Kuroko's Basketball template: the king of slacking off, Shohoku's strongest sixth man.

Rukawa Kaede's muscular physique.

In an instant, a reflex nerve that surpassed biological limits erupted.

He forcefully reversed the shift in his center of gravity caused by Zebei's misleading gaze.

The entire body undergoes an exaggerated, even somewhat biomechanically defying, drastic change of direction.

They abruptly turned back.

"Bang!"

Their shoulders collided violently during the high-speed movement.

Rukawa Kaede was like an unshakeable, clingy piece of chewing gum, closely following Sawakita's almost ghostly breakthrough steps.

At this moment, the entire audience erupted in another wave of incredulous gasps.

"Holy crap! We caught up!"

"Rukawa Kaede wasn't completely shaken off!"

"This first-year student from Shohoku is actually able to keep up with Sawakita's speed?!"

However, facing Rukawa's wild and relentless close-quarters defense...

Sawakita Eiji's expression remained unchanged.

He didn't even turn his head to look at Rukawa Kaede, who was clinging to him.

It was as if this ferocious beast was nothing more than a gentle breeze in his eyes.

"That's impressive."

"But... that's not enough."

Zebei made a cold assessment in his heart.

next second.

Sawakita Eiji's hamstring muscles expanded directly through exertion.

He was already moving at an incredible speed.

At this very moment, it actually moved up another gear!

"Bang!"

The sneakers made a loud, explosive sound as they hit the floor.

Like a black lightning bolt, Zebei forcefully overtook Rukawa Kaede from his defensive blind spot!

Rukawa's wild instincts, which he was so proud of, didn't even have time to send a danger warning to his brain.

Zebei's figure had completely disappeared from his sight.

too fast.

It's so fast it's completely unreasonable.

Sawakita drove straight to the basket, facing Akagi Takenori's massive body as he lunged to help defend.

He displayed terrifying hang time in the air. With a gentle flick of his wrist, he launched a layup.

The basketball traced a high, graceful parabola through the air, easily passing over Akagi's fingertips.

"Whoosh."

The crisp, hollow sound of the ball entering the net echoed throughout the Hiroshima Stadium.

Score 16-12!

silence.

A deathly silence.

After a brief pause, the entire stadium erupted in frenzied screams that nearly lifted the roof off.

Rukawa Kaede stood frozen in place, his pupils trembling violently.

Large beads of cold sweat slid down his pale cheeks and landed on the floor.

Shocked. Bewildered.

A profound sense of despair washed over him like a tidal wave.

How could that be...?

Even when he activates his wild side, he can't even touch the hem of his clothes?

On the bench of Shohoku.

Lin Bei leaned back lazily in his chair, seemingly indifferent to everything.

At this moment.

He sat up abruptly.

His previously casual gaze immediately focused.

Lin Bei stared intently at Ze Bei Rongzhi, who was walking back to the halfway point with ease, his brows furrowing slightly.

There was a rare hint of disbelief in his voice.

"The wild... they didn't catch up?!"

……

There was a deathly silence in the audience for half a second.

Immediately afterwards, a frenzied roar that seemed to tear the dome apart exploded outwards.

"Holy crap! That was fast!"

"What kind of godlike speed is that?!"

"Even that number 11 from Shohoku couldn't catch up that quickly!"

High up in the stands, the Hainan University auxiliary camp.

Kiyota Nobunaga's jaw nearly dropped to the ground, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"What...what kind of international joke is this?"

"Even with Rukawa Kaede's body twisted like that, he still managed to get overtaken?"

Mu Shenyi, standing beside him, remained silent.

On his mature and composed face, his brows were deeply furrowed into a deep frown.

Arms crossed over the chest.

The pressure of this breakthrough is suffocating.

Even he, who was known as the Emperor of Kanagawa, felt a chill run down his spine.

On another bleacher stand not far away.

Sendoh Akira, the ace of Ryonan High School, completely lost his usual lazy smile.

He leaned forward slightly.

His deep gaze was fixed on the figure on the court wearing the number 9 jersey of the Sannoh team.

"Is this... the true strength of the number one high school student?"

Sendoh murmured softly.

His eyes were filled with shock, but a burning excitement surged within him.

on the field.

After scoring a goal, Eiji Sawakita didn't even bother to do a celebration.

He turned around calmly, preparing to return to defense.

It was as if they had just completed a basic exercise.

As Sawakita passed by Rukawa, who was still frozen in place, he paused for a moment.

He turned his head, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Rukawa Kaede's shoulders heaving from heavy breathing.

He gave a smile that carried a hint of condescension.

"That was pretty impressive."

Zebei's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly pierced Rukawa's ears.

Before Rukawa could respond, Sawakita turned his gaze away and continued running forward.

All that remained was a light yet extremely hurtful remark.

"However, this is far from enough."

Rukawa Kaede suddenly raised his head.

On his pale face, large beads of sweat dripped down his jawline.

He remained silent.

But there was not a trace of defeat in those narrow eyes that were fixed on Zebei's back.

Instead, it exudes a sharp, predatory aura!

"Hahaha—"

Just when the atmosphere was at its most oppressive, a sudden and arrogant burst of laughter rang out.

It instantly shattered the tension in the entire venue.

On the sidelines, a very conspicuous bag appeared.

Sakuragi Hanamichi, with two huge wads of white toilet paper stuffed in his nose, stood with one hand on his hip.

With his other hand, he arrogantly pointed at the field, laughing so hard he was doubled over.

"Just as this genius predicted!"

"You all saw it, didn't you!"

Sakuragi shouted loudly, frantically trying to glorify himself.

"That cunning Rukawa Kaede can't stop that monk at all!"

"At a time like this, only a genius like me can save Shohoku!"

Lin Bei, who was sitting on the bench, was amused.

This guy was clearly stunned just now too.

At this moment, his ability to salvage his reputation is unparalleled.

"beep--"

The referee's whistle blew at that very moment.

"Shohoku requests a substitution!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi, with his flamboyant red hair, strode onto the court with an air of indifference.

And the player who took his place on the field was Satoru Kakuta, who had just replaced him a few minutes earlier.

"Huff... huff..."

As soon as Kakuta stepped off the field, it was as if all the bones in his body had been drained.

His legs buckled, and he landed heavily on the bench in the substitutes' area.

"Kakuda?!"

Tetsuya Shiozaki quickly grabbed a dry towel and draped it over his shoulders.

She stared at him in utter astonishment.

"You...you only appeared for a short while, how come you're already exhausted like this?"

At this moment, Kakuta Satoru looked as if he had been pulled out of the water.

Sweat streamed down his signature squinty eyes.

His chest heaved violently as he gasped for breath.

"Shiozaki...you don't understand..."