Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 245: Victory or Defeat
"The third quarter is almost over..." Himuro Tatsuya looked at the scoreboard on the sidelines. The bright red number 88 to 56 seemed particularly eye-catching.

Araki Masako said with a complicated expression, "Kaijo High School has no power to fight back! Seirin High School played just like Kaijo High School in the first quarter..."

"Isn't this normal?" Murasakibara Atsushi curled his lips and said, "Even for a miracle-level player, entering the Zone and not entering the Zone will have two completely different levels of influence on the game..."

"Hu... Hu..." Kasamatsu Yukio and Naito Tetsuya were breathing heavily, staring at the Kagami Daiga in front of them, their faces looking extremely ferocious.

"There are still ten seconds left. Is this quarter over?" Kagami Daigo glanced at the timer on the rack and muttered to himself, "Then let's widen the gap!"

"This guy... the oppressive feeling is getting stronger and stronger..." Kasamatsu Yukio looked at the Kagami Taiga in front of him and felt as if a huge rock was pressing on his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe.

"Boom!"

There was a flash of lightning in Kagami Daiga's eyes, and the basketball hit the ground hard. Then a fiery red figure flashed by. Naito Tetsuya felt a tightness in his chest and couldn't help but take a half step back. Kagami Daiga also took this opportunity to completely get rid of the entanglement of the two before the double-team formed.

"Hayakawa, please! You must stop him!" Kasamatsu Yukio looked at Kagami Daiga's back and shouted angrily at Hayakawa Mitsuo in the inside.

"Don't worry, captain!" Mitsuo Hayakawa immediately went to the free throw line and blocked the path that Kagami Daigo had to take to cut into the inside.

"boom!"

"crunch~"

Just as Hayakawa Mitsuro narrowed his eyes and waited for Kagami Daigo's attack, there was a sound of a ball exploding, and a sharp and harsh friction sound was made between Kagami Daigo's soles and the floor.

"What's going on? What does this guy want to do?" Kasamatsu Yukio looked at Kagami Taiga who suddenly stopped in disbelief and muttered to himself, "He is now... still outside the three-point line!"

"Beyond the three-point line? That's certainly not my normal shooting position..." Kagami Daigo muttered to himself with empty eyes as he listened to the voice beside his ear, "But now, I feel like I can make a shot no matter where I am!"

As Kagami Taigo finished his words, the basketball instantly turned into a burning flame, drew a perfect arc in the air, and flew accurately towards the basket.

"It's impossible to make the shot from such a long distance!" Hayakawa Mitsuihiro hoped for luck and blocked the position in advance, trying to grab the rebound the moment the basketball bounced out of the hoop, but Kagami Daiga seemed to ignore him and turned around and ran towards the backcourt.

"He didn't even grab the rebound?" Kasamatsu Yukio said in shock, "Is he really so sure that this ball will go in?"

"Shh!"

As if to answer Kasamatsu Yukio's question, the basketball passed through the net in Kasamatsu Yukio's unwilling eyes, like a muffled thunder booming in Kasamatsu Yukio's heart.

"Beautiful! Kagami used a rare three-point shot to widen the gap again!" The commentator on the sidelines shouted excitedly, "There are 0.2 seconds left in the third quarter. Seirin High School only has one quarter left to win the West Division Finals!"

"Buzz~"

Just as Mitsuo Hayakawa picked up the basketball and was about to serve the ball from the baseline, the glaring red light on the ball stand and the sound of the timer on the sidelines rang out on time, and the third quarter was completely over. With a score of 91 to 56, the score difference was completely widened to 35 points.

"Well done, Kagami!" Hinata Junpei excitedly jumped onto Kagami Daiga's back, rubbing Kagami Daiga's hair with his hands, and teased excitedly, "You dared to run back before the ball went in just now, do you think you are Midorima Shintaro!"

"I just think I can make it." Kagami Daiga let out a long sigh, put his hands on his hips and looked at the scoreboard on the sidelines and said, "Kise Ryouta has at most five minutes left, we're sure to win!"

"Yes! We can enter the Western Conference Finals!" Shinji Koganei couldn't contain his excitement, his voice trembled with excitement.

"Huh..." On the bench of Kaijo High School, Kasamatsu Yukio sat down with a tired look on his face. His sore limbs and dry airways made him not want to say a single extra word.

"Kasamatsu, it seems... our luck this year is really not very good..." Fujima Kenji lowered his head, making it difficult to see his expression, and his light tone was full of helplessness and unwillingness.

“……” Kasamatsu Yukio felt that the discussions of the audience around him were unusually noisy. His hand holding the towel was shaking, and his nose became extremely sore.

"Coach, I want to play." Kise Ryota suddenly spoke up when he saw his teammates' desperate expressions.

"I don't want to say the same thing again." Takeuchi Genta once again rejected Kise Ryota's request without blinking.

"This is not a request." Kise Ryota changed his usual playful expression, took off his coat with a serious expression, stared at Takeuchi Genta and said, "Whether you agree or not, I will go on stage."

"Do you know what you are talking about? Didn't you see what happened to Midorima Shintaro?" Takeuchi Genta was rarely angry. "I can't bet your future on the outcome of this game! Not to mention that you may not lose if you play according to the previous plan. Even if you lose, you still have two years to prove yourself!"

"But the seniors are running out of time!" Kise Ryouta's emotions also became a little excited, "Captain Kasamatsu... Captain Fujima... and the other third-year seniors! If they lose this game, they will have nothing!"

"Kise...you..." Takeuchi Genta was stunned by Kise Ryota's roar. He stared blankly at Kise Ryota, who was as docile as a golden retriever in the past, but now became as domineering as a lion.

"Besides, even if I play, it doesn't mean I will definitely get hurt." Huang Lailiangta smiled calmly, "Coach, we have to play for another five minutes anyway. It's the same in the morning and at night, right? What if we overtake the score in these five minutes?"

"Don't be so stubborn, Kise..." Kasamatsu Yukio lowered his head and patted Kise Ryouta's arm and said, "Listen to the coach's arrangements..."

"I don't want to." Kise Ryota pushed Kasamatsu Yukio's hand away, uncharacteristically, and said word by word, "I came here to be the ace... Midorima can bear the weight of the crown, and so can I!"

"..." Kasamatsu Yukio listened to Kise Ryouta's resounding reply. After a moment of silence, he suddenly stood up and walked to Takeuchi Genta and said, "Coach, let Kise play."

"Kasamatsu, why are you also..." Takeuchi Genta wanted to say something, but was interrupted by the actions of his players.

All the players from Kaijo High School stood up from the bench, came to Takeuchi Genta, bowed deeply and said, "Coach, let Huang Lai play!"

"..." Takeuchi Genta looked at the students in front of him, his eyes suddenly turned red. After sorting out his thoughts, he sighed, put his hands on Huang Lai Ryota's shoulders, looked into his eyes and said word by word, "Then the next game will be handed over to you. Remember, if you feel any discomfort in your body, tell me immediately!"

"Yes, coach!" Kise Ryota nodded excitedly.

"It seems like there was some disagreement at Kaijo High School..." Momoi Satsuki was attracted by the farce on the sidelines and couldn't help but look at the figure of Kise Ryouta and said.

"Don't worry." Kaneki Ken shook his head noncommittally, "Look at Huang Lai's expression now, it doesn't look like he has any disagreement..."

"The next game will be the same as before, we must widen the score gap as much as possible." Aida Reiko squatted in front of the players and said, "According to my observation, Kise-san has at most five minutes of playing time left. Coach Takeuchi will not let him play right now!"

"But I saw that Kaijo High School just now seemed to..." Hinata Junpei said hesitantly, "Is it really okay?"

"According to Coach Takeuchi's personality, betting on the effect of a surprise attack is already the limit..." Aida Reiko clenched her fists and said, "And now we don't have any other choice, right?"

"It doesn't matter whether we go up or not." Kagami Taiga said firmly, "We will definitely win this game!"

"Yes, we will win!" Aida Reiko nodded in agreement, waved her hand to form a circle around everyone, then stretched her hand into the circle and shouted loudly, "One, two, three!"

"Come on! Come on! Come on!" The cheers of Seirin High School resounded throughout the venue.

"Next, it's the climax of the game..." Aomine Daiki leaned back in his chair, looked at Kagami Taiga and Kuroko Tetsuya meaningfully, and muttered to himself, "Can you...get past Kise?"

"Buzz~~"

As time went by, the buzzing sound of the timer on the sidelines rang out on time, announcing the official arrival of the fourth quarter.

"Kise?" As soon as Kagami Daigo stepped onto the court, he saw the efficient players of Kaijo striding into the court under the leadership of Kise Ryota. An invisible aura enveloped the heads of the Kaijo players.

"Are you surprised, Kagami-chan?" Kise Ryota said to Kagami-chan with a smile, "The fight between you and Kuroko just now was so good that I couldn't sit still on the sidelines~"

"It doesn't matter." Two fiery red flashes burst out from Kagami Taiga's pupils again. He slowly walked to the front of Kaijo High School's lineup, looked down at Kise Ryota, and said word by word, "We will definitely win this game!"

"I don't know if Kuroko has told you..." Kise Ryota's expression remained unchanged, his eyes fixed on Kagami Daigo, two golden electric lights emanated from Kise Ryota's golden pupils like wandering dragons and snakes, "I also found the trigger..."

“This is the second time~~”

Two flashes of lightning sounded like two muffled thunders in the sky above the stadium, and there seemed to be sparks flashing where Kagami Taiga and Kise Ryouta's eyes met.

"The fourth quarter begins, Seirin High School has the ball!"

The referee suddenly appeared and interrupted the confrontation between the two. He walked to Kagami Taiga with the ball and signaled him to serve the sideline ball. Kise Ryota stood firmly in front of Kagami Taiga with his arms raised, trying to distract his vision.

"You should know that this little trick is useless in front of the zone, Kise." Kagami Daiga said with a chuckle. "How do you know if you don't try?" Kise Ryouta asked back with a smile.

"Captain!" Kagami Daiga smiled and shook his head, ignoring Kise Ryouta's slightly provocative look, and shouted and threw the ball to Hinata Junpei.

"Nice pass!" Hinata Junpei had already arrived outside the three-point line of Kaicho High School. After receiving the ball, he bent his knees decisively and aimed, trying to open the gap again.

"scoff~"

"Whoo~"

Before the other players on the field could react, Kise Ryouta and Kagami Daiichi turned into two streams of light, one golden and one red, and swept across half the court in the blink of an eye, both appearing in front of Hinata Junpei.

"Damn, so fast!" Hinata Junpei felt the sudden pressure and was so nervous that his hands holding the ball were shaking.

"Captain, over here!" Kagami Daigo roared and reached out to Hinata Junpei for the ball.

"Oh oh..." Hinata Junpei's mind was in a mess at this time, and he mechanically threw the ball towards Kagami Taiga.

"This pass is a bit rough, Hinata-senpai." Kise Ryouta's golden figure flashed by like lightning, and the basketball that was originally flying towards Kagami Daigo was intercepted by him in mid-air.

"My captain doesn't need you to teach him how to play basketball!" Kagami Daigo also rushed to the side of Kise Ryota and waved his hand. With a bang, the ball that he had lost was taken back by him again.

"Alas... a fierce battle between two dragons and tigers..." Himuro Tatsuya sighed as he looked at the two people entangled in the arena, "Zone... what a talent that makes people jealous..."

"Speaking of which, Muro..." Murasakihara Atsushi seemed to remember something, looked at Himuro Tatsuya and said, "I've always wanted to tell you, but I always forget... Don't you think... jealousy is also a distracting thought?"

"What?" Himuro Tatsuya listened to Murasakibara Atsushi's murmurs, and suddenly felt his scalp tighten. Like a stuck robot, he slowly turned his head to look at Murasakibara Atsushi and said, "A-Dun..."

"I've seen the new move you've learned. Although it won't last long in the duel with the Generation of Miracles, I have to admit that it's a move far superior to the general level." Murasakibara Atsushi held his cheek with his right hand and said indifferently, "I always feel that even if you can't compare to Kagami, you're at least stronger than the general level... If you can't enter the zone, at least you still have flow. There's no reason why you can't do what that middle-aged man and that mop-head can do..."

"Flow..." After pondering for a moment, Himuro Tatsuya smiled helplessly and said, "It's really the person in charge who is confused... Thank you, Atsushi."

"Tsk, I don't need your thanks..." Murasakibara Atsushi turned his head away awkwardly, pretending to be indifferent, "It's just that our match with Yanzi will start in two days, and I'm afraid you will hold me back."

"Ah, don't worry, I won't do that." Himuro Tatsuo didn't pay attention to Murasakibara Atsushi's temper-like tone, and stared at Kaneki Ken across the audience with burning eyes and said, "I will definitely give everyone a surprise."

Just as the two were whispering to each other, Kise Ryota completed another steal, but this time, Kagami Taiga was unable to stop Kise Ryota in time.

"Not good!" Aida Reiko stood up in panic, "Kagami-san's strength... is almost exhausted!"

"If you look at it from this point of view, Kagami is still no match for Sakuragi..." Aomine Daiki sighed as he looked at Kagami Daiga, who was struggling behind Kise Ryouta, "If Sakuragi was here, he might be able to stop the ball..."

"Yeah... that guy's unfathomable physical strength is the most terrifying threat to any team..." Konyoshi Shoichi couldn't help but recall the IH finals, when Sakuragi Hanamichi almost maintained the zone for the entire second half.

"boom!"

The roar of the blue basket on the court interrupted their conversation. Kise Ryota used a Murasakibara Atsushi-style Thor's hammer to slam the ball into the basket. Although Kagami Taiga tried his best to catch up, he was still a step late and could only helplessly watch Kise Ryota score.

"This guy..." Kagami Taiga looked at Kise Ryota who slowly loosened his hands and fell from the basket. He felt a sense of emptiness and weakness coming from his body, and a trace of despair surged in his heart.

"Can't hold on any longer, Kagami-chan?" Kise Ryouta said to Kagami-chan with a smile, "It's my turn now~"

"Tsk, I can spend the whole day with you." Kagami Daigo said, trying to cheer himself up.

"Well done, Kise!" Kasamatsu Yukio came to Kise Ryota with an excited look on his face and patted his arm.

"Hiss~" The pain from his arm seemed to be as if he had hit a wound somewhere, and made Kise Ryota frown slightly.

"What's wrong, Kise?" Kasamatsu Yukio keenly noticed the change in Kise Ryouta's expression and couldn't help but ask worriedly, "Are you injured somewhere?"

"Don't worry, Captain." Kise Ryota shook his head and said, "It's just that my arm is a little sore."

"Really?" Kasamatsu Yukio raised his eyebrows slightly, and said with some concern, "Don't force yourself if there is anything..."

"Okay, Captain Kasamatsu, you're so long-winded..." Kise Ryota smiled and pushed Kasamatsu Yukio away, and said with a smile while running to the backcourt, "The game isn't over yet."

"..." Kasamatsu Yukio looked at Huang Lai Ryouta who looked calm in front of him, frowned worriedly, then took a deep breath and shouted loudly, "Increase defense, take this opportunity to defeat them as soon as possible!"

"Yes, captain!" the players of Haichang High School roared in unison.

In the next five minutes, Kagami Daiga, who had to withdraw from the zone due to physical problems, was no longer able to withstand Kise Ryouta's wave after wave of attacks. Kaijo High School took this opportunity to launch a 47 to 15 offensive frenzy, 103 to 106, and the difference between the two teams was narrowed to five points.

"Huh...huh...huh..."

Ebina Jia was breathing heavily. At this moment, he was just standing on the court and playing based on instinct. His brain, which used to be quick to react, became slow, and even the simplest tactical analysis became a little difficult for him.

"Damn it... If only I could be stronger..."

Kagami Daiga looked at his exhausted teammates beside him, clenched his fists with a look of self-blame, and then, as if he had made up his mind, he pushed Kise Ryota away when the referee wasn't paying attention, came to the free throw line, and reached out to Ebina Ka for the ball.

"Kagami!" Looking at Kagami Daiga who had broken through the siege, Ebina Ka felt the burden on his shoulders lighten a lot and he quickly threw the ball in the direction of Kagami Daiga.

"It hurts so much, I really want to find a place to have a good sleep..."

Huang Lai Liangta only felt that the world in front of him was vast and bleak. The feeling of weakness coming from his whole body made him seem to hear the sound of friction between his joints. In this vast world, only an orange-red basketball appeared in his sight.

"If we can score this one more goal... we can win..." Kise Ryota gritted his teeth, as if he wanted to squeeze out the last bit of strength in his body. He pushed the ground hard with his right leg, but a feeling of loss of balance made him feel dizzy.

"Bang~~"

Following a dull sound, Kise Ryota finally fell to the ground in full view of everyone.

"What's wrong? Are you okay, Huang Lai?" Seeing this, Kasamatsu Yukio rushed to Kise Ryota and asked with concern.

"I'm fine..." Kise Ryota forced a smile, pushed away Kasamatsu Yukio's hand and prepared to stand up, but perhaps because the sweat on the ground was too slippery, he accidentally fell to the ground again.

"Huh?" Kise Ryota looked at his palms in disbelief. His hands, which used to be full of strength, couldn't even stand up now.

"Alright, Kise..." Kasamatsu Yukio sighed when he saw this, and directly lifted up Kise Ryouta, put his big hand on his head and said, "Go off the court and have a good rest, and leave the rest of the game to us."

"Captain... Captain, I..." Huang Lailiangta listened to Kasamatsu Yukio's calm voice, and his eyes couldn't help but become sore, "I really... I'm so unwilling!"

"It's okay, just come back next year." Kasamatsu Yukio chuckled and said, "I will come to watch your game in person then. If you dare to mess up, I will still kick you out."

"Yes... Captain..." Kise Ryota tried hard to hold back his tears and lowered his head heavily, making it impossible to see his expression clearly.

"It's over..." Aomine Daiki sighed, "I thought the first one to give up would be Kagami, but I didn't expect..."

"But it's scary, isn't it?" Jin Jixiang said with a frown, "He reproduced the talents of the entire Miracle Generation with his own strength, and in the end he had to give up the game just because of lack of physical strength... If Huang Lai was allowed to grow up for a while longer, as his body develops, how far he can go is simply unimaginable..."

"Isn't that good?" Aomine Daiki said, stroking his chin. "Kaneki Ken will go to the United States after the Winter Cup. I'm worried that there won't be a strong enough opponent."

"The United States?" Imayoshi Xiangyi said in disbelief, "I thought he was only invited because he was the most popular high school player in Japan..."

"Then why does he have such a high traffic?" Aomine Daiki rolled his eyes at Imayoshi Xiang and said, "Among the players of the Miracle Generation, he is the only one who was invited..."

With the departure of Kise Ryouta, the game completely lost its suspense. In the last five minutes, Kagami Taiga relied on his personal combat advantage to hold on to the three-point difference. When the final whistle sounded, Seirin High School officially entered the Western Division finals with a score of 115 to 112.

"Let's go, Momoi." Kaneki Ken sighed slowly, "Next, it's my battle with Murasakibara."

(End of this chapter)