Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 289 Evolved Sakuragi

"The situation is starting to look a little bad..." Aomine Daiki looked solemnly at Rukawa Kaede who had completed a slam dunk on the court, and muttered to himself, "Although his method is different from ours, Rukawa Kaede's current state can be completely called another zone..."

"Another zone?" Wakamatsu Kosuke asked in confusion, "Doesn't the zone say that only talented players like you can enter?"

"In theory, it is true." Aomine Daiki said, holding his cheek lightly, "But people like Rukawa Kaede, who can turn the unwillingness of defeat into their own fuel, are even rarer than players who can enter the zone... And the most important thing is that if Rukawa Kaede steps up to share the scoring pressure, Sakuragi Hanamichi can focus all his attention on the defensive end to limit Kagami Taiga, and Rukawa Kaede who enters the zone can make up for the lack of firepower caused by Sakuragi Hanamichi's absence on the offensive end... Damn it!, Shonan High School's lineup is really reasonable and complementary..."

"Captain! Ball!"

As soon as Rukawa dunked the ball, Kagami Taiga couldn't wait to rush to the front court and reached out to Hinata Junpei at the baseline to ask for the ball.

"Not good!" Mitsui Hisashi looked at Hinata Junpei who was in a shot put posture, and quickly rushed to the connection between Hinata Junpei and Kagami Taiga and jumped up, trying to intercept Hinata Junpei's basketball in the air.

"I knew you would find this ball!" Hinata Junpei's eyes showed a trace of pride, and the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and he chuckled, "We have persisted until now, and finally you have no energy to look at Kuroko!"

"What!" Mitsui Hisashi was shocked after hearing what Hinata Junpei said. He quickly turned his head and looked behind him, looking for Kuroko Tetsuya. However, the more anxious he was, the more it seemed like Kuroko Tetsuya had completely disappeared from the court without a trace.

"Go ahead, Kuroko!" Hinata Junpei threw the ball heavily, but it did not go to Kagami Taiga as Mitsui had imagined. The high-speed flying basketball left an orange-red afterimage in the air, crossing the entire court and about to fly out of the left sideline.

"Was this pass... a mistake?" Mitsui Hisashi looked in the direction where the basketball flew, hoping for a lucky break, and whispered to himself.

"I can't let this ball go wrong." Kuroko Tetsuya suddenly appeared from nowhere, his eyes flickering slightly, and he murmured to himself in a firm tone, "Make the light even brighter, this is my responsibility as a shadow on the court!"

"boom!"

As the sound of a palm slapping heavily on the basketball was heard, a hurricane seemed to form where the palm and the basketball touched. Amidst a surge of air, the basketball spun at high speed like a bullet and flew towards the Fire God Daigo in the frontcourt.

"Speed ​​up the pass. Back?" Wakamatsu Kosuke looked at Kuroko Tetsuya in shock and said, "The shadow is almost useless, but he can still make such a magical pass?"

"Light and shadow are relative. The brighter the light, the darker the shadow." Aomine Daiki looked at Kuroko Tetsuya with a complicated expression and said, "On the field right now, Kagami Taiga is the absolutely dazzling light spot, and Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede have to burn their own shining light in order to keep up with Kagami Taiga. Even if the people present don't want to, their eyes will be involuntarily attracted by the light of these three people. This also provides the prerequisite for Kuroko to play misdirection again..."

"So, if Kaneki Ken doesn't play, Seirin High School might really fail?" Wakamatsu Kosuke asked Aomine Daiki with some curiosity.

"Who can say for sure about such things?" Aomine Daiki chuckled and shook his head. "What if Sakuragi Hanamichi also suddenly evolves at this time? The balance in the field will be broken again. At that time, Seirin High School will have no room for resistance at all."

"Do you think evolution is wholesale?" Wakamatsu Kosuke said speechlessly, giving Aomine Daiki a blank look.

"Good pass, Kuroko!" Just as the spectators on the sidelines were whispering to each other, Kagami Daigo, who had already arrived at the frontcourt, grabbed the basketball flying in the air, dribbled the ball and decisively rushed into the three-point line of Shonan High School. Then he put the ball together with both hands, stepped on the free throw line with his right foot and jumped up.

"Come on, Kagami!" Reiko Aida on the sidelines no longer cared about maintaining her dignity as a coach. She clenched her fists nervously and shouted loudly at Kagami Daigo on the field.

"Don't worry, we will win... We will definitely win!" The gliding Kagami Daigo felt that his eyes were blank at this moment. Apart from the basket, he could not see anything else.

"Damn it... why can't I catch up..." Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Kagami Taiga's figure stretching in the air with some annoyance, gnashing his teeth and muttering to himself, "Could it be that without Gilgamesh, I am really nothing?"

"Idiot... How can you be distracted at this time?" Kaneki Ken saw Sakuragi Hanamichi's hesitation, shook his head helplessly, stood up and walked to the sidelines, and shouted at Sakuragi Hanamichi who was struggling, "Sakuragi, have you forgotten your identity? Tell me, who are you?"

"Who... am I?" After hearing Kaneki Ken's question, Sakuragi Hanamichi gradually stopped walking, and Kaneki Ken's voice kept echoing in his mind.

"boom!"

Just as Sakuragi Hanamichi fell into deep thought, a wailing sound from the basket resounded throughout the court, and Kagami Taiga slammed the ball into the basket with an extremely violent dunk.

"Beautiful!" Heihachi Tashiro slapped the table excitedly on the sidelines. "Seirin High School played an extremely wonderful cooperation. With no one in control of the ball, they broke through the defense of Shonan High School with just two passes! Kagami Daigo returned the goal scored by Rukawa Kaede with a violent slam dunk!"

"Hey, you big idiot..." Rukawa looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi with a blank look in his eyes and couldn't help but walked up to him and said, "Can you still fight? If you can't, get out! Standing there in a daze... Is this still you?"

"Hey, you stinky fox..." Sakuragi Hanamichi, who always had a hot temper, rarely lost his temper at this moment. He just turned his head and looked at Rukawa Kaede and asked blankly, "Do you still remember... who I am?"

"You..." Rukawa Kaede raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard Sakuragi Hanamichi's question. He opened and closed his mouth several times, but in the end he couldn't say a word.

"Hey, May, what's wrong with Sakuragi-san?" Inoue Ayako looked at the absent-minded Sakuragi Hanamichi nervously and asked Taoi May beside her, "He hasn't been so distracted on the court for a long time... Why did he have to be so distracted at this time..."

"Don't be nervous, Ayako-senpai." Taoi Satsuki chuckled and looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi's back. "Sakuragi-san is...going through an extremely important moment right now."

Just as Momoi Satsuki said, after Kaneki Ken asked Sakuragi Hanamichi a soul-searching question, Sakuragi Hanamichi felt that his soul had floated out of his body. He could see the movements of everyone on the field, even himself, from above.

"What's wrong with me..." Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at his hands in confusion, "Shouldn't I be playing on the court now?"

"Why do you play basketball, Sakuragi Hanamichi?" Just as Sakuragi Hanamichi was lost in thought, a familiar voice suddenly sounded in his ears.

"Who is it?" Sakuragi Hanamichi looked up in the direction where the voice came from, and vaguely saw a tall red-haired figure slowly walking towards him.

"Who am I?" The visitor chuckled after hearing Sakuragi Hanamichi's question, "Of course I am you... Sakuragi Hanamichi."

"You... are me?" Sakuragi Hanamichi looked up at the person's face that looked very similar to his own, and asked curiously, "Are you my future self? Will my future self become a great basketball player?"

"Why do you want to be a great basketball player?" The visitor did not answer Sakuragi Hanamichi's question, but smiled and asked Sakuragi Hanamichi, "Is it to repay a favor? But you have already won a championship trophy with Kaneki Ken; is it for your father's expectations? But you have already received attention from many basketball-rich universities; is it for Akagi Haruko? But this is just a momentary impulse of adolescence... So, tell me, Sakuragi Hanamichi, why do you want to be a great basketball player?"

"Why... do you want to be a super basketball player..." Sakuragi Hanamichi stood there in a daze after hearing the question, and his mind gradually recalled every detail of his meeting Kaneki Ken.

"Thank you, Brother Jin Shanshan. If it weren't for you, my dad would have been in danger today..."

"Gorilla, are you targeting me..."

"Be prepared to roll into the mud and fight your opponent at any time. You are not an eagle soaring in the sky like Kaneki Ken..."

In an instant, countless scenes and countless instructions from relatives and friends converged into a huge data stream, pouring madly into Sakuragi Hanamichi's mind.

“Ugh… My head hurts so much…” Sakuragi Hanamichi wailed, covering his head with his hands in agony.

"So, give up, Sakuragi." The visitor said with a hint of temptation in his tone, "Your current talent is already excellent. Besides, even if you can't beat Kagami Taiga, when Gilgamesh comes on the court, it will be another big victory. Why do you have to force yourself to suffer so much?"

"give up……"

"give up!"

"give up!!!"

The voice of the person who came kept echoing in Sakuragi Hanamichi's mind like a devil's sound. Gradually, Sakuragi Hanamichi felt that his will to resist was getting weaker and weaker, and a heavy feeling of fatigue suddenly came from his heart.

"Yeah...giving up may be shameful...but it is indeed very useful..." Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at the ground with a numb expression, muttering to himself with lifeless eyes, "Anyway, we still have Gilgamesh, anyway, we still have Foxy..."

"Don't give up, Sakuragi-san! You and Kaneki-san are the saviors of Shonan High School!" Akagi Haruko, who was singing beside, seemed to see Sakuragi Hanamichi's fatigue, and quickly stood up and shouted loudly.

"Basketball genius Sakuragi Hanamichi! How can you give up here?" Mito Yangping on the side also hurriedly encouraged loudly, "Have you forgotten the days when we and Jin Shanshan accompanied you to practice mid-range shooting?"

"The... savior of Shonan High School? Basketball genius Sakuragi Hanamichi..." Listening to the encouragement from his beloved girl and friends on the sidelines, Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes gradually brightened, "Yeah... I know who I am... I'm a basketball player... I'm the secret weapon of Shonan High School... I'm a basketball genius, the savior of Shonan High School basketball team! I'm... Sakuragi Hanamichi!"

"Boom!"

As the words fell, Sakuragi Hanamichi felt his feet go empty, and then his whole body felt an extremely obvious sense of weightlessness. The light feeling coming from his limbs and bones did not make Sakuragi Hanamichi feel uncomfortable, but instead made him feel like he was returning to the womb.

"Hey~~"

As Sakuragi Hanamichi gradually regained consciousness, a strong wind suddenly blew up from nowhere on the indoor court. In the eyes of everyone, the strong wind gathered around Sakuragi Hanamichi and formed a huge tornado. The eye of the tornado was Sakuragi Hanamichi, whose jersey was rustling.

"Is this feeling... evolution?" There was a flash of lightning in Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes. At this moment, he felt that he could do anything on the court.

"This guy... doesn't this look very similar?"

Rukawa Kaede, who was dribbling the ball, looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi who was in great form, with a slight smile on his lips. He gently knocked the ball to the ground with his right hand, and the basketball passed through the crotch of Kuroko Tetsuya who was about to steal the ball, and flew accurately into Sakuragi Hanamichi's hands.

"Don't even think about going over there!" The moment Sakuragi Hanamichi caught the ball, Kagami Taiga suddenly felt that every cell in his body was frantically sending out warnings. As a superb basketball player, his instinct made him involuntarily move up from the inside, opening his arms and blocking Sakuragi Hanamichi tightly in front of him.

"Go...?" The fiery red electric light in Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes seemed to condense into a substantial flame and flow out. He smiled and looked at Kagami Daigo and muttered to himself, "I... don't have to go!"

"What...what!" Before Kagami Daiga could react, Sakuragi Hanamichi's figure had already been wrapped in a strong wind and hit Kagami Daiga in the face. When Kagami Daiga opened his eyes again, Sakuragi Hanamichi had already reached the free throw line in the interior.

"It doesn't matter... We can still catch up..." Kagami Taiga's soul rushed to the inside in horror, muttering softly as he ran, "As long as we can defend the basket..."

"Want to stop me from dunking?" Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Kagami Daiga's back and chuckled, "Then let me show you... my true shooting talent!"

(End of this chapter)