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

Masako called a timeout, gave the players instructions on how to play the rest of the game, then picked up her bag, left a message, and turned to walk into the players' tunnel.

"My stomach hurts, I'm going to the restroom. Next, Bing Shi will call a pause for me."

Himuro watched Masako's departing figure, hesitant to speak. He really wanted to say: "Coach, why did you take your bag to the restroom..."

……

"Both players, please prepare for the jump ball."

The sexy male voice on the radio rang out again. Coincidentally, Yako arrived at the stands at the same time. However, she was too late, and the stadium was already packed. She had no choice but to find a decent spot to stand and watch.

Xiangyang sensed something and looked up. Yazi nodded at him, and Xiangyang smiled and waved in response.

"Focus."

Kasamatsu slapped his head in an annoyed tone, gesturing towards the center circle.

Vulcan once again replaced Teppei and stood at the jump ball spot.

The Winter Cup, Kaijo vs. Shirorin, is finally about to begin.

Chapter 109 Game Theory

beep—

A piercing whistle blew, and the jump ball of the finals finally began!

Kagami crouched slightly, and at the moment the ball reached its highest point, his legs exploded with power, successfully suppressing Kohori and giving Shiro Rin the first attack.

Izuki received the pass and immediately launched a long pass to Kuroko in the attacking third, a tactic they used in their semi-final match against Rakuzan.

Xiang Yang followed beside Yi Yue, a knowing look on his face. It would be strange if such a powerful tactic wasn't used repeatedly.

Unfortunately, his weaknesses were also obvious; his strategy was figured out as soon as he stood at the jump ball spot…

Kuroko received Izuki's pass, twisted his right hand, and accelerated the pass back!

Kagami, who had already run into the penalty area, beamed with joy. He had succeeded! He caught the ball with one hand and immediately jumped up for a meteor dunk!

"Trying to score against us won't be that easy."

A golden light flashed in Kise's eyes as he followed behind Kagami, and his aura changed accordingly.

A flawless imitation of Murasakibara!

He took a deep breath, mimicking Murasakibara's defensive abilities, and easily jumped in front of Kagami, swatting the ball away with a powerful block.

Off the field, Reiko was shocked. In her opinion, the opening tactic, which seemed almost unsolvable, had been broken so easily.

Vulcan was shocked, and after landing, a look of unwillingness appeared on his face. If that ball had gone in, the "trigger" would have gone off.

"Just as Xiao Xiangyang said."

Kise walked past Kagami with a mocking expression on his face.

"What?!"

Vulcan's expression changed, and he turned to look at Xiang Yang, who was leaning over with his knees on his hands, looking at the Cheng Lin group with a wicked smile.

"Use the jump ball of Vulcan and the disappearance of the black pieces to launch an early attack, and at the same time pull the trigger."

"It's a pretty good tactic, but Vulcan standing in the center circle, isn't that basically saying 'this is how we're going to play'?"

Xiangyang received possession of the ball and began advancing towards the frontcourt, while simultaneously giving Kise a wink. Kise understood immediately and deactivated his perfect state.

Seeing this, Kuroko looked puzzled. Why not just use Kise's moves to seize the rhythm of the first half?

However, before Hei Zi could remain puzzled for long, Xiang Yang answered his question.

"Tired of those monster zones? How about watching an ordinary person's performance to relieve your boredom?"

Xiangyang licked his lips, glancing at Akashi in the audience with a meaningful look.

ha?

Yi Yue, who was sitting opposite him, was stunned for a moment. Before she could ask a question, she saw Xiang Yang suddenly squat down and pull up his trouser leg.

Talent: Zone activated.

Looking up again, a white flash of lightning suddenly appeared in Xiang Yang's eyes. He looked at Yi Yue, who was stunned and lost in thought, with a playful expression, raised his hand to catch the ball, and launched a three-pointer from a great distance, which went straight into the net!

beep—

Haichang No. 2's three-pointer is valid!

"Never mind, next ball."

Hinata walked over to Itsuki's side, intending to say something to comfort her, but saw Itsuki standing there blankly, without moving.

"what happened?"

Hinata was puzzled. Even though he had been hit in the face with a three-pointer, it shouldn't have been like this, right?

Izuki didn't speak, but pulled Hinata and pointed to the half of the Kaijo stadium.

Hmm? Is there something strange?

Hinata adjusted his glasses and turned to look. The Kaijo members were all returning to defense. If there was anything unusual about him, it was Hinata, who was looking at them with a smug expression, his eyes flashing with electricity. Was he the Electric Boy, that rascal…?

Electric light?

Hinata suddenly froze, took off his glasses, wiped them, put them back on, and looked again. There was no mistake, the electric light was still there…

hiss! !

Hinata took a deep breath and immediately turned around to wink at Reiko.

Shiro Rin has requested a suspension.

In the audience, Aomine spat and said, "That guy... he's definitely gone into zone, isn't he?"

Akashi smiled and nodded in affirmation of Aomine's words.

Sure enough, that kid hid his true abilities until the finals.

Murasakibara stuffed a handful of snacks into his mouth, a grimacing expression on his face, and said unhappily, "Does that guy look down on me? He didn't use them when he was competing against me, but saved them for Shiro Rin?"

On the other side of the stadium, the national youth team's number one player didn't even look up, silently writing comments. After hearing the referee's whistle, he looked up in confusion, revealing a disdainful expression: "Calling a timeout less than a minute into the game, as expected, even in the finals, this level of competition is nothing more than a bunch of rabble."

After saying that, the national youth team's number one continued writing with his head down, no longer interested in watching the game.

……

"What's wrong, Hinata?"

Reiko was a little confused. They had only conceded a three-pointer at the start of the game, so was it really necessary to call a timeout? However, out of trust in her players, she still decisively called the timeout.

Hinata swallowed hard, then stammered, "That Hinata, it seems like he's started a Zone..."

Nani?

Everyone in Shiro Rin was taken aback. Because the white lightning was not conspicuous, no one except Itsuki and Hinata noticed it.

"Could there be a mistake? That guy..."

Kagami questioned, looking at Hikaru, who was leisurely chatting and bragging with Kise on the Kaijo bench.

That guy... is he also a Miracle-level?

“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes, and Izuki saw it too.”

Hinata adjusted his glasses, extinguishing any lingering hope in anyone's heart, and said in a deep voice, "In short, our tactics need to be changed from now on..."

……

Haichang substitute bench

"Xiao Xiangyang, how did you know they would fight like that?"

Kise rested his chin on his hands and asked the question that had been bothering him.

However, Kise's sincere request for advice was met with a big eye roll from Xiangyang.

"Because it's easier to score that way, and with Vulcan standing at the jump ball point, isn't that basically telling us the tactics?"

Kise suddenly realized.

Xiang Yang was ashamed. It was truly the world of basketball; most people paid almost no attention to tactics. This level of tactical maneuvering was utterly childish.

"Was their quick halt also part of your calculations?"

Curious Kise continued to ask questions.

This time, Xiangyang didn't look down on him. He stroked his chin and said, "No, pausing right at the start is a bit too decisive... but this pause was indeed timely."

Xiangyang recalled how Hinata had decisively signaled Reiko to pause after seeing him activate Zone, and couldn't help but praise her.

In that situation, if they didn't call a timeout because it had only been a short time since the game started, Xiangyang could have used that information gap to create a scoring opportunity.

That was a very decisive decision, Hyuga Junpei... He really isn't a nobody, is he?

At the start, Kise flawlessly imitated Shiorin's attack rhythm, and then Hikaru took control of the situation by activating Zone.

This tactic was decided by Xiangyang after watching the match between Shirorin and Rakuzan yesterday, although Shirorin's lightning-fast timeout interrupted Xiangyang's plan.

However, thanks to "overthinking," the Sunny Zone can be activated at any time.

"Well then... let's enjoy the match until they unleash that strange power!"

Chapter 110 The Trigger That Couldn't Be Pulled

Two points are valid for Haichang!

Haichang Sanfen is effective!

Shiorin committed a defensive foul!

Out of bounds, possession guaranteed!

With the end of the initial pause, the match resumed. Just as Xiangyang had predicted, even though Shiro Rin was on guard, they couldn't use a level beyond the zone, and Kagami couldn't even enter the zone. Under these circumstances, Kaijo's attack was like a raging flood, overwhelming Shiro Rin.

Haichang leads 13-4 with three minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Kagami seemed somewhat overwhelmed by Kise's defense. After a feint, he took a mid-range shot, but it missed.