Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 244 ZONE (Two in One)

"As expected of Kasamatsu Yukio..." Mitsui Shou sighed as he watched the match broadcast on his phone, "Although he was tormented by the black players before, he is still reliable at the critical moment..."

"Rather, the most amazing thing is that he was able to pass the ball..." Miyagi Ryouta smacked his lips and said in a complicated tone, "He was able to pass the ball from the crowd inside to the three-point line in the bottom corner. This kind of vision and passing feel... He really deserves to be a top-notch point guard in the country!"

"What, red-haired monkey..." Sakuragi Hanamichi stared blankly at the struggling Kagami Taiga on the screen, muttering with mixed feelings, "It's already this time, and you're still in a daze, have you given up the game?"

"I guess... Seirin High School can only go this far..." Mitsui Shou sighed and said, "What a pity. After resisting to this extent, they still have to lose..."

"It has come to this, am I still going to lose..." Kagami Daigo muttered to himself with empty eyes, "No, I don't want to lose again! Together with Kuroko and my seniors, I want to become the best in Japan!"

"Throw it in! Matsuyama!" Kasamatsu Yukio couldn't help but roar excitedly as he looked at Matsuyama Yutaka who shot from the corner.

"Whoosh~"

After a simple aim, Yutaka Matsuyama threw the ball out with an extremely awkward shooting posture.

"Second time~"

Just as the basketball was shot, a flash of lightning suddenly rang in everyone's ears. Matsuyama Yutaka only felt a flash before his eyes, and then a fiery red figure pounced in front of him like a tiger.

"What?" Matsuyama Yutaka looked at the Kagami Daigo with his electric eyes, and his pupils shrank. His scalp felt numb, and the tingling spread from his neck to his back. "This guy... he just landed..."

"I... never stand by and watch helplessly again!" Lightning flashed in Kagami Daigo's pupils. He leaped up with a roar, and in front of Matsuyama Yutaka's shocked eyes, he slapped the basketball out of the court.

"This feeling is..." Kasamatsu Yukio looked at Kagami Taiga who slowly stood up, and his heart trembled, "Damn it, the situation I least wanted to happen has happened..."

"Really, isn't this quite capable~" Aomine Daiki looked at Kagami Daiga on the field and chuckled and said, "Welcome back, Kagami."

"Little Kagami!" Kise Ryota felt the pressure that permeated the field, and stood up in shock. He stared at Kagami Daigo and muttered to himself, "Could it be that Little Kagami... really found the trigger?"

"Have you found the trigger, Kagami?" Momoi Satsuki asked curiously, looking at Kaneki Ken, "Otherwise, we won't be able to enter the zone again, right?"

"Isn't this normal?" Kaneki Ken said with a chuckle, "Although Kagami started late among the miracle-level players, he is still the light chosen by Kuroko after all!"

"Well done, Kagami!" Hinata Junpei lifted up his jersey to wipe the sweat off his face, then came in front of Kagami Taiga and said with a look of relief, "It's worth our hard work to hold on until now~"

"Thank you for your hard work, Captain... and Kuroko." Kagami Taiga let out a long sigh, as if to relieve the depression in his chest, and said to his teammates around him, "Next, let's win this game together!"

"Yes!" the players of Seirin High School said in unison.

"Kasamatsu... the situation doesn't look good..." Fujima Kenji said to Kasamatsu Yukio with a serious face as he walked to him.

"What are you afraid of? We are still leading by more than ten points." Kasamatsu Yukio frowned slightly, staring at Kagami Daiga, and said, "Besides..."

As he spoke, Kasamatsu Yukio looked at Kise Ryota without leaving any trace and said, "I believe that the coach and Kise will have a way. What we have to do is to keep the score difference within ten points as much as possible before Kise goes on the court again!"

"I understand." Fujima Kenji nodded, turned to look at his teammates and comforted them, "Don't be nervous! Let's play this ball well first!"

"Yes, Captain Fujima!" The players of Kaijo High School answered in unison.

"What's the point of playing this ball well, you idiots?" Hanamiya Makoto said with a mocking smile, "In the face of such an absolute power gap as Zone, the harder you resist, the more thoroughly you will be crushed... You will get nothing but despair!"

"Captain Kasamatsu!"

Since it was Kagami Daiga who blocked the ball out of bounds, Kaijo High School still had the ball. Naito Tetsuya immediately threw the sideline ball in the direction of Kasamatsu Yukio on the court.

"Idiot, you dare to pass such a rough pass at this time..." Aomine Daiki looked at Naito Tetsuya's obvious pass, frowned slightly, and said softly, "Are you afraid that you won't lose points fast enough?"

"Captain Kasamatsu, be careful!" Kise Ryota's heart was beating violently, and he had an ominous premonition, so he hurriedly spoke out to warn everyone on the field, but it was too late.

"Whoo~"

As a fiery red hurricane blew across everyone's cheeks, when the extremely efficient players opened their eyes again, Vulcan Da I had already completed the steal and flew towards the front court with the ball at an incredible speed.

"Damn it! We were too careless! No matter how weak this guy is, he's still a miracle-level player!"

Kasamatsu Yukio gritted his teeth and looked at Kagami Daigo's back with an annoyed look. He knew it was futile, but he still ran towards the backcourt unwillingly.

"boom!"

With a loud roar of the basket, the basketball was smashed heavily into the basket by Kagami Daigo, and the score difference became ten points.

"Kise told me... he is standing opposite me as an avenger." Kagami Daiga whispered as he passed by Kasamatsu Yukio, "What revenge... We are not so arrogant as to stand in front of you as challenged..."

As he spoke, Kagami Taiga came to the rooftop of the backcourt three-pointer, turned around, stared at Kasamatsu Yukio with burning eyes, and roared: "It's better to say that we are the real Avengers... We must avenge the Generation of Miracles and become the real No. 1 in Neon!"

"Neon No. 1..."

"First……"

The roar of Kagami Taiga was like a thunder that kept replaying in Kasamatsu Yukio's mind. The players of Kaijo High School present also had a vague premonition at this time - they probably couldn't win this game.

"Although I'm well aware of the talent gap between me and Taiga..." Himuro Tatsuya said with a hint of hidden envy in his tone, "But I have to say that the pressure from Zone is really terrifying... It only took one goal to frighten Kaijo High School to the point of total silence!"

"Damn it... We can't fight them head-on anymore..." Kasamatsu Yukio received the baseline ball from Naito Tetsuya, absentmindedly advancing with the ball while staring at Kagami Taiga standing in the paint, "If we keep dragging it on like this... Time is on our side!"

"I think... it's better not to be distracted when facing me."

Just when Yukio Kasamatsu made up his mind to drag the game to the end, a soft voice suddenly sounded in Yukio Kasamatsu's ears, making the hairs on his body stand up instantly.

"Damn it! I actually forgot about this guy at this time!" Kasamatsu Yukio felt the empty feeling in his hands, and the corners of his eyes couldn't help but twitch. He turned his head and glared at the thin figure of Kuroko Tetsuya, then gritted his teeth and pounced on the basketball that was hit away by Kuroko Tetsuya.

"Well done, Kuroko!" Kasamatsu Yukio reacted quickly, but even Kagami Daigo reacted faster than him.

Yukio Kasamatsu only felt a flash of fiery red light, and the basketball in front of him disappeared in an instant. Instead, he saw the figure of Kagami Taiga running with the ball. Yukio Kasamatsu fell to the ground with a thud, looking at the back of Kagami Taiga's fast break with embarrassment.

"Don't even think about going in!!!"

Just when everyone thought that Kagami Daiga was going to complete another easy slam dunk, Naito Tetsuya, who had started running ahead, also caught up to Kagami Daiga's side and jumped up at the same time as Kagami Daiga. His strong and tall arms pressed down on the basketball that Kagami Daiga was holding high like an own goal.

"Defended?!" Wakamatsu Kosuke swallowed in disbelief.

"Tsk, how is that possible?" Aomine Daiki laughed disdainfully, "Except for Murasakibara and Sakuragi, I really can't think of anyone who can withstand the brute force of Kagami..."

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

The two men who were struggling in the air let out a low roar at the same time, and the veins on their long arms, one black and one white, bulged. They maintained a stalemate for a moment, but as Kagami Taiga gradually increased the strength in his hands, Naito Tetsuya was inevitably knocked away.

"I want to... win!" Kagami's eyes flashed with lightning, and he gritted his teeth and roared loudly as he slammed the ball into the basket. With a bang, Kagami's ball hit the basket like a falling meteor, and even the reinforced basketball stand shook and wailed at this time.

After the basketball passed through the hoop, its momentum continued to grow. It hit the ground with a thud, then bounced high and hit Naito Tetsuya's shiny forehead.

"Crunch~Crunch~"

Kagami Daigo hung on the basket, waiting for the shaking of the basketball hoop to become smaller and smaller, until it finally stabilized, then he let go of his hands and fell heavily to the ground. The sound of his body hitting the ground was like a heavy hammer that hit the hearts of the players of Kaijo High School.

"Huh..." After landing, Kagami Daiwo breathed a sigh of relief and his eyes inadvertently swept over the players of Haichang High School. Whenever Kagami Daiwo saw a player of Haichang High School, the player would be so nervous that he would swallow his saliva involuntarily. For a moment, the sound of swallowing saliva could be heard in the silent venue.

"Coach, I want to play." Kise Ryota stood up decisively, looking at Kagami Taiga who was dominating the whole stadium, and said with a tone of unquestionable determination. "Sit down! You have to trust your seniors at this time!" Takeuchi Genta refused decisively.

"Coach!" Kise Ryouta strode up to Takeuchi Genta and wanted to fight for something, but looking at Takeuchi Genta's unwavering eyes, he could only sit back on the bench angrily, staring at the game on the court and clenching his fists.

"Only eight points behind..." Qingfeng Daihui said in a playful tone while looking at the numbers on the scoreboard on the sidelines, "It looks like Azhe and his team will be able to overtake the score by the end of the halftime match."

The result was just as Aomine Daiki had said. Until the whistle blew to end the game at halftime, Kagami Daiga played a dominant performance on both offense and defense. When the timer buzzed, Kagami Daiga completed a shooting slam dunk in the desperate eyes of everyone at Kaijo High School, widening the gap between the two teams to ten points again.

"Uh~ The first half is finally over~" Aomine Daiki stretched lazily, then stood up and left his seat.

"Where are you going, Qingfeng?" asked Imayoshi Xiangyi curiously.

"Let's go check on that guy Huang Lai." Qingfeng Daihui waved his hand and said, "Last time when we lost, that guy actually dared to mock me. Now I want to see how good his face is."

"Remember to come back when the second half starts..." Konyoshi Xiangyi reminded Aomine Daiki from behind.

"I see. You're so long-winded." Aomine Daiki turned around, looked at Imayoshi Xiang, curled his lips and said, "Such an exciting game, I won't miss it."

"What a childish guy..." Wakamatsu Kosuke said with an unhappy look on his face as he looked at Aomine Daiki's back as he left.

“It’s not your turn to call others childish, right?” Zhu Xingda shook his head helplessly and chuckled.

……

"Thank you for your hard work, Kagami." Just as Seirin's efficient players lined up to walk towards the player tunnel, Hinata Junpei patted Kagami Taiga on the back with a look of satisfaction and said, "Keep playing like this in the second half, and completely widen the score before Kise Ryouna comes on the court!"

"Ah, I understand." Kagami Daigo responded absentmindedly, but his eyes involuntarily glanced towards the player tunnel at the other end of the court. Coincidentally, at this moment, Kise Ryota seemed to have a telepathic connection and also turned his head to look at Seirin High School. When their eyes met, sparks seemed to fly.

"Don't be happy too soon." Although Kagami Daiga couldn't hear what Kise Ryota said, he clearly understood what he meant from the look in Kise Ryota's eyes.

"Haha... come on." Kagami Daigo chuckled and muttered to himself, his eyes filled with high fighting spirit.

"Really, this little Kagami guy really doesn't give me any face at all." As the two of them looked away tacitly at each other, Kise Ryota smiled bitterly, shook his head and muttered to himself.

"What did you say, Kise?" Kasamatsu Yukio didn't quite hear what Kise Ryouta said, so he couldn't help but ask.

"Thank you for your hard work," Kise Ryouka said word by word. "Please hold on a little longer. I will definitely lead you to win this game."

"Really..." Kasamatsu Yukio suddenly chuckled, slapped Kise Ryota on the back of the head and scolded, "I called you an ace just to give you face, but you really underestimate our determination to win, don't you?"

"It hurts, Captain Kasamatsu..." Kise Ryouta muttered, holding his head.

"Hey, Kise..."

Just as the two were playing, a lazy voice came from the corridor beside them, which attracted their attention. Kasamatsu Yukio looked up. Who else could it be but Aomine Daiki?
"Aomine?"

"Xiao Qingfeng?"

Kasamatsu Yukio and Kise Ryouta said in unison, somewhat surprised.

“Hey, don’t act like you’re just meeting me for the first time~” Aomine Daiki chuckled as he stepped forward and hooked his arm around Kise Ryouta’s neck, then turned his head and smiled at Kasamatsu Yukio and said, “Let me borrow your trump card for a while, and I’ll return it before the second half of the game starts~”

"I'm afraid this is inappropriate?" Kasamatsu Yukio frowned and said, "We have a tactical meeting later..."

"The current situation is not something that can be solved by tactics anyway~" Qingfeng Daihui said lazily, "If you trust me, lend me your trump card. Let me train you and maybe you still have a chance to win..."

"Hey, Aomine-chan, don't say such bad words in such a bad tone..." Kise Ryota said, twisting his neck a little embarrassedly.

"Stop talking nonsense." Aomine Daiki slapped Kise Ryota on the head and said, "Just come if I tell you to..."

Having said that, Aomine Daiki didn't care whether Tatematsu Nobuo agreed or not, he just carried Kise Ryota and walked out of the gym.

"Do we really not need to care about them?" Fujima Kenji came to Kasamatsu Yukio, looked at the backs of the two as they left, and said in a complicated tone.

"Although I am reluctant... but what Aomine Daiki said is right." Kasamatsu Yukio clenched his fists, stunned for a while, then let out a long sigh, "Let them go, I hope Huang Lai can learn something from following Aomine Daiki. As a teammate, Aomine Daiki is still more reassuring."

After saying that, Kasamatsu Yukio walked towards the locker room of Kaijo High School without looking back.

"Hey, hey, hey, let me go, Aomine-chan..." Kise Ryota was dragged by Aomine Daiki to an open-air stadium outside the Osaka Gymnasium. He finally got a little impatient. After breaking free from Aomine Daiki, he scratched the back of his head helplessly and said, "What's the matter, Aomine-chan? I still have to go to the game soon..."

"Hey, Huang Lai, you haven't found your own trigger yet, right?" After Aomine Daiki let go of Huang Lai Ryota, he walked to the sidelines, picked up a basketball, turned his back to Huang Lai Ryota, and said meaningfully.

"Huh? Xiao Huang hasn't found his trigger yet?" In the convenience store of Osaka Stadium, Tao Jing Satsuki looked at Kaneki Ken sitting opposite with a surprised face and said, "But didn't Ken-kun say that the last time we met..."

"Yeah, that's right. I was also fooled by his bluff last time." Kaneki Ken took a sip of the Coke, then explained with a nonchalant expression, "But after watching the game today, I'm sure he hasn't found his trigger yet."

"What do you mean?" Tao Jingwu asked curiously.

"If Huang Lai really had the trigger to enter the zone, he wouldn't be in such a hurry to create such a big score difference at the beginning of the game." Kaneki Ken said dimly, "The bigger the score difference, the more pressure it can put on Kagami, but doing so will run the risk of letting Kagami enter the zone early... So there is only one explanation, Huang Lai has no way to control the opportunity to enter the zone, so he can only take a gamble."

……

"It's Aomine-chan..." Kise Ryota put his hands in his pockets, sighed, looked at the blue sky, and said, "I really haven't mastered the trigger to enter the zone, so I can only take this gamble..."

"I knew it." Aomine Daiki smiled and passed the basketball to Kise Ryota, "So, that's why I asked you to come over."

"Little Aomine?" Huang Lai Ryouta was playing with the basketball in his hand with some confusion, and looked at Aomine Daiki with a hint of doubt in his eyes, "You are not going to play one-on-one with me at this time? I still have a game."

"Stop talking nonsense." Qingfeng Daihui waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "It's just three balls, it will be quick."

……

"Sorry to have kept you waiting." In the blink of an eye, the halftime break was already halfway over. Just when Kasamatsu Yukio and others could no longer suppress their anxiety and were about to go out to look for Kise Ryota, Kise Ryota chuckled, opened the door of the locker room and walked in.

"You still remembered to come back. I thought you were afraid of Kagami Daigo." Kasamatsu Yukio frowned and said, "What were you doing with that guy Aomine Daiki?"

"I went to find a key." Kise Ryota smiled meaningfully.

"So mysterious..." Kasamatsu Yukio raised his eyebrows slightly, looked up and down at Kise Ryota, and muttered in a low voice.

"Captain, if there's nothing else, I'll take a nap." Kise Ryota came to the locker in the corner, leaned against the locker, closed his eyes, and took a leisurely nap. After a while, a slight snoring sound was heard.

“It’s really hard work, Kise…” Fujima Kenji looked at Kise Ryota in the corner and sighed, “He’s just a first-year, but he has to carry us old guys forward.”

"This is the fate of the ace..." Kasamatsu Yukio seemed to recall the scene when he participated in the national competition last year, "Now, we have a better ace, and we, the seniors, can't let them down."

The sleeping Kise Ryota seemed to have heard the conversation between the two, but also seemed not to have heard it, with a meaningful smile on his face.

……

At this time in Shonan High School, the players who had finished training left the gym one after another, but Rukawa Kaede stayed quietly to practice more. However, Sakuragi Hanamichi neither practiced more nor left. Instead, he sat on the bench holding the ball, not knowing what he was thinking.

"What's wrong with Sakuragi?" Inoue Ayako stood beside Mitsui Shou, looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi with some confusion and said, "Why did you suddenly become so quiet... It seems like you are in a bad mood?"

"Never mind him, don't disturb him." Sanjinshou showed a mysterious smile, "Maybe... we have found the new ace of Shonan High School after Kaneki left."

(End of this chapter)