Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 291: Seirin High School is at its wits' end

"boom!"

As Sakuragi Hanamichi officially declared his title of genius in front of everyone at Seirin High School, an invisible sense of oppression emanated from Sakuragi Hanamichi's body, pouring down on the players of Seirin High School like a heavy mountain.

"Damn it... this is really a ghost..." Hinata Junpei gritted his teeth and looked at the back of Sakuragi Hanamichi who was returning to defense and said, "I just made a shot, why do I feel like I ran into a tiger in the forest?"

"There's no time to dwell on this anymore." Kiyoshi Teppei wiped the sweat from his forehead, came to Hyuga Junpei, and said solemnly, "Right now, there's nothing we can do except cooperate well with Kagami. The game has come to this point, and we can only trust the bond between us now!"

"Of course you don't need to teach me about this kind of thing..." Hinata Junpei rolled his eyes at Kiyoshi Teppei and said, "I'm just worried about Kagami... After finally suppressing his opponent, he suddenly gave him an opportunity to turn the tables. Can Kagami really hold on?"

"Yes, I can!" Kuroko Tetsuya came to the baseline and picked up the basketball. After staring at the basketball for a moment in silence, he looked at Kagami Daigo's back and shouted, "Kagami-san! Ball!"

As the words fell, Kuroko Tetsuya was seen holding the basketball tightly in his right hand. After spinning his body on the spot, he threw the ball hard towards the front court.

"I've seen you use this trick many times!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was on his way back to defense, suddenly stopped, turned around and jumped towards the direction where the basketball was flying.

"Not good!" Hinata Junpei's heart skipped a beat as he looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi in the air. He muttered to himself with a livid face, "If this ball is intercepted again, there will be no chance of a comeback!"

"Don't get in the way here, red-haired monkey!"

Just when Sakuragi Hanamichi's palm was about to touch the basketball, Kagami Taiga's figure suddenly jumped out from behind Sakuragi Hanamichi, and with his advantage in height and arm span, he took the lead in touching the basketball flying in the air.

"You are such an annoying guy!" Sakuragi Hanamichi gritted his teeth as he looked at the basketball that was kicked away, then turned his head and muttered to Kagami Daiga.

"Captain, go catch the ball!" Kagami Taiwo, who was flying in the air with Sakuragi Hanamichi, ignored Sakuragi Hanamichi, but turned to look at Hinata Junpei and reminded him loudly.

"Running again!" Hinata Junpei stared at the direction where the basketball was flying, his whole face wrinkled, and he ran desperately towards the direction where the basketball landed.

"You have no chance." Just when Hinata Junpei was about to touch the basketball, Rukawa Kaede's figure suddenly flashed past him from behind, and his long arms grabbed the ball from over Hinata Junpei's head.

"Damn it!" Hinata Junpei said in annoyance, looking at Rukawa Kaede's back, "Too much attention has been drawn to me by that Sakuragi guy..."

"Go back to defense quickly!" Katsume Ichiro looked at the basketball picked up by Rukawa Kaede, quickly stopped his fast break, turned around and ran towards the backcourt.

"Come on, Rukawa!" Engineer Liangtian on the sidelines looked at Rukawa who was advancing with the ball with a nervous look on his face and shouted loudly.

"Oh!"

As the sound of a basketball hitting the ground was heard, Rukawa Kaede, who grabbed the basketball, disappeared from the spot in an instant.

"Don't even think about getting over there!" Just as Rukawa dribbled the ball to the three-point line of Seirin High School, Hinata Junpei and Katsume Ichiro double-teamed him from the front and back respectively.

"Double team?" Rukawa's eyes moved back and forth between the two of them, his expression slightly focused, and amid the solemn expressions of Hinata Junpei and the other man, he used a light crotch-through move to get rid of the double-team that had not yet formed.

"Well done, Rukawa!" Inoue Ayako looked at Rukawa who had cleanly escaped the double defense on the court, and her face suddenly brightened up. Her originally nervous mood finally relaxed for a moment.

"Although it was not my intention, thanks to the delay by the captain and Ichiro, I had the opportunity to return to defense..." Kagami Taiga stared at Rukawa Kaede's back with his eyes full of lightning and muttered to himself, "So, right here... stop!"

"boom!"

As Kagami Taiga finished his words, a fiery red figure rushed out from behind Rukawa, opened his arms and blocked Rukawa in front of him. Rukawa couldn't dodge and was heavily hit by Kagami Taiga. Suddenly, a terrifying sound of physical confrontation was heard in the field.

"Damn it..." Rukawa looked at Kagami Daiga's eyes with some annoyance and whispered, "Is it really still the difference in physical talent..."

"Stinky fox, pass the ball!"

"Ryukawa Kaede, pass it to me!"

Just as Rukawa Kaede and Kagami Taiga were in a standoff, two familiar voices suddenly came from beside them.

"That idiot... and that bad guy?" Rukawa's eyes secretly moved back and forth between Sakuragi Hanamichi and Mitsui Hisashi, and the corners of his mouth suddenly curled up imperceptibly, "At this time... of course I still trust my old teammates!"

As Rukawa Kaede finished speaking, the basketball instantly turned into an orange-red stream of light and flew towards the inside. In the penalty area, Shigehiro Kabachi quickly trapped Teppei Kiyoshi behind him and raised his hand to catch the basketball flying in the air.

"Hmm..." After catching the ball, Shigehiro Karaji subconsciously leaned back. Teppei Kiyoshi, who was stuck, couldn't help but groan, and his legs couldn't help but take a step back.

"Mikichi-senpai!" Kagami Taiga saw that Teppei Mukichi was about to be ravaged by Shigehiro Kabaji, and he quickly moved sideways in the direction of the confrontation between the two. "Do you still have the mind to care about others now?" Sakuragi Hanamichi said in a somewhat unhappy manner, "If you want to support your teammates, you have to get past me first!"

"Damn it! This damn red-haired monkey actually did this at this time..." Kagami Daigo watched as the fastest route to penetration was blocked by Sakuragi Hanamichi. He had no choice but to retreat from the three-point line, trying to bypass Sakuragi Hanamichi's entanglement and rush to help Kiyoshi Teppei - but Sakuragi Hanamichi's athletic ability was far beyond Kagami Daigo's expectations. No matter how he accelerated, ran back, and even used his teammates' pick-and-roll, he still couldn't get rid of Sakuragi Hanamichi's close pressure like a leech, and could only watch Kabachi Shigehiro start this attack under the basket.
"Boom!"

Under the gaze of the spectators on the sidelines, Shigehiro Kabaji first hit the ball hard, then bent his legs slightly and lowered his center of gravity, and his broad back hit Kiyoshi Teppei's chest heavily.

"Puff!" Muji Tieping, who had been holding his breath and standing in horse stance to welcome the impact, suddenly felt dizzy. The breath in his chest was broken by the impact. He could not help but take several steps back and then fell heavily to the ground.

"Go, Karachi!" Tetsu Shiozaki stood up excitedly and shouted excitedly, "Show them some color!"

"Yes, Shiozaki!" The usually calm and taciturn Shigehiro Karaji also felt his blood boiling at this moment. He grabbed the basketball tightly with both hands, stepped heavily on the ground with his feet, jumped up, swung the ball behind his head with his long arms, and then slammed it heavily into the basket.

"boom!"

As the sound of the basket wailing was heard, the tall body of Shigehiro Karaji, who had slammed the basketball into the basket, hung above the basket, looking down at Teppei Muji who was knocked out of the court. The entire stadium suddenly became silent.

"Oh, good shot!" Tashiro Heihachi on the sidelines was stunned for a long time. When he reacted, he slapped the table excitedly, stood up with both hands tightly holding the microphone, and shouted loudly, "After receiving the pass from Rukawa, Karaichi directly broke through the defense of Muji and completed a violent slam dunk! Shonan High School is down two points!"

"I feel like... this is the end of the game, right?" Aomine Daiki on the sidelines looked at the field with some disinterest and said, "Although Kagami evolved on the spot, Sakuragi's response was also very timely... plus Kaneki Ken who hasn't played yet, I really don't see where Azhe can turn the tables..."

"Forget about a comeback. I'm surprised they can hold on until now." Midorima Shintaro pushed up the frame of his glasses and said, "I don't want to admit it, but the game has indeed entered garbage time."

"Koganei... get ready to go on the court." On the sidelines, Reiko Aida looked at Kagami Daiga's calf which was gradually cramping. After sitting there in silence for a while, she finally made the decision to replace Kagami Daiga.

"But coach..." Koganei Shinji said unwillingly, "We've only played two quarters..."

"We can't win..." Aida Reiko turned her head to look at the tall blond figure on the bench of Shonan High School and said with a wry smile, "Even if Kagami explodes again and really suppresses Sakuragi-san, as long as Kaneki-san comes on the court again, he can still easily turn the situation around... And Kagami's physical strength is completely unable to keep up now. If he continues to fight, he will only risk getting injured..."

"Okay... I understand..." Koganei Shinji lowered his head unwillingly, clenched his fists, and said after a long silence, "I will play well on the court until the last minute."

"Hmm..." Reiko Aida raised her head and blinked her eyes desperately, trying hard to prevent the tears in her eyes from dripping onto the floor.

"boom!"

As Kagami Daigo's shot was blocked by Sakuragi Hanamichi, the referee blew his whistle.

"Beep beep~ The ball is out of bounds, Seirin has the ball!"

"Referee, we need to make a substitution." Taking advantage of the dead ball interval, Reiko Aida raised her right hand and walked to the workbench and said.

"What's wrong, coach?" Kagami Taiga, who was already severely exhausted, came to Aida Reiko breathlessly, lifted up his jersey to wipe the sweat off his face, his eyes still fixed on the field and said, "Why change players at this time? We are playing well on the field now..."

"Go off and take a break, Kagami-san."

Just as Kagami Daiga was chattering about his next game plan, Aida Reiko hesitated for a while, and finally announced her decision to make a substitution.

"No... I didn't hear you clearly... what did you say, coach?" Kagami Daiga blinked in surprise, tilted his ear with an incredible look on his face, and said to Aida Reiko, "You just said... let me go off the court to rest?"

"There is no possibility of winning this game..." Aida Reiko said with difficulty, "Let's not talk about Kaneki Ken who is sitting on the sidelines. Even Sakuragi is in much better physical condition than you... Not to mention that Shonan High School also has extended-level masters like Kabata and Rukawa, as well as elite shooters like Mitsui Hisashi and Izawa Shuji! I can't gamble your future basketball career on the outcome of a game! What's more, the hope of winning this game is still very slim!"

"So is the game over now?" Kagami Daiga asked while staring at Aida Reiko.

"No, but..." Reiko Aida wanted to say something, but was interrupted by what Kagami said next.

"No buts, no buts!" Kagami Taiga looked at Aida Reiko solemnly and said word by word, "After the game is over, I'll have plenty of time to rest. Maybe we really can't win this game, but a miserable defeat after trying our best is better than surrendering before the game is over!"

"Although I have always stood by you, but Reiko..." After a moment of silence, Hinata Junpei also stood up and said, "If we had chosen to surrender from the beginning, we would never have come to this point today! Have you forgotten? Kaneki Ken said at the beginning that the foundation of our Seirin High School... is that no matter how strong the opponent is, we have the courage to fight to the death!"

"Coach... I don't want to leave the court..." Kuroko Tetsuya also stood up at this time, looking at Aida Reiko with a firm look in his eyes and said, "I have an appointment with Kaneki-san... to prove to him that my basketball is correct! So no matter what, I can't leave the court to rest at this time!"

"I'm... I'm sorry, everyone..." Reiko Aida looked at the players of Seirin High School in front of her. She could no longer suppress the emotions that she had been trying to hold back, and tears couldn't stop falling from her eyes.

"Okay, stop crying, coach." Hinata Junpei smiled helplessly, walked forward with a doting look on his face, ruffled Aida Reiko's hair and said, "It's nothing more than a loss. Since we are on the court, we have already made up our minds. Your task now is to use your brain quickly and think about how we should play next!"

"Yeah!" Aida Reiko wiped her tears carelessly, picked up the tactical board from the bench beside her, stared at the players in front of her with burning eyes and said, "Next, we will play a triangle offense!"

(End of this chapter)