End of the Practice Match

The play shifted from offense to defense.

The basketball, just blocked, landed in Akagi Takenori's hands.

Qing Junce immediately waved his hand, signaling for the ball.

Akagi Takenori hesitated for a moment before passing the ball to him.

After receiving the ball, Qing Junce made no preparatory moves and shot forward directly.

Damn it...

Seeing this, Sendoh didn't dare to delay and immediately gave chase.

However, after running for a while, he realized he couldn't catch up to the other player.

"How is this possible? Sendoh can't catch up to him," Ikegami Ryoji said with a look of astonishment.

"Kid, I won't let you score so easily." Uozumi, seeing Qing Junce charging towards the basket, immediately took a defensive stance under his own hoop.

"Don't get too cocky, first-year." Koshino Hiroaki simultaneously blocked Qing Junce's path, standing beside Uozumi, one on the left and the other on the right.

The moment Qing Junce stepped into the Ryonan paint, he suddenly stopped abruptly and then jumped directly with the ball.

At the same time.

Uozumi and Koshino Hiroaki also jumped together, spreading their arms wide, attempting to block his shot.

Blocked.

The Ryonan players breathed a collective sigh of relief.

But before they could continue their joy, they suddenly noticed something was wrong.

That's...

Sendoh's pupils contracted as he saw Qing Junce's move.

Taoka Moichi shot up from his seat, exclaiming, "It's a fadeaway jumper!"

On the Shohoku side.

Ayako couldn't help but marvel, "How can this guy pull off a sudden stop and fadeaway at that speed?"

Ho ho ho ho...

Anzai Mitsuyoshi couldn't help but laugh upon seeing this.

His aged eyes sparkled, filled with admiration for Qing Junce. "Truly remarkable talent, natural agility. I've never seen a player like this before."

Kogure Kiminobu said excitedly, "Yes, I can't believe Qing Junce's speed is this fast. Even Sendoh can't keep up."

"No, what I'm referring to by agility isn't just speed," Anzai Mitsuyoshi corrected.

Ayako asked curiously, "Coach Anzai, then what do you mean by agility...?"

Anzai Mitsuyoshi explained, "In sports, speed doesn't just mean how fast you move. It also includes the ability to accelerate from a standstill to top speed, and the ability to decelerate from top speed to a standstill. That's agility. Qing Junce's agility is the finest I've ever seen."

Swish...

On the court.

Qing Junce shot the basketball.

Just then, a hand flashed past above Qing Junce's head, but it didn't touch the ball.

The ball soared high, sailing over the fingertips of Uozumi and Koshino Hiroaki, and finally landed in the net behind them.

Swish...

The ball went in.

Shohoku 37, Ryonan 45.

Qing Junce landed back on the ground and turned to look at Sendoh behind him.

Heh...

The corners of his mouth turned up in a smile that wasn't quite a taunt, and then he jogged back on defense.

"Damn it!" Koshino Hiroaki felt incredibly frustrated watching Qing Junce's retreating back.

Uozumi was also very annoyed.

Neither he nor Koshino Hiroaki had managed to defend against him head-on.

Sendoh wiped the sweat from his brow and sighed softly, thinking to himself, This is not looking good!

The fact that he couldn't catch up to Qing Junce earlier already said a lot.

After all, he was chasing Qing Junce, who had the ball, while he himself was off-ball.

Even then, he had barely managed to keep up.

Taoka Moichi, watching from the sidelines, had also noticed this problem.

His leg was shaking uncontrollably on the ground.

It was clear that his mind had begun to race.

The following match would go on to confirm his uneasy feeling.

Ryonan's offense began to hit wall after wall.

No matter where they passed the ball, their final shots were blocked by the suddenly appearing Qing Junce.

Shohoku regained possession.

Unsurprisingly, the ball found its way to Qing Junce again.

This time, Uozumi was the only one under Ryonan's basket.

His eyes blazed, and he stomped on the ground with all his might, leaping up.

He jumped higher than ever before.

His raised arm completely blocked Qing Junce's shooting path.

"Nice one, Uozumi!" Taoka Moichi shouted excitedly.

But in the next second, his eyes widened.

Qing Junce's body began to lean backward.

His body was almost parallel to the ground.

What?

Uozumi's eyes widened in disbelief.

Even Sendoh's mouth hung open, looking at Qing Junce as if he were an alien.

Aida Kenichi pointed at Qing Junce on the court, his mouth trembling, unable to utter a word.

On the Shohoku side, everyone except Shimizu Kanon had a similar expression.

Ayako covered her mouth, her beautiful eyes wide.

Taoka Moichi and Anzai Mitsuyoshi both rose from their seats, their eyes fixed on Qing Junce on the court.

For a moment, the stadium fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone held their breath.

Soon, Qing Junce finally shot the basketball.

The ball flew out, over Uozumi's fingers, and landed precisely in the basket.

Swish...

The ball went in.

Shohoku 39, Ryonan 45.

Boom...

After the silence, the stadium erupted in screams and cheers that pierced the heavens.

"Wow! What was that... so amazing."

"I've never seen a shot like that before."

"So cool, so strong."

Akagi Haruko waved her arms and cheered for Qing Junce, jumping with joy. "So amazing, truly amazing."

As for Rukawa Kaede.

Who is Rukawa Kaede?

Does such a person exist?

Fujii also blushed and exclaimed, "Yeah! It's a shame he already has a girlfriend."

Matsui stared at the two with dead eyes. "Two women who only have eyes for men."

Time ticked by, second by second.

The scales of victory began to tip towards Shohoku.

The Ryonan players felt immense pressure.

This pressure was entirely from Qing Junce.

As a result, they made mistakes several times on offense.

In contrast, Shohoku repeatedly succeeded.

There was no other reason than that they couldn't defend Qing Junce's shots.

Qing Junce was practically single-handedly carrying all of Shohoku's offense.

Their offense was unstoppable, and their shots were unstoppable.

Whether it was one-on-one defense, double-team help, or triple-teaming.

Qing Junce always found a way to exploit openings and score successfully.

The score between the two teams had unknowingly reached 60 to 50.

Shohoku, who had trailed Ryonan by 10 points in the first half, now led Ryonan by 10 points.

All the credit for this turnaround belonged to Qing Junce alone.

Beep...

Ryonan called for a timeout.

Taoka Moichi could no longer sit still and immediately called a timeout.

Huff... ha... huff... ha... huff... ha...

The Ryonan players were gasping for air.

Seeing his players in such a state, Taoka Moichi's frown deepened.

He never expected the game to turn out this way.

This year was supposed to be the one he had the most confidence in making it to the national tournament.

But Shohoku had ruthlessly extinguished that hope.

That guy was like a monster.

He looked towards the Shohoku bench, at Qing Junce who still maintained his lazy posture, and felt deeply troubled.

What should I do?

No one on Ryonan could stop that guy, not even Sendoh.

He gritted his teeth, then looked at his team and said, "The situation is clear to everyone, and it's something no one expected. But now is not the time for complaints. The game isn't over yet, and there's still a chance to turn things around. Uozumi, Koshino, you two double-team their number 9. Buy Sendoh as much time as possible."

"Yes..." Uozumi and Koshino Hiroaki replied in unison.

Taoka Moichi then turned to Sendoh and said, "Sendoh, it's up to you now. The others will do their best to stall that number 9. You need to handle Akagi and Rukawa by yourself."

In Taoka Moichi's mind right now, Qing Junce was more dangerous than Akagi Takenori and Rukawa Kaede combined.

Sendoh nodded and said, "I understand."

Beep...

The whistle blew.

The game resumed.

Hahahahaha...

As soon as the Ryonan players stepped onto the court, they heard arrogant laughter coming from the Shohoku side.

They looked up and saw that a red-haired player had joined the Shohoku lineup.

Sakuragi Hanamichi had been subbed in by Coach Anzai.

"Hahaha... it's finally this genius's turn to play! Don't drag me down!" Sakuragi Hanamichi laughed presumptuously.

Thump...

Akagi Takenori punched Sakuragi Hanamichi on the head without mercy, saying irritably, "Shut up and don't drag us down."

Sakuragi Hanamichi clutched his head, his face filled with shame and anger, muttering inwardly, "That damnable Gorilla."

Sakuragi Hanamichi's entry completely shattered Taoka Moichi's tactical plan.

Although Sakuragi Hanamichi provided no offensive contribution whatsoever.

He caught Ryonan completely off guard on defense.

It wasn't that Ryonan's offense wasn't strong.

It was because Uozumi and Koshino Hiroaki were both double-teaming Qing Junce.

Facing the defense of Akagi Takenori and Rukawa Kaede, Sendoh was already struggling.

Now, Sakuragi Hanamichi had been added to the mix.

Sendoh, who had initially felt confident about scoring over Akagi Takenori and Rukawa Kaede, was forced to significantly reduce his offensive output.

As time went by, the situation between the two teams continued to change.

65 to 52.

74 to 54.

80 to 57.

The game entered its final 13 seconds.

At this point, the score had reached 98 to 68.

Shohoku 98, Ryonan 68.

Ryonan's defeat was sealed.

Taoka Moichi had already given up on the game long ago.

However, they still persisted until the very end.

The final offensive opportunity belonged to Shohoku.

Sakuragi Hanamichi was responsible for this last shot.

This guy only knows how to go solo and thinks only of showing off.

If he hadn't hogged the ball so much, the score difference between the two sides might have been even wider now.

"Watch my genius slam dunk..." Sakuragi Hanamichi leaped with the ball, intending to go for a one-handed dunk.

It was just that his jumping distance was a bit too far, and the basketball directly hit the rim of the basket before bouncing away.

Sakuragi Hanamichi's forward momentum didn't decrease, and his head, without any deviation, landed squarely on the backboard.

With a loud "bang."

Sakuragi Hanamichi fell straight down.

The Shohoku team didn't care whether this shot would go in or not, and no one went to fight for the flying basketball.

"Honestly, this is why you guys aren't good enough!" Qing Junce suddenly appeared, directly snatching the flying basketball with one hand. Then, with his back to the basket, without even looking, he casually tossed it behind him before landing.

Under everyone's stunned gaze, the basketball landed precisely in the basket.

Swish...

The ball went in.

Shohoku 100 to 68 Ryonan.

Beep...

The whistle blew.

The game was over.