Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 251-Awakening
"Beep beep! The ball is out of bounds. Yangquan High School has the ball."

As Kaneki Ken kicked the basketball out of the court, the ball returned to Yangquan High School. Okamura Kenichi quietly came to the sidelines, ready to serve the sideline ball in his hand.

"Captain, this way!" Murasakihara Atsushi took a step forward, held Kaneki Ken firmly behind him, and reached out to Okamura Kenichi for the fairway.

"Yabai, this guy's defense is absolutely watertight..." Okamura Kenichi said to himself with a serious face as he looked at Shigehiro Kabaji who stretched out his arms and kept jumping to try to interfere with the passing route, "If we just pass the ball to Murasakibara like this, it will definitely be intercepted!"

"Hurry up and pass the ball!" Seeing that Kenichi Okamura had not yet sent the sideline ball, Hiroaki Yuyue on the bench could not help but stand up anxiously and said, "The serve time limit is almost up!"

"Five! Four! Three! ..."

"Oh no, the time is almost up..." The reminder from teammates on the sidelines and the countdown spontaneously heard from the audience instantly woke Kenichi Okamura up, and cold sweat dripped down his forehead involuntarily.

"Captain, this way!"

Just when the five-second time left for the serve was at the last second, Himuro Tatsuya successfully took advantage of Liu Wei's pick-and-roll, got rid of Rukawa Kaede's entanglement, and successfully ran out to an open space.

"Great, Himuro! You've been a great help!" Okamura Kenichi was delighted and quickly kicked the sideline ball to Himuro Tatsuya.

"If you don't hide from me, then you can't play basketball?" Rukawa looked at Himuro Tatsuya who received the ball with a stern look in his eyes. He ran back and shook off Liu Wei, then blocked Himuro Tatsuya again, staring at Himuro Tatsuya and spoke word by word.

"I don't need to hide from you." Himuro Tatsuya narrowed his eyes, ignored Murasakibara Atsushi who kept reaching out for the ball, put on a triple threat posture, and began to observe Rukawa's defensive position.

"Strange, shouldn't it be more reasonable to pass this ball to Murasakibara-san who has entered the zone?" Shinji Koganei said with a puzzled look on his face.

"Kaneki Ken wasn't the only one around Murasakibara just now." Aida Reiko said solemnly, "Kaneki Ken was leading the defense, and Sakuragi Hanamichi was behind him ready to double-team at any time. Although it's true that Murasakibara Atsushi entered the zone, facing the double-team of two miracle players, Murasakibara, who is not good at skills, may not be able to cope with it."

"Boom!"

Under the gaze of all the players on the court, Himuro Tatsuya slowly passed the ball and used a large crossover to shake off Rukawa Kaede by half a body length.

"This guy has become faster..." Rukawa's eyes narrowed, and a bad premonition surged in his heart. He quickly adjusted his pace and got closer to Himuro Tatsuya.

"You actually caught up? Interesting, let's try to catch up with this!" Himuro Tatsuya smiled happily, threw the ball with his right hand, turned around and dodged Rukawa Kaede who was rushing towards him.

"Turning around and dribbling past the opponent?" Rukawa Kaede's face turned cold, and he subconsciously took a half step back diagonally, trying to block Himuro Tatsuya's breakthrough route.

"Haha, I've been fooled!" Himuro Tatsuya smiled slightly. His originally rotating body suddenly stopped. He pushed the ground hard with his left foot and immediately retreated two steps. He then shot the ball under the horrified eyes of Rukawa Kaede.

"Not good!" Seeing that he had been tricked, Rukawa Kaede rushed forward and tried to interrupt Himuro Tatsuya's shooting rhythm.

"I knew you would block my shot." Himuro Tatsuya smiled slightly, as if he had anticipated the scene before him.

"What is this guy laughing at?" Rukawa looked at Himuro Tatsuya with a puzzled look.

"Himuro can't make this shot." Kaneki Ken looked at Himuro Tatsuya with a playful smile on his face.

"I know." Murasakibara Atsushi looked at Kaneki Ken seriously and said word by word, "But this time, Murasaki didn't shoot the ball!"

"What?" Kaneki Ken's heart skipped a beat when he saw Murasakibara Atsushi's serious expression.

"Go ahead, Murasakibara!"

At this moment, Liu Wei and Mike Okita suddenly appeared beside Kaneki Ken.

"Double pick-and-roll?" Miyagi Ryouta looked at the three people entangled in surprise, and then immediately reacted and shouted to the court, "Sakuragi, Kabata, watch out for Murasakibara Atsushi!"

"Go ahead, Adun!" Himuro Tatsuya ignored Rukawa Kaede who had reacted in front of him, smiled slightly, and threw the ball high into the air with a look of satisfaction, "Prove to everyone that you are the best center in Neon!"

"So fast!" Inoue Ayako opened her eyes wide in surprise.

Murasakihara Atsushi successfully got rid of Kaneki Ken's defense in the double pick-and-roll by Liu Wei and Mike Okita. His sturdy body rushed to the inside like an out-of-control American V8. He stepped on the free throw line and jumped high despite the defense of Sakuragi Hanamichi and Kabachi Shigehiro. His long arms caught the flying basketball in the air and flew towards the basket with the two people hanging on him.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!” Lightning flashed in Murasakibara Atsushi's eyes, like a meteorite about to fall to the ground. With a shocking sense of oppression, he clamped the basketball with both hands and slammed it heavily into the basket.

"Don't even think about scoring, Murasakibara!" Sakuragi Hanamichi roared, holding the basketball tightly with his left hand. At the same time, he and Shigehiro Kabaji who also pressed their big hands on the basketball exerted force to try to stop Murasakibara Atsushi's powerful dunk.

“Don’t get in the way…” Murasakibara Atsushi’s eyes were covered with bloodshot, and he muttered to himself, “This time… I must win!”

"What?" Sakuragi Hanamichi felt a huge surge of force coming from his palm. He could not control his center of gravity and gradually fell backwards.

"boom!"

As the basket wailed, Murasakibara Atsushi slammed the ball into the basket in full view of everyone. Sakuragi Hanamichi and Kabachi Shigehiro both flew backwards and hit the ground hard.

"Don't underestimate me, Ken-chan!" After completing the slam dunk, Murasakihara Atsushi turned back to look at Kaneki Ken, pretending to have a vicious expression and said, "Now I... am very powerful!"

"Nice slam dunk!" the commentator shouted excitedly. "Himuro-san made a wonderful pass to Murasakibara-san, who caught the ball in the air and knocked Sakuragi-san away with a powerful slam dunk!"

"Kise, can you do this ball?" Kasamatsu Yukio couldn't help swallowing his saliva, looked at Kise Ryota with fear and asked.

"You think too highly of me, Captain Kasamatsu." Kise Ryota said unhappily.

At this moment, the audience seats had fallen into deathly silence, and everyone's eyes were focused on Kaneki Ken.

"Ball." Kaneki Ken's expression became so serious for the first time, and he stretched out his hand to ask Shigehiro Kabaji to pass the ball across the baseline.

"Oh no, hurry back to defense!" Himuro Tatsuya was the first to react. He quickly turned his head and ran to the backcourt shouting.

"Don't be so nervous." Kaneki Ken did not launch a fast break while the other players of Yangquan High School were in a daze, but slowly advanced the ball to the front court under the puzzled look of Himuro Tatsuya.

"What a pity...that ball just now almost completed a fast break." Shinji Koganei said with some regret.

"Two points and two points are different." Alex Garcia said in a deep voice, "The ball just now was indeed a perfect opportunity for a fast break, but the morale of the other players of Yangquan High School has been fully aroused. Such a fast break will only make them more powerful. With Kaneki Ken's personality, he would never do such a thing to help others."

"So what do you mean?" asked Shinji Koganei thoughtfully.

"Kaneki Ken..." Alex Garcia said solemnly, "will defeat Murasakibara Atsushi head-on!"

As Alex Garcia finished his words, Kaneki Ken, who had already arrived outside the three-point line of Yangquan High School, suddenly accelerated with the ball. His whole body exploded like a golden thunder and disappeared in front of Murasakibara Atsushi in the blink of an eye.

"Stop, Ken!" Murasakibara Atsushi roared and twisted his body. The power contained in his huge body seemed to be fully unleashed at this moment, and he stuck to Kaneki Ken with incredible agility.

"Blocked!" Uekusa Tomoyuki clenched his fists excitedly.

"No, it's not that simple." Masako Araki said nervously, biting her fingers.

"boom!"

The muffled sound of the collision of two huge figures resounded throughout the venue. Kaneki Ken's footsteps paused, and then he used the force to turn around and successfully cut into the inside.

"Don't even think about going in, Ken!" Murasakihara Atsushi gritted his teeth and moved sideways, blocking Kaneki Ken again.

"You can't stop me, Murasakibara." Kaneki Ken chuckled, slammed the ball to the ground with his left hand, then he combined the ball with both hands and jumped up before Murasakibara Atsushi could react. His huge body pressed down Murasakibara Atsushi who wanted to jump like a giant spirit. In the horrified eyes of the people on the sidelines, Kaneki Ken swung the ball hard behind his head with both hands, and hung Murasakibara Atsushi like Mars hitting the Earth, and slammed the ball hard into the basket. "Really..." Aomine Daiki seemed to remember something, shook his head helplessly, and laughed and complained softly, "This guy is still as arrogant as before..."

"Arrogance?" Jin Jixiangyi asked in confusion, "What does this have to do with arrogance?"

"Haven't you noticed that Kaneki Ken hasn't taken a single three-point shot yet?" Aomine Daiki asked with a smile.

"Hey, what you said is true..." Jin Jixiang said as if he had just woken up from a dream.

"Compare speed with me, long shots with Midorima, strength with Murasakibara, ball sense with Kise..." Aomine Daiki said in a complicated tone, "This guy seems to be showing off his strength to us with actual actions..."

"Murasara..." Kaneki Ken swung on the rim a few times after completing the dunk, then loosened his hands, slowly landed on the ground, came in front of Murasakibara Atsushi, looked down into his eyes and said word by word, "My Jose is not here, and you are not Yabuki Joe... Even if you burn to ashes, you can't stop my domination!"

"Yanzi..." Murasakibara Atsushi lowered his eyes and slowly clenched his hands on the ground into fists.

"Don't underestimate me, Kaneki." Seeing this, Himuro Tatsuya stepped forward, blocked Kaneki Ken's way and shouted, "Even if Atsushi alone can't defeat you, what about me?"

"And me!" Kenichi Okamura squeezed in with his sturdy body, looking directly into Kaneki Ken's golden pupils without fear.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Murasakibara Atsushi slowly stood up, pushed aside his teammates and came in front of Kaneki Ken, looking at him with a complicated tone and said, "Ken, you don't think you can defeat me so easily, do you? If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. This is what you taught me, Ken!"

"Atsushi..." Himuro Tatsuya stared blankly at Murasakibara Atsushi's back, the corners of his mouth trembling slightly, as if he was meeting his teammate for the first time.

"And you guys..." Murasakibara Atsushi turned around and looked at his teammates, deliberately speaking in an impatient tone, "What are you all standing here for? Hurry up and start the next attack!"

"It's really embarrassing that I got lectured by you." Okamura Kenichi chuckled and shouted loudly when he reached the baseline, "What are you waiting for? Attack quickly!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Okamura Kenichi made a long pass and threw the ball to the front court. The direction where the basketball landed was exactly where Murasakibara Atsushi was running at full speed.

"Oh my God, what did I just see?" Chris Bane stood up and exclaimed in shock, "A center's full-court fast break? Is this guy Wilt's illegitimate son?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, man." Jerry Bob pursed his lips and said solemnly, "That blond kid is also running very fast... No, he has already caught up with us!"

"Murasara, I'm glad you remembered what I gave you..." Kaneki Ken and Murasaki Atsushi jumped up at the same time, and pressed their big hands firmly on the basketball held high by Murasaki Atsushi, and said word by word, "But you forgot, I also said that there can only be one winner on the basketball court! As long as I break your backbone, I will definitely win this game!"

"I remember, Yanzi!" Murasakibara Atsushi said with a chuckle, "But Yangquan High School...is not just my team!"

As he spoke, Murasakibara Atsushi slowly took the ball back in front of everyone's surprised eyes. He grabbed the basketball with his right hand like an iron clamp and slowly pushed the ball behind him.

"Your passing is really bad, Atsushi..." Himuro Tatsuya chuckled and stepped forward to catch the basketball, then jumped up behind Murasakibara Atsushi, slowly leaning his upper body backwards and pushing the ball towards the basket.

"Look at my genius hot pot!" Sakuragi Hanamichi roared and jumped up, blocking the basketball with his long arms and big hands, but all he got was a shadow.

"Shh!"

There was a crisp sound of a basketball hitting the net, and the Yangquan University players on the scene roared with excitement.

"Good throw, Himuro!"

"Just keep fighting!"

"Himero!", "Himero!", "Himero!"

"Murasakihara!", "Murasakibara!", "Murasakibara!"

The cheers from the sidelines gradually unified into the names of Murasakibara Atsushi and Himuro Tatsuya. The excited cheers from the audience were like a wave, constantly invading Shonan High School's psychological defenses.

"The situation doesn't look good right now..." Kise Ryouta said while stroking his chin, "Except for Kaneki, the other players of Shonan High School seem to be a little unbalanced..."

"This is perfectly normal, right?" Kasamatsu Yukio said softly, "In fact, it would be strange if their mentality wasn't unbalanced in this situation. As the champion of the IH League, Shonan High School has two miraculous-level fighters, Ken Kaneki and Hanamichi Sakuragi, but they were forced to fight back and forth by their opponents in the Eastern Division finals..."

Huang Lailiangta nodded slightly and said pointedly: "Now it seems that if Shonan High School wants to defeat this inside and outside combination of Yangquan High School, it may not be enough to rely on Kaneki alone."

"Damn it, this guy always uses this kind of magic shot. It's impossible to defend him in time..." Sakuragi Hanamichi gritted his teeth unwillingly, looked at Rukawa Kaede and asked unhappily, "Hey, stinky fox, can you handle this guy? If not, I'll do it!"

"I can." Rukawa Kaede was silent for a moment and said slowly.

"..." There was a hint of doubt in Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes, but he finally chose to believe Rukawa Kaede. He snorted coldly and ran towards the backcourt.

"Kaneki!" Just as Shigehiro Kabaji took the basketball passed by the referee and was about to kick the ball to Ken Kaneki from the baseline, Rukawa Kaede suddenly turned his head to look at him and reached out for the ball.

"You look very motivated..." Kaneki Ken raised his eyebrows slightly, and then nodded to Kabaji Shigehiro. Seeing this, Kabaji Shigehiro no longer hesitated and decisively passed the ball to Rukawa Kaede.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

After receiving the ball, Rukawa slowly dribbled towards the front court and came straight in front of Himuro Tatsuya under his playful gaze.

"You are very strong." Rukawa stared at Himuro Tatsuya blankly and suddenly said, "Except for Sendoh and Zebei Rongzhi, you are the strongest guy I have ever seen besides the Generation of Miracles."

"Thank you, but I won't show mercy if you flatter me." Himuro Tatsuya said with a smile.

"That's not what I meant." Rukawa shook his head and said with a high fighting spirit in his tone, "I meant to say that I am stronger than you!"

“Crunch~~”

As Rukawa Kaede finished speaking, Himuro Tatsuya felt his eyes blurred, and he seemed to hear the sound of a heavy wooden door opening. When he came to his senses again, the surrounding court had turned into a solemn gym. Unlike ordinary gyms, the center of this gym was not a training ground, but a basketball court.

"What's this aura?" Aomine Daiki was the first to notice the change in Rukawa's aura. He sat up straight involuntarily, his face becoming serious. "Could it be that besides zone, this guy has found another way?"

"I want to win...I want to win...I want to win!"

In Himuro Tatsuya's ears, every sound of the basketball hitting the ground turned into a roar full of unwillingness, and as the speed of the basketball hitting the ground became faster and faster, the tone of the voice became higher and higher.

"I want to...win!"

"Boom!"

Under Rukawa's control, the basketball hit the ground hard. A phantom of a samurai appeared behind him again. As Rukawa suddenly jumped up, the phantom of the samurai also stepped forward and suddenly drew his sword to slash at Himuro Tatsuya.

"Hiss..." Himuro Tatsuya subconsciously took a step back, then took a breath, turned his head to look at Rukawa Kaede's back as he broke through, and muttered to himself, "This guy... is prepared to die for victory..."

"I won't let you break in so easily!" Mike Okita flashed and came in front of Rukawa Kaede, but as soon as he stood firm, he fell into the same illusion as Himuro Tatsuya.

"You can't stop me." Rukawa snorted coldly, and after a retreat, he shot decisively against Mike Okita's defense. The shadow of the samurai behind him also drew his bow and arrow again in Mike Okita's horrified eyes, aiming at the basket and tightening the bowstring. As Rukawa finished the shot, Mike Okita and Himuro Tatsuya also clearly heard the sound of the bowstring snapping, and the basketball gradually overlapped with the shadow of the sharp arrow, and finally fell accurately into the basket.

"This guy... has such a strong aura..." Mike Chongtian swallowed nervously, looked at the cold-faced Rukawa Kaede with a look of fear and sighed.

"Stinky fox..." Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Rukawa Kaede's back with a complicated expression, gnashing his teeth and muttering to himself, "I won't lose to you!"

(End of this chapter)