Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 204 It's Not Luck
"I am Sakuragi Hanamichi, the savior of Shonan High School!" Sakuragi Hanamichi's voice sounded in Akashi Seijuro's ears. Akashi Seijuro only felt a huge force coming from his hand, and the basketball flew out uncontrollably.

"How is it possible..." Akashi Seijuro was furious, his eyes red, "A fake like this actually managed to steal the ball from me!"

Akashi Seijuro turned his head to look at the basketball that had slipped out of his hand, only to see that Sakuragi Hanamichi had turned into a fiery red meteor and was flying straight towards the basketball.

"You fake...you actually offended me to this extent!" Akashi Seijuro followed closely behind, and in just a moment he surpassed Sakuragi Hanamichi and blocked him.

"Is this the feeling of being in the zone?" Sakuragi Hanamichi seemed not to see Akashi Seijuro in front of him. At this moment, he was immersed in the refreshing feeling of being full of power, "This feeling of being omnipotent... the feeling of being able to do anything!"

"Hey!"

There was a flash of light in Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes. He took a step forward with his right foot, protected the basketball to his side, and made a swift breakthrough. In the blink of an eye, he passed Akashi Seijuro by half a body length.

"Although I am indeed surprised that things have come to this point..." Akashi Seijuro said through gritted teeth, "but this boring drama should end here!"

As he spoke, Akashi Seijuro lashed out his arm like a whip and slammed his palm heavily on the basketball.

"It's broken..." Kise Ryota looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi who failed to break through, and slapped his thigh with some regret, "If Sakuragi could really break through with this ball, maybe the momentum would really be reversed..."

"It's not that simple..." Aomine Daiki's eyes were fixed on the black shadow behind Akashi Seijuro that was getting closer and closer. "After all, Akashi hasn't completely stolen the ball yet, right?"

"What? What do you mean?" Kise Ryota looked in the direction of Aomine Daiki's sight with some confusion, and suddenly realized and said in a lost voice, "Is that... Ogiwara Narihiro?"

"Sakuragi-san, I'm here to help you!"

Just as Akashi Seijuro was about to take the basketball and launch a fast break, the voice that sounded like a hot-blooded idiot came from behind Akashi Seijuro.

"What? Ogiwara Shigehiro..." Akashi Seijuro looked at Ogiwara Shigehiro's chestnut short hair in disbelief again, "How could he possibly keep up with me and Sakuragi Hanamichi?"

"It's observation skills..." Aomine Daiki looked at the scene with mixed feelings, "Although it may be that they haven't run in well enough, so the two of them don't cooperate closely, but Akashi is also in danger..."

"Observation skills?" Kagami Daigo looked a little puzzled.

"When we were in the third grade, during the match against Akinaka Kogaku... I was surprised by Ogiwara Seihiro's insight..." Midorima Shintaro narrowed his eyes slightly, "Although the last ball was a channel left for him by Aomine on purpose, he was able to find the loopholes in the opponent's defense under such an extremely unfavorable situation. This kind of observation ability is very rare..."

"Ogiwara Shigehiro predicted Akashi's movements in advance by observing Sakuragi's breakthrough direction and the changes of the basketball in the air..." Aomine Daiki concluded, "Although he and Sakuragi don't cooperate very closely yet, as Sakuragi enters the zone, his observation and information processing abilities on the court will gradually improve, and his cooperation with Ogiwara Shigehiro will become more and more tacit... When that time comes, Ogiwara Shigehiro's observation ability will be fed back by Sakuragi Hanamichi's zone and become the complete opposite of Akashi... the Eye of the God of Reverse!"

"Bang~"

Under Akashi Seijuro's shocked eyes, Ogiwara Shigehiro's hand touched the basketball before him. Maybe because he was too flustered, Ogiwara Shigehiro did not completely control the basketball, but flew out of the court uncontrollably.

"Bang bang bang bang bang..."

The basketball hit the billboard on the side of the court and then fell to the ground, bouncing gently.

"Beep beep~ Luoshan High School has the ball!"

The referee's whistle blew and the players on the field reacted. Takeyoshi Netani also came to the sidelines as soon as possible and passed the sideline ball to Seijuro Akashi.

"Huh..." Akashi Seijuro took a deep breath and slowly crossed the half court with the ball. Sakuragi Hanamichi also immediately got in front of Akashi Seijuro.

"I was still a little slow just now..." Ogihara Chenghao looked at the two people who were in a standoff at the top of the arc, and kept thinking about the offense and defense of the past two rounds in his mind, "I need to be faster... faster..."

"A double defense, one in front and one behind?" Akashi Seijuro looked at Ogiwara Shigehiro, who was standing behind Sakuragi Hanamichi and constantly casting his gaze towards the top of the arc, and raised a contemptuous smile at the corner of his mouth, "It's just the ridiculous struggle of mortals..."

"You're wrong, show-off monkey..." Sakuragi Hanamichi heard Akashi Seijuro's murmurs and rushed forward with his long arms outstretched, trying to steal the basketball from Akashi Seijuro's hands, "None of the regular players of Shonan High School are weak!"

"Stupid choice!" Akashi Seijuro's eyes widened, and the pressure of the Emperor's Eye rushed towards Sakuragi Hanamichi like a tide. A simple dribble between the legs avoided Sakuragi Hanamichi's steal and destroyed his center of gravity at the same time. "In my eyes, there is no future that you cannot see!"

"Oh, and did you see this?"

In an instant, a loud shout accompanied by a brown light swept over, and the basketball in Akashi Seijuro's hand did not return to his hand, but was firmly held in Ogiwara Seihiro's arms.

"Run, Sakuragi-san!!!" After successfully stealing the ball, Ogiwara Seihiro decisively threw the basketball to the front court.

"I really didn't expect this..." Kise Ryota commented with a complicated expression as he looked at the phantom of the wild bull behind Ogiwara Shigehiro in the field, "It actually awakened its wildness at this time... and became in sync with Sakuragi Hanamichi..."

"Chichi~"

Sakuragi Hanamichi on the court rushed straight to the front court as if it was a conditioned reflex. In just a blink of an eye, he was outside the three-point line, received the pass from Ogihara Seihiro and took three steps.

"Don't be too proud too soon, Sakuragi Hanamichi!" At this time, Akashi Seijuro rushed in front of Sakuragi Hanamichi and jumped up.

"Slam dunk? What's a slam dunk, Glitter?"

"A slam dunk is to jump high up, over the enemy's head, and slam the ball into the basket with all your strength. This is a very cool and morale-boosting move..."

Looking at Akashi Seijuro in front of him, Sakuragi Hanamichi inexplicably recalled the scene when Kaneki Ken first taught him how to dunk.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" Akashi Seijuro roared like an angry lion and pressed his fingers firmly on the bottom of the basketball.

"Dunk... Slam Dunk!!!" The electric light in Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes flashed particularly brightly, and with a roar, the basketball was slammed into the basket by Sakuragi Hanamichi. "Bang!!!"

"boom!"

Akashi Seijuro was dunked by Sakuragi Hanamichi and fell to the ground. Immediately afterwards, the sound of the basket wailing resounded throughout the stadium, and the spectators on the sidelines were speechless after watching Sakuragi Hanamichi's violent goal.

"Good job, Sakuragi-san did a great job!"

Haruko Akagi jumped up excitedly when she saw Sakuragi Hanamichi completing the slam dunk, breaking the silence in the stadium.

"Oh oh oh oh oh oh!!!"

"Sakuragi!", "Sakuragi!", "Sakuragi!"

As the song was sung, supporters of Shonan High School cheered one after another, and Sakuragi Hanamichi's name resounded throughout the stadium.

"This is... a slam dunk..." Sakuragi Hanamichi hung on the basket, looked at Akashi Seijuro who was sitting on the ground with empty eyes and let go of his hand.

"Sakuragi-san is such a rare basketball genius..." Sugiyama Shouta, who came to watch the game from the sidelines, exclaimed, "Rakusan High School...is going to be difficult to beat now."

"I don't care if you call me a fake or a fool..." Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Akashi Seijuro steadily and said, "Golden Gilgamesh said I'm a basketball genius, so I must be a basketball genius..."

"..." Akashi Seijuro looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi in front of him, and his eyes were trembling constantly from the depths of his pupils to his eyelids.

"Golden Gilgamesh is right. I don't see any love for basketball in you. All I see is a morbid desire for victory..." There seemed to be an endless flame burning in Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes. "I can lose to anyone, but if I lose to you... I won't forgive myself!"

"You like basketball?" Midorima Shintaro's eyes were a little dazed. "What about me? Do I like basketball or not?"

"Sakuragi has really grown up..." Sakuragi's father looked at his son, who was shining in the eyes of everyone present, with satisfaction, and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Xiao Zheng, it's okay..." Mibuchi Rei walked forward, "We are still leading by six points, there is still time to play..."

"Don't bother me..." Akashi Seijuro slapped away the hand that Mibuchi Reo extended, "I am the absolute one... No one can lecture me!"

As he spoke, Akashi Seijuro stretched out his hands towards Neya Takeyoshi and shouted, "Pass the ball!"

"Oh, yes!" Takeyoshi Netani was frightened by Akashi Seijuro and quickly threw the ball in his hand to Akashi Seijuro.

"Who do you think you are?" Akashi Seijuro ran to Sakuragi Hanamichi with the ball and said, "You are a guy who can't do anything without Kaneki Ken, and you are not qualified to talk nonsense in front of me!"

As he spoke, Akashi Seijuro's eyes became bloodshot, and he desperately activated the Eye of the Emperor of Heaven. The electric light in his eyes flickered, and he looked like he could not go on any longer.

"This idiot... has his defense been broken?" Aomine Daiki frowned and looked at the field, "How could he lose his composure to this extent? He can't even maintain the zone!"

"You are indeed very strong, Akashi-san..." Just when Akashi Seijuro destroyed Sakuragi Hanamichi's center of gravity and was about to shoot, Ogiwara Shigehiro's figure stuck to him like a leech, "But Sakuragi-san is not a loser who can't do anything without Kaneki!"

"Damn it..." Akashi Seijuro had already gathered the ball and jumped, but Ogiwara Shigehiro was blocking his sight, putting him under tremendous pressure.

"Xiao Zheng!"

At this moment, Mibuchi Reio's voice came from Akashi Seijuro's ears.

"..." Akashi Seijuro looked at Ogiwara Narihiro in front of him, gritted his teeth, and threw the ball to Mibuchi Reo.

"Damn, this must be fake..." Mibuchi Reo felt very uncomfortable the moment she caught the ball, "How could Xiao Zheng pass a ball like this? The quality is too poor..."

But just as he was gritting his teeth and adjusting his body, Sakuragi Hanamichi's figure ignited beside him like a flame. The burning sensation from the basketball made Mibuchi Reo couldn't help but let go of the basketball.

"Sakuragi-san stole the ball from Mibuchi Reo! Sakuragi-san launched a fast break!" Tashiro Heihachi stood up and shouted excitedly, "If we score one more goal, the gap between the two sides will be back to within five points!"

"Back to defense..." Just as Mibuchi Reo turned around to chase Sakuragi Hanamichi, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Akashi Seijuro's steps became extremely slow, as if he had exhausted all his energy.

"Go Sakuragi!!!"

"Big idiot, it doesn't matter if it's just luck, this ball must go in!!!"

The players on and off the Shonan High School court cheered and stared at Sakuragi Hanamichi who jumped up from the free throw line.

"Don't even think about going in!" Kotaro Hayama, who started one step ahead, jumped up in front of Hanamichi Sakuragi, trying to block the ball.

"Leave it to me..." Sakuragi Hanamichi murmured silently, "And remember this, you stinky fox, my shots are not based on luck!"

"boom!"

The sound of their bodies colliding in the air was heard, and Hayama Kotaro flew backwards as if he was hit by a truck. In the air, Sakuragi Hanamichi remained motionless like a steel statue, swung his long arms and slammed the ball into the basket.

(End of this chapter)