Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 152 Countdown

"Hey, Kise, aren't you from the Generation of Miracles? Aren't you Kaijo's ace? How long are you going to hide behind the struggle of these weaklings?" Kaneki Ken raised his eyebrows slightly, looked at Kise Ryota with a smile and said.

"Hey, first-years." Before Kise Ryouta could say anything, Kasamatsu Yukio on the side spoke up, "You guys couldn't defend against us just now, did you? Are you so eager to challenge our trump card before you've even defeated us?"

"Oh? That's really interesting, Kasamatsu-senpai." Kaneki Ken's smile became more and more radiant, as dazzling as the sun god who came from the temple to the mortal world, "I recognize the courage of Kaijo High School."

"We don't need recognition from our opponents. We will stand on the podium and recognize our opponents," Yukio Kasamatsu responded.

"Haha, then I wish you good luck." Kaneki Ken couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Is this Kaijo..." In the audience seats on the sidelines, Hyuga Junpei, sitting in the Seirin formation, couldn't help but sigh, "Even if the ace is suppressed, there is still the courage to swing the sword against the strongest..."

"You know, Kaijo High School made it to the national competition the year before last and last year." Ebina Jia commented with his arms folded across his chest, "Although they didn't achieve much last year, in the final of the county competition, Kaijo High School only lost to Poseidon High School by 3 points..."

"Hmm..." Hinata Junpei recalled, "It's really amazing, Kaijo High School..."

"Kise-san is growing up." The taciturn Kuroko Tetsuya suddenly spoke.

"What did you say?" Kagami Daigo didn't quite hear what Kuroko Tetsuya whispered.

"Kise-san is growing up." Kuroko Tetsuya repeated.

……

"Ah? Xiaozhen, what do you mean when you say that Kise Ryouta is growing up?" Takao Kazunari looked at Midorima Shintaro with some confusion.

"Kise Ryouta's original intention of joining Teikou Junior High School's basketball team was to surpass Aomine. The reason why he is weaker than us is that his basketball is not compatible with his talent." Midoriya Shintaro said seriously, "But today, Kise Ryouta clearly saw what his basketball should be like. With Kise's talent, as long as he can enter that... no, even a lower level of Flow, he can try to embark on the path that Kaneki Ken is taking."

"But, even though it's a beautiful thought, Kaijo High School is losing points all the time, isn't it..." Takao Kazunari looked at the game on his phone with some worry, "Even if Kise Ryouta really enters the flow or zone at the last minute, the team's score has been pulled so far away that it can't be recovered. Isn't that useless?"

"You're right." Midorima Shintaro nodded slightly. "Now Kaijo High School can only gamble. They have put all their bets on the table. First, they let Naito Tetsuya, who has the second best physical talent, withdraw from the inside, and together with Kise Ryota, they double-teamed Kaneki Ken, not giving him any chance to connect with the ball, reducing Kaneki Ken's influence on the game to the minimum. Then they let Hayakawa Okihiro replace Fujima Kenji to face Sakuragi Hanamichi, who is as strong as the Miracle Generation when he graduated from junior high school, leaving Kasamatsu Yukio, who is taller than Fujima Kenji, to control all the ball on the court. All of this is just to gamble on a chance..."

"Everything they did was just a gamble that Kise Ryouta would awaken before the halftime, and that the score difference would not be widened to 20 points before Kise Ryouta awakened." Akashi Seijuro lazily changed his sitting position. "Once the score difference between the two teams is widened to more than 20 points before the halftime game, with Kaneki Ken's strength, even if all the Miracle Generation really appeared, it would be impossible for them to catch up in the first half of the game."

"But, this kind of thing is impossible no matter how you think about it..." Jiyuan Lingyang looked at the scoreboard, "It's only the halfway point of the first quarter, and the score is already 17:6. Although Kaneki Ken didn't make a move during this period, Kaijo can't hold on any longer, right?"

"So basketball games are so cruel." Akashi Seijuro said with a noble smile on his face, "The strong have absolute dominance over the weak."

"Time out!" Takeuchi Genta saw that the score was gradually widening and the players were becoming increasingly overwhelmed, so he quickly called a timeout.

"Damn it..." Kasamatsu Yukio kicked the bench angrily when he left the court. Just now, after Kise Ryota finally received the ball and made a three-pointer with the help of the double pick-and-roll of Naito Tetsuya and Hayakawa Okihiro, Rukawa turned around and returned the three-pointer with the help of the pick-and-roll of Kabaji Shigehiro.

"Everyone did a great job, especially Kasamatsu and Hayakawa." Takeuchi Genta looked at his players with some self-blame, "Right now I have no way to stop the opponent from scoring, this is my responsibility... The only thing we can do is to trust Kise..."

“Don’t worry, coach.” Kasamatsu Yukio took a sip of water and said, “No one trusts Kise more than me! Besides, the game is not just for the ace alone! I will not let you down even if I die, with my senior and captain’s reputation at stake!”

"Me too, coach." Hayakawa Chongyang also roared, "I will rush to grab the rebound even if I die!"

"..." The ace of Kaijo High School, Kise Ryota, who was the center of everyone's conversation, seemed to be out of the matter at this moment, muttering something to himself.

... "Um, I want to ask..." Looking at Kaijo High School's Teppei Muji who was resting off the court, he suddenly asked, "Did you really win against Kaijo High School in the practice match? I believe you more when you said you won against Poseidon High School..."

"Well... we didn't dare to believe it either..." Hinata Junpei rarely scolded Kiyoshi Teppei for his inappropriate remarks, "Although they didn't have that big bald guy who could run and jump at that time..."

"Damn it, why am I the only one who is still so weak..." Kagami Daiga looked at Kise Ryota and Kaneki Ken who were fighting in the field with red eyes. He knew that the Kise Ryota who played against Seirin was completely different from the Kise Ryota today. When he thought of his consecutive defeats to Midorima Shintaro and Aomine Daiki, he felt even more unwilling.

"Don't be anxious, Kagami-kun." Although Kuroko Tetsuya's eyes were on the field, he knew the mentality of his partner next to him very well, "I have always believed that you will grow to that level, just like Huang Lai-san today."

"Kuroko..." Kagami Taiga looked at Kuroko Tetsuya, and lowered his proud head. He didn't know what he was thinking, but only heard a deep voice coming from Kagami Taiga's chest, "Ah, of course."

……

"Damn it! That short flat-headed baboon!" Sakuragi Hanamichi angrily threw the towel beside him to the ground, "He pulled my clothes! He stepped on my feet! He even elbowed me!"

"Calm down, Sakuragi." Before Kaneki Ken could say anything, Akagi Takenori spoke up, "Do you remember what Coach Anton taught you? Did you do it?"

"Whoever dominates the basket can dominate the court..." Sakuragi Hanamichi lowered his head in embarrassment.

In the first quarter, he was indeed robbed of many frontcourt rebounds by Hayakawa Mitsuo. Basically, except for the three-pointer just made by Kise Ryota, the rest of Kaijo High School's points were second-chance attacks after Hayakawa Mitsuo grabbed the offensive rebounds, either scoring directly or causing a foul and going to the free throw line.

"Yes, whoever dominates the basket can dominate the court." Kaneki Ken smiled and touched Sakuragi Hanamichi's head, then took over Akagi Takenori's words and said, "So in order to dominate the court, countless players will do everything they can to dominate the basket. Not to mention small moves, I even broke Michael Jordan's ribs under the basket when I was training in the United States, but he didn't say anything. He just waited until his injury healed and beat me up hundreds of times."

"Kaneki Ken, I'm sorry..." Feeling that he had failed to fulfill Kaneki Ken's request, Sakuragi Hanamichi lowered his head deeply, not daring to look into Kaneki Ken's eyes.

"Don't bow your head, Sakuragi. There's nothing to be sorry about. Even the NBA's rebounding champion Rodman couldn't possibly grab all the rebounds in a game." Kaneki Ken patted Sakuragi Hanamichi on the head. "In fact, you are just like Kise, full of talent, but you lack experience."

"Golden Gilgamesh..." Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Kaneki Ken with red eyes, not knowing what to say.

"Your occasional poor performance means nothing to me. I am more looking forward to your growth." Kaneki Ken's smile was particularly warm, with deep expectations in his eyes. "I will go to a broader platform sooner or later. If it's fast, I may leave Shonan and go to the United States in my second year. I very much hope that you can grow into the absolute trump card of Shonan High School before that, so I will leave the game to you until the critical moment. In fact, you have done very well, but I hope you can go faster, faster. Tell me, can you do it?"

"The absolute trump card of Shonan High School..."

"Leaving Shonan..."

Kaneki Ken's words kept echoing in Sakuragi Hanamichi's mind.

"Clap clap~"

A round of applause came from the bench of Shonan High School, attracting the attention of the spectators on the sidelines.

"Of course you can! Jin Shanshan!" Sakuragi Hanamichi's cheeks were slapped red, and his entire eyeballs seemed to be burning under the reflection of the fiery red pupils, and along with it burned the thriving fighting spirit. His voice was firm and loud, "I am the basketball genius Sakuragi Hanamichi!"

"Oh my, this is not good..." In the meeting room of the Toou High School basketball team, Konji Sho squinted his eyes and looked at the screen on TV and exclaimed, "The most troublesome guy in Shonan besides Kaneki Ken has been awakened..."

"The time Kaijo can wait has been drastically shortened." Genze Kede rubbed his curly hair unconsciously with his fingers, and said firmly, "If Kise Ryota still can't come up with any countermeasures in the second quarter, the remaining time of this game will be nothing more than a countdown to Kaijo's elimination..."

(End of this chapter)