Chapter 244: Cultivating through Battle

"Almost got shaken off by you, Midorima!"

Tendou stepped on the floor, arriving in front of Midorima with a tilted figure.

The fastest speed in the country, surpassing Aomine, left his body tilted during the sudden stop.

One had to know, he was Tendou Tiandao Tiandao Jingyan, the strongest high school student in the country.

Even his heaven-defying physical fitness couldn’t perfectly control it; one could imagine how astonishing the speed he had just unleashed was.

"Passing through four people’s screens in one breath!"

"And the opponent is the powerhouse Shutoku!"

"Monster!"

This was the inner voice of most people.

The real-world live chat was already flooded with words like "cool," "awesome," and "holy crap."

Everyone was shocked.

"Surpassed Aomine... the fastest in the country!"

The entire Touou team was dumbfounded.

In the current high school basketball world, the Generation of Miracles each represented the strongest in a specific field.

Aomine was the fastest, Murasakibara had the most strength, Midorima was the most accurate shooter, Kise had the strongest learning ability, Akashi had the best court vision, and Seeing Seeing Kagami jumped the highest—even if he wasn’t a member of the Generation of Miracles, he had reached that level.

And Tendou was the most comprehensive, gathering the strengths of all.

Now, this rule had been broken.

Tendou had displayed the number one extreme speed, surpassing Aomine.

"He broke his physical limits; he’s unleashing speed exceeding the Zone in his normal state!" Aomine also opened his eyes wide.

He had already witnessed Tendou’s "Concentration," using the Six Eyes to strengthen his body control and unleash speed no less than his own.

Right now, he had exceeded that level, crashing into the atmosphere like a meteorite, crossing four screens in one breath.

Midorima was equally shocked, but his hand movements didn’t stop.

This was an opportunity created by the strength of the entire team; he had to make the shot.

"Don’t get in my way, Tendou!"

He let out a rare roar, and with his left hand, he threw the ball with everything he had.

Tendou reached out with all his might, but the ball still flew out by a millimeter.

The characteristic of Midorima’s shot was its height.

The release point was high, and it was shot even higher, like a mortar; the basketball would draw an inverted "U" shape, reach the peak, and then bomb into the net.

Other players also had high release points to avoid being blocked, but at best it was only an inverted "C" shape; the difference was not just a little bit.

"Still can’t control it very well." Tendou landed and clenched his fist.

Currently, his Thunder Breathing, First Form had only been developed to the four-fold stage, and he could only perfectly control the three-fold.

Three-fold and four-fold were not just a simple matter of one extra direction change.

This meant he had to make an extra movement in almost the same amount of time; the difficulty was imaginable.

"But I will complete it."

Tendou clenched his fist tightly, confident to the point of arrogance.

For him, actual combat was the best way to train.

*Swish!*

Tendou landed, and only then did the ball fall into the net; one could imagine how high Midorima’s shot was.

Usually, when Four-Eyes threw a three-pointer, he would land after the release, and the ball wouldn’t have even fallen into the net yet when he turned around.

Turning around without looking at the result after shooting was one of Midorima’s major characteristics.

The General’s once-in-a-lifetime early celebration was something Midorima did almost every game.

The three-pointer went in, and Shutoku’s tactic was successful, but Nakatani Nita couldn’t smile at all.

Tendou’s Thunder Breathing, First Form wasn’t completed yet, but he would complete it sooner or later.

Often, people were more confident in Tendou than Tendou was in himself.

Possession changed.

Tendou caught the ball at the top of the three-point arc, and Shutoku finally couldn’t help but use a double-team defense on him.

It was the first-year duo of Midorima and Takao Kazunari.

"Two people?"

"Not enough."

Kirisaki First’s players immediately cut toward the inside.

Tendou didn’t let them down; he insightfully observed the future of everyone on the court one by one.

Finally.

"Release!"

He spat out a word, and the next second the basketball passed through Midorima and Takao Kazunari, flying into Haizaki’s hands.

Haizaki couldn’t beat the Generation of Miracles, but beating others was no problem at all.

*Thump!*

It was Hayama’s signature "Lightning Dribble"; the extremely fast dribbling speed allowed him to pass the defender in one step and drive to the basket for a dunk.

Shutoku continued to attack.

It was still the extreme tactic of infinite pick-and-rolls.

Shutoku used the strength of the whole team just to create a space for Midorima to shoot.

Curry’s three-point release speed should be the fastest in history, requiring only 0.3 seconds.

Midorima’s three-point release speed was not as good as Curry’s; his shooting style was a textbook high-arc shot.

But this time wouldn’t exceed 1 second either; after all, he was shooting from the three-point line, not from half-court or full-court, so he didn’t need "long-term" power gathering.

However, to block out a shooting space for Midorima, to block out a time of less than a second, they had to sacrifice the other four people.

Six Eyes!

These eyes forced them to take extreme measures.

Infinite pick-and-rolls—when the four Shutoku members helped Midorima complete the screen, they made rolling movements to pull away Kirisaki First’s other players so they couldn’t surround Midorima, and they also intentionally continued to hinder Tendou...

The range wasn’t large, but this already constituted a moving screen.

Tendou, however, turned a blind eye.

He stepped on thunder, and golden lightning rose like flames from near his feet.

"Thunder Breathing, First Form, Four-fold!"

Tendou whispered, and after taking a step, his body rushed out like a comet.

One step to the left shook off one person, and immediately after, he moved right to pass Kimura Shinsuke, who had made a moving action during the screen.

Then he did the same, shaking off four people in a row; his swift actions made it hard for the naked eye to discern his position.

If not for the existence of the Six Eyes, Tendou might not have been able to shake people off so accurately.

*Screech!*

Tendou stepped heavily on the floor, his sneakers making a violent friction sound.

His speed was even faster; he was perfecting his Thunder Breathing, First Form bit by bit in actual combat.

Tendou stood more steadily this time, his pair of Six Eyes bright as stars, captivating the soul.

Midorima gritted his teeth, unwilling to be outdone, and also increased his release speed.

*Swish!*

The three-pointer went in again; Tendou’s block was again off by a hair.

Shutoku continued to score, and they were all three-pointers.

"But Tendou’s Thunder Breathing, First Form, Four-fold will be completed sooner or later. That time won’t be too far away; what will Shutoku do then?" Aida Riko felt heavy-hearted.

Shutoku, who had fought them to a draw, was pushed to this point by Kirisaki First; what about when they faced Kirisaki First?

Did they really have a chance of winning?

Tendou was just perfecting his ability now; who could guarantee he didn’t have other ways to deal with Shutoku’s extreme tactics?

Perhaps he was just cultivating through battle to make himself stronger while maintaining the lead.

What if the score was very close?

Aida Riko couldn’t imagine the result; her "Data Eye" was too cheap compared to the Six Eyes.

The scores of both sides began to rise, and the speed was very fast.

In the first five minutes of the second quarter, both sides actually shot 100%.