Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 268 It’s time
"No one should notice me..." Outside the Osaka Arena, Himuro Tatsuya was wearing a large hooded sweatshirt, with the hood tightly covering most of his face. He looked around furtively and muttered, "Fortunately, there is no familiar person..."

"Are you a thief, Himuro?" Just when Himuro Tatsuya had just put his heart at ease and was about to walk into the gym, a female voice with a hint of playfulness suddenly sounded from behind him.

"It's you, Alex..." Himuro Tatsuya looked back at Alex Garcia somewhat awkwardly, "Why aren't you watching the game inside?"

"I came out to buy a bottle of Coke." Alex Garcia smiled and shook the can in his hand at Himuro Tatsuya, then looked at him with a playful look and asked, "I haven't asked you yet, what are you doing here?"

"I was bored, so I came to watch the game..." Himuro Tatsuya said with a curled lip.

"If you're worried, I'll just say it." Alex Garcia smiled and patted Himuro Tatsuya's shoulder and said, "Hurry up and leave. You're late. The first half of the game is almost over."

"I'm not worried about that guy..." Himuro Tatsuya argued stubbornly for a few words, then pretended to ask casually, "How was the game?"

"The situation is not good." Alex Garcia shook his head solemnly and said, "Rakusan High School is now stronger than in the IH finals. If Kagami can't evolve like Murasakibara Atsushi, this game will probably enter garbage time soon."

"How could this happen?" Himuro Tatsuya looked at Alex Garcia in surprise, and said with an expression of disbelief, "Didn't Kagami find a countermeasure against the Eye of the Emperor when fighting with Kise?"

"This is the terrifying part of Rakusan High School today..." Alex Garcia shook his head solemnly and said, "Kagami and his Seirin High School now have to face not only Akashi Seijuro's Eye of the Emperor, but also a group of talented children united around the Eye of the Emperor..."

"Is that so?" Himuro Tatsuya frowned seriously and walked into the gym with Alex Garcia.

"boom!"

As soon as the two stepped into the audience passage of the stadium, they heard a deafening cheer, so loud that it seemed to shake the entire stadium.

"What's going on?" Himuro Tatsuya looked towards the court with curiosity, and saw that the score between the two sides had reached 58 to 30. The big screen above the court was replaying the scene where Mibuchi Reo shot the ball in despite the defense of Hinata Junpei.

"The strongest three-point shooter under miracles, Yasha Mibuchi Reo!"

"Throw them to death, Lingyang!"

"Lingyang!", "Lingyang!", "Lingyang!"

"Did you hear that, little brother Hinata?" Mibuchi Reo listened to the cheers of the audience on the sidelines, looked at Hinata Junpei with a smile and said, "Now the audience of the manufacturer are cheering for me~"

"Stop making so much noise, you sissy..." Hinata Junpei cursed with a barely perceptible resentment in his eyes, "Next ball... I will definitely defend against you in the next ball!"

"What an embarrassing situation, Hyuga Junpei..." Aomine Daiki sighed while looking at the scoreboard on the sidelines, "Two fouls on his back are like a spider web that restricts Hyuga Junpei's defensive movements. But facing a shooter like Mibuchi Reo who is a head taller than him, a superficial defense is not very effective..."

"How many three-pointers did Mibuchi Reo make in this quarter?" Wakamatsu Kosuke asked Sakurai Ryo after realizing it belatedly.

"Including a 3+1, Mibuchi Reo has made five three-pointers in a row..." Sakurai Ryo flipped through his notebook and said solemnly, "But Hinata-senpai...so far, he has only made two three-pointers in the entire second quarter and missed four..."

"More importantly, in the second quarter, apart from the two three-pointers by Hinata Junpei, only Kagami who entered the zone could barely score..." Imayoshi Xiang said with a complicated tone while looking at the game on the field, "As an offensive team known for its multi-point scoring... Seirin High School didn't play out its own characteristics at all in this game..."

"Stop talking, let's watch this ball first." Aomine Daiki interrupted the conversation of his teammates, "If Junpei Hinata can't defend against Reo Mibuchi's ball... the 30-point difference will be enough to put the last nail in the coffin of Seirin High School..."

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

On the bench, Shinji Koganei was leading a group of regulars at the water cooler to cheer for their teammates on the field. Although they could not predict the key points of the game like Daiki Aomine, their instinct as players let them know that the game had reached a crucial moment.

"Bang!", "Bang!"

Under the surprised eyes of Hinata Junpei, Mibuchi Reo, who was always known for his off-ball running and then catching the ball and shooting, suddenly showed off his ball control.

"Why are you so surprised?" Mibuchi Reo looked at Hinata Junpei's eyes and said with a playful look, "Although I am not as focused on holding the ball as Kotaro, my ball handling is not bad at all!"

"Boom!"

As the words fell, Mibuchi Reio made an emergency stop and then started quickly to shake off Hinata Junpei, and cut into the three-point line under the surprised gaze of Izuki Shun.

"Is this true? Can he attack so smoothly with the ball?" Yi Yuejun didn't have time to think about it. He quickly left Dai Chihiro behind and rushed to defend Mibuchi Reio at the top of the arc.

"Whoosh!"

Yi Yuejun had just got into position to defend when the basketball brushed past his temple and flew to the right corner.

"That position?" Yi Yuejun glanced at Hayama Kotaro who was about to catch the ball, and muttered to himself in confusion, "Hayama Kotaro's mid-range and long-range shots are average..."

"Yiyue, be on guard!"

While Izuki Shun was still in a daze, Hinata Junpei's anxious voice rang in his ears.

"Not good!" Yi Yuejun came to his senses and looked at the empty free throw line, and immediately realized that the situation was not good.

"What a naive... little guy Seirin." With a playful smile on his face, Mibuchi Reo took advantage of Takeyoshi Netani's pick-and-roll to reach the left corner. The basketball that was originally flying towards the right corner suddenly changed direction and flew into Mibuchi Reo's hands the moment he arrived.

"Good pass, Dai!" Mibuchi Reio caught the basketball with a smile, bent her knees slightly, and raised her hand to aim at the basket.

"Don't even think about shooting, you damn shemale!" Hinata Junpei took advantage of the moment when Mibuchi Reo was about to shoot and pounced on her, trying to block the shot.

"You've been fooled again! Little brother Hinata!" Seeing Hinata Junpei coming to reinforce the defense, Mibuchi Reio was not panicked at all. Instead, a smile of success appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"What..." Hinata Junpei looked at the calm Mibuchi Reo below him, and a sense of foreboding suddenly came over him. "Be careful, Hinata, don't break the rules again!" Izuki Shun on the side hurriedly warned him, but it was too late.

"boom!"

In the desperate eyes of Hinata Junpei, Mibuchi Reo jumped towards the direction where Hinata Junpei was rushing towards. After her body hit Hinata Junpei heavily, she steadily pushed the ball towards the basket with both hands.

"Just think of it as me teaching you another move, little Hinata brother. Next time when you fight with others, remember not to jump as soon as they raise their hands." Mibuchi Reo said with a smile while looking at Hinata Junpei.

"Shh!"

As Reo Mibuchi finished speaking, the sound of a basketball hitting the net rang out behind Junpei Hinata.

"Beep!" The referee's whistle sounded particularly harsh in Hinata Junpei's ears, "Black number four, defensive foul! White number six, one free throw!"

"Foul... Another foul! Why do you keep calling fouls on me?" Hinata Junpei's eyes revealed a trace of desperate madness, and he spread his hands and shouted at the referee, "It was clearly him who bumped into me just now, and he also bumped into me before, but you keep calling fouls on me!"

"Black Number Four! I told you to raise your hand!" The referee looked at Hinata Junpei who kept spreading his hands and complaining to him, raised his whistle with an unhappy expression and warned him.

"Hinata, shut up!" Looking at Hinata Junpei who was about to break through the defense in the field, Aida Reiko hurried to the sidelines and shouted loudly, trying to wake Hinata Junpei up, but it had little effect.

"Please, Mr. Referee, I really didn't commit a foul just now, he really hit me!" Hinata Junpei took two steps forward, covered his chest with a look of despair and said, "Please, take a look at the replay of the game, take another look!"

"Beep beep!!!" The referee who was constantly questioned by Hyuga Junpei coldly rolled his eyes at Hyuga Junpei, made a T sign with both hands, then blew the whistle and said, "Black number four, technical foul!"

"What!" Only then did Hyuga Junpei stop walking as if waking up from a dream, lowered his head and stared at his hands blankly, muttering to himself, "What did I just do?"

"It's really adding insult to injury!" Midorima Shintaro sighed helplessly, adjusting the frame of his glasses, "Although I can understand it, I still have to say that Hinata Junpei's actions just now were too stupid!"

"Now is not the time to dwell on this, isn't it, Shin-chan..." Takao Kazunari said, looking at the field with an unpleasant expression, "Hinata is the most important outside trump card of the Seirin team and the three-point shooter with the greatest chance of winning this game. He has already committed four fouls... If he commits another foul, Hinata Junpei will have to sit on the bench and watch the rest of the game..."

"Damn it..." Aida Reiko clenched her fists in annoyance, turned her head and looked at Katsume Ichiro and said, "Ichiro, the next game is up to you..."

"I understand, coach..." Katsume Ichiro stood up and said solemnly, "I will do my best to do Hinata-senpai's job on the field."

"Remember, even if you give Reo Mibuchi two three-pointers, don't be tricked into committing a foul by his ground shot!" Reiko Aida warned solemnly.

"I understand, coach." Katsume Ichiro nodded and went to the sidelines to replace Hinata Junpei.

"Are you okay, Hinata?" After Hinata Junpei sat on the bench, Aida Reiko came to his side and carefully comforted him, "It's okay, Hinata, there's not much time left in the second quarter. I'll find a chance to replace you after the second half starts."

"Ah, I understand." Hinata Junpei draped the towel over his head with lifeless eyes, then covered his face with the towel in his hands, making it impossible to guess his expression.

"Vulcan!"

As Reo Mibuchi scored the free throw, Teppei Kiyoshi decisively kicked the baseline ball to Taiga Kagami.

"Senior Muji?" Kagami Daiga looked at Muji Teppei with some confusion and asked, "Didn't the coach arrange that..."

"You can't play so rigidly anymore, Kagami." Kiyoshi Teppei lifted up his jersey to wipe the sweat off his face, and said to the players of Rakusan High School with a serious expression, "Although I'm reluctant to admit it, compared to the rest of us, the gap between you and Akashi is the smallest... maybe it would be better for the game if we let you play the ball..."

"Stop being so fussy, Kagami." Katsume Ichiro slapped Kagami Daigo on the back and said, "You are our trump card, aren't you? Now, it's time for you, the trump card, to step up!"

"Ah, I understand." Kagami Daiwo took a deep breath with a serious expression, and the electric light in his eyes flashed again.

"Kagami-san plays on his own?" Taoi Satsuki looked at Kagami Taiga who was advancing on the court with the ball in some surprise and said, "When did Seirin High School become a team that relies on the individual abilities of its ace to solve problems?"

"It can't be helped. The potential of the others hasn't been fully unleashed yet..." Kaneki Ken folded his arms across his chest and commented with interest, "If Kagami can score a three-pointer and keep the score difference within 30 points, there is still hope for Seirin High School to fight back in the second half. On the contrary, if the score difference is 30 points or more when entering the second half...it may be difficult for everyone in Seirin to even think of a counterattack."

"Sorry for waiting for a long time, Kagami-san." Just as Kagami Daigo crossed the center line, Akashi Seijuro, with lightning in his eyes, came up to him with a smile.

"I've been patient for a long time." Kagami Daigo's eyes narrowed, and he changed from a triple threat state with the ball to a back-to-the-basket state. After lowering his shoulders and giving Akashi Seijuro a heavy blow, he turned around like the drum of a washing machine, and cut towards the basket while shaking off Akashi Seijuro.

"Do you think that after all this time, I haven't considered how to deal with players taller than me who post up against me?" Akashi Seijuro chuckled, and his right hand cut towards the basketball in Kagami Daiga's hand like a sharp blade.

"Of course I have considered this situation! So I don't think this move can completely defeat you!"

Kagami Daiga calmly switched the ball to his left hand, then, under the surprised look of Akashi Seijuro, he blew the ball back and shot with both feet outside the three-point line.

"Three-pointer? It's too hasty, there's no way it'll go in." Akashi Seijuro turned his head to look at the basketball in surprise and shouted to the inside, "Yongji, rebound!"

"It's impossible not to get in, Akashi." Kagami Taiga looked at Akashi Seijuro steadily and said, "You have no idea how much effort we have made to defeat you!"

"Shh!"

Under the astonished eyes of the spectators on the sidelines, the basketball drew a perfect arc in the air and fell accurately into the basket.

"Buzz!"

At the same time, the timer on the sidelines also rang. As the red light on the timer came on, Grandpa Kuroko Tetsu slowly stood up, walked in front of Aida Reiko, and said solemnly: "Coach, it's time."

(End of this chapter)