Tendou was never one for humility.
Especially now—this kind of situation was going to happen many more times this year.
If you coddle one team, are you supposed to coddle them all?
Were they expected to go easy just to make losing more bearable?
Aomine wasn't trying to provoke anyone. He just spoke his mind.
What he thought, he said—simple as that.
But the joy of victory had already been washed away by that confrontation.
As the team left the gym, Aomine looked a little lost.
"Tendou... were we too harsh?"
On the bus ride back, Aomine started to question himself.
He felt maybe he'd played too aggressively—maybe he broke their spirits.
And not just on the court—he'd thrown in a few brutal lines, too.
It wasn't just a broken spirit. He wrecked them.
"Basketball doesn't have a right or wrong. Winning is winning," Tendou replied calmly.
"If they didn't want to lose like that, why didn't they just work harder?"
Aomine scratched his head, feeling a bit better.
He had worked his way into the starting lineup with pure effort.
And if even the ever-calculated Tendou said it was fine, maybe it really was.
Basketball should be played all-out—that's what makes it fun.
...
Second group-stage game.
Teikō's dominance continued.
Especially Aomine—just one day later, and he'd leveled up again.
He was so explosive this match, the spotlight was all on him.
Tendou, noticing Aomine's recent awakening, deliberately fed him more possessions to see how far he could go.
By halftime, Aomine had already racked up 32 points.
He never overthought it.
He just played—unleashing all his potential with no restraint.
...
Second half.
"50 points already?! He's insane!"
"What's the national tournament single-game scoring record?"
"I think... 63?"
"He might break it at this rate!"
The crowd buzzed with anticipation—could a new record be set today?
"Come at me—no matter how many of you, I'll crush you all!"
Aomine charged past half court.
Two defenders moved in to stop him.
Pointless.
Mid-sprint, he tossed the ball up—an arc like a rainbow—right over the defenders' heads.
Then, with a lightning-fast spin, he raced ahead.
Boom! Smack!
He caught the ball on the bounce and exploded into the air, slamming it home with a thunderous dunk.
The lead officially passed 70 points.
...
It was hopeless.
The opposing team—though not quite as emotionally shattered as the last one—wasn't much better off.
They had that resigned look.
Even started casually chatting during the game...
"Wanna hit the arcade after this?"
"Huh? Senpai, we're still in the middle of the game..."
"Game? With these monsters? There's no way we're winning. Just come with us."
They were already talking about post-game plans.
Aomine overheard it.
His excitement from nearly breaking a record... vanished.
What was the point of all this hard work?
He had pushed himself harder than ever this past year.
And yet, the fun in basketball seemed to be fading.
He wanted to shout at them.
Basketball isn't just a casual hobby!
But then he remembered the last game—his words had broken a team.
So now, the anger just sat in his throat.
Tendou saw Aomine losing motivation, so he took over the ball.
Before the game ended, he quietly padded his stats:
30 points
13 assists
11 steals
3 blocks
A casual triple-double.
Now, he could get these numbers with almost no effort.
The middle school level no longer challenged him.
Last year's rivals—"Thunder Beasts" and the like—barely mattered anymore.
And so, game after game, Teikō crushed every opponent by massive margins.
As expected, they easily secured their Nationals spot, once again taking the #1 seed from Tokyo for the second year in a row.
The team looked unstoppable.
But the stronger they became, the more restless Aomine grew.
One day, while everyone was training hard for Nationals, Aomine skipped practice—rare for him.
Luckily, Kuroko appeared just in time, slipping a popsicle into his shirt.
"COLD! What the hell, Tetsu?!"
"You need to take basketball seriously, Aomine-kun.
Your rival is out there, somewhere.
Someone who can go toe-to-toe with you."
"Nationals are coming up. Every team is waiting for a chance to take us down."
Aomine paused.
Last year's Nationals... yeah, he'd had a tough time.
The next day, he was back at it—training harder than ever.
"Wait... he's still training? He's already this good!"
"Well, our first-round opponent is that team..."
The day before, Momoi had shared news with him:
Teikō's first opponent at Nationals would be Ninshō Middle School.
The very team that had given him trouble last year.
Their captain was a lockdown defender—one of the best perimeter stoppers in the region.
"Last year, I couldn't even score 20 on that guy... This time, I'm going over 20!"
Murasakibara sighed.
With how strong Aomine was now, holding him under 20 was impossible.
But seeing Aomine so fired up, he kept quiet.
They say the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment...
Nationals, Game One.
Same story as the qualifiers.
Still no opponent worthy of their full strength.
That Ninshō captain who had shut Aomine down last year?
This time, Aomine scored 20+ points in just over a quarter.
Score: 123 – 50.
Midway through the fourth, Teikō led by 73.
Ninshō's players had lost all hope.
Their fire before the match? Completely extinguished.
They were devastated by the overwhelming gap.
Captain Dōjima was panting heavily.
He glanced at the scoreboard.
Then at Aomine, who had just grabbed a rebound and was already sprinting ahead.
And then...
He did nothing.
Just stood still.
And watched.
Aomine gave him a confused look as he passed by.
"Why are you looking at me like that?
What are you even expecting?"
Dōjima spoke quietly.
"Aomine... Do you even realize what kind of monster you've become?"
"How could anyone beat you guys...?"
It was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over Aomine's head.