Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 228 Destiny
"Boom!"

As two consecutive sounds of the basketball hitting the ground were heard, Kaneki Ken took a step forward with his long legs and passed by Midorima Shintaro like lightning.

"Keep your head clear, Midorima, don't fall into illusions..." Midorima Shintaro kept reminding himself, his emerald eyes fixed on the basketball in Kaneki Ken's hand, his footsteps constantly changing, following the trajectory of the basketball, muttering to himself "left... right..."

"Hehe..." Kaneki Ken chuckled as he looked at Midorima Shintaro in front of him, and the rhythm of his hands suddenly changed.

Kaneki Ken first pushed the ball to the left, stepped forward with his left foot, and after shifting Midorima Shintaro's center of gravity, he used a large behind-the-back dribble to send the ball back to his right hand, while also passing Midorima Shintaro cleanly.

"Takao! Be careful, don't take your eyes off the basketball!" Midorima Shintaro, who was passed by Kaneki Ken, was not panicked. He shouted to Takao Kazunari behind him.

"Don't worry, the basketball is as dazzling as the sun in my eyes now!" Takao Kazunari's figure appeared beside Kaneki Ken like a ghost, and with the advantage of his position, his palm kept approaching the basketball in Kaneki Ken's hand.

"He shouldn't be so fast... to synchronize?" Kaneki Ken looked at Takao Kazunari, who was a few points faster than before, with some surprise. He reflexively switched the ball to his left hand, preparing to avoid Takao Kazunari's steal - but at this moment, something strange happened.

With a bang, Kaneki Ken felt a physical collision between him and a player, followed by the referee's shrill whistle.

"White No. 4, dribbling the ball and charging! Shude High School has the ball!"

"Fake fall to draw a foul?" Kaneki Ken looked at Kishimoto Miri lying on the ground with some surprise, raised his eyebrows slightly, turned his head to look at Midorima Shintaro, his expression became a little playful, "I didn't expect you to start using this trick too..."

"Well done, Kishimoto." Taisuke Ootsubo walked up to Kishimoto Misaki, pulled him up and said.

"It's a good tactic, but it's somewhat inconsistent with your status." Kaneki Ken said to Midorima Shintaro who was walking past him.

"I don't have any identity, Kaneki." Midorima Shintaro said without turning his head, "If you really want to talk about identity, then I am just an avenger who is determined to take revenge."

"Interesting." Kaneki Ken took a deep breath, walked over to Midorima Shintaro, and said with a playful smile on his face, "The game is starting to get interesting."

"I see..." Akashi Seijuro said thoughtfully, "Not a bad layout..."

"Eh? Layout?" Hayama Kotaro asked in confusion, "Didn't Kishimoto Misaki just commit a foul?"

"It's not that simple." Akashi Seijuro said solemnly, "Although Kaneki Ken is also very good at mid-range and long-range attacks, in most cases, he prefers to solve problems by breaking through."

"So what?" Kotaro Hayama still didn't understand.

"For a breakthrough player, the space on the court is very important." Akashi Seijuro patiently explained, "In the defense just now, Shintaro's forward pressing was to guide Kaneki Ken towards Takao and block Kaneki Ken's rhythm changes, so that he could only choose between the rhythm changes of left and right; and Takao Kazunari blocked his right hand, so it was easy to predict which direction Kaneki Ken would go next - this is also the reason why Kishimoto Misaki was able to create an offensive foul so accurately just now."

"But considering Kaneki Ken's speed, when he launches a breakthrough, the time left for his opponent to think... is not even enough to blink an eye..." Mibuchi Reio listened to Akashi Seijuro's analysis and looked at the field in astonishment, saying, "Can they really think so much in such a short time?"

"It's the power of bond..." Akashi Seijuro sighed, "The trust in teammates and the tacit understanding from long-term training allowed them to make the right choice in such a short time..."

"Tall tail!"

While people on the sidelines were still whispering, Taisuke Ootsubo had already passed the baseline ball to Kazunari Takao.

"Thank you, captain." After receiving the ball, Kazunari Takao immediately advanced quickly with the ball, and Shintaro Midorima also started running at this time.

"Off-ball movement?" Kaneki Ken didn't slow down at all, sticking close to Midorima Shintaro and teasing, "Letting you, the strongest shooter of the Generation of Miracles, be a high-altitude turret for off-ball movement? Isn't Coach Nakatani a bit too much of a waste of talent?"

"I'm just an ordinary shooting guard at Shutoku High School, nothing special." Although being closely followed by Kaneki Ken, Midorima Shintaro was not at all panicked. His eyes kept scanning every teammate on the court and his feet kept running.

"Why don't you try it yourself?" Izawa Shuji said, looking down at Takao Kazunari, who was more than ten centimeters shorter than him, "Your trump card has been locked up. Maybe you can be more confident with your own shot."

"Oh, really... This is the bad thing about being around the Generation of Miracles." Takao Kazunari said with a wry smile, "Everyone will treat me like a useless piece of trash..."

As he spoke, Takao Kazunari suddenly accelerated and rushed towards Izawa Shuji's left side.

"There's something wrong with this guy..." Izawa Shuji's heart tightened for no reason and he quickly moved sideways, preparing to use his height and long arms to block Takao Kazunari's breakthrough.

"Of course I can't outrun you~" Takao Kazunari said with a relaxed smile on his face, "But basketball is not a race!"

"What..." Before Izawa Shuji could react, he felt as if his body had hit a wall and was forced to stop.

"Nice screen!" Kazunari Takao took a look at Taisuke Ootsuka's sturdy body and decisively stepped back to catch the ball and jump.

"call!"

When Takao Kazunari was about to make a move, Kabaji Shigehiro, who was brought to a high position by Ootsubo Taisuke, rushed in front of Takao Kazunari and jumped up. The airflow generated by his running blew on Takao Kazunari's face, making him squint his eyes involuntarily.

"Takao can't shoot this ball, and can't pass it. It looks like Shutoku High School's offense will fail this time..." Mibuchi Reo looked at the timer on the sidelines and said with some regret, "There are still five seconds left, and this offensive round is over..."

"You can still do a lot of things in five seconds, Rei." Akashi Seijuro narrowed his eyes slightly, "The most important responsibility of a point guard is not to finish the offense..."

As if he had heard what Akashi Seijuro said, Takao Kazunari looked at Kabaji Shigehiro in front of him and smiled slightly. His original shooting action suddenly changed. He gently pushed the ball with his right hand, and the basketball came into the hands of Tsuchiya Jun who was at a 45-degree angle on the left.

"What's the point of passing the ball to him? He can't get past Sakuragi." Shigehiro Kabaji said with a chuckle as he looked at Kazunari Takao who chose to pass the ball.

"It's not that simple of a pass!" Akashi Seijuro's expression was a little complicated, "The rotation of that pass was perfect!"

"boom!"

As Akashi Seijuro's voice fell, Tsuchiya Jun, who received the ball, threw it to the ground reflexively. Ootsubo Taisuke, who had originally mentioned a high pick-and-roll, had cut into the basket at some point, and after receiving the ball in the restricted area, he jumped up and slammed the ball into the basket.

"Is this... Pass the Parcel?" Mibuchi Reo stared at the three people who were celebrating by high-fiving, and said in disbelief, "You are not the only one who..." "It looks similar, but it's completely different." Akashi Seijuro sighed and said, "My Pass the Parcel uses the ball to guide you to make a choice... But Shutoku High School relies on the tacit understanding and instinctive reaction, eliminating the step of thinking..."

"Is this the surprise you told me about?" Kaneki Ken looked at Midorima Shintaro, "It is indeed very interesting."

"This is just an appetizer, Kaneki." Midorima Shintaro looked Kaneki Ken straight in the eyes and said, "You'd better get serious, otherwise you might really lose."

"I have always been serious." Kaneki Ken said sincerely, "It is you...it is Shutoku who has become stronger, Midorima...you have impressed me deeply."

"Today's destiny is in my hands, Kaneki. I'm one goal ahead of you now." After saying this, Midorima Shintaro ran towards the backcourt without looking back.

"We lost the ball at the beginning..." Nakamura muttered as he looked at Kaneki Ken on the field, "This is the first time for Kaneki-san..."

"Not only that, coupled with the defensive trap set up by Shutoku High School just now..." Aida Yako frowned slightly, "Kaneki-san has been defeated by Shutoku High School twice in a row..."

"Defend!", "Defend!", "Defend!"

The fans of Shude High School watched the players who had played two beautiful rounds on the court and roared at the top of their lungs.

"Captain Kaneki!" After Shigehiro Kabaji passed the baseline ball to Ken Kaneki, he ran towards the front court with his teammates.

"call……"

Kaneki Ken stood there blankly, ignoring his teammates who passed by him one after another. He replayed the opening two rounds in his mind and suddenly chuckled.

"This distance... is not good!" After returning to the backcourt, Midorima Shintaro felt his heart tighten when he saw the expression on Kaneki Ken's face, and hurriedly ran towards Kaneki Ken's direction.

"You actually caught me using my court habits... I was indeed careless on this point, Midorima."

At this moment, in Kaneki Ken's vision, all the people around him seemed to go into slow motion, and he was the only one who jumped up calmly with the ball.

"Damn it, I actually overlooked Kaneki Ken's range..." Midorima Shintaro looked at Kaneki Ken's figure with a ferocious expression, and his legs moved faster, "Why...why did I make a mistake in such a small matter!!"

"call out!!"

The basketball brushed past Midorima Shintaro's fingertips and flew out, drawing a high arc in his desperate eyes before falling into the basket.

"Now you and I have each made a mistake, Midorima." Kaneki Ken, who had completed the score, smiled and patted Midorima Shintaro on the shoulder and said, "The real game starts from now on."

"Are you okay, Shinjiro?" Takao Kazunari came to Midorima Shintaro and asked, "Do you want to use that shot you have?"

"It's not the right time yet." Midorima Shintaro said, looking at Kaneki Ken's back, "Give me a little more time... I'm almost getting that feeling..."

"Then you better hurry up." Takao Kazunari wiped the sweat off his face and said, "We can't rely on the sudden attacks and piecemeal attacks of our predecessors for long..."

"Yeah." Midorima Shintaro nodded heavily.

As the game continued, Takao Kazunari took the ball from the baseline and was about to advance with the ball, but the defensive player in front of him made his pupils shrink.

"Kaneki-san is actually defending Takao-san himself?" Nakamura was also shocked by the situation on the field.

"What's so surprising?" Aida Miko was not surprised at all. "From the goal just now, we can see that the offensive engine of Shutoku High School Nagisa is... this inconspicuous Takao-san!"

"It seems that I have really made it..." Takao Kazunari looked at Kaneki Ken in front of him, his scalp tingling, and he laughed bitterly at himself and said, "I really had a nightmare. I never thought that one day it would be you who would visit me, Kaneki..."

"Don't underestimate yourself, Takao. Midorima is very optimistic about you." Kaneki Ken said with a smile, "And according to the order of position, I should be the one to defend you."

"But according to the position on the court, shouldn't Sakuragi be defending Kishimoto..." Takao Kazunari looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi who was sticking in front of Midorima Shintaro, and complained in his heart, but his sharp eyes kept scanning the positions of the players on the court.

"Where are you looking?" Just as Takao Kazunari's sharp eyes caught Midorima Shintaro running half a body length away and was about to pass the ball, Kaneki Ken's voice rang in Takao Kazunari's ears.

"Not good!" Alarm bells suddenly rang in Gaowei and Cheng's heart. He tried desperately to catch the ball that was about to slip out of his hands, but it was too late.

"boom!"

There was a sound of fingertips touching the basketball, and then a big hand appeared in Takao Kazunari's sight.

"A good point guard shouldn't be betrayed by his eyes, Takao!"

"It's not over yet, Kaneki Ken!" Kaneki Ken, who had completed the steal, was about to launch a fast break, but found that Midorima Shintaro suddenly blocked him. His emerald green eyes became brighter and brighter, as if flames would burn from them at any time.

"Just now... was Midorima's speed a little faster?" asked Mibuchi Reio uncertainly.

"It should be a rush, right?" Hayama Kotaro said uncertainly, "Just now I saw Midorima was looking at Takao, so it's normal to react in advance..."

"Do your best and wait for destiny, this is Shintaro's consistent principle." At this time, Akashi Seijuro on the side suddenly said, "But when you have done your best but destiny has not yet arrived, Shintaro will inevitably have distracting thoughts - is destiny in my hands..."

"Distracting thoughts?" Mibuchi Reio said thoughtfully, "If there are distracting thoughts, then it means that I can't enter the zone, right?"

"But Zone is Shintaro's only chance to defeat Kaneki Ken..." Akashi Seijuro sighed, "So in a sense, the more Shintaro cares about fate, the less fate is in Shintaro's hands."

(End of this chapter)