Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 286 Mirror Image

"Very good, very energetic." Mitsui Shou, who was blocked by Katsumi Ichiro, showed a complicated smile on his face, staring at Katsumi Ichiro with his eyes, and said, "You are worthy of being my student."

"There is an old saying in the Dragon Kingdom, 'The disciple surpasses the master.' Senior Mitsui, you have been away from basketball for two years. It is impossible for you to suppress me like you did before!" Katsume Ichiro stared at Mitsui Shou and said in a firm tone.

"But don't forget, it's far from my turn to step forward and take the lead at Shonan High School." Mitsui's mouth corners slightly raised, with a hint of calmness in his tone.

"Oh no, grab the rebound!"

As Mitsui Hisashi finished his words, Hinata Junpei behind Katsume Ichiro seemed to finally react, pointing at the basketball that bounced into the air and shouting angrily.

"I'll do it..." Kagami Daigo in the corner looked at the rebound ball bouncing high and subconsciously wanted to rush into the inside to grab the ball.

"Just stand here obediently, red-haired monkey!" The moment Kagami Taiga started moving, Sakuragi Hanamichi stood firmly on the path that Kagami Taiga had to take to enter, and the two fiery red figures collided heavily with each other.

"Damn it... at this very moment, I had to be blocked by this idiot..." Kagami Daiga gnashed his teeth and looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi unwillingly. In desperation, he turned to Teppei Kiyoshi in the paint and asked for help, "Kiyoshi-senpai, please be sure to protect this rebound!"

"Ughhhhhhhhhhh!!!" Teppei Kiyoshi's reaction was faster than Kagami Daiga's call for help. The moment Sakuragi Hanamichi blocked Kagami Daiga, Teppei Kiyoshi jumped high, and his huge palm desperately reached out to grab the basketball in the air.

"Great, it's the vice claw! We are saved!" Shinji Koganei excitedly raised his arms and shouted as he looked at the basketball that was so close to Teppei Kiyoshi's palm.

"Hah!" Just as Muji Teppei was about to grab the rebound, a dull growl suddenly sounded from behind him.

"What..." Muji Tieping looked at the huge hand above his head in shock, and subconsciously widened his eyes, "This is mine..."

"Vice claw sounds cool, but it's just grabbing the ball with one hand~" Kaneki Ken on the sidelines raised his lips slightly, "For Kabata, whose ball sense is second only to Kise, it's a piece of cake... After all, not everyone has small hands like Kobe~"

“Ahhhhhhhhh!!!” As Muji Tieping’s face was filled with horror, Karaji Shigehiro’s figure flew up from behind Muji Tieping like a giant spirit. His huge body blocked the light above Muji Tieping’s head. For a moment, the entire basket seemed to have suddenly entered into eternal darkness.

"boom!"

Just when Muji Teppei was distracted, Kabaji Shigehiro had already grabbed the basketball in mid-air, and before it even hit the ground, he shoved it back into the basket. A force like a tsunami came from Kabaji Shigehiro's body, causing Muji Teppei to lose control of his body while in mid-air, and he flew out of the court.

"boom!"

As the sound of a human body hitting the basketball hoop was heard, Muji Tieping felt a tightness in his chest, his stomach churning, and he couldn't help but want to vomit.

"Hey, Muji." Kabaji Shigehiro slowly loosened his right hand that was gripping the basket, looked at Muji Teppei lying on the ground expressionlessly and said in a muffled voice, "Why don't you just give up? You can't possibly beat us. Kagami was matched up against Sakuragi, Mitsui can suppress Katsuragi Ichiro, Hyuga Junpei is no match for Rukawa Kaede, and your so-called phantom sixth man can't escape Izawa Shuji's sight. As for you... I think this ball should be enough to make you understand the gap between you and me. The gap between Murasakibara and me... may not be as big as the gap between you and me."

"Well, the gap... I know." Muji Tieping stood up in a trance. The violent collision just now made his limbs shake constantly, like fallen leaves wrapped in the cold wind.

"I hope you really know." Karaji Shigehiro sighed with some regret, turned around and ran towards the backcourt.

"Even if Kaneki doesn't play, Shonan High School can completely suppress Seirin High School in five positions..." Aomine Daiki sighed as he watched the game on the field, "Among the five people on the field, the weakest Izawa is also a general-level point guard. His personal strength alone is enough to suppress Azhe, not to mention that he knows Azhe's characteristics very well..."

"That Izawa Shuji, and that Kabaji Shigehiro..." Wakamatsu Kosuke said as he looked at the field with a complicated expression, "If Kaneki Ken wasn't on the field, I really wouldn't have realized that they are actually capable of standing on their own..."

"Of course..." Aomine Daiki said with a hint of yearning, "When Kaneki is on the court, he is as dazzling as the sun. But when the sun disappears, it is the time for the stars of Shonan High School to shine!"

"Vulcan, ball!"

Just when Aomine Daiki and others were still marveling at the absolute dominance of Shonan High School, Katsume Ichiro had already reached the baseline and threw the ball to the front court with a powerful long boat.

"Oh no, hurry back to defense!" The somewhat lax Mitsuimon cursed inwardly and quickly reminded his teammates loudly to hurry back to defense.

"Time!"

"Yeah!"

As soon as Mitsui Shou finished speaking, he heard a flash of lightning passing behind him, and the figure of Kagami Daigo suddenly rushed out. The wind blew up his jersey, making a thundering sound, and the whole person rushed to the front court like a roaring thunder dragon.

"Go, Kagami!" The substitute players on the sidelines of Seirin High School stood up and shouted loudly at the sight of the aggressive Kagami Daiga.

"Damn red-haired monkey... actually tried to steal my limelight!" Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Kagami Daiga's back with an unhappy look on his face, and lightning gradually gathered in his eyes.

"We've entered the zone again..." Takao Kazunari muttered softly as he looked at Kagami Taiga running at lightning speed on the field, "Are there no limits to the physical strength of these guys? How can they enter the zone just like that?"

"It feels like I'm always at a higher level..."

Listening to Takao Kazunari's unintentional words, Midorima Shintaro suddenly recalled the scene when Murasakibara Atsushi introduced evolution to him.

"Could it be..." Midorima Shintaro's pupils suddenly shrank, and he looked at Kagami Taiga's back in disbelief and muttered to himself, "This guy Kagami actually..."

"Time!"

Just as Midorima Shintaro was still in a daze, another flash of light suddenly sounded from the sidelines. Everyone looked in the direction of the flash of light, and saw Sakuragi Hanamichi's figure like a burning fire, sweeping towards the front court.

"Aaaaaaaah!!!" Kagami Taiga, who took the lead in reaching the frontcourt, grabbed the basketball flying in the air, stepped on the free throw line with his left foot and jumped up. He stretched his body in the air like a soaring eagle and glided towards the basket.

"Go ahead, Kagami, you must dunk it!" Reiko Aida threw away the towel in her hand, stared at Kagami Daigo gliding in the air, and shouted angrily.

"Don't even think about scoring a goal, you damn red-haired monkey!"

Just when everyone thought that Kagami Daiga's dunk was a sure thing, Sakuragi Hanamichi suddenly appeared from behind Kagami Daiga, and his slender arms stretched out from above Kagami Daiga's head, firmly grasping the basketball held high by Kagami Daiga like an iron clamp. "What!" Kagami Daiga looked at the basketball in his hand with a look of astonishment and muttered to himself, "This guy...wasn't he waiting in the wings before?"

"Both of them entered the same zone... Kagami's speed is not as fast as Sakuragi's?" Imayoshi Xiang stared at the two figures in the deadlock in the air with his eyes wide open and said, "Does this mean that there are also different levels of zones?"

"It's not like there's a difference in level..." Aomine Daiki shook his head and said, "The reason why Sakuragi was able to catch up with Kagami is, on the one hand, because Kagami's athletic ability is indeed not as good as Sakuragi's, and on the other hand, it's also because Kagami entered the zone at the beginning of the game, and it's amazing that he can hold on to this level..."

"Crunch~Crunch~"

Kagami Daigo gritted his teeth as he looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi in the corner of his eye. He kept exerting force with his arms, as if he wanted to squeeze out every bit of strength in his body as he wrestled with Sakuragi Hanamichi in the air.

"Take this ball... here!" Sakuragi Hanamichi stared at the basketball in Kagami Daiga's hands. A huge brute force burst out from his body. Sakuragi Hanamichi twisted his waist and arms in the air and forcibly took the basketball from Kagami Daiga's hands.

"boom!"

With the sound of a human body hitting the floor, Kagami Taiga was finally defeated by Sakuragi Hanamichi and fell to the floor in a mess.

"Kaguya!" Hinata Junpei looked at Kagami Daigo lying on the ground with a worried look on his face. Just as he was about to step forward to say a few words of comfort, he saw a fiery hurricane sweeping towards him.

"Oh no, I forgot the game was not paused!" Hinata Junpei's heart skipped a beat and he looked up quickly. He saw Sakuragi Hanamichi easily dodged the interception by Kuroko Tetsuya, passed Katsume Ichiro and Kiyoshi Teppei, rushed into the penalty area of ​​Seirin High School and jumped up.

"Damn it! If Kagami is in the inside... If Kagami is still in the inside!" Hinata Junpei closed his eyes, as if he couldn't bear to watch Sakuragi Hanamichi wreaking havoc on his own basket.

"It's nothing big..." In a place where Hinata Junpei didn't notice, Kagami Taiga climbed up on his own, staring at Sakuragi Hanamichi's back, and said to himself, "It's just that I was knocked to the ground by someone. There's nothing to be ashamed of... Lying on the ground and feeling sad about past mistakes is the most shameful thing!"

"Squeak... This time!"

As the Fire God once again squeezed the potential of his body, the familiar red light once again lit up in his eyes.

"Haha, this ball belongs to me, the basketball genius Sakuragi Hanamichi!" Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes flashed with excitement. He grabbed the basketball with his right hand and slammed it hard towards the basket.

"Don't be happy too soon, red-haired monkey!" Kagami Taiga's figure swept across most of the court like a tornado. Then, he stepped heavily on the floor of the paint area and jumped up, pressing his long arms tightly on the basketball in Sakuragi Hanamichi's hands.

"You're here to ruin my good thing again, red-haired monkey!" Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Kagami Daiga with an indignant look on his face. He increased the strength of his arms again, trying to overpower Kagami Daiga and dunk the ball directly into the basket.

"boom!"

As the sound of a basketball hitting the basket heavily was heard, despite the strenuous interference of Kagami Taigo, Sakuragi Hanamichi's dunk finally hit the front of the basket and bounced high.

"rebound!!!"

The players on the field looked at the basketball bouncing high and shouted reminders.

"My rebound!" Sakuragi Hanamichi jumped up immediately with an indignant look on his face and stretched his long arms towards the basketball.

"Don't even think about it!" Kagami Dawo jumped up not to be outdone, gently picked up the bottom of the basketball with his palm, and lifted the basketball into the air again.

"Catch the ball? I can do that too!" Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at the basketball flying in the air with an unhappy look on his face, and skillfully picked the basketball up.

“Bang, bang, bang!”

With the continuous jumping and dribbling of the ball by Kagami Taiga and Sakuragi Hanamichi, the basketball fell and flew up like a roller coaster.

"boom!"

After Kagami Daiga picked up the basketball for the last time, the basketball suddenly changed direction and hit Sakuragi Hanamichi right in the face.

"Oh shit..." Sakuragi Hanamichi cursed in pain and rubbed his nose quickly, preparing to jump again to grab the rebound, but at this moment, something ridiculous suddenly happened.

The basketball that hit Sakuragi Hanamichi's cheek flew high, drew a towering arc in the air, and then hit the back edge of the basket heavily. Then, the basketball rolled several circles on the basket, and finally fell into the basket reluctantly.

"Ah, this..." Wakamatsu Kosuke looked at the ridiculous scene in silence, not knowing what to say for a moment.

"Sakuragi Hanamichi is Sakuragi Hanamichi, he always plays a role at the critical moment." Imayoshi Xiangyi complained while trying hard to hold back his laughter.

"Sakuragi, Sakuragi..." Kaneki Ken listened to the discussion on the sidelines and held his forehead with embarrassment, "You always come up with some new tricks for me..."

"Is this the unique skill of a basketball genius?" Mitsui Shou tried to suppress his smile as he came in front of Sakuragi Hanamichi, patted him on the shoulder and said, "It really lives up to its reputation, Sakuragi."

"That's a good shot. Don't shoot it again next time." Izawa Shuji shook his head helplessly, "Anyway, I don't want to learn this kind of shot..."

“It seems so…”

Just as the spectators on the sidelines were laughing at Sakuragi Hanamichi's shot, Midorima Shintaro in the corner spoke casually.

"What did you say, Xiaozhen?" Takao Kazunari looked at Midorima Shintaro with some confusion and asked.

"Don't you think Kagami and Sakuragi look alike?" Midorima Shintaro sighed. "Similar talents, similar uniforms, even the numbers on their backs are exactly the same... They're simply mirror-image rivals!"

(End of this chapter)