistance was even stronger than Maki had imagined.
‘I’m not done yet!’
Maki muttered to himself.
If he couldn’t power through, he’d use skill.
Against tight defense, he needed technique—he wasn’t just a brute.
He carefully observed Aizen’s center of gravity shifts.
When he noticed Aizen moving right with him, he slapped the ball hard, switched it to his left hand, lowered his body, and drove left at top speed.
“Maki!”
At that moment, a teammate’s loud warning came from the sideline again.
Maki was shocked.
He saw Aizen, who should have been fooled by his fake.
‘Impossible—I clearly shook his center of gravity.’
‘Could it have been a fake?
Was he never fooled at all—did I get fooled instead?’
Maki felt a chill run through his entire body.
Aizen’s figure grew larger and larger in his pupils.
Then he felt his hands suddenly empty.
‘Maki had been stripped!’
That thought flashed through the minds of everyone watching.
They found it impossible to believe—a rookie had just stopped ‘Emperor’ Maki Shinichi’s offense twice in a row.
Maki didn’t chase this time, almost as if he was still processing the steal.
Aizen sprinted all the way, finally matching up against Takasago.
With a fake pass turned into a drive, and with his heels almost lifting off the ground, Aizen shook Takasago and spun past him, tearing through Kainan’s last line of defense and scoring an easy layup.
Then they heard Aizen loudly taunting, “Damn, do you even know how to play defense?
I feel like I’m strolling through my own backyard.”