Kuroko's Basketball: I'm not the boss?

Xiang Yang was taken aback, then grinned and teased, "So you're finally going to make your move? I thought you were going to hold back until the second half."

Midorima nodded slightly and said calmly, "The score has been tied by you. As the ace, it's natural to step up at a time like this."

As he spoke, Midorima dribbled the ball while observing Hikaru's defense, searching for his dribbling rhythm to prepare for a shot.

Xiangyang looked at Midorima with a leisurely expression and said, "Speaking of which, you gave me the green onions in this last birthday gift, right?"

Midorima glanced at Hikaru and answered seriously, "That's a sage green onion, the lucky charm for Virgo day."

P.S.: Senju leeks are the most expensive leeks in Japan.

Xiangyang nodded as if he had just realized something: "No wonder those scallions looked so green and so straight."

"By the way, was that potted plant on your Xiude bench your lucky charm today?"

Xiang Yang pointed curiously to the green ivy on Xiu De's bench. Being able to see such a strange thing on the field could be considered a privilege of Xiu De's opponents.

Midorima corrected him again: "To be precise, that's Gemini's lucky charm for today. With the blessing of the green ivy, I'm 100% guaranteed not to miss a shot."

"I see."

Xiangyang smiled and nodded. Just as he was about to say something, he saw Midorima suddenly take a big step, quickly bring the ball together with both hands, and pull up for a jump shot from two steps outside the three-point line!

Midorima exhaled slightly.

His eyes and attention were already focused on the basket. He adjusted the angle as he brought the ball together with both hands to ensure that the basketball would be in the perfect position when he released it.

Suddenly, an external force struck the ball in Midorima's hands head-on, breaking his balance. Midorima stumbled as he dropped the ball, almost falling to the ground, and then a gasp rang out from the audience.

Xiangyang accurately predicted Midorima's ball-handling point, snatched the basketball from his hand, and then looked at Midorima with a smile in his eyes.

"Ambush someone halfway through a sentence; that's not a good habit..."

“You just said that this is the time when the ace needs to step up. Although my ace isn’t here, I’m just as good as him.”

Xiangyang licked his lips, looking at the astonished expression on Midorima's face, and said excitedly, "Come on, Midorima, put some more pressure on me. If you don't come up with something new, this match might be much easier than I expected!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Xiang Yang delivered a long, one-handed pass, finding Youji in the front half with ease, who scored the goal, putting Kaichang ahead.

Hearing the cheers of the audience around him, Xiangyang's lips curled up slightly, and he waved to Midorima, signaling him to come over.

Xiangyang's provocative action ignited Midorima's anger. Before Takao could even cross half-court, Midorima reached out and took possession of the ball.

Having learned from his previous experience, Midorima no longer recklessly pulled up for jump shots, but instead began to observe Hikaru's defense more carefully.

After several dribbling maneuvers, Midorima once again attempted a jump shot to collect the ball, but this time the outcome was exactly the same as the previous round.

Snapped!

Xiangyang once again anticipated Midorima's offensive intentions and intercepted the ball directly. This time, he stopped wasting words with Midorima and launched a solo fast break, sweeping towards Shutoku's half of the court like a gust of wind.

Takao was the first to react and chase after Hikaru to defend, but it was to no avail; his defensive ability was simply insufficient to stop Hikaru's mobile warfare.

After a few symbolic defensive moves, Takao could only watch helplessly as Hikaru put the ball into the basket with a floater.

Haichang scored consecutive points!

With two consecutive points, Haichang extended their lead to four points, just half a minute after Xiude's timeout ended.

This means that Xiude's timeout not only failed to open up the situation, but also had a negative effect.

Midorima stared at Xiangyang with a furrowed brow, his eyes filled with disbelief. Clearly, he couldn't understand why his seemingly invincible three-point pull had failed against Xiangyang and had been repeatedly broken.

However, Xiangyang seemed to think that was exactly what he expected. He had already analyzed Midorima's abilities before the match.

In the original story, Midorima, who had undergone special training to enhance his physical abilities during the Winter Cup, was unable to break through Akashi's "Emperor's Eye".

This means that Midorima, whose surface attributes are all at maximum, is not particularly outstanding in terms of preventing steals.

Even with the "danger warning" ability, Hikaru could limit Akashi's stealing ability to a manageable range, but Midorima could not.

Through the trip to China, I officially joined the nation.

Xiangyang, who received the main quest reward, has also reached a peak in his ability to steal the ball!

In regular one-on-one battles within the team, even Kise in his normal state would be rendered speechless by Xiangyang.

At this time, although Midorima's shooting ability was unparalleled, his other abilities did not change much.

Next, Midorima, refusing to believe in bad luck, once again chose to go one-on-one against Hikaru, but was intercepted again, causing Shutoku to lose three points in a row!

Amidst the enthusiastic cheers from the crowd, Hitoshi Nakatani called another timeout in less than two minutes.

Looking at the bewildered expression on Midorima's face as he left the stage, Hikaru stroked his chin, his expression thoughtful.

"It looks like this match is easier than I expected."

"Am I really that strong now?"

Xiang Yang smacked his lips, high-fived his teammates, and then returned to the Haichang substitute bench.

"Well done, Senior Xiangyang!"

Yuki walked to Xiangyang's side and looked at him with admiration.

Yuki no longer has any intention of competing with Xiangyang for the starting position. Xiangyang, who has returned from the China tour, has completely shattered Yuki's ambitions in the team's training matches.

Anyway, once Xiangyang graduates next year, Kaijo's starting point guard will definitely be Yuki. Since that's the case, Yuki might as well enjoy the feeling of winning with ease when Kise and Xiangyang were still at Kaijo.

Xiangyang patted Yuki's head and reminded her, "Take the game seriously. We're not sure we can beat Xiude yet."

At this moment, the score difference between the two sides has reached six points.

With three minutes remaining in the second quarter, Haichang led 47-41.

Xiude on the bench

Midorima had a towel hanging over his head and his head lowered between his legs, clearly still not recovered from Xiangyang's three consecutive steals.

Beside him, Jinsuke Nakatani's expression was extremely unpleasant.

If Midorima also loses his fighting spirit after Kimura's defeat, then Shutoku could have already given up today.

Just as Nakatani Jinsuke was pondering a way to break the deadlock, Takao suddenly lifted the towel covering Midorima's head, cupped Midorima's cheeks in his hands, and made him look at him at eye level.

"Xiao Zhen."

Takao slowly spoke: "Cheer up."

Midorima leaned back, took off his glasses, and said weakly, "I know, I'm trying..."

"cheer up."

Before Midorima could finish speaking, Takao interrupted him, staring intently at Midorima, and repeated, "Cheer up."

"I know, I know, I was... damn it!"

Midorima slammed his fist on the seat, his face filled with resentment.

"Xiangyang's steal was impressive."

Midorima pursed his lips and gave a dry smile: "I will try my best, but to be honest, I don't have much confidence. Compared to last year, his progress is simply inhuman."

Even when Kaijo and Shutoku were playing together last time, Midorima never felt this powerless.

The fear that if he touched the ball to attack, he would be dispossessed by Hikaru was now filling Midorima's heart.

If Kise were still alive, would anyone in the current Kaijo team be able to defeat them?

At this moment, Midorima seemed to understand Akashi's feelings. As the leader of the Miracles, Akashi's abilities were undoubtedly the strongest among them.

However, even someone as strong as Akashi fell time and time again in front of Kaijo, or rather... in front of Kise and Mukahi.

Even with Kise absent this year, Kaijo, led by Xiangyang alone, still displayed an unparalleled championship aura.

Just as Midorima's mind was filled with more and more thoughts, and he was becoming increasingly desperate, a single sentence from Takao suddenly pulled him back to reality.

"Xiao Zhen, if you can enter the zone, will we have any hope of turning the tide?"

Chapter 236 Fouls are also part of the game

"Xiao Zhen, if you can enter Zone mode, will we have a chance to turn the tide?"

Midorima suddenly looked up and met Takao's gaze.

How strong would I be in my zone state?

Midorima took off his glasses and wiped them, then looked at Takao seriously and said, "To be honest, I don't know... I've never entered zone mode."

"But without a doubt, it was a completely new realm for me."

Takao picked up a bottle of water, handed it to Midorima, and said with a smile, "In that case, our next tactic is quite clear, isn't it?"

"Those monsters entered Zone Mode so easily, even that baby-faced Kaijo could do it, there's no reason why you can't!"

Takao turned to look at Kaijo's half of the court, frowned, and said, "Just go for it. Whether you need a screen or the ball, it's all up to you. From now on, we'll all be there for you."

……

……

Pause ended

Haichang leads 47-41.

"Your coach is really generous, calling two timeouts in such a short time."

While adjusting the tightness of his wristband, Xiangyang teased Gaowei, who shrugged and sighed in response: "There's nothing we can do. Your team is playing so fiercely. In order not to be clocked out during the holidays, we have to work hard too."

Xiangyang quietly observed Gaowei for a while, not believing a single word of his "disappointing words".

After Xiude called a timeout, they still had possession of the ball.

Takao simply served once before handing possession of the ball to Midorima.

Seeing this, Xiangyang did not hesitate at all and immediately turned around to chase after Midorima, completing a switch with Yuki. However, just as he arrived in front of Midorima, a frivolous voice rang out from his right: "Hey, you didn't even give me a glance, which really makes me sad."

As the sound rang out, Takao covered his hips with both hands, blocking Hikari's side. At the same time, Midorima's eyes sharpened, and he immediately took over Takao's screen, raising his hand to make a ball-handling move.

"Yuki!"

With a sharp shout from Xiangyang, Yuki, who had switched positions with Xiangyang earlier, once again pressed close to Midorima.

As the second best defensive player on the Kaijo team after Xiangyang, Yuki rarely encounters a steel plate in his daily training and matches.

After all, the opponent's ace would definitely be assigned to Kise, and the other offensive spearheads would also be dealt with by Xiangyang. To be honest, this was the first time Yuki had faced a miracle-level player on the field.