Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 231 Miracle Growth and Miracle Dunk

"Miracle-level talent, really makes people jealous!"

Looking at Takehiko Inoue's complicated expression, Sakuragi Hanamichi only saw a flash of red light in front of his eyes, and the basketball flew out of Takehiko Inoue's hands, hit the floor and bounced into the hands of Shintaro Midorima.

"You must make the shot, Midorima!" Itakura Daijiro, who was sitting on the sidelines, stared at Midorima Shintaro after he caught the ball, his bloodshot eyes widened, and he shouted at the top of his lungs with an almost broken voice.

"Don't worry, I won't miss this shot... no matter what!"

Midorima Shintaro bent his knees slightly, looked at Kaneki Ken who rushed in front of him, raised the corners of his mouth, and as he jumped up with his legs, his upper body gradually leaned backward. The basketball in his hand brushed past Kaneki Ken's big hand that blocked the shot, drew a high arc in the air, and then fell accurately into the basket.

"Hey? Sister Reo..." Hayama Kotaro pointed at Midorima Shintaro on the court, turned his head and looked at Mibuchi Reo in shock and said, "Isn't this your Heaven's Shot?"

"What a fuss..." Mibuchi Reo rolled her eyes at Hayama Kotaro. "The Sky Shot is indeed quite famous, but after all, it's just a simple fadeaway jump shot. Isn't it normal for a shooter of Midorima's level to be able to do a fadeaway jump shot?"

"Well done, Midorima!" Itakura Daijiro on the sidelines cheered excitedly, "Keep shooting like this!"

"That's good, Midorima. You make me happier and happier." Kaneki Ken looked at Midorima Shintaro with shining eyes, with a hint of surprise that could not be concealed in his eyes.

……

"Did the sun rise from the west today, Murasakihara?" In the gym of Yangquan High School, Masako Araki leaned on her wooden sword and smiled at Murasakihara Atsushi who was learning the footwork behind Okamura Kenichi. "I didn't expect you to come to the gym on your day off to practice. Even the ice room went out to watch the game today."

"boom!"

What greeted Araki Masako's teasing was a slam dunk by Murasakihara Atsushi after he flexibly shook off Okamura Kenichi under the basket.

"Is it weird, Masako?" After scoring, Murasakihara Atsushi came to the sidelines, wiped himself with a towel, rolled his eyes at Araki Masako and said, "When I was with Ken-zai, I always practiced extra."

"It's rare that there are two Age of Miracles games today. Don't you want to watch any of them?" Araki Masako asked as she sat next to Murasakihara Atsushi with a smile, "After all, understanding the progress of other players will also help us prepare for the game~"

"I don't want to watch it." Murasakibara Atsushi said, "I just want to prepare for the match with Yanzi."

"Well, that's a shame." Araki Masako stood up with a smile and said loudly on purpose, "Kaneki Ken and Midorima Shintaro were fighting fiercely."

"Yanzi and Luzi?" Murasakihara Atsushi paused while drinking water, then resumed his lazy tone and said, "Yanzi has evolved to that level. Logically, Luzi should not be Yanzi's opponent."

"Who knows?" Araki Masako chuckled and said, "You practice well. I'm going to watch the game first."

"Wait a minute!" Murasakihara Atsushi stood up, looked down at Araki Masako, and said casually, "I've practiced for a long time today, there's nothing wrong with watching the game."

"Haha~" Araki Masako laughed, waved at Okamura Kenichi and the others on the field and said, "Stop practicing, take a break, and come with me to the conference room to watch the game."

"Yes!" Everyone from Yangquan High School walked off the court, packed up briefly, and followed Araki Masako to the conference room. As the projector turned on, the second quarter of the match between Shutoku High School and Shonan High School came into view.

"32-all?" Okamura Kenichi exclaimed. "The second quarter has already started for three minutes, how could it get to this point?"

"Beep beep~"

Just as everyone at Yangquan University was whispering, the referee's whistle was heard on the TV broadcast.

"Red No. 10, defensive foul, Orange No. 17 gets one free throw!"

"Who is this No. 17?" Okamura Kenichi pointed at Takehiko Inoue on the screen and said, "He can score under the defense of Sakuragi Hanamichi and cause him to foul. He is quite impressive. Why is he not famous?"

"This guy is still playing basketball..." Murasakibara Atsushi narrowed his eyes slightly, "But he looks pretty good."

"Murasara, do you know this guy?" Kenichi Okamura asked Murasara Atsushi with some curiosity.

"I know him..." Murasakibara Atsushi said thoughtfully as he looked at the figure of Inoue Takehiko on the projection, "This guy once fought back and forth with Qingzai..."

……

"This guy used to be able to fight back and forth with Aomine Daiki." Kaneki Ken said with a smile beside the depressed Sakuragi Hanamichi, "You defended that ball very well just now, Sakuragi."

"Yes, Gilgamesh." Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Inoue Takehiko standing on the free throw line with some dissatisfaction and muttered, "I must defend this guy to death later!"

"Haha, then come on!" Kaneki Ken patted Sakuragi Hanamichi on the shoulder, looked at Takehiko Inoue who was shooting free throws, and was ready to grab the rebound at any time.

Unfortunately, Takehiko Inoue failed to help Kaneki Ken get his wish. He kicked the basketball into the basket with a swish, making the score 33 to 32. This was the first time that Kaneki Ken was behind in the score since his debut.

"It's really amazing!" Imayoshi Shoichi on the sidelines couldn't help but admire, "Inoue Takehiko and Shutoku High School... They can still maintain such resilience when facing Kaneki Ken!"

"The next ball is the key." Aomine Daiki held his chin with the thumb of his left hand and put his index finger on the bridge of his nose. He looked at Kaneki Ken on the field with a serious expression and said, "If we can defend this ball, Shutoku will have a chance of winning. If Kaneki Ken chases and hits him back immediately, it will have a great impact on morale..."

Of course, Midorima Shintaro on the field also knew this. He and his two teammates were staring at Kaneki Ken. They stuck closely to Kaneki Ken from the front court, trying to isolate him from the field.

"Kawachi, this way!" When Sakuragi Hanamichi saw Kaneki Ken surrounded by people, he quickly reached out to Kabachi Shigehiro who was standing at the baseline to ask for the ball.

"Don't even think about catching the ball!" Kishimoto Miri and Takao Kazunari hurriedly ran to Sakuragi Hanamichi, blocking the passing route between Kabaji Shigehiro and Sakuragi Hanamichi.

"Sakuragi!" Seeing this, Shigehiro Kabachi deliberately looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi and shouted, then he suddenly exerted force with his arms, and the basketball turned into an orange-red stream of light and flew into the hands of Rukawa Kaede who was unguarded.

"Kawachi, why are you doing this?" Sakuragi Hanamichi asked Kawachi Shigehiro with a hurt expression on his face.

"Good pass!" Rukawa sighed after receiving the ball and ran towards the frontcourt with the ball at a quick pace.

"Stop right there!" Kishimoto Miri shouted angrily as she chased after Rukawa Kaede.

"You guys who play power forward..." Rukawa muttered, which was rare for him, "You're all so noisy!"

As he spoke, Rukawa Kaede jumped up two steps inside the free throw line.

"Don't think about it!"

Midorima Shintaro chased to the inside line in the first possible moment, jumped up to meet Rukawa who was jumping, and fanned the basketball hard with his big hands.

"This guy..." Rukawa's eyelids twitched slightly. He slowly retracted the basketball into his arms with his right hand, and gently picked the ball towards the basket with his left hand.

"Stop dreaming!" Midorima Shintaro in the air seemed to have anticipated Rukawa's next move. He twisted his body in the air, and his long arms lashed at the basketball that Rukawa had just sent out like a whip.

"What!" Rukawa stared in amazement at the ball that was hit hard onto the backboard by Midorima Shintaro in front of him, and he was unable to react for a moment.

"Well done, Midorima!" Looking at Midorima Shintaro who blocked Rukawa Kaede's shot, Kishimoto Misaki shouted excitedly and jumped up, trying to grab the rebound.

"I knew you couldn't do it, you stinky fox!"

Just as Kishimoto Miri's hand was about to touch the basketball, a fiery red figure jumped up from behind him.

"What the hell!" Takao Kazunari looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi who was holding the basketball behind Kishimoto Misaki, as if he had seen a ghost, "This guy... is he going to dunk over two people?"

"It's not impossible." Mitsui's words attracted Takao Kazunari's attention. Mitsui looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi with pride and said, "That's our Shonan High School basketball genius, Sakuragi Hanamichi!"

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!!!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi grabbed the flying basketball from the air and threw it towards the basket with all his might.

"It's just a slam dunk that even a monkey can do. What's there to be excited about!" After landing, Midorima Shintaro jumped again and placed his palm on the basketball in Sakuragi Hanamichi's hand again.

"Is this choice really okay?" Kaneki Ken put his hands on his waist, smiled as he watched the struggle between Midorima Shintaro and Sakuragi Hanamichi, "Sakuragi has such a strong body that even Murasakibara doesn't dare to face him head-on~"

As Kaneki Ken finished his words, Midorima Shintaro felt as if a bomb exploded in his hands. The basketball finally slipped out of his control and was smashed into the basket by Sakuragi Hanamichi.

"boom!"

With a loud bang, both Kishimoto Misaki and Midorima Shintaro were blown away by Sakuragi Hanamichi.

"Ha!!!" After landing, Sakuragi Hanamichi excitedly made a biceps gesture towards Midorima Shintaro and roared provocatively.

"What the hell, this red-haired guy..." Hayama Kotaro complained in a complicated tone, "I thought it was Murasakibara Atsushi who scored that goal just now..."

……

"For that ball just now, I almost thought it was you who hit it on the court..." Kenichi Okamura was about to make a joke as he looked at Hanamichi Sakuragi who had completed a violent slam dunk, but when he turned around, he found that his teammates were all staring at the red-haired figure who was howling to the sky on the screen with serious expressions, and his teasing voice gradually died down.

"Gulu..."

A sound of people swallowing their saliva in shock rang out in the conference room of Yangquan High School, until Murasakibara Atsushi broke the silence.

"What are you all afraid of?" Murasakibara Atsushi said unhappily, "This red-haired monkey is just relying on Yanzi to attract defense for him. I can handle it with one hand!"

"But besides this red-haired monkey, Shonan High School also has Kaneki Ken..." Mike Okita whispered.

As soon as these words were spoken, all the Yangquan University players present fell silent.

"Yanzi taught me that even Jose can lose to Yabuki..." Murasakibara Atsushi's expression has never been so serious. "So before the game is over, no one can say that they will definitely lose! I will lead you to win... This is my responsibility as the ace!"

"Haha, well said!" Okamura Kenichi was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled, touched Murasakibara Atsushi's head and said, "Then I'll leave it to you, Ace!"

……

"This match...I'm leaving it to you, Ace!"

Inside the Osaka Arena, Kasamatsu Yukio looked at the Fukuda Soso team led by Haizaki Shogo across from him, and whispered in Kise Ryouta's ear.

"Ah, just leave it to me." Kise Ryota nodded slightly and said with a relaxed expression.

"According to the coach, Kise Ryouta's imitation of the Generation of Miracles can only last about five minutes..." Kagami Taiga looked at the game that was about to begin and speculated curiously, "Do you think Kise will go all out from the beginning and completely defeat Haizaki Shogo?"

"It should be possible..." Kuroko Tetsuya shook his head and said, "Kise-san looks... in great shape today!"

"Haisaki..." Ishida Eiki approached Haizaki Shogo and asked, "I heard that the opponent Kise Ryouta can already imitate all the skills of the Generation of Miracles... In this match, should we play a game of cooperation?"

"Huh? Cooperate?" Haizaki Shogo said, picking his ears. "Even if he really learns all the skills of the Generation of Miracles, what can you do? Just stand aside and don't get in my way, idiots!"

"What did you say..." Nakazato Takashi rushed to Kise Ryota with some indignation and was about to argue with him, but was grabbed by Ishida Eiki's arm.

"Captain..." Nakazato Takashi stared at Ishida Hideki with disappointment and was about to say something, but he was deeply hurt by the sadness in Ishida Hideki's eyes.

"It's really hard to accept..." Ishida Eiki said, looking at Haizaki Shogo's back, "But Haizaki Shogo is right, the Generation of Miracles can only be dealt with by the Generation of Miracles... We... can't do anything!"

"Players from both teams, line up and salute!"

"Please give me some advice!"

"Please give me some advice!"

As the process ended, the referee walked to the center circle with a whistle in his mouth, and Takashi Nakasato and Tetsuya Naito also came to the two sides of the center circle to prepare for the jump ball.

"Beep beep~"

As the referee blew the whistle, Naito Tetsuya overpowered Nakasato Takashi and won the opening ball for Kaijo High School. Kasamatsu Yukio grabbed the basketball in one move and passed it to Kise Ryota.

"Hey, Ryota~" Just as Kise Ryota caught the ball, Haizaki Shogo appeared in front of Kise Ryota like a leech, and said to him with a ferocious smile, "I heard that you have made it? You can actually learn all the miracle-level talents~ Do you mind showing me?"

"I am me, and Kaneki is Kaneki." Kise Ryouta stared straight at Haizaki Shogo and said something that was irrelevant to the question.

"What did you say?" Haizaki Shogo seemed to understand the implication of Kise Ryota's words. He stared at Kise Ryota with gloomy eyes and asked coldly.

"I said I am me, and Kaneki is Kaneki." Kise Ryota's eyes flashed with a determined fighting spirit, "Don't think that provoking me is provoking Kaneki. This approach is just to comfort your pitiful self-esteem..."

"You don't know what I'm talking about..." As if his thoughts were exposed, Haizaki Shogo snorted in dissatisfaction, "And do I need to provoke you? From junior high school to now, have you ever defeated me once?"

"I will beat you, Haizaki." Kise Ryouta said firmly, "Just like Kaneki beat you in the past."

"Then let's try it!" Haizaki Shogo's face became extremely ugly after his sore spot was touched. After he finished speaking, his body suddenly jumped up, and his long arm stabbed towards the basketball in Kise Ryota's hand.

"If Kaneki was here...what would he do?" Kise Ryota looked at Haizaki Shogo who was approaching him with empty eyes. Instead of panicking, he began to think about it.

……

"Don't panic, Midorima Shintaro..." Midorima Shintaro received the pass from Takao Kazunari, staring at Kaneki Ken in front of him, and whispered to himself, "Think about what Kaneki Ken would do if he was in this position..."

"Don't try to consider my thoughts..." Kaneki Ken chuckled as he listened to Midorima Shintaro's whisper, "Because... these are distracting thoughts!"

As Kaneki Ken finished speaking, two golden thunder dragons shot out from his pupils. He saw everything Midorima Shintaro did. His long arms went straight to the basketball that Midorima Shintaro was gradually raising. However, Kaneki Ken's steal was in vain. Midorima Shintaro dodged Kaneki Ken's steal with unprecedented agility, and at the same time, he passed Kaneki Ken by half a body length.

"This is not some distracting thought..." Midorima Shintaro whispered softly in Kaneki Ken's ear as his figure passed by him, "Our goal...has always been to catch up with you...and then surpass you!"

"I didn't expect that you're as fond of bragging as Kise and the others..." Kaneki Ken chuckled, took a half step back, and swung his long arms back like a hook.

"Is this my previous... Eagle Claw?" Takao Kazunari looked at the basketball shot by Kaneki Ken in disbelief and muttered to himself, "Fake... fake, right? Kaneki Ken obviously doesn't have Eagle Eyes..."

"He first pretended to steal the ball, forcing Midorima Shintaro to instinctively break through the gap he deliberately left, and then used his excellent predictive ability to complete the steal..." Akashi Seijuro said with a complicated expression as he looked at Kaneki Ken on the field, "For Kaneki Ken who can deceive human intuition with fake moves... Not to mention that he doesn't have Eagle Eyes, he can do this easily even with his eyes closed..."

"Not good!" While dribbling the ball, Midorima Shintaro felt his hands go empty. When he looked down, he saw that the basketball that should have bounced back into his hands had been caught by Kaneki Ken with one hand.

"You're already amazing to have made it this far under my defense..." Kaneki Ken's tone was filled with a hint of appreciation, "But you're not the only one who has an appointment with others... Murasakibara is still waiting for me."

As Kaneki Ken finished his words, a golden stream of light, accompanied by a strong wind pressure, swept across the entire stadium, making it almost impossible for the fans watching to open their eyes.

"Don't even think about scoring a goal!" Takehiko Inoue, who started running first, secretly pushed away Sakuragi Hanamichi who was entangled with him on the side, and blocked Kaneki Ken's path to breakthrough in advance.

"A defeated general of Aomine Daiki may not be able to stop me!" Kaneki Ken's pressure hit Inoue Takehiko like a tsunami, making his limbs tremble uncontrollably.

"It doesn't matter. As long as I'm here, he has to get around me..." Inoue Takehiko's mind went blank, and he kept reminding himself, "It doesn't matter if I can't stop him. At least I have to buy some time for Midorima to return to defense!"

"It seems like you're ready..." Kaneki Ken raised his eyebrows as he looked at the expressionless Inoue Takehiko, then jumped up one step inside the three-point line.

"It's not just Inoue!" Kishimoto Miri, who had rushed back, also jumped up at the first opportunity, "All of us at Shutoku High School are ready!"

As she spoke, Kishimoto Misaki reached out for the basketball in Kaneki Ken's hand, trying to steal it before Kaneki Ken raised the ball to a place where she could not reach it.

"Very good, since you are all prepared... then I will show you what true power is!"

As the words fell, Kaneki Ken twisted his body in the shocked eyes of Kishimoto Miri, dodged Kishimoto Miri's steal, and threw the ball from behind. The basketball used the force of rotation to hit the backboard hard.

"Pass the ball?" Kishimoto Misaki immediately looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi, "But the route of this ball is too straight...it can't be passed to Sakuragi!"

"It's not a pass!" As if he had guessed what Kishimoto Miri was thinking, Kaneki Ken chuckled and glided to catch the basketball that bounced back.

"Can this guy really fly?" Mibuchi Reo stared blankly at Kaneki Ken, who had just reached his highest point after catching the ball, and said half-complainingly and half-amazingly.

"boom!"

Under the astonished gazes of the people around him, Kaneki Ken turned and glided in the air over an extremely long distance, then threw the ball up and dunked it with both hands to complete the attack.

“Crunch~~”

As Kaneki Ken loosened his hands and fell to the ground, the basketball stand let out a painful groan, the screws at the connection made a crisp sound, and the basketball stand began to shake, and the amplitude became larger and larger - finally, in the stunned gaze of everyone, the basketball stand fell to the ground with a loud bang, and the onlookers suddenly fell into an eerie silence.

"Hey, Eikichi..." Hayama Kotaro took a deep breath when he saw the basketball hoop that was knocked down by Kaneki Ken. He patted Neya Takeyoshi on the back and said, "Why don't you change the name of your skill? I think Kaneki's move... deserves to be called a muscle dunk..."

"..." Takeyoshi Netani stared blankly at the collapsed support in the field, not knowing how to respond to Kotaro Hayama's words.

"Beep~" The referee on the side was the first to react. He blew the whistle and shouted loudly, "The equipment is damaged, official timeout!"

The spectators on the sidelines finally realized that they could breathe after hearing the referee's voice. For a moment, the entire audience was filled with the sound of gasps.

"Did you hit that ball just now?" After reacting, Yako Aida on the sidelines immediately stared into Nakamura's eyes and asked.

"Of course, this is a miraculous slam dunk!" Nakamura said proudly, "Just for this shot, the editor-in-chief will have to give me a year-end bonus when he goes back!"

(End of this chapter)