Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 203 Savior

"What? Go take a break?"

Ken Kaneki and Rukawa Kaede looked towards the sidelines in surprise, only to see Mitsuyoshi Anton nodded silently, signaling them to go off the court and rest.

"No. 4, No. 11, do you want to make a substitution?" the referee urged from the sidelines.

"Substitution." Kaneki Ken roughly understood Anto Mitsuyoshi's thoughts. Although he was a little unwilling, he still obeyed Anto Mitsuyoshi's arrangement and sat down on the bench on the sidelines.

"Let me make it short." Miyagi Ryouta walked onto the court and explained succinctly, "We'll need to hold on for the next period of time. Before Captain Kaneki comes back on the court in the third quarter, we must keep the score within ten points at all costs!"

"Yes!" everyone from Shonan High School responded in unison.

"Sakuragi, the coach has arranged for you to play against Akashi on the defensive end. Is that okay?" Miyagi Ryouta turned his head and looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi and asked.

"...Leave it to me." Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was always smiling, now looked extremely serious.

"Beep beep~"

As soon as Miyagi Ryouta finished his explanation, the referee blew his whistle, signaling Shonan High School to serve the sideline ball. Seeing this, Sakuragi Hanamichi immediately came to the sidelines and took the basketball from the referee.

"Miyagi!" Sakuragi Hanamichi passed the ball to Miyagi Ryouta immediately.

"Second time~"

As soon as Miyagi Ryouta took the basketball, he saw Akashi Seijuro rushing towards him with electric flash.

"Damn, this is too fast?" Miyagi Ryouta felt a flash before his eyes, and the ball in his hand was snatched away by Akashi Seijuro.

"Great! Akashi-san successfully stole the ball from Miyagi-san. Shall we have a fast break..." Tashiro Heihachi said excitedly, "Wait, the No. 16 player from Shonan High School has got the ball back!"

"Xiao Zheng was actually intercepted..." Mibuchi Reo looked at Ogiwara Seihiro in disbelief, then looked at Dai Chihiro, "And this guy... is exactly like Dai..."

"What!" Aomine Daiki felt that his worldview had been overturned, "Another phantom sixth man?"

"Ogiwara-san?!" Kuroko Tetsuya was even more excited than Aomine Daiki. He rubbed his eyes, fearing that what he saw was an illusion.

"Long time no see, Akashi-san!" Ogiwara Narihiro looked directly into Akashi Seijuro's eyes without fear and said, "Thanks so much for your care before!"

"Whoosh~"

As Ogiwara Seihiro was speaking, his hands did not slow down at all. He sent the ball to the inside with the same accelerated pass as Kuroko Tetsuya. After receiving the ball, Sakuragi Hanamichi jumped up and slammed the ball into the basket against Netani Takeyoshi.

"You are very good... Ogiwara Shigehiro, I will remember you." Akashi Seijuro looked at Ogiwara Shigehiro deeply and turned away.

The ball was in the hands of Akashi Seijuro again. As he crossed the center line, Sakuragi Hanamichi immediately blocked him.

"Is Sakuragi really capable?" Aomine Daiki looked at the field with some concern, "He already lacks experience... and he has to face the Eye of the Emperor..."

"Come on, you show-off monkey!" Sakuragi Hanamichi opened his arms and stared at Akashi Seijuro's every move. His whole body was tense, as if he was wound up.

"Sakuragi Hanamichi, do you know that the existence of you and Kagami Taiga... is an offense to the Generation of Miracles?" Akashi Seijuro obviously didn't like the nickname given to him by Sakuragi Hanamichi. He looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi with a sullen face and said, "Since Kaneki Ken didn't teach you, let me tell you how big the gap is between the genuine and the fake!"

As Akashi Seijuro's voice fell, the electric light in his pupils shot up into the sky like a raging fire doused in gasoline, and the pressure of the Emperor of Heaven's Eye poured down without reservation at this moment.

"It's okay... I also had the feeling of being predicted when facing Gilgamesh before..." Sakuragi Hanamichi kept encouraging himself in his heart, "As long as I can react, there is still hope..."

"boom……"

All of Sakuragi Hanamichi's thoughts were shattered the moment the basketball landed. Akashi Shojuro easily shook Sakuragi Hanamichi's center of gravity with a simple cross step.

"Your reflexes are indeed pretty good, not much worse than Murasakibara's..." Akashi Seijuro's expression showed no emotion, "But Murasakibara wouldn't be that rude in front of me!"

"Whoo~"

Sakuragi Hanamichi only felt a gust of wind pressure coming on his face. After shaking Sakuragi Hanamichi off, Akashi Seijuro rushed to the three-point line in one step, passed the defense of Kabaji Shigehiro with a crotch shot, and then made a layup after a pull-up, avoiding the block of Mitsui Hisashi and scoring easily.

"It's still not good enough..." Murasakibara Atsushi sighed with some regret, "Except for Yanzi who also opened the zone, I guess no one can stop Akagi, right?"

"Not necessarily..." Kise Ryouta seemed to remember something, his expression serious with a hint of barely perceptible expectation, "If Sakuragi can enter the zone like he did when he fought against our Kaijo before..."

"What?" Kagami Taiga looked at Kise Ryota in shock as if he had heard some ridiculous joke, "Even Sakuragi Hanamichi has entered the zone?"

"It's just once in a while..." Aomine Daiki was not as optimistic as Sakuragi Hanamichi, "The more people experience the Zone by chance, the harder it is to enter the Zone... I don't think Sakuragi has this possibility... Maybe this game won't give Kaneki Ken much time to rest."

The development of the game was exactly as Aomine Daiki had predicted. After Kaneki Ken left the court, perhaps in order to secure the victory faster, Akashi Seijuro did not exit the zone state immediately, but instead took advantage of his good state to kill on the court. Sakuragi Hanamichi was intercepted, knocked down, and fooled more than once.

By the end of the first quarter, the score was 26:18. In addition to Mibuchi Reo and Dai Chihiro scoring one goal each, Akashi Seijuro scored 21 points. "Are you okay, Sakuragi?"

When the players on the field returned to the bench to rest, Kogure Kochi came to Sakuragi Hanamichi with some concern and comforted him.

"..." The usually optimistic Sakuragi Hanamichi remained silent at this moment, staring blankly at the ground, not knowing what he was thinking.

"Forget it, let Sakuragi be quiet for a while." Kaneki Ken sighed as he looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi's expression, and waved his hand to disperse Murasakibara.

"how so……"

At this moment, Sakuragi Hanamichi was overwhelmed with mixed feelings, and every detail of the past six months was replayed in his mind.

"Sakuragi, do you know basketball?"

"When defending, pay attention to the opponent's center of gravity and don't be fooled by fake moves!"

"Be sure to position yourself! Whoever controls the basket controls the court!"

"I feel more relieved when I think about your future success..."

"Sakuragi, is it okay?" Akagi Haruko was taken to the bench to watch as the reserve manager of the basketball club. Seeing Sakuragi Hanamichi's lost look, she stepped forward to comfort him with some reluctance, "Akagi-san is the vice-captain of the Generation of Miracles. It's amazing that you can do this... With Kaneki-san here, we will definitely win..."

"Sakuragi, I hope you can grow up faster... faster..."

When Sakuragi Hanamichi heard Akagi Haruko mention Kaneki Ken, he seemed to have some reaction, and Kaneki Ken's expectant instructions to him rang in his mind.

"Gallant! is very strong... I wish I could be like Gilgamesh... I would be able to carry the Shonan High School that Gilgamesh has entrusted to me..." Sakuragi Hanamichi murmured. It was not until then that he realized that his feelings towards Kaneki Ken were no longer just the initial gratitude, but also mixed with a lot of envy for Kaneki Ken's omnipotence on the court.

"The situation doesn't look good now..." The Sakuragi Army and Father Sakuragi who were sitting in the corner sighed, "That red-haired dwarf is too strong..."

"What should we do? Sakuragi won't lose, right?" Sakuragi's father asked anxiously.

"I don't know... Brother Kaneki just came out of the hospital before he went on stage, and his current physical condition won't last long..." Mito Yohei said helplessly, "In this situation, Sakuragi can only rely on himself..."

"Come on, cheer up, Sakuragi..." Father Sakuragi's eyes were fixed on his son, the sadness on his face was about to drip like water.

"Buzz~"

As the timer buzzed, the second quarter began. What was worse was that Luoshan High School had the ball right at the start.

"Give up! Sakuragi Hanamichi..." Akashi Seijuro said as he looked at the confused Sakuragi Hanamichi in front of him, "This is a duel between Kaneki Ken and I. If a small character like you gets involved, it will only harm you."

"..." Sakuragi Hanamichi seemed not to have heard clearly what Akashi Seijuro said, and was still just staring at him blankly.

"Sigh..." Akashi Seijuro sighed softly and began to speed up the movements of his hands.

"Come on, Sakuragi! Don't give up!" Seeing that Sakuragi Hanamichi was about to lose again, Sakuragi's father stood up anxiously and shouted, "We in the Sakuragi family never give up!!!"

"The Sakuragi family never gives up!!!"

“Never give up…”

The familiar voice of Sakuragi Papa echoed in Sakuragi Hanamichi's ears.

"This voice is... Dad?" Sakuragi Hanamichi looked in disbelief in the direction where the voice came from, and then Dad Sakuragi and the Sakuragi Army raised a huge flag and waved it continuously. On the flag was the photo of Sakuragi Hanamichi when he won the Best Newcomer Award in Kanagawa Prefecture.

"Dad...and everyone!" There were traces of tears flickering in Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes.

"What a boring drama..." Akashi Seijuro looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi who had regained his spirits and activated the Eye of Heaven again. As his footsteps changed, Sakuragi Hanamichi's center of gravity was destroyed again.

"How can I let you pass!"

Just as Akashi Seijuro was about to break through Sakuragi Hanamichi, Ogiwara Narihiro's figure rushed out from the opposite direction of Sakuragi Hanamichi's center of gravity, blocking Akashi Seijuro just in front of him, and stabbed straight at the basketball with his long arms.

"How is this possible... He shouldn't be able to keep up with my pace!" Akashi Seijuro opened his eyes wide in surprise and instinctively turned around to try to avoid Ogiwara Seihiro's steal.

"boom……"

Just when Akashi Seijuro thought he had successfully avoided Ogiwara Narihiro's steal, a big hand pressed firmly on the ball before Akashi Seijuro hit it. The owner of the big hand was Sakuragi Hanamichi.

"I am the basketball genius Sakuragi Hanamichi..." Sakuragi Hanamichi's voice was like a bell in Akashi Seijuro's ears, "I am the savior of Shonan High School!"

(End of this chapter)