Qing Junce and Rukawa Kaede's Rematch

Outside the court · Rest area.

Ayako gazed with interest at Qing Junce and Rukawa Kaede, who were about to face off on the court, and could not help saying, "Rukawa Kaede really can't sit still! He lost to Qing Junce last time, yet he couldn't wait this long before challenging him again. He's still the same as ever—he's never been willing to lose deep down."

Only then did Shimizu Kanon come to her senses. "Oh, right! Ayako-senpai and Rukawa Kaede went to the same junior high, didn't they?"

Ayako nodded lightly. "That's right. That guy Rukawa Kaede is incredibly competitive. With Captain Akagi, Rukawa Kaede, and Qing Junce, our team already has three star players. If Mitsui were still on the team, perhaps everyone really could achieve their dream of dominating the nation this year."

"Mitsui..." Shimizu Kanon murmured softly. A piece of information instantly surfaced in her mind. "Are you talking about Mitsui Hisashi, Ayako-senpai?"

"You even investigated that?!" Ayako was slightly taken aback, though not particularly surprised. After all, she had already witnessed Shimizu Kanon's ability to gather information.

Ayako nodded and continued, "Actually, I only heard it from Captain Akagi and Kogure-senpai. That was already two years ago. Apparently, Mitsui Hisashi entered Shohoku High School as the Junior High MVP!"

At that point, Ayako's tone suddenly changed, filling with regret. "Unfortunately... because of certain things, he's no longer on the basketball team."

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Miyagi Ryota and Sakuragi Hanamichi, who had been wrestling with each other, also noticed that something was strange about the atmosphere around them.

They swept their gazes around and only then realized that everyone had gathered on the other half of the court.

"What happened?" Miyagi Ryota asked blankly.

"How should I know?! Let go of me!" Sakuragi Hanamichi forcefully pulled his legs free from the other man's grasp.

"I'm really curious whether Rukawa Kaede can beat Qing Junce this time."

"It's hard to say. Qing Junce is too strong. It hasn't been long since their last match. Even if Rukawa Kaede has been desperately trying to catch up, he shouldn't have caught up so quickly!"

"My guess is that Rukawa Kaede will still lose to Qing Junce this time."

Hearing the surrounding discussions, Miyagi Ryota and Sakuragi Hanamichi also stopped what they were doing.

"That Stinky fox and Godless ghost are showing off again," Sakuragi Hanamichi muttered unhappily.

The corners of Miyagi Ryota's lips lifted slightly as he looked with interest at the two people about to face off on the other side. "Are these two the Super Rookies you were talking about—Rukawa Kaede and Qing Junce?"

Qing Junce and Rukawa Kaede paid no attention to the gazes and discussions around them. They were already prepared for the match.

Just like last time, Rukawa Kaede launched the first attack, while Qing Junce took charge of defense.

"Let me see whether you've improved during this time!" Qing Junce said with a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

At those words, Rukawa Kaede's eyes sharpened, and a fierce glint flashed through them. The aura around him continued to rise.

Without saying a word, he slammed the basketball to the ground. His figure flashed as he tried to break through Qing Junce's defense.

Qing Junce merely took a light step and firmly blocked Rukawa Kaede's path. "A slow breakthrough like that won't work against me."

Seeing that a breakthrough was impossible, Rukawa Kaede immediately pulled back and gathered himself. Then, with a light tap of his toes against the floor, he spun and charged toward Qing Junce's other side.

"Not a bad idea, but you're still too green." Qing Junce also touched the floor with his toes. However, he spun in the opposite direction and once again intercepted Rukawa Kaede precisely in front of him.

"S-so amazing! Qing Junce's movements are so fluid. They don't look stiff at all, and he blocked Rukawa Kaede's attack in an instant." Kakuta Satoru could not help shouting in amazement.

Kogure Kiminobu also sighed emotionally. "It seems Qing Junce is still a cut above."

Ayako analyzed the situation. "It looks like Rukawa Kaede is going to lose again this time."

Shimizu Kanon giggled without saying anything. She had already expected this outcome.

Rukawa Kaede's talent was certainly impressive, but compared to Qing Junce, he was still lacking by a little.

On the court, Qing Junce and Rukawa Kaede had already begun an intense game of pursuit and interception.

Bang...

Bang...

Bang...

The sound of the basketball repeatedly striking the floor continued to ring across the court.

Rukawa Kaede dribbled rapidly, constantly trying to find an opening in Qing Junce's airtight defense.

However, every time he tried to break through, Qing Junce accurately cut off his path.

The two seemed to transform into two dazzling streams of light, one blue and one black, whipping up a storm of speed across half the court.

Everyone around them stood rooted to the spot, stunned by the sight before them.

"Wow! They're incredible! Both of them are unbelievably strong!"

"I've never seen such an intense battle between offense and defense!"

"I thought what we saw last time was already intense enough. I didn't expect them to be even faster this time!"

Miyagi Ryota, standing on the other half of the court, was completely stunned by the scene before him and could not speak.

He had previously only heard that the Super Rookie Rukawa Kaede was powerful, while Qing Junce was even stronger beyond imagination.

But after seeing them with his own eyes, he realized that the two were far more outrageous than he had imagined.

As for Sakuragi Hanamichi, he had also put away his usual carefree attitude. He was now deeply captivated by the brilliant duel between Qing Junce and Rukawa Kaede.

The only reason was that this match was simply too brilliant.

Ayako watched the situation on the court and could not help praising him. "Rukawa Kaede seems to have improved quite a bit!"

Shimizu Kanon nodded along.

Compared to the last time he had faced Qing Junce, Rukawa Kaede had indeed improved somewhat.

She turned her gaze toward Qing Junce and thought to herself, A-Ce really is something. Can't he take this a little more seriously?

Finally, Rukawa Kaede used a feint to create half a body's distance from Qing Junce, then immediately leaped for a shot.

Seeing this, Qing Junce remained calm. He suddenly pushed off the floor and soared into the air, directly crossing the half-body distance and once again blocking Rukawa Kaede firmly in front of him.

Rukawa Kaede's pupils suddenly contracted.

But he was already in midair, and the basketball in his hands was about to leave them. He had no time to make any adjustments.

Unsurprisingly.

The next second—

Smack!

A crisp sound rang out as Qing Junce struck down hard with one palm, delivering Rukawa Kaede a solid Big block.

The others reacted fairly normally when they saw this.

Miyagi Ryota, however, was completely dumbfounded. It was his first time seeing such an exaggerated defensive move and block, and he could not help muttering, "No way. He can defend like that?"

Sakuragi Hanamichi curled his lips, looking envious while deliberately pretending to disdain it. "Hmph! What's so impressive about that?"

"Not bad. You've improved compared to last time." Qing Junce picked at his ear with his little finger and spoke lazily.

Qing Junce's nonchalant attitude completely enraged Rukawa Kaede. His eyes blazed as he said angrily, "Take this seriously."

Qing Junce looked unconcerned. "Didn't I say before? It depends on whether you have what it takes."

Hearing this, the anger in Rukawa Kaede's heart grew even stronger, but there was nothing he could do.

The offense and defense switched.

Qing Junce dribbled the basketball unhurriedly, looking just as lazy as he usually did.

Suddenly, he switched the ball to his left hand. Then, with a between-the-legs switch, he changed direction early, his body naturally moving into a forward sprint.

Seeing this, Rukawa Kaede immediately lowered his center of gravity, spread his arms, and stared fixedly at Qing Junce's every move.

However, in the very next moment, Qing Junce's forward-driving motion suddenly changed. With an extremely strange movement, he pulled backward.

Rukawa Kaede watched Qing Junce's figure grow smaller before his eyes, and his pupils instantly widened. For a moment, he stood rooted to the spot, completely forgetting to move forward and recover.

More precisely, he had been completely fooled by Qing Junce's lifelike feint.

He had been certain that Qing Junce would charge straight through. He never imagined that Qing Junce would suddenly retreat.

And so, Qing Junce successfully created distance between them.

Immediately afterward, Qing Junce shot with astonishing decisiveness. He took the shot directly without even jumping.

Rukawa Kaede could only stand there and watch helplessly as the basketball sailed over his head and finally dropped into the hoop behind him.

Even then, Rukawa Kaede remained utterly confused. He could not understand how Qing Junce had managed to execute that backward movement under those circumstances.

Everything about it was completely unreasonable.

The offense and defense switched again, and Rukawa Kaede once more stood in front of Qing Junce.

Just as everyone eagerly awaited Rukawa Kaede's attack, no one expected that—whether inspired by Qing Junce or intending to repay him in kind—

In the next moment, Rukawa Kaede did not choose to break through. Instead, he immediately took a step back, retreated beyond the three-point line, then pushed off the ground and jumped for a shot.

It happened so suddenly that no one had expected Rukawa Kaede to pull such a move.

Qing Junce raised his brows slightly, somewhat surprised by Rukawa Kaede's choice. However, it was merely surprise.

Trying to catch me off guard? Qing Junce thought. But...

His legs tensed, and both feet slammed against the floor. Like a bolt of lightning, his figure instantly appeared in front of Rukawa Kaede under everyone's stunned gaze.

Then he forcefully pushed off with both feet again and leaped high into the air. At the same time, he stretched out his arm, swung his palm, and struck down hard at the basketball Rukawa Kaede was about to shoot.

Smack!

A crisp sound suddenly echoed across the court as Qing Junce sent the basketball flying into the distance.

Rukawa Kaede's second attack ended in failure once again.

"These little tricks won't work on me." Qing Junce glanced at Rukawa Kaede and said flatly.

Rukawa Kaede remained silent. He went straight beneath the basket and assumed a defensive stance.

For quite some time afterward, the sound of the basketball striking the floor continued to ring out across the court.

Everyone from Shohoku once again witnessed Qing Junce brutally dominating Rukawa Kaede.

Although they had already seen it once before, they were still filled with disbelief when they witnessed the scene again. The shock was plain on their faces.

Everyone had long since lost count of how many exchanges Qing Junce and Rukawa Kaede had gone through.

At this point, none of that mattered anymore.

They only remembered clearly that under Qing Junce's airtight defense, Rukawa Kaede had failed to make even a single shot.

Qing Junce's strength was once again etched deeply into the hearts of everyone from Shohoku.