An intense battle between the Aces, Aomine and Kagami, begins. Each refuses to give in to the other and manages to block the other's shot attempts. The audience, as well as the other players, are amazed at the battle of the Aces in the Zone, which brings their focus and reaction speed to the maximum. Kagami finally manages to drive past Aomine and scores, cutting Touou's lead to just 3, 95-98, with 41.5 seconds left. In the next possession for Touou, Aomine finds it difficult to drive past Kagami, but he quickly jumps for a Formless Shot. However, Kagami is determined not to let down his teammates, and the knowledge that his team is there to support him gives him the strength to make an incredible leap and block Aomine's shot, right as the time limits for them being in the Zone expire. Hyuga scores a layup on the return to cut the lead to just 1, and Touou's coach prepares to call a timeout, but upon seeing his players' intense focus, decides against making the call, fearing a timeout would disrupt the flow of the game and unfocus his players. Absolutely determined to win, Aomine scores an impossibly difficult Formless Shot from behind the backboard to bring the score to 97-100 in Touou's favor, with only 15 seconds left. With time running out, Kagami attempts a dunk, but Aomine jumps and gets a hand on the ball, stopping the dunk. However, Kagami suddenly recalls his summer training goal of achieving mobility in mid-air and improving his left-handed ball-handling, and finally succeeds, by using his left hand to force the ball away from Aomine's block and pass it to Kiyoshi, who makes the shot while drawing a foul from Wakamatsu. Both teams realize Seirin's only chance to win is to miss the free throw and grab the rebound for a final shot, as Seirin's players are at their limit and lack the strength and stamina to win in overtime. Kiyoshi intentionally misses the free throw, and Kagami manages to get the rebound and go for the putback dunk, but Aomine appears and swats the ball from his hands. Imayoshi chases after the loose ball, but Kuroko suddenly appears in front of him. Imayoshi is shocked, wondering if Kuroko had believed in Aomine instead of Kagami, but Kuroko reveals that he had actually believed in both of them. However, Kuroko knows that only Kagami can win this battle, and fires an Ignite Pass, to which both Aomine and Kagami react by jumping for the ball. Kagami catches the pass and ferociously slams the ball in over Aomine's outstretched arm right as time expires, giving Seirin the 101-100 victory. Aomine realizes in a daze that he lost for the first time, and finally gives Kuroko his long-overdue fist bump, which he had rejected years before, when they had first begun to drift apart. At the end of the match, the third-year players of Touou retire, and Wakamatsu is made the new team captain. Aomine, outside of the stadium, regains his desire to practice and train again, and asks Momoi to go shopping for new basketball shoes with him, to which she reacts with surprise and happiness, agreeing to his request and returning to calling him "Dai-chan", as she had done in their middle school days.