Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 263: An Extremely Enthusiastic Opening

"Sparks? In front of Akashi, Kagami and Kuroko will probably be annihilated and swallowed up like a black hole." Midorima Shintaro listened to Tashiro Heihachi's opening, with a clearly visible hint of denial in his tone.

"It seems that you, Xiaozhen, don't think highly of Kagami and Kuroko..." Takao Kazunari crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at the field with a playful expression and said, "What are you asking? Haven't you always admired Kuroko?"

"First of all, let me correct myself. I have never really approved of Kuroko - it would be better to say that I actually hate him." Midorima Shintaro said seriously.

"No way, Xiaozhen, you watch every one of his games..." Takao Kazunari raised his eyebrows slightly, his tone full of disapproval.

"Personal grudges don't affect my approval of his attitude towards the game." Midorima Shintaro pushed the frame of his glasses on his nose, "I hate Kuroko, but that doesn't affect my appreciation of his attitude of never giving up as a basketball player."

"I really can't understand the train of thought of aloof people like you." Takao Kazunari shook his head and said, "I am quite optimistic about Seirin High School."

"Why?" Midorima Shintaro turned his head and looked at Takao Kazunari with a puzzled look and asked.

"It's very simple~" Takao Kazunari said as if it was a matter of course, "In the past few games of Seirin High School, they all came from an environment where they were not optimistic about and despised, right?"

"You're right." Midorima Shintaro was speechless for a moment, nodded helplessly and said, "But what happened in the past cannot represent what will happen in the future... Kuroko can't win."

"Isn't this conclusion drawn from past events?" Takao Kazunari asked back.

"This..." After hearing this, Midorima Shintaro was slightly stunned and didn't know what to say.

"Well, it doesn't matter who wins." Takao Kazunari smiled and patted Midorima Shintaro's arm and said, "But next year we will definitely win."

"Yes, we will definitely win next year." Midorima Shintaro said with a smile.

As the referee walked to the center line holding the basketball, the audience's attention was drawn and the noise on the sidelines gradually died down. Soon, the entire stadium fell into silence.

"Beep~" The referee came to the center line and blew the whistle, saying, "Players from both sides, line up and salute!"

"Please give me your guidance!" Akashi Seijuro stared at Kuroko Tetsuya with a warm smile on his face.

"Please give me your guidance!" Kuroko Tetsuya looked at Akashi Seijuro expressionlessly and bowed slightly.

Seeing that the opening process had been completed, the referee came to the midfield line without saying much and prepared to kick off. Kagami Daiya and Nango Koichiro stood on both sides of the center line, waiting for the upcoming game.

"Beep!" With a whistle, the basketball was thrown high into the sky by the referee.

"Ughhhhhhhhhhh!!!" Kagami Daigo roared and leaped up. His long arms cut through the sky like an arrow and he desperately stabbed at the basketball in the air.

"What the hell?" Nango Kouichiro was shocked by the height of Kagami's jump, and exclaimed in shock, "Did Kagami take medicine? Is he so excited right after the game started?"

"It was a close call. We were almost late." In the audience, Taoi Satsuki pulled Kaneki Ken and looked at the field with curiosity, saying, "Kagami-san is very imposing."

"Yeah, maybe the God of Fire can scare us today." Kaneki Ken said with a smile as he looked at the God of Fire Daiga flying into the sky.

In the end, Kagami Taiga used his half-arm height advantage to push the ball to the backcourt and snatched the basketball over Nango Koichirō's head.

"Well done, Kagami!" Ebina Ka chuckled, took a step forward, and quickly snatched the ball away.

"Kagami is in very good shape at the start." Shinji Koganei said with a smile as he looked at Kagami Daiga in the field.

"I saw it a long time ago." Aida Reiko sat on the bench, holding her chin with both hands, and said confidently, "So the tactics I arranged for him... was to catch Rakusan High School by surprise at the start!"

"Yeah!"

As Reiko Aida finished her words, Kagami Taiga burned the entire stadium like a rampantly spreading flame. Everyone at Rakusan High School only felt a heat wave rushing towards them, making them squint their eyes.

"We have finally made it here..." The running Kagami Daigo's eyes were already flashing with lightning, and his fiery red pupils were full of vigorous fighting spirit, "So, we must win!"

"Hurry back to defense!" Akashi Seijuro's heart skipped a beat when he saw the lightning in Kagami Daiga's eyes. He sprinted quickly to the backcourt while loudly reminding his teammates around him.

"Shh!"

The basketball flew past Akashi Seijuro's ear. In the horrified eyes of Mibuchi Reo, Kagami Taiga firmly caught the flying basketball, stood in front of Hayama Kotaro, and assumed a triple threat posture.

"Don't even think about going over there!" Kotaro Hayama gritted his teeth, looked at Kagami Daiga in front of him with his arms open and roared.

"You can't stop me." Kagami said, I stared at Hayama Kotaro in front of me, and suddenly rushed up at a speed beyond Hayama Kotaro's reaction speed limit. While Hayama Kotaro was looking terrified, I passed him in one step.

"Nango, Nagayoshi! Guard him!" Hayama Kotaro looked back with a ferocious expression, only to see Neya Takenayoshi and Nango Koichiro in the inside staring at Kagami Taiga's figure as if they were facing a powerful enemy.

"It's the same no matter how many people come!" Kagami Daigo shouted angrily, ignoring the joint defense of the two giants in the interior, stepped on the free throw line and jumped up, floating in the air as if he was free from gravity.

"Damn it, can this guy really fly?" Negaya Takeyoshi, who had already started to fall from the sky, gnashed his teeth and looked at Kagami Daimi's eyes without any emotion and muttered to himself, "But the take-off position is so far away, you can't dunk!"

"This is not up to you!" Kagami Daigo roared, holding the basketball high with his right arm, he exerted a little force and threw the ball hard towards the basket.

"What is this guy doing?" Nango Kouichiro looked at Kagami Taiga who chose to shoot with a look of shock on his face, and said in a tone full of disbelief, "Could it be that this ball..."

“Bang! Shua!”

Before Nango Koichirō could finish his words, the basketball hit the backboard heavily and bounced into the basket.

"Nice dunk!" Heihachi Tashiro shouted excitedly on the sidelines, "Kagami-san scored the first point for Seirin High School with a beautiful dunk!"

"Is this Himuro's junior brother?" Mike Okita looked at the field with great interest and said, "He's quite strong!"

"Tsk, it's just a slam dunk from the free throw line, what's so great about that..." Murasakibara Atsushi said with a bit of jealousy.

"Of course I'm still inferior to you~" Mike Okita smiled and looked at the childish Murasakibara Atsushi to comfort him, "But to be able to put in such a wonderful performance in front of Akashi, it's still not bad!"

"Hmph!" Murasakibara Atsushi snorted proudly. He didn't say anything else and continued to focus his attention on the game on the field.

"Coach, is it really okay if we don't call Himuro over?" Kenichi Okamura leaned close to Masako Araki's ear and asked.

"This is Himuro's own knot. No one can help him solve it except himself." Masako Araki said, staring at the game on the field intently.

"Oh, okay..." Kenichi Okamura sighed lightly, turned his head to look at the game on the field, and said nothing.

"I'm sorry, Akashi, I failed to defend against Kagami just now." Hayama Kotaro came to Akashi Seijuro with a frustrated look on his face and raised his hands. "It's okay, Hayama." Akashi Seijuro smiled and patted Hayama Kotaro on the shoulder and said, "Anyway, we have already made a plan for this situation, right? We just need to play the next ball well."

"Yes, Akashi." Kotaro Hayama nodded heavily, and a fierce flame burned in his eyes as he looked at Kagami Daigo.

"Don't worry about the last ball, just play it safe and take this one first!" Akashi Seijuro took the baseline ball from Nango Koichirō and slowly pushed the ball forward while loudly encouraging his teammates beside him.

"Akagi-san is really different now." Taoi Satsuki looked at Akashi Seijuro in the field and said with a hint of joy in her tone, "It feels like Akashi-san when Ken-kun first went to the United States."

"Come on, Akashi Seijuro." The moment Akashi Seijuro just stepped over the midfield line, Kagami Taiga appeared in front of him. His bright eyes stared at Akashi Seijuro's every move and he roared with full momentum.

"Kagami-san, although I really want to let go and fight you, now is not the time for me to show off." Akashi Seijuro faced Kagami Taiga's aggressive and oppressive aura with a normal smile, and said leisurely, "After all, I am a point guard!"

"Be careful! Hinata!" Before Kagami Daiga could react, Kiyoshi Teppei behind him suddenly shouted angrily.

"What's going on?" Kagami Daigo shifted his eyes slightly and saw the basketball fly out of Akashi Seijuro's hands like a red light and land accurately in the hands of Mibuchi Reo outside the 45-degree three-point line on the right.

"I heard that your shooting has a lot in common with me, little brother Hinata." After catching the ball, Mibuchi Reo looked at Hinata Junpei with a playful look and said.

"Ah, this is indeed thanks to you." Hinata Junpei smiled with a dangerous light in his eyes, "I did learn how to shoot by following your movements... but I have completely figured out my own basketball!"

"Is it the inviolable basketball shot?" Mibuchi Reio said with a smile, "I've seen it, it's really good."

"You don't just want to talk nonsense to me, do you?" Hinata Junpei said with narrowed eyes.

"Well, you're really impatient." Mibuchi Reio put on a triple threat posture, and after carefully observing Hinata Junpei's position, he suddenly jumped up, "As a master, I have long wanted to test your strength!"

"Is this... a shot from the sky?" Hinata Junpei said while gritting his teeth as he watched Mibuchi Reo rising from the ground and leaning back more and more. "Damn it! Is this such a difficult move right from the start?"

"Mibuchi Reo is clearly bullying Hyuga Junpei..." Takao Kazunari said with a complicated tone, crossing his arms in front of his chest, "He is already nearly ten centimeters taller than Hyuga Junpei, and then he uses the backward shot... It seems that although he says it with disdain, he is actually very wary of Hyuga Junpei!"

"Damn it, I can't interfere with this ball!" Although Hinata Junpei jumped up with all his strength, he couldn't help feeling discouraged when he saw his fingertips were not even at the tip of Mibuchi Reo's nose.

"Shh!"

As the sound of the basketball hitting the net came from behind Hinata Junpei, the feeling of powerlessness in Hinata Junpei's heart became even stronger.

"See, little brother Hinata?" Mibuchi Reio smiled and looked at Hinata Junpei's helpless eyes and said, "Compared to me, you still have a long way to go~"

"..."Hinata Junpei looked at Mibuchi Reio, whose face had a hint of pride, and was somewhat speechless.

"Hinata!" Aida Reiko shouted at the silent Hinata Junpei in the court, "Isn't it just a three-pointer? Write it down and shoot it back later! Are you scared?"

"Ah? How is that possible?" Hinata Junpei pushed the frame of his glasses and his expression returned to calmness.

"It's just that it's Kagami's turn to shine now, so I don't want to steal the spotlight! When it comes to three-point shooting, I'm not inferior to anyone!"

"It's a bit strange..." Kasamatsu Yukio frowned and looked at Kagami Taiga on the field and muttered to himself, "Although Hinata's shot just now was indeed difficult to defend, it was easy for Kagami to block it with his ability... Why didn't Kagami come forward to make up for it?"

“Reinforcement? Are you kidding me, Kasamatsu-senpai…” Kise Ryota smacked his lips and said, “Akagi-chan has indeed become a lot more easy-going, but that doesn’t mean he’s become a loser…”

"You mean..." Kasamatsu Yukio looked at the field thoughtfully and said, "But Akashi Seijuro is now guarding Ebina Ka..."

"That's true." Kise Ryota pointed at the positions of the players on the field and said, "But if Kagami wants to get past Minamigo Koichiro and Hayama Kotaro to defend Mibuchi Reo, he must give up the opportunity to help defend Akashi... To put it simply, the reason why Akashi passed the ball to Mibuchi Reo was to give Kagami another choice..."

"Multiple choice?" Kasamatsu Yukio said thoughtfully, "Isn't this considered distracting thoughts?"

"Of course." Huang Lailiangta smacked his lips and said, "Such subtle distractions may not be enough to make Xiao Huoshen directly exit the zone, but once subtle distractions accumulate, they will produce a qualitative change, enough to force Xiao Huoshen to exit the zone state!"

"Is it just a pass that has such a far-reaching plan?" Matsuyama Yutaka said in shock as he looked at Akashi Seijuro on the field, "Sure enough, the scary thing is not the Eye of Heaven and Earth, but Akashi Seijuro who possesses the Eye of the Emperor of Heaven..."

"Vulcan!"

With Reo Mibuchi's three-pointer, the ball returned to Seirin High School. Teppei Kiyoshi came to the baseline and decisively passed the ball to Daigo Kagami.

"Time!"

With a flash of electric arc, Kagami Taiga's figure once again crossed the entire court, leaving behind the defense of Hayama Kotaro and Nango Koichirō as if it were nothing.

"Oh oh oh!!!"

The audience present became more excited as they looked at Kagami Daigo's agile figure, and they raised their arms and cheered for Kagami Daigo.

"Uhhhhhhhh!!!"

As Kagami Taiga jumped up again on the free throw line, Netani Takeyoshi, who was guarding the basket, knew he was no match for him, but he still jumped up with a roar, and his dark long arms stretched out towards the basketball in Kagami Taiga's hand, but the basketball didn't touch it, but hit Kagami Taiga's arm heavily. With a crisp sound, the basketball hit the backboard and went into the basket, and the referee's whistle blew.

"Beep beep~ White No. 8, defensive foul! Red No. , the ball counts, one free throw!"

"Yes!" Hinata Junpei, who was behind Kagami Taiga, excitedly waved his fist, jumped up and landed on Kagami Taiga's back, rubbed his hair hard and said, "Well done, Kagami! Keep fighting like this!"

"Ah, I know, Captain." Kagami Taiga gently wiped the sweat that was about to drip from his chin, looked at Akashi Seijuro with a serious look and said to himself, "What happened to that feeling of being stared at just now...was it an illusion?"

"How could it be an illusion, Kagami..." Aomine Daiki on the sidelines seemed to have guessed what Kagami was thinking. He smiled with a complicated expression and said, "Why do you think Akashi was able to make a perfect pass after regaining his first personality?"

"Eh? What do you mean?" Wakamatsu Kosuke seemed to have heard Aomine Daiki's whisper, and with a hint of incredible shock in his eyes, he said, "Could it be?"

"Yeah..." Aomine Daiki nodded with a wry smile, confirming Wakamatsu Kosuke's guess, "Akagi, the first personality, can also use some of the power of the Eye of the Emperor... Although he may be more inclined to organize attacks, this does not mean that the effect in a single fight is completely lost!"

"Then didn't it mean just now..." Wakamatsu Kosuke hadn't finished speaking when he heard Aomine Daiki say, "Yes, Akashi really tried to cut off the Kagami just now."

"Is it still a step too slow..." Akashi Seijuro looked down at his right hand and whispered to himself, "It seems that I need to get more familiar with his strength..."

"Akagi, the ball!" Looking at Akashi Seijuro who was thoughtful in the field, Minamigo Koichirō gave a loud reminder and then gently threw the ball to Akashi Seijuro.

"Thank you, Koichiro." Akashi Seijuro raised his hand to catch the basketball, then smiled and looked towards the half court of Seirin High School and said, "Next, let's have a great game!"

"Yes, Akashi!" The players of Rakusan High School seemed to be infected by the aura of Akashi Seishiro and shouted excitedly.

(End of this chapter)