Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 274 The winning hand

"I said, you won't score any more goals." Akashi Seijuro stared at the players of Seirin High School, his eyes full of coldness.

"This is going to make Seirin's situation very bad..." Aomine Daiki muttered to himself as he looked at the limp Kagami Taiga, "Kagami has been forced out of the zone by Akashi's blow, and the other people's stamina is about to run out... but everyone at Rakuzan High School is in a pseudo-zone..."

"Ken-kun, do you really think Tetsu-kun and the others can still win?" Momoi Satsuki turned her head and looked at Kaneki Ken with some uncertainty and said, "It seems that Kagami-kun is about to give up..."

"Ah? Give up? Are you kidding me..." Kaneki Ken smiled and shook his head and said, "You might as well hope that Sakuragi can shake hands with Rukawa Kaede and make peace with him than to expect that hot-blooded idiot to give up~"

"Don't worry, Kagami..." Muji Teppei came to Kagami Taiga, biting his lips with an unwilling look on his face and said, "Your return defense just now was very timely..."

"But I still couldn't defend against Hayama Kotaro..." Kagami Daiga lowered his head, the sweat on his forehead wet his bangs, which hung heavily on Kagami Daiga's eyes like a door curtain.

"Kagami-san..." Kuroko Tetsuya came to Kagami Daiga's side, looked at the dejected face of Kagami Daiga, opened his mouth, wanted to say something, but felt that he had nothing to say.

"Time out!" Seeing that the players on the field were in danger of losing confidence, Reiko Aida quickly stopped the game.

"Beep~" The referee blew the whistle, crossed his arms in front of his chest and waved, saying, "Seirin High School, request a timeout!"

“Uh ah~~~~”

As the two teams walked off the court, the spectators on the sidelines finally relieved the depressing atmosphere in their hearts and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Are you okay, Kagami-san?" As soon as Kagami Daiga walked off the court, Aida Reiko walked up to Kagami Daiga and asked with concern, "Can you still play next?"

"I..." Kagami Taiga originally wanted to say that he was fully capable of playing, but when he thought of the pressure from Akashi Seijuro that he would face on the court, he couldn't help but swallow the next words.

"Mr. Kagami... do you want to give up?" Kuroko Tetsuya saw the worry in Kagami Daiga's heart, walked slowly to Kagami Daiga's side and asked.

"How is it possible?" Kagami Daiga looked at the expressionless Kuroko Tetsuya and suddenly became a little excited. "I have finally made it this far, how can I give up?"

"It's good that you don't want to give up the game..." Kuroko Tetsu let out a sigh of relief without leaving any trace, then smiled at Kagami Daigo and said, "Then next, Kagami-san, why don't you give up the game for a while."

"Ah ha?" Kagami Daigo was stunned by what Kuroko Tetsuya said and scratched his head in confusion.

"What I mean is..." Kuroko Tetsuya looked up into Kagami Daiga's eyes and said, "Kagami-san, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Don't think that it's the end of the world just because you can't save the team. You know... whether it's me or the seniors... everyone is silently working hard for Seirin. It's just a temporary defeat. You have to believe in the bond between us. We will definitely catch up in this game."

"I never thought that I'm used to your preaching now..." Kagami Daigo stared at Kuroko Tetsuya blankly for a moment and then suddenly laughed. He gently rubbed the top of Kuroko Tetsuya's head and said, "Well, that's natural! We're guaranteed to win this game!"

"Based on the current situation, Kagami no longer has the energy to enter the zone. At this point in the game, we are just one step away from winning." Akashi Seijuro sat on the bench, gulping down water, and said to his teammates, "Everyone, if we hold on for the last ten minutes, we will be able to successfully advance to the finals and take revenge on Kaneki Ken!"

"Yes! Captain!" The other players of Luoshan High School looked at each other and nodded, responding heavily.

"Captain...?" Akashi Seijuro paused as he raised the water bottle. A strange feeling came over him. "This title doesn't sound bad."

"Buzz~~"

At this moment, the timer on the sidelines buzzed, announcing the end of the timeout.

"Let's go!" Akashi Seijuro pulled off the towel around his neck, his scarlet eyes flashing with a different light, and he led the players of Rakusan High School onto the court.

"Kagami, ball!" Since Kotaro Hayama scored the last goal, the ball was still in Seirin High School's possession after the timeout. After passing the baseline ball to Kagami Daiga, Teppei Kiyoshi ran towards the front court without stopping.

"Huh... I'm so tired..." After taking the basketball, Kagami Daigo slowly dribbled the ball forward. He didn't know why, but even though it was the decisive moment, he felt extremely calm in his heart. He even had time to recall the past.

"First grade class ten, Kagami Taiga! The goal is to defeat all the Generation of Miracles and become the number one in Neon!"

"I'm Shadow. I'm not good at fighting alone, but I will definitely help you become the number one in Neon..."

"One minute and 30 seconds, you didn't even have the desire to let me play for more than two minutes..."

"Damn it, why... am I still so weak!"

As the sound of the basketball hitting the ground continued to echo in Kagami Daigo's ears, every event since he joined Seirin High School passed before his eyes like a movie.

"Vulcan, give up!"

As Kagami Taiga stepped into Akashi Seijuro's defense area, Akashi Seijuro came in front of Kagami Taiga as soon as possible. Looking at the exhausted Kagami Taiga in front of him, Akashi Seijuro sighed and said, "Your physical strength has been exhausted. If you keep holding on like this, you will be injured like Kise!"

"Yeah... I'm very tired... I've exhausted all my strength!" Kagami Daigo felt that his condition was very mysterious. His whole body was filled with soreness, but the feel of the basketball told him that he could do anything at this moment.

"What's going on? The aura of the God of Fire... suddenly became so terrifying!" Akashi Seijuro looked at the God of Fire Taiga in front of him, and suddenly recalled the Shonan High School where all members entered the IH League finals in synchronization. Although Kaneki Ken was not as embarrassed as the God of Fire Taiga in front of him, the aura of a strong man emanating from his body was not fake at all.

"We can't let him keep plotting like this!" Akashi Seijuro made a prompt decision, stepped forward, and tried to snatch the ball from Kagami Taiga.

"boom!"

To Akashi Seijuro's surprise, although Kagami Daigo seemed extremely slow and his dribbling movements were full of loopholes, for some reason, Akashi Juro's attempt to steal the ball failed. "Akashi..." Kagami Daigo looked at the horrified Akashi Seijuro and muttered to himself, "Although my physical strength has been exhausted, as long as I haven't fallen down, I will squeeze out the last bit of potential in my body to escort the team! I don't become the team's trump card because I am the strongest... but I become the strongest in order to become the team's trump card! This is the secret of basketball for me, Kagami Daigo!"

"Not good!" Akashi Seijuro gritted his teeth as he looked at the Kagami Taiga in front of him who was like a lion with his hair standing on end. An ominous premonition came to his heart.

"Oh!"

Under Akashi Seijuro's shocked eyes, Kagami Taiga slammed the ball heavily to the ground, and the basketball turned into an orange-red stream of light and flew to the sidelines, at a speed even faster than Hayama Kotaro's five-finger dribbling.

"What is he trying to do?" Akashi Seijuro's brain was working rapidly, "It has come to this point, is he still trying to turn the tables?"

As he thought about it, Akashi Seijuro couldn't help but feel a surge of anger in his heart. He ignored Kagami Taiga who cut into the inside and rushed straight towards the direction of the basketball.

"This idiot, he could obviously win by playing according to the plan, but he insisted on challenging the difficult level." Aomine Daiki crossed his arms in front of his chest and muttered to Akashi Seijuro in the field with a playful look on his face.

"The highest difficulty? What does that mean?" Wakamatsu Kosuke asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"Now Seirin has obviously crossed the first gate of the zone. According to the current state of Rakusan High School, it is definitely impossible to stop Seirin's cooperation." Aomine Daiki said firmly, "But time is clearly on Akashi's side, but Akashi is still determined to suppress Seirin's comeback... Isn't this asking for trouble?"

"It's not a problem, right?" Imayoshi Shoichi asked doubtfully, "Does Akashi have to watch Seirin High School turn the tables?"

"If Akashi sticks to his previous style, Seirin won't have a chance to turn the tables..." Aomine Daiki said in a playful tone, "But once Akashi moves, the chance to turn the tables will come."

"You might as well make your words clearer, Aomine." Hara Zeked said with a smile looking at Aomine Daiki.

"To put it simply...Akagi is the backbone of the Rakusan High School players. If Akagi becomes the one who keeps chasing the ball on the court, then Rakusan will definitely follow the ball involuntarily." Aomine Daiki explained patiently, "But Seirin...they are the ones who let the ball chase them."

As soon as Aomine Daiki finished speaking, the basketball that was originally flying towards Hinata Junpei suddenly changed direction and turned to fly towards Kiyoshi Teppei in the inside.

"Is this... Kuroko?" Akashi Seijuro looked at the basketball in the air and muttered to himself in surprise, "But I was watching just now, and Kuroko was clearly behind me!"

"Misdirection?" Taoi Satsuki was no less surprised than Akashi Seijuro at this moment, "Why does Hinata-san also know this trick?"

"It's very simple, because this is not a misdirection at all." Kaneki Ken said firmly, "It's just a simple pass."

"So fast... Kagami..." Hinata Junpei's mind went blank until he passed the ball subconsciously. Then he belatedly muttered to himself, "When the ball was passed to me just now, I couldn't see it clearly..."

"It's too late to check with my eyes..." Muji Teppei looked at the basketball flying towards him, rushed forward, grabbed the basketball and threw it into the air with force, "The more it is at this moment, the more we must believe in the tacit understanding and bond between us!"

"Good pass, captain!" After getting rid of Akashi Seijuro, Kagami Taiga used a light without-ball turn to shake off Netani Takeyoshi and Hayama Kotaro. He turned into a stream of fiery red light and rushed to the inside line and jumped up. After catching the flying basketball in the air, he slammed the ball into the basket with both hands.

"Aa ...

Takeyoshi Netani, who was behind Kagami Daiga, watched Kagami Daiga swing the ball hard behind his head. A crimson electric light suddenly flashed in his pupils. He then jumped up with a roar and stretched out his big hand towards the basketball behind Kagami Daiga's head, trying to block the ball.

"This ball can't be blocked..." Midorima Shintaro said with a hint of appreciation as he looked at Kagami Taiga flying in the air, "This is the strongest attack that has been launched by the entire Seirin team!"

"Oh!"

As if to confirm what Midorima Shintaro said, the moment Takeyoshi Netani's palm touched the basketball, he felt as if a grenade exploded in his hand. He was bounced away by a huge force and fell back to the ground in embarrassment.

"boom!"

At the same time as Neya Takenaka's landing, there was also the sound of the basket whistling. Under the gaze of the audience, Kagami Taiga slammed the ball into the basket.

"Nice dunk!" Tashiro Heihachi excitedly stood up while grabbing the microphone, staring at Kagami Taiga in the paint and yelling, "After Kagami Taiga made a beautiful pass, he once again blew up the whole audience with a mind-blowing dunk!"

"Oh oh oh!!!!"

"Vulcan!", "Vulcan!", "Vulcan!"

The fans of Seirin High School on the sidelines watched their home team regain the momentum of the counterattack under the leadership of Kagami Dawo, and they stood up excitedly, waving banners and flags, and cheering for the players on the field.

"Come again!" Akashi Seijuro gritted his teeth and stretched out his hand to Netani Takeyoshi to pass the ball across the baseline, and then ran towards the front court with the ball without looking back. Seeing this, the players of Rakusan High School were all shocked.

"Come on, Akashi!" There was a flash of electricity in Kagami Daigo's pupils again. The difference from before was that this time the color of the lightning was warm gold - very similar to the color covering the players of Seirin High School.

"Don't be anxious, Kagami, I will definitely not let you down." There was a flash of electricity in Akashi Seijuro's eyes, and then the whole person disappeared in front of Kagami Daigo again.

"Whoosh!"

Before Kagami Daiga could react, the basketball flew out, brushing past Kagami Daiga's temples.

"This kind of rotation..." Aomine Daiki muttered to himself as he watched the basketball spinning violently in the air, "I knew that this move of passing the parcel... must be the winning move that Akashi would save for the last moment!"

(End of this chapter)