Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 176 Seedlings
"Beep beep~"

As the referee's whistle sounded, Shigehiro Kabata and Shigehiro Mori jumped up, and their strong long arms pounced on the basketball like two giant dragons.

"Kawachi still has a slight advantage in height," said Kitagawa Mitsuyasu. "This game is just like usual, Shonan High School still has the ball."

"Well done, Karachi!" Izawa Shuji took the ball and slowly advanced towards the entire court.

"You've gotten along well following Kaneki, Izawa." Nijimura Shuzo immediately got in front of Izawa Shuji.

"Of course, there is only one captain in my heart!" Izawa Shuji looked at Nijimura Shuzo with a smile, and slammed the ball to the ground with his right hand. The basketball bounced from the ground into Kaneki Ken's hands.

"You speak so directly in front of me, your old captain. Aren't you treating me like a bit of a disrespect?" Nijimura Shuzo still followed Izawa Shuji closely and did not choose to double-team Kaneki Ken.

"Are you Kaneki Ken?" Sawakita Eiji opened his arms and looked at Kaneki Ken with a provocative look in his eyes.

"What? Have you heard my story?" Kaneki Ken looked at Sawakita Eiji with a relaxed expression, and kept adjusting Sawakita Eiji's center of gravity with tentative steps.

"Coach Domoto has said this many times." Zebei Rongzhi's words were somewhat sarcastic, "He is just a conceited fool who relies on his talent to his advantage."

"Hahahaha, Coach Domoto's comments are quite apt." Kaneki Ken said with a hearty laugh, "Okay, today's chit-chat ends here. It's time to randomly pick an ace and beat him up."

"Then you come and try..." Sawakita Eiji thought Kaneki Ken was threatening, but in the blink of an eye, there was a bang, and Kaneki Ken's figure disappeared.

"What..." Sugitani Ichiro in the audience shook his head, "He and I are not even on the same level of players, and you actually asked me to imitate him... This will only make the players of Fenghuang High School have a wrong understanding of the opponents they are about to face..."

"A beautiful breakthrough!" Kitagawa Mitsuyasu roared excitedly, "Kaneki's signature lightning first step! From the start of the trials till now, Kaneki's first step success rate has reached 92.37%! If we don't include the matchup with the Generation of Miracles, the success rate is an astonishing 100%!"

"Hey, don't be so harsh on your seniors, Kaneki." Nijimura Shuzo, who had been paying attention to the matchup between Sawakita Eiji and Nijimura, immediately stood in front of Kaneki Ken.

"Captain, what do you think you can do to my offense with your height of less than 1.8 meters?" Kaneki Ken smiled slightly, grabbed the ball and jumped, ignoring Nijimura Shuzo's defense and shooting.

"Shh!"

The basketball flew over Shuzo Nijimura's head, drew a high arc and fell into the basket.

"A beautiful three-pointer!" Kitagawa Mitsuyasu exclaimed, "Kaneki showed no mercy in the face of the old captain's defense, and scored from beyond the three-point line, giving Shonan High School the first goal!"

"Hey, ace!" Kaneki Ken retreated to defend, looking at Zebei Rongzhi with a hint of provocation in his eyes, "Your level is not bad, if judged by the standard of a seedling."

"Don't mind it, Zebei." Nijimura Shuzo patted Zebei Rongzhi on the back, "Kaneki is a pretty good person, but sometimes... his mouth is really stinky. He's not targeting you."

"Isn't it better if he targets me?" Zebei Rongzhi raised his eyebrows slightly, "I, Zebei Rongzhi, am not the kind of giant baby who needs others to give him a break."

"Did you hear anything when I was talking to Kaneki just now?" Nijimura Shuzo raised his eyebrows and said, "I always feel like you are targeting me."

“……” Zebei Rongji rolled his eyes at Nijimura Shuzo and turned to run to the front.

"Really? The talented juniors are so rude!" Nijimura Shuzo looked at the back of Sawakita Eiji, angrily took the baseline ball sent by Kawata Masashi and complained.

"Alright, Nijimura." Kawata Masashi said speechlessly, "When you first came to Fenghuang High School, you didn't give your seniors much face..."

“Yes…” Kazunari Fukatsu also chimed in, “Those seniors…were beaten badly by you…”

"Ball!" Just when Nijimura Shuzo was being frantically exposed by Kawata Masashi and Fukatsu Kazunari, Sendo Eiji rushed to the frontcourt and reached out to Nijimura Shuzo for the ball.

"Not bad, very courageous."

The moment Zebei Rongji caught the ball, Kaneki Ken moved sideways in front of Zebei Rongji, opened his arms and said with a smile.

"You are strong."

Sawakita Eiji struck a triple-threat stance outside the three-point line, looked directly into Kaneki Ken's eyes and suddenly spoke.

"Oh? Don't think that I will show mercy just because you say nice things to me." Kaneki Ken teased.

"On the contrary, I hope you can give it your all..." Zebei Rongzhi took a step forward and disappeared quickly on the spot, "Then let me defeat you in your best condition!"

"Speedy players? I've seen too many!" Kaneki Ken moved slightly and blocked Zebei Rongzhi again, "Do you think you can be faster than Aomine Daiki?" "That kind of fancy basketball can only be called a circus!" Zebei Rongzhi blocked Kaneki Ken's hand with his left hand, then turned around and threw the ball high into the air, "And I've seen too many players taller than me!"

"Coach, could this be..." Matsumoto Minoru on the bench widened his eyes in surprise.

"Yes, a layup." Domoto Koichiro nodded solemnly, "This is the trick that Zebei created after returning from further studies in the United States, combining his previous experience of encountering big players in his basketball career!"

“Go in!!!!”

On the bench of Fenghuang High School, these players shouted in unison, as if the louder the voice, the greater the possibility of a goal.

"Ah, ah, ah~" Just as the basketball was thrown by Zebei Lishu and was about to reach the highest point, Kaneki Ken's voice with appreciation and a hint of teasing sounded from behind Zebei Rongzhi, "Don't compare me with those big stupid guys you have seen~ Do you think this trick can defeat me? Do you think this trick can defeat me? It's just a lob shot, I'm tired of seeing it!"

"boom!"

As Kaneki Ken's long arms fanned out, the basketball was firmly pinned on the backboard.

"My rebound!!" Sakuragi Hanamichi used a small move outside the referee's field of vision to push away Kawata Masashi, jumped up, and grabbed the rebound in his arms.

"Damn, is this kid so skilled in his little moves?" Masashi Kawata was shocked.

"Run, Jinshanshan!" Sakuragi Hanamichi threw the ball hard to the front court like a shot put.

"How many times have I told you, Sakuragi should throw the ball smaller when passing the ball!" Kaneki Ken complained and ran to the front court.

"Don't even think about it!" After landing and stabilizing his body, Zebei Rongji did not slow down at all, and rushed out one after another with Kaneki Ken.

"So fast!" Sugitani Ichiro was shocked, "I didn't expect that the ace, Fenghuang, is really good! He can actually keep up with Kaneki Ken's pace!"

"What nonsense are you talking about, Sugitani!" Sugiyama Shota's expression was serious, "Kaneki Ken is a two-meter giant. Although he started first, Sawakita Eiji didn't catch up. This is even more terrifying!"

"Come on, Kaneki!"

"Go Shonan!"

Looking at Kaneki Ken on the court like a golden light spanning the entire field, the fans of Shonan High School off the court cheered even more excitedly.

"Practice long passes more when you go back!" Kaneki Ken ran all the way to the three-second zone in the front court and barely caught up with the landing point of the basketball. After estimating the direction of the basketball, he jumped up and caught the basketball in the air.

"You still have the energy to chat with your teammates during the game..." Sawakita Eiji jumped up right after Kaneki Ken, "You really don't take me seriously!"

"Sorry, sorry! I don't really like looking down at people~" Kaneki Ken's face was filled with a wanton smile. He adjusted his body shape in the air, aimed the ball at the basket, and stuffed it in fiercely. "And you have to remember, if it weren't for the fact that the old captain is a Fenghuang player, you would have to make an appointment to even talk to me!"

"boom!"

As a terrified wailing sounded, Kaneki Ken, who had completed the slam dunk, was seen grabbing the basket with one hand, and his whole body was still swinging on the basket due to inertia. After jumping up, Sawakita Eiji couldn't stop and bumped into Kaneki Ken and was bounced out.

"Beep beep~"

"White No. 9, defensive foul, red No. 4, one free throw!"

The referee's whistle was also blown at this time.

"Kaneki!", "Kaneki!", "Kaneki!"

"Shonan!", "Shonan!", "Shonan!"

As the referee finished speaking, the cheers of Kaneki Ken's fans on the sidelines became even louder.

"Hey, Ace." Kaneki Ken smiled and looked at Zebei Rongzhi, pointing at Midorima Shintaro in the audience and said, "If it were in the past, I might still play with you for a while, but now that old teammates are watching... I can only... destroy this young seedling of yours as soon as possible!"

"I hope that this mountain of yours will not be knocked over by this bamboo seedling of mine!" Zebei Rongzhi responded with no less aura.

(End of this chapter)