CHAPTER 108: HORIZON VS TOYONAKA : TEMPO WAR 4

Time Remaining: 00:48

Two more possessions—maybe.

No room for hesitation.

Dirga inhaled through his nose.

GodFrame—Tempo Sight: Activated.

The world didn’t slow down.

Dirga accelerated.

His consciousness detached, lifting—like a drone rising above the court.

He no longer saw the game from behind his eyes.

He hovered above it all—untouched, unseen, omniscient.

The court transformed.

Lines sharpened. Colors faded.

Everything—everyone—reduced to motion and intent.

layers became silhouettes of energy. Blue trails for Horizon—calm, synchronized, flowing like a current and Red trails for Toyonaka—erratic, reactive, faster but easier to read.

Each player dragged behind them a comet trail of movement.

Arcs of where they were—echoes of where they’d be.

No faces.

Only decisions.

Every breath, every shift in weight, every twitch of muscle—it was all data.

Predictable. Patterned. Beatable.

From above, Dirga spotted the moment.

Yuto’s weight shifted—barely.

A hint of overcommitment to the right wing.

He’s reading me. Good.

Now let him believe he’s winning.

Dirga’s body—still in real time—exploded off the dribble.

One step left. Two dribbles. Hesitation.

Yuto mirrored. Tight defense. Posture perfect.

But he didn’t know what Dirga already saw.

The trap.

Rikuya rotated into high-post.

Aizawa looped off a down screen, dragging Daichi.

Rei circled baseline, then popped up weak side.

Toyonaka’s zone shifted in perfect sync...

Too perfect.

Too timed.

They’d been drawn into the script.

Dirga’s script.

He no-looked the pass behind his back to Rei, who caught it with clean space on the arc.

Red trails collapsed inward—too late.

Rei pulled the trigger.

Splash.

16 – 12.

Dirga was still above it.

Watching. Calculating. Breathing outside of time.

From this aerial vantage, Toyonaka’s offense wasn’t a threat.

It was a puzzle—one he’d solved before the pieces finished moving.

Masaki received the inbound from Yuto.

His body—a supernova of red light.

Traillines of acceleration, hesitation, explosion—flaring in all directions.

Black Thunder.

But Dirga had seen it.

He knew the beat before the song dropped.

Masaki started right.

Crossover. Left.

Drop-step. Hesi.

Into a spin.

Taiga bit for half a second—but Rikuya was already collapsing.

His blue aura formed a wall.

But Masaki wasn’t attacking.

Not yet.

He was baiting.

Dirga saw it before Masaki even made the eye flick.

The pass.

Daichi was the real threat—flaring out to the corner.

His motion arc flared clean red—no obstruction.

Dirga snapped into action.

In the real world, it was a blur.

But from above—it was like chess.

One move ahead.

He broke from his assignment and lunged to the corner.

Masaki rifled the pass to Daichi.

But Dirga was already there.

Deflection.

The ball ricocheted off his hand. A scramble.

Taiga dove. Shunpei dove.

Bodies collided.

Taiga grabbed it.

Loose ball. Transition.

"Go!" he barked. Rei took off down the left lane. Aizawa filled right.

The play was already forming in his head.

GodFrame still humming.

They didn’t push it this time.

Not every moment needed to be a hammer.

Sometimes, the scalpel was deadlier.

Dirga slowed. Called the set.

Yuto pressed up—relentless.

Masaki looked over his shoulder, sweat dripping off his jawline.

But this wasn’t just a game of scoring anymore.

It was control.

And Dirga was the one holding the strings.

He turned back to face the play.

Still 19 seconds left on the God Frame clock.

It means 22 more second before the game end

So it is the last possession

Dirga try to slow down the game

To make sure this is the last posesion

The world didn’t move in seconds.

It moved in beats. Frames.

Dirga saw it all.

Yuto pressed up, aggressive.

But Dirga didn’t see a defender.

He saw a red flame trying to devour space.

Overheat it, and it flickers.

He dribbled left.

Yuto mirrored—hips still square. Impressive. But not flawless.

Dirga didn’t attack the man.

He attacked the rhythm.

A feint—inside. A jab—high.

Yuto’s foot lifted a half-inch too far.

Data confirmed.

Dirga pulled back, called a horns set.

Rikuya and Taiga stepped up for a double screen.

Aizawa on the weak-side corner.

Rei trailing the top arc.

The GodFrame showed all:

Masaki, already inching toward the strong side. Predictable.

Shunpei, eyes flickering toward Rei. Vulnerable.

Haruto, slow to hedge the screen. Heavy.

Dirga slipped through the screen.

Yuto fought over it—but a second too late.

Haruto stepped up—but not far enough.

Dirga turned his body mid-step.

His eyes locked on Aizawa—but it was bait.

No-look dish.

Rei, curling from the back, caught the ball in perfect rhythm.

He didn’t hesitate.

Release. Flick. Arc.

In Dirga’s GodFrame vision—it was already done.

1.1 seconds left.

Swish.

19 – 12.

The crowd exploded.

Ayaka stood high in the cheer zone, arms lifted like a conductor.

The supporters followed her cue, chanting Horizon’s rhythm into the arena walls.

Masaki caught the inbound.

No time. No shot.

The buzzer sounded.

End of 1st Quarter – Horizon 19, Toyonaka 12

Dirga exhaled sharply, chest rising and falling like waves crashing after a storm.

The God Frame faded.

The vivid overlays of motion trails and glowing auras dissolved into sweat, sneaker squeaks, and the blinding light of the arena.

The real world snapped back in.

Heat. Noise. Pressure.

But the rhythm he carved into the court—it was still there. Still pulsing.

In the corner of his vision, Masaki stared at him across the hardwood.

His eyes weren’t wide with surprise.

They were calm. Calculating. Daring.

On the other end, Yuto crouched low, hands on his knees, chest rising like a piston engine.

Still breathing. Still burning.

Toyonaka wasn’t broken.

But they were off tempo—dragged out of their beat, chasing Horizon’s rhythm.

And Dirga?

He was just getting warmed up.

...

"OHHHHH!! What a first quarter! That wasn’t just basketball—that was war on the hardwood!"

"Like a hurricane! Tempo swinging back and forth—offense to defense, defense to mind games!"

"Dirga versus Yuto... the court generals clashing head-to-head! Dirga running the tempo like a composer, and Yuto—man, locking him down like he had the key to the whole gym!"

"But Dirga showed us something else today. Defense too. Especially against Toyonaka... like he’s seen their whole playbook."

"Yeah, and on the other side? Masaki going at Rikuya and Taiga like a demon. That crossover, that step-back—he’s making his statement."

"A true rivalry—feels like they’ve played together for years. Like watching brothers fight... but this time? They’re on opposite sides."

"I’m telling you, if that’s how the first quarter went down... we’re in for something legendary."