Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 201 Renewal
"Beep beep~"

Just after Kaneki Ken successfully broke through Akashi Seijuro and scored, the referee's whistle sounded.

"Luoshan High School, requesting a timeout!"

"As expected, the game is suspended..." Aomine Daiki looked at the bench of Rakuzan High School and sighed, "We were suppressed by Kaneki the whole time. Except for Sakuragi Hanamichi's own goal, we didn't score a single goal... I wonder how Akashi, who has never lost before, feels..."

"But there should still be a fight, right?" Kise Ryota was a little confused, "After all, little Akashi hasn't entered the zone yet..."

"So this is where Kaneki Ken is so good." Aomine Daiki said lazily, leaning back in his chair. "Although Kaneki Ken does have the habit of pursuing the opponent relentlessly at the beginning, generally speaking, he won't pursue the opponent so continuously. He will handle both offense and defense by himself..."

"Now that Aomine-chan mentions that, it's a pity..." Kise Ryota also noticed something was wrong at this time, "He went into a feral state right from the start, and then suppressed Akashi-chan without reservation... This doesn't seem like Kaneki's style..."

"He is implanting distracting thoughts into Akashi." Aomine Daiki continued, "He is using his own unparalleled strength to continuously magnify Akashi's deep-seated fear of defeat..."

"But can't Kaneki Ken enter the zone himself? I don't think Kaneki Ken will be weaker than Akashi in the same zone." Kagami Taiga said, "Isn't it unnecessary to go through so much trouble?"

"Alas..." Aomine Daiki sighed, "That's because Kaneki Ken's current physical condition does not allow him to enter the zone too early... So he would rather expose some other trump cards to ensure that he can use the zone at the most critical moment..."

"Physical condition? Yanzi's body is as strong as a bull..." Murasakibara Atsushi curled his lips and said, "What could be wrong with his physical condition?"

"..." Aomine Daiki shook his head and didn't continue.

"Akagi, do you think it's time to let Chihiro go on stage?" Shirogane Eiji asked tentatively, looking at Akashi Seijuro who had a gloomy face.

"It might be a good idea to let him play." Akashi Seijuro turned his head to look at the substitutes' bench of Shonan High School and said gloomily, "Although the characters are a little different, this can be considered a reunion of old friends in another sense..."

……

"Hu... Hu... Hu..." Kaneki Ken sat on the bench, breathing heavily, cold sweat dripping from his forehead, and a long-lost feeling of fatigue came from his body.

Although the opening lasted only five minutes, in order to completely suppress Akashi Seijuro, Kaneki Ken was in a state of full wildness from beginning to end, which to some extent increased his physical energy consumption.

"Are you okay, Kaneki-san?" Mitsuyoshi Anton was the first to notice something was wrong with Kaneki Ken and asked with concern.

"I'm fine, Coach Anton." Kaneki Ken took a sip of water and was about to close his eyes to rest when suddenly Inoue Ayako's voice rang in his ears, "You are not fit to play right now, Izawa-san!"

"Izawa?" Kaneki Ken was shocked and turned to look at Izawa Shuji, only to see that his face was even paler than his, and a few drops of blood were dripping down his fingers.

"What's wrong? Izawa?" Kaneki Ken's eyes revealed a trace of worry, "Why is it bleeding?"

"It's okay, Captain Kaneki, I just scratched it with my fingernail when I was saving the ball just now..." Izawa Shuji looked at Kaneki Ken and forced a smile, "Bandage it, you can still play..."

"It's not as simple as just a rub, Yize!" Inoue Ayako said seriously, "The fingernail was flipped off, how could it be just a rub? You need to leave the court now, check if you have any dislocation or even fracture!" When Izawa Shuji heard that he might miss the next game, he immediately refused to do it, stood up and said, "How can I leave the court in the middle of such an important game? I can still play! If I can't score, I can still defend..."

"I'm not asking you to leave, Izawa." Kaneki Ken put his big hand on Izawa Shuji's shoulder, staring into his eyes and said, "I'm asking you to take a break for a while."

"But..." Izawa Shuji wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Kaneki Ken.

"This is just a must-win game. You don't have to gamble your basketball career." Kaneki Ken said seriously, "Don't you believe me?"

"...Yes, Captain Kaneki." Seeing that Kaneki Ken had made up his mind, Izawa Shuji could only sit down unwillingly, covering his face with a towel, his shoulders trembling slightly.

"Buzz~"

Just when Kaneki Ken wanted to say something, the timer started buzzing. Kaneki Ken could only pat Izawa Shuji on the back and turned to walk towards the court.

The game resumed and Takeyoshi Netani passed the sideline ball to Seijuro Akashi.

"It's strange..." Murasakibara Atsushi muttered as he looked at Rakusan High School in the field, "Qingzi, Huangzi, take a look at the lineup of Rakusan High School... Do you feel a sense of familiarity?"

"A familiar feeling of disharmony?" Qingfeng Daihui raised his eyebrows slightly, "If you put it that way, it does seem a bit..."

"boom!"

Just when Aomine Daiki and others on the sidelines were still wondering where the sense of disharmony came from, Akashi Seijuro, who had just passed the half court, had already casually thrown the basketball into the inside.

"What is this red-haired little guy passing?" Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was guarding Dai Chihiro, was involuntarily attracted by Akashi Seijuro's eyes, "This soft pass is giving the ball to Xiao San... Where is he!"

Just when Sakuragi Hanamichi turned his attention back to the original location of Dai Chihiro, Dai Chihiro had disappeared from his sight.

"This guy...when did he appear here?!"

Mitsui Shou was also shocked. Just when his hand was about to break the basketball, a hand suddenly appeared in front of him, and the basketball instantly changed its course and flew into the hands of Mibuchi Reo in the bottom corner.

"Misdirection!" Now, without having to tell Aomine Daiki, the others knew what was going on. "Could it be that... there is also a phantom sixth person at Rakusan High School?"

"The phantom sixth man?" Kaneki Ken said with a chuckle, "You said you wanted to compete with me, but you ended up repeating everything I did... You are indeed a master of cosplay, Akashi Seijuro."

"The phantom sixth man? How could such an outdated thing not be updated until today?" Akashi Seijuro said to Kaneki Ken, who looked calm, "Dai does have the characteristic of low presence, but in terms of various basic data, she is better than Kuroko, the one you once chose..."

As he spoke, Akashi Seijuro's eyes gradually showed a hint of provocation: "You can call him the new type of Phantom Sixth Man... a Phantom Sixth Man who is more powerful than the one you value, Kuroko Tetsuya!"

(End of this chapter)