Stunned Everyone

Qing Junce strode onto the court, brushing past Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was heading off.

Sakuragi Hanamichi, his face a mask of resentment and shame, couldn't hold back when he saw Qing Junce. He erupted, "Damn you, Qing Junce, for stealing my spot! You're despicable, shameless, vulgar, godless..."

Qing Junce ignored him, casually picking at his ear. "A guy who only knows how to clown around. It's only normal for you to be taken out."

"What did you say..." Sakuragi Hanamichi bared his shark-like teeth, roaring in anger. "You must have said something to Old Man, or I wouldn't have been taken out so quickly."

Qing Junce glanced at him sideways, remaining silent.

But it was precisely this silent gaze, filled with endless contempt and mockery, that made Sakuragi Hanamichi's anger flare up.

"You bastard... are you looking for a fight?" Sakuragi Hanamichi lunged forward, his face almost touching Qing Junce's, and yelled.

Qing Junce looked at the comical face thrust towards him, contemplating whether to throw a punch first.

It wasn't because Sakuragi Hanamichi was particularly annoying at the moment, but simply because his hands felt a bit itchy.

Bang...

Just then, a heavy fist slammed hard onto Sakuragi Hanamichi's head.

Completely caught off guard, Sakuragi Hanamichi fell to the ground, headfirst.

Akagi Takenori retracted his fist, his face a thundercloud as he looked at the fallen Sakuragi Hanamichi, roaring, "You idiot, shut up and get back to the bench."

Sakuragi Hanamichi felt wronged and unwilling, but he could only obediently get up and crawl back to the bench, looking back repeatedly, muttering, "What the heck! Why am I the only one being subbed out?"

Ayako, seeing Sakuragi Hanamichi's defiant expression, explained, "Sakuragi! You already have 4 fouls! If you get 5, you'll be disqualified."

"4 fouls?" Sakuragi Hanamichi looked bewildered. "What does that mean?"

"4 fouls means that in one game, each player has a maximum of 5 fouls. Exceeding 5 will result in disqualification," Ayako explained patiently. She then turned her gaze to Qing Junce, who was entering the game, a hint of confusion in her eyes. "With the current situation, Shohoku has the upper hand. It shouldn't be a big problem even if Qing Junce doesn't play. Is the Coach worried about unexpected events?"

Ho ho ho ho...

Hearing Ayako's question, Coach Anzai didn't answer directly. Instead, he turned to Shimizu Kanon and asked, "Kanon, what do you think?"

Shimizu Kanon thought for a moment and said, "I think Coach Anzai probably wants to see A-Ce's performance in a formal game!"

Ho ho ho ho...

Coach Anzai chuckled a few more times, nodded, and said, "Yes! That's correct."

This made Ayako and Shimizu Kanon understand Coach Anzai's intention in letting Qing Junce play.

Qing Junce was indeed exceptionally talented, but he had never participated in a formal game before.

After all, streetball courts and official games are vastly different. The atmosphere of the court, the pressure faced, etc., are all completely dissimilar.

Coach Anzai wanted to see if Qing Junce could still perform miraculously in an official game.

However, Coach Anzai was worrying unnecessarily.

For Qing Junce, no matter what kind of game it was, it made no difference.

Fear, nervousness, and worry were emotions that simply didn't exist in his vocabulary.

Without Sakuragi Hanamichi's disruption, Qing Junce calmly walked onto the court.

His expression was serene, showing no trace of fear or nervousness from his first appearance, as if he were an old lady out for a stroll at the market.

Qing Junce looked up at the score on the electronic scoreboard.

Shohoku 35 to Miuradai 44.

There was just over a minute left until the end of the first half.

"You guys are pathetic if you haven't caught up by now," Qing Junce taunted without restraint.

Hearing this, the faces of Akagi Takenori, Rukawa Kaede, Mitsui Hisashi, and Miyagi Ryota instantly turned ashen, veins bulging on their foreheads.

Mitsui Hisashi directly gave Qing Junce the middle finger and angrily cursed, "You guy who's always late, what right do you have to say that just after stepping onto the court?"

Miyagi Ryota glared at Qing Junce. "Exactly! Such a boastful first-year kid."

Akagi Takenori gritted his teeth, his fists clenched, suppressing the urge to punch Qing Junce on the head, and said in a deep voice, "If you want to get off the court now, I won't stop you."

Only Rukawa Kaede remained silent, his eyes fixed on Qing Junce, a look of defiance in them.

Qing Junce put his left hand on his hip, used his right pinky to pick his ear, and closed his eyes slightly, looking completely indifferent. "Instead of spouting nonsense, hurry up and pass me the ball."

In an instant, it was as if four volcanoes had erupted, shooting straight into the sky.

Mitsui Hisashi was so furious he jumped up and turned to Akagi Takenori, demanding, "Why did you agree to let this bastard join the basketball team?"

Akagi Takenori's expression was a masterpiece of mixed emotions, black turning green, green flushing red, and red tinged with blue. "Do I need your permission to let anyone join the basketball team?"

Qing Junce ignored them and walked to the half-court line on his own.

Just then, the referee blew his whistle.

Beep...

The whistle sounded.

The game restarted.

It was Miuradai's possession.

Miuradai's point guard, Araki Kazuo, wearing jersey number 5, rushed forward with the ball.

Because Miyagi Ryota had successfully stolen the ball a few times earlier, Araki Kazuo's attention was mostly focused on Miyagi Ryota.

As for Qing Junce, he was just a rookie, so Miuradai didn't put much effort into him.

The player defending Qing Junce was Miuradai's power forward, Miyamoto Kazunari, wearing jersey number 6.

Seeing Miyamoto Kazunari's lax defense in front of him, Qing Junce let out a soft breath and thought to himself, "This is really annoying!"

He swept his gaze, instantly locking onto Araki Kazuo, who was dribbling the ball.

The next second, his eyes narrowed slightly, and his figure flickered, disappearing without Miyamoto Kazunari noticing.

At the same time, Araki Kazuo stopped his forward rush and passed the ball towards his captain, Murasame Kengo.

Murasame Kengo extended his hands, ready to catch the ball.

But just then, a flash of white light appeared before him, and the basketball vanished into thin air.

What?

Murasame Kengo's eyes widened, completely unable to comprehend what had happened.

Miyamoto Kazunari also sensed something was wrong at this moment.

He realized that the player he was supposed to be defending had disappeared.

Where did he go?

Where did he go?

Bang...

Bang...

Bang...

The sound of the basketball hitting the floor drew the attention of everyone on Miuradai.

They followed the sound and their eyes widened, their faces filled with disbelief.

A figure wearing Shohoku's jersey number 9 had somehow appeared behind all of them. It was Qing Junce.

When did that happen?

Murasame Kengo looked utterly stunned.

Upon realizing what was happening, he quickly shouted, "Stop him!"

The other Miuradai players heard the command and immediately turned to chase after Qing Junce.

But because of this, an unbelievable scene unfolded before everyone's eyes.

Qing Junce, wearing Shohoku's white jersey number 9, was dribbling the ball and running ahead, while the five Miuradai players in their dark blue jerseys desperately chased after him.

Yet, strangely, the distance between the Miuradai players and the white figure in front was visibly increasing.

The entire scene was incredibly bizarre.

For a moment, the entire gymnasium fell into an eerie silence.

Besides the sound of Qing Junce dribbling the basketball, there was only the sound of players' shoes squeaking on the floor as they ran.

Miuradai's coach had already stood up from his seat, his mouth agape, his face filled with disbelief.

"What kind of joke is this?"

He couldn't catch up to someone dribbling a ball while running empty-handed.

Who exactly was this number 9 from Shohoku?

As everyone stared in dumbfounded amazement, Qing Junce charged straight into Miuradai's paint, then leaped high and executed a one-handed slam dunk.

Clang...

The sound of the slam dunk echoed.

Qing Junce firmly slammed the ball into the basket.

The score on the electronic scoreboard also updated.

Shohoku 37, Miuradai 44.

The entire arena was silent.

Everyone was stunned by Qing Junce's incredible performance.