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

.

"What's going on? It looks like they're arguing."

"I don't know, but Kise didn't play, so it seems like we can catch our breath."

As Aida Riko listened to her teammates, she bit her finger and stared at Xiangyang: Even though Kise went down, I feel like the game has just begun.

"Anyway, it's good news that Kise is going down. Kagami, how are you doing?"

"Very good, Coach."

"Okay, listen up, we can't relax in the last quarter either. Kise could come back at any time once he recovers his stamina, we can't give them a chance to catch their breath..."

Beep—

The fourth quarter begins!

Xiangyang slowly received the ball and advanced, glancing at the scoreboard.

Haichang leads 77-68.

Even though I already knew, you really are a genius, Ryota.

Xiang Yang couldn't help but sigh inwardly. One person playing a quarter and still managing to widen the score gap showed that he had long recognized his team's "ace" in terms of strength.

"Let me teach you what team basketball is."

Xiangyang dribbled the ball across half-court and passed it to Kasamatsu. Kasamatsu received the ball and, finding the shooting space very small, decisively passed it back.

Xiangyang received the ball back without rushing. He saw the weakness in Shiratsuin's interior defense, raised his hand as if to shoot, and then quickly made a bounce pass to Kobori Hiroshi in the paint.

Vulcan was shocked. It's over. There's no way to defend against him from that position!

Without hesitation, Kobo jumped from the spot and dunked with both hands in a simple and unpretentious manner.

"Damn it, I was careless."

"Don't worry about it, just focus on defending."

Aida Riko, sitting on the sidelines, felt a sudden unease. She had felt something was wrong since the beginning, and the source of this unease was... Xiang Yang, who only came on in the second half.

As Xiang Yang watched Hyuga dribble towards him, looking like he was about to break through, he instantly lowered his center of gravity and pulled up his pants with both hands.

Hinata frowned: This guy's defensive pressure is immense!

He then passed the message to Vulcan on the right.

Xiangyang forced himself not to laugh, but that expression irritated Hinata: Damn it, am I being underestimated?

When Xiangyang saw Kagami start his breakthrough, he immediately ran to the frontcourt. However, Kagami once again dunked over Kohori. With Kise not on the court, there really was no one who could defend Kagami one-on-one.

Xiangyang wasn't disappointed even though he'd made a wasted trip. If Vulcan hadn't scored and his team had grabbed the rebound, he would have had a chance for an open layup. Picking up such a ball was a bonus, but it didn't matter if he didn't.

Hinata was wary of Kise coming on at any time, so he reduced Kagami's frequency of attacking the basket and started passing the ball around the court more often.

Xiang Yang shook his head, finding it amusing: In terms of overall strength, we are far behind. What level are you at, using the same thinking as me?

Before the ball could be passed a few times, it was intercepted by Xiangyang, resulting in a simple and effective fast break.

Kaijo gradually gained control of the game, and as the score gap widened, Aida Riko anxiously bit her fingernails, muttering, "Damn it, we're being led by the nose by them. If only Kuroko could play..."

"I can." Kuroko sat up at some point, looking at Reiko with a serious expression.

"Ah, when did you get up, Kuroko? No, what if your injury gets worse?"

"But as you just said, coach, we're being led by the nose by the other side, so I have to go on the court."

"I mean, hypothetically, what if!"

Reiko looked at Kuroko's expressionless face and read the seriousness in his eyes. She rubbed her forehead and relented, "Alright, but you have to promise me you'll step in immediately if anything happens!"

Beep—

Shiro Rin is on hold.

As Hyuga's shot missed and went out of bounds, the referee blew his whistle.

Xiangyang took the towel from his teammate and saw Heizi warming up next to him: "Looks like they're going to take on Heizi."

"This is ridiculous. Training matches are for identifying problems, not creating them. If Kuroko's injury worsens, they'll be in big trouble."

Kise paused for a moment after hearing Xiangyang's words: "Have you discovered... a problem?"

Then he turned to the coach and said, "Coach! I know my problem now, let me play!"

Just as the coach was about to speak, Xiang Yang looked at Kise with a smile: "No need, genius. If we don't show you what we're capable of, how can you trust us to be your teammates?"

The coach opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

Kasamatsu glanced at the coach and chimed in, "Xiangyang is right, you should just relax and rest. If the opposing team has a few Generation of Miracles, we'll show you!"

Before he could finish speaking, Kasamatsu kicked Xiangyang in the butt: "You just... called the seniors 'kids,' right?"

Xiangyang had never been physically assaulted by Kasamatsu before, and he was stunned for a moment before quickly forcing a smile and replying, "No way, Captain! I was just trying to look imposing. Don't you think that shout was cool?"

The coach watched the two playfully bickering, a smile spreading across his gloomy face: "Finally, some good news today!" He glanced at the basketball hoop in the corner of the arena, a pang of heartache rising within him; he'd have to pay for it...

Beep—

Pause ended

86:

Xiangyang looked at Kuroko in front of him and smiled slightly: "Mr. Kuroko, I just wanted to see why Ryota thinks so highly of you, even though you're a guy with terrible athletic ability."

Hei Zi was not angered by Xiang Yang's sarcastic remarks. He adjusted his right wrist guard and said in a cool voice, "Come on."

Chapter 8 Tensions Rise

With eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, do they still have a 12-point lead?

Xiangyang licked his lips, thinking to himself: If such a huge advantage is turned around, wouldn't all the boasts he made to Ryota become a joke? Come on, let me see the strength of the "first-year monster group".

Izuki controlled the ball and advanced, then suddenly passed it to an empty spot.

"Out of bounds?" Xiang Yang's pupils contracted. Hei Zi appeared out of nowhere, and with a flick of his right hand, the basketball instantly changed its trajectory and was passed to Kagami in the frontcourt.

Vulcan didn't hold back either. He glanced at Kogoro in front of him, jumped on one foot, and scored again over Kogoro's head.

However, Kagami had been tormenting Kohori for who knows how long, and defeating opponents weaker than himself left him completely unmoved.

As Kagami returned to defense, he kept glancing at Kise, his meaning clear: You can't stop me at center, it's your turn.

Kise had completely calmed down by this point. He wasn't angry at Kagami's provocation. He just looked at Xiangyang quietly and thought to himself: Even if I were on the field, I couldn't do anything about them. What would you do? You foul-mouthed guy.

Xiangyang received the serve and dribbled slowly as always, but he felt a little annoyed: Even I, on my first encounter with a visual misdirection, would be fooled?

Of course, as the team's commander, no matter how difficult the situation, he must make his teammates feel that everything is under his control.

"Hey? Where did Kuroko go?" Xiangyang looked around and couldn't see Kuroko. Compared to the others, who had already fought Kuroko for three quarters, he, who only came on in the second half, was facing Kuroko again in the fourth quarter for the first time.

Suddenly, Xiangyang felt a gust of wind from his right. He reacted very quickly, pulling back and looking at Heizi not far ahead. He felt a wave of fear: Thank goodness, if I hadn't reacted quickly and made another steal and fast break, wouldn't this kid's misdirection have been too outrageous? He was practically disappearing from the court.

Not only was Xiang Yang startled, but everyone else on the field was also very surprised: he was able to avoid being intercepted on his first encounter with Hei Zi.

Aida Riko, sitting on the sidelines, was still biting her thumb. Although Kuroko's appearance on the court offered her some comfort, she still felt uneasy.

Seeing that the steal was not going to happen, Hei Zi also moved towards Xiang Yang.

Huh? This guy is going to defend against me? Xiang Yang asked in surprise: Is he trying to use the same trick again, using Vulcan's delayed defense to steal the ball from me? This is really troublesome. If it were just me alone, I really wouldn't be able to do anything, but...

Xiangyang gave Xiaojue a wink, and Xiaojue immediately understood and ran out from the inside to set a screen for Xiangyang.

Kuroko's steals from behind can be very threatening, but if blocked, Kuroko, who has relatively weak athleticism, will find it difficult to turn around and catch up with the attacker in time.

If Kuroko can't keep up, it will be a two-on-one situation. Izuki, who was in the bottom corner, noticed something was wrong and immediately came to help defend.

Just as he was about to make a bounce pass to Kobori, Xiangyang saw the enemy's formation change and immediately changed the direction of the pass. Kasamatsu Yukio, who had been lying in wait in the left corner, was there. As Izuki came to help defend the inside, the corner was naturally lost.

Kasamatsu received the pass, saw the open opportunity created by his teammate, took a deep breath, and calmly sank the three-pointer.

Turning back to defend

Yang smiled slightly: "Give us three points and defend two? In a sense, this choice isn't wrong."

"Damn it!" Yi Yue cursed, supporting himself on his knees, because Xiang Yang changed the passing trajectory, turning him from a hero who defended two points into a villain who conceded three.

Don't worry about it, don't worry about it.

"There's nothing we can do about it, that kid is too troublesome."

Reiko sat on the sidelines, frowning: "That play wasn't Izuki's fault. If Kagami had come up to help defend Hikaru, no one in the paint could have stopped Kobori. Izuki might have been able to stop him if she came over to help, but ultimately, the team's overall strength was lacking."

Reiko couldn't help but sigh: If Teppei were here, that would be so nice. (Teppei Kiyoshi: The center forward for Shiro Rin, a very strong player, currently recovering from injury.)

Because of their superior overall strength, Xiangyang only needs a simple screen to find a scoring opportunity on offense. Although he is occasionally intercepted by Kuroko, Haichang can score steadily in his offensive possessions.

On the other hand, Kagami's individual ability is still No. 1 in the game, but he doesn't know when Kise will play, so he plays hesitantly. Hinata feels a lot of pressure from Hikaru's defense, which suppresses his mentality, and his shooting is also inconsistent.

If this continues... I won't be able to enjoy the game as much as I want. Xiang Yang felt a little bored. If it were a formal match, he would be happy for the opponent to perform like this. But playing like this in a training match is just too boring.

Looking at Kagami, who was still conserving his energy, Xiangyang sneered, "Are you that afraid of my ace? Don't worry, Jumping Boy, Ryota won't be playing. You can play to your heart's content, otherwise... the game will be over."

Hearing Xiangyang's taunts, Kagami retorted defiantly, "It's not that I'm afraid of Kise, I just want to have a fair fight with him. I'm not having a good time without him, you bastard."

Upon hearing that Kise would not be playing again, Kagami immediately reached out for the ball. Xiangyang looked at Kagami, knowing that he was about to exert his strength, so he lowered his center of gravity, opened his arms, and pulled up his pants as he did so.

As Vulcan read Xiangyang's defense, his pupils contracted, and he sensed that Xiangyang's defensive pressure had suddenly intensified.

"That's more interesting." Vulcan's lips curled up; he wasn't one to back down easily. He then leaped up from the spot, reaching such an exaggerated height that Xiangyang could only barely reach out to obstruct Vulcan's view.

Two points are valid.

"Is that all you've got?" Vulcan mocked.

Xiang Yang shrugged and pointed to the scoreboard: 92:82, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Vulcan lost his temper and returned to the court to defend with a dark face.

Although he won the singles match against Xiangyang, he was still trailing by double digits and time was running out. Vulcan took a deep breath; it was the last five minutes.

As Vulcan began to exert his strength, the situation on the field changed. It has to be said that a powerful ace can really change a lot of things on the field.

Xiang Yang glanced at the score, 95:89, and thought to himself: It's really troublesome that Kise isn't here. But with the last two minutes or so, as long as we slow down the pace, victory is still ours. Speaking of which, this guy's jumping ability is too exaggerated. With such explosive athleticism, he can still make delicate fadeaway jump shots. It's simply foul.

Xiangyang's attention was entirely focused on Vulcan, and he didn't notice that Heizi had already...