Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 250 Murasakibara Atsushi's Enlightenment
"Attack!", "Attack!", "Attack!"

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

In the audience stands on the sidelines, fans of Yangquan High School and Shohoku High School cheered for their respective teams at the top of their lungs, while Keisuke Kobayashi on the field slowly advanced with the ball, fearing that Kaneki Ken would steal the ball if he wasn't paying attention.

"Xiao Lin, this way!"

As soon as Keisuke Kobayashi crossed half court, he saw Himuro Tatsuya reaching out for the ball. Keisuke Kobayashi didn't hesitate to see this and stuffed the ball into Himuro Tatsuya's hands without saying a word.

"Here comes my older brother!" Shinji Koganei pointed at Himuro Tatsuya on the field and said, as if he had discovered a new world, "A showdown between the two strongest players under miracles!"

"Be quiet... Be quiet..." Rukawa Kaede felt his heart beating violently, but his brain was unusually clear. His pair of cold eyes stared at Himuro Tatsuya's every move.

"Such a strong aura..." Himuro Tatsuya felt the oppressive feeling gradually emanating from Rukawa Kaede, and was startled, his expression becoming serious.

Himuro Tatsuya slowly lowered his center of gravity and slowly dropped the ball under Rukawa's gaze. The basketball bounced between Himuro Tatsuya's hands like an obedient pet. Rukawa spread his arms, his center of gravity motionless, like an open spider web, waiting for Himuro Tatsuya's attack.

"This kid's defensive position is very good. You can't tell that he is a player who is not even 18 years old..." Alex Garcia watched, "I didn't expect that besides the Generation of Miracles, Japan could have such an outstanding young player..."

"Since playing against Sawakita Eiji from Mineok High School, Rukawa's defensive positioning and court selection on both offense and defense have become much stronger." Aida Reiko crossed her arms in front of her chest and commented with a frown, "If Shonan High School hadn't easily defeated Mineok High School, Rukawa's title of the strongest outside player under the miracle... is actually still controversial..."

"Boom!"

The sudden explosion of Himuro Tatsuya's ball resounded throughout the stadium like thunder before a storm. As the wind pressure rushed towards Rukawa Kaede's cheek, Himuro Tatsuya only used a simple forward breakthrough and disappeared in front of Rukawa Kaede.

"So fast... but I can still catch up." Rukawa Kaede muttered to himself, took a step forward and stuck to Himuro Tatsuya's footsteps. Himuro Tatsuya, who was originally rushing forward, paused.

"Great, we defended it!" said Miyagi Ryouta excitedly off the court.

"No, not yet." Tao Jing Satsuki shook her head solemnly and said, "He can make Ada feel a slight sense of oppression. Himuro-san's strength is definitely not just that."

As if to confirm Momoi Satsuki's guess, Himuro Tatsuya, who was stuck by Rukawa, took advantage of the force of the confrontation and retreated suddenly. Then he pulled the ball to his chest with his right hand and made a ball-handling action in front of Rukawa.

"Don't even think about shooting!" Seeing this, Rukawa narrowed his eyes and rushed forward, trying to disrupt Himuro Tatsuya's shooting rhythm.

"Haha, it seems that although Rukawa looks indifferent, he is actually a hot-blooded idiot." Himuro Tatsuya chuckled, and in the slightly surprised look of Rukawa, he handed the ball back to his right hand, suddenly lowered his center of gravity, and disappeared in front of Rukawa like a shadow.

"Pray to Buddha?" Rukawa Kaede looked at Himuro Tatsuya's back with some surprise and muttered to himself, "What a high degree of completion..."

"Himuro-san's basketball skills are truly astonishing..." Aida Reiko exclaimed, "A simple prayer to the Buddha is so unpredictable..."

"I saw it when Chen Ye came to me with Daigo to become my disciple..." Alex Garcia nodded and said, "As a typical Asian player, Chen Ye is not as tall or athletic as those flying monsters in the United States... So in order to gain a foothold on the court in the United States, Chen Ye has polished his basic skills to the extreme... If Aomine Daiki is a street model who has given up all orthodox basketball moves, then Chen Ye is the synonym of orthodox basketball, except for the pervert Kaneki Ken!"

As Alex Garcia in the audience finished speaking, Himuro Tatsuya had already broken through to the inside and leaped up against the defense of Sakuragi Hanamichi and Kabachi Shigehiro.

"What is this guy doing?" Sakuragi Hanamichi walked over in confusion, looking at Himuro Tatsuya who slowly caught the ball in the air with a puzzled look on his face. His eyes involuntarily turned towards the purple round mound, "Is he trying to pass the ball? But that purple-haired monster is on the outside now..."

"Don't underestimate us, bastard..."

At this moment, Himuro Tatsuya chuckled and threw the basketball from under Sakuragi Hanamichi's armpit. Almost at the same time, a blood-boiling voice sounded from behind Sakuragi Hanamichi.

"Double-chinned gorilla?" Sakuragi Hanamichi stared at Okamura Kenichi blankly, and said in surprise, "Why is this guy... under the basket?"

"Ahhhhh!!!"

Under the unwilling eyes of Sakuragi Hanamichi, Okamura Kenichi jumped up, roared, and slammed the basketball into the basket.

"Well done, Captain!" Himuro Tatsuya smiled and came to Okamura Kenichi and high-fived him to celebrate. "If you can score a few more goals like this, Captain, you will have a better chance of being single."

"I told you that we seniors won't hold you back." Okamura Kenichi reached out and ruffled Himuro Tatsuya's hair and said with a smile, "You and Murasakibara can just focus on doing what you are good at, and leave the rest to us..."

"Pass me a few balls too..." Liu Wei on the side said with a smile, "Captain Okamura has no hope of being single with this look on his face. I think I can still save myself."

"Himuro Tatsuya..." Rukawa Kaede whispered Himuro Tatsuya's name softly, and after taking a deep breath, the aura from his body spread out as if it was about to condense into substance.

"Don't worry about it, Rukawa. It's just a lost ball. We can just hit it back with the next one." Mitsui looked at the expressionless Rukawa and couldn't help but walk up to him, patted Rukawa on the shoulder and comforted him.

"I'm fine." Rukawa shook his head noncommittally.

"It's impossible for me not to care..." Sakuragi Hanamichi gritted his teeth as he looked at Okamura's suggestion and said word by word, "This damn double-chinned gorilla, I'm going to dunk ten times on his head in this game!"

"Very good, very ambitious." Kaneki Ken patted Sakuragi Hanamichi's shoulder with a smile and said, "If you can't dunk ten points today, you won't be able to go to the celebration party after the game."

"Just leave it to me, Ken Kaneki, I will definitely dunk on him!" Sakuragi Hanamichi gritted his teeth and walked to the baseline, passed the baseline ball to Kaneki Ken, and then ran towards the frontcourt without looking back.

"Come on, Yanzi!"

As soon as Kaneki Ken caught the ball, Murasakihara Atsushi came up to Kaneki Ken with a fierce look in his eyes, opened his arms, and stuck to Kaneki Ken's body.

"Full-court press?" Aida Reiko was a little surprised, then shook her head, "No, it's Murasakibara-san's full-court defense!"

"Is there any difference?" asked cautiously with some doubt.

"The difference is huge." Aida Reiko rolled her eyes at Koganei Shinji and said, "For Yangquan High School, in addition to Kaneki-san, Sakuragi-san's speed cannot be underestimated. If the whole team rushes forward at once, it is very likely that Sakuragi will shake him off and make a long pass and fast break..." "But it's different when you lead the defense throughout the court." Alex Garcia smiled and continued, "With Murasakibara Atsushi defending Kaneki Ken with his physique and strength advantages, the rest of Yangquan's players will firmly suppress the lineup in the half court. This will not only limit Kaneki Ken's ability to combine breakthroughs and shots to the greatest extent, but also limit Sakuragi's running ability..."

While Reiko Aida was talking on the sidelines, Hanamichi Sakuragi, who was running, bumped into Kenichi Okamura's arms again.

"What's wrong, Sakuragi? Are you lost?" Kenichi Okamura asked with a smile, looking down into Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes.

"Damn it..." Sakuragi Hanamichi felt angry when he saw Okamura's playful smile and clenched his fists.

"Not good..." Mito Yohei, who was watching the game from the sidelines, had a serious expression, "I'm afraid that Sakuragi is going to lose his temper..."

"No wonder..." Takamiya Nozomi said helplessly, "With Sakuragi's personality, he was blocked by a two-meter-tall guy after running two steps. It's amazing that he can endure it until now."

"What should we do? Should we go down and rescue them later?" Noma Tadaichiro took off his coat skillfully and asked Mito Yohei.

"Okay..." Mito Yohei nodded first, as if he had discovered something, then shook his head and chuckled, "Forget it, let Sakuragi solve it himself."

"Oh..." Noma Tadaichiro nodded in confusion, put on his coat and sat back.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh~" Anton Mitsuyoshi looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi who was forcibly suppressing his anger on the court, and said with a relieved expression, "You really have grown a lot, Sakuragi..."

"Yanzi, do you know? In the beginning, I actually hated you." Murasakihara Atsushi quietly looked at Kaneki Ken who was standing at the top of the three-point arc organizing the offense, and suddenly said, "You are disloyal, you don't keep your word, you always bet with me and cheat me of my snacks..."

"Don't say that, Murasakibara. It makes me look like the kind of person who would cheat fools out of their money..." Kaneki Ken said with a helpless smile.

"That's what I thought at first." Murasakihara Atsushi also smiled, "But from that day when Yanzi stood up for everyone at Kirisaki First Affiliated Middle School, I realized that Yanzi is actually a good person."

"...Should I thank you for giving me the nice guy card?" Kaneki Ken was choked by Murasakibara Atsushi's words for a long time, rolled his eyes and asked unhappily.

"No." Murasakibara Atsushi shook his head decisively and said, "At that time, Yanzi... was really like God, protecting all the teammates behind him. It was very reassuring..."

Murasakibara Atsushi spoke word by word, his eyes becoming brighter and brighter.

"Atsushi..." Himuro Tatsuya looked at Murasakibara Atsushi's increasingly focused expression, and his heart couldn't help but beat faster and faster.

"I used to be very curious. Yanzi always leads by example. Isn't he tired?" Murasakibara Atsushi said, his aura surging all over his body, as if it was about to condense into substance. "But now I understand that people always have something to protect! I used to stand behind Yanzi, but now I want to stand in front of him, because... he is the trump card of Yangquan High School!"

"Time!"

As the words fell, two purple electric flashes shot out from Ziyuandun's eyes. Kaneki Ken only felt a mountain-like pressure coming towards him. In a moment of distraction, Murasakihara Atsushi stepped forward and snatched the basketball from Kaneki Ken's hands.

"What? Kaneki Ken actually made a mistake?" Aomine Daiki muttered to himself as he looked at the field in disbelief, "And it was intercepted by Murasakibara!"

"Faster...faster!" After stealing the ball, Murasakibara Atsushi rushed straight to the front court with the ball. Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede wanted to rush forward to steal the ball, but were blown away by the strong wind blowing in their faces.

"Come on, Murasakibara!" Himuro Tatsuya looked at Murasakibara Atsushi's back and shouted excitedly.

"Don't worry, Murasaki..." Murasakibara Atsushi felt that everything around him turned into nothingness, and only an orange-red basketball hoop remained in front of him.

"So fast!" Kagami Taiga stared at Murasakibara Atsushi in astonishment and muttered to himself, "With a height of 2 meters, running at such a speed is simply terrifying!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!" Amid the stunned expressions of the spectators on the sidelines, Murasakibara Atsushi turned into a streak of purple light and crossed the entire court in an instant. By the time everyone reacted, Murasakibara Atsushi had already stepped on the free throw line and leaped up with a roar.

"Really..." Kaneki Ken chuckled helplessly, "They've all grown up, even Murasakibara Atsushi has become so responsible..."

After saying that, Kaneki Ken, who had been standing there in a daze, suddenly jumped up. The golden light in his eyes struck the heads of the players on the court like thunder, and his whole body suddenly turned into a golden stream of light that was faster than Murasakibara Atsushi just now. In an instant, he caught up with Murasakibara Atsushi's side, and his long arms covered the basketball in Murasakibara Atsushi's hand like a giant net.

"Murasara, I've seen your growth, and I'm very happy for you." Kaneki Ken, who was competing with Murasakihara Atsushi in the air, chuckled and gradually increased the strength in his hands, "But, I must win this game!"

"You talk as if you're nobody!" Murasakibara Atsushi felt the huge force coming from his hand, his face twisted as he roared, "Don't underestimate me, Yanzi!"

"boom!"

As the sound of a basketball hitting the floor was heard, Murasakihara Atsushi's powerful dunk was ultimately blocked by Kaneki Ken.

"Beep beep~ ball out of bounds, white team's ball!"

As the basketball was slapped hard out of the court by Kaneki Ken, the referee on the sidelines blew the whistle.

"No need to look." Jerry West was silent for a moment, then suddenly slammed the table, turned around and walked out of the box.

"Where are you going, Jerry?" Kupchak asked with a puzzled look.

"I'll check the memo." Jerry West said without turning his head, "I want to see what else we can sell."

"Sure enough, even after entering the zone, it will be difficult for Murasakihara to score easily over Kaneki Ken?" Masako Araki looked at the basketball lying quietly on the sidelines with some regret, and whispered to herself.

"Relax, coach." Fukui Kensuke said with a smile, "Don't you notice that Himuro's condition is getting better and better?"

I have been feeling unwell these past two days, so I may post less. Please forgive me.

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(End of this chapter)