Victory in the First Battle

The match between Shohoku and Miuradai continued.

"That was just an accident, everyone get your heads in the game." Murasame Kengo rallied his team.

As he spoke, he passed the ball directly to Naito Tetsuya. "Naito, show them what you've got."

"Got it," Naito Tetsuya replied as he received the ball.

But, the next moment.

Snap...

A light sound.

Naito Tetsuya felt his hands go empty.

When he looked down, the basketball in his hands had vanished.

What?

Thump...

Thump...

Thump...

A series of dribbling sounds started behind him.

At the same time, a voice reached his ears. "My apologies! You were so slow, I was getting impatient."

Naito Tetsuya instinctively turned his head.

He saw Qing Junce already dribbling the ball and charging towards his own basket.

The Miuradai players hadn't expected the pass to be stolen so quickly, so none of them could react.

In the end, Qing Junce easily executed a three-step layup.

The ball went in.

Shohoku 49, Miuradai 44.

"Damn it, why is that guy everywhere?" Murasame Kengo wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. His composure, which had almost recovered during halftime, began to waver again.

Naito Tetsuya was extremely displeased.

His face was filled with rage, and his eyes were fixed on Qing Junce.

He simply believed it was his own carelessness and Qing Junce's good luck, never considering the difference in their abilities.

"Brat, you've angered me. I'm going to take care of you." Naito Tetsuya threatened Qing Junce.

Qing Junce naturally let the words go in one ear and out the other, completely ignoring the threat.

As time ticked by, second by second.

Naito Tetsuya slowly began to sense that something was wrong.

He felt that no matter what he did, he couldn't escape Qing Junce's grasp.

Qing Junce was like a persistent leech, gradually becoming his nightmare.

His offense was always stolen.

His dunks were always blocked.

His defense was always broken through.

And yet, he couldn't stop, couldn't break through, couldn't shoot, no matter how hard he tried.

This feeling made him feel terrible.

His once confident heart was now beginning to crack.

The Miuradai players were also taken by surprise.

Their secret weapon, upon entering the game, was completely dominated by the opponent.

The Miuradai coach was anxious and furious on the sidelines, gritting his teeth, his eyes almost bloodshot.

The score continued to change under Qing Junce's relentless offense.

55 to 44.

60 to 44.

70 to 44.

80 to 44.

When Qing Junce was once again facing a triple team from Miuradai.

It was like a replay of fate.

Qing Junce, with an extremely unnatural posture, sent the ball through the gap between the three defenders.

At the same time, whether by coincidence or design.

Naito Tetsuya's body collided with Qing Junce's.

Beep...

Before the ball even reached the Miuradai basket, the referee's whistle blew, and he signaled a foul on Naito Tetsuya.

Under the excited, shocked, expectant, and uncomprehending gazes of everyone present, the basketball once again fell into Miuradai's basket.

"Miuradai number 9, defensive foul. Basket counts, and-one." The referee's voice cut through the air, reaching everyone present.

The score was now 89 to 44.

The second half was past its halfway point.

What silenced everyone was that ever since Qing Junce stepped onto the court, Miuradai hadn't scored a single point.

Furthermore, Qing Junce had taken charge of all their offense since he entered the game.

Most astonishingly, Qing Junce hadn't missed a single shot.

Swish...

The ball went in.

Qing Junce made the free throw.

The electronic scoreboard flickered with the new score.

Shohoku 90, Miuradai 44.

Beep...

Shohoku requests a substitution.

Just then, the whistle suddenly sounded.

Everyone looked over in confusion, not understanding why Shohoku would want to substitute now.

Sakuragi Hanamichi had already walked onto the court and stood before Qing Junce.

With his hands on his hips, he looked up and laughed triumphantly, "Hahahaha... Godless ghost, this genius is back on the court, so get out of my way."

Qing Junce looked at Coach Anzai, who was leisurely drinking tea on the bench.

This must have been Coach Anzai's decision.

He didn't say anything.

He found this kind of game boring anyway.

There was no point in dominating a bunch of weaklings.

Qing Junce walked off the court.

Exactly 10 minutes had passed in the second half.

Shimizu Kanon quickly stood up and handed him a towel and water. "A-Ce... you've worked hard."

Qing Junce habitually took the towel and water, wiped the small amount of sweat on his forehead, and replied, "This level isn't even a warm-up, it's not interesting at all."

Hearing this, Ayako blinked. "Oh?! Our great contributor isn't satisfied with this game? We've basically already secured the win, you know."

Qing Junce pouted dismissively. "With Miuradai's strength, it's normal to win, isn't it?"

Coach Anzai suddenly spoke up. "Qing Junce, you don't seem very satisfied with this game!"

Qing Junce shrugged and replied, "Huh?! It's just... okay! I can't say if I'm satisfied or not, but it's a bit too boring when none of the opponents are strong."

"Is that so!" Coach Anzai fell into thought.

Shimizu Kanon, understanding Qing Junce, quickly said, "This is just the first game, it's normal for the opponents not to be strong. In the upcoming matches, we'll definitely face strong opponents."

As she spoke, she turned and winked at Ayako. "Senior Ayako, you think so too, right!"

Seeing Shimizu Kanon's meaningful glance, Ayako immediately understood and nodded. "That's right, we have quite a few strong teams in Kanagawa! Not to mention Shoyo and Kainan, but even in Muso, there's Oda, who's quite capable, and Godai from Tsukitake High School. They are all formidable opponents."

Qing Junce couldn't quite remember the specific strengths of these players.

However, hearing Ayako say this, he felt a little bit of anticipation.

He didn't know when he had started to become lazy and indifferent towards basketball.

He knew very well that these were not his true intentions, but rather the influence of merging with a template on his psychology.

He had been constantly suppressing the psychological issues, preventing himself from truly becoming like Aomine Daiki from the anime.

[Name: Qing Junce]

[Age: 16]

[Height: 192cm]

[Weight: 85kg]

[Character Template: Aomine Daiki (99%)]

[Talent Abilities: Super-high-speed dribbling (Awakened), Formless shots (Awakened)]

[Wildness: Black Panther (Awakened)]

[Zone (Semi-Awakened)]

Looking at the system panel that only he could see, Qing Junce fell into deep thought.

His system seemed to have no other functions besides this panel.

As for the unawakened Zone, he had tried many methods.

If it were like the original anime, Aomine Daiki in high school would already be able to enter the Zone on his own!

He felt like something was off, as if he had overlooked something.

"A-Ce... A-Ce... A-Ce..."

Suddenly, several calls pulled him out of his reverie.

Qing Junce turned his head and saw Shimizu Kanon calling him. "What's wrong?"

Shimizu Kanon looked at Qing Junce strangely and said, "What's wrong? You've been spacing out the whole time, and you didn't respond when I called you. Are you feeling unwell?"

Qing Junce shook his head. "I'm fine, I was just thinking about something."

Hmm?

Shimizu Kanon tilted her head and stared closely at Qing Junce for a while.

She felt that Qing Junce had become different for a moment just now.

Was it her imagination?

Time passed.

The match between Shohoku and Miuradai was drawing to a close.

After Sakuragi Hanamichi came on, it couldn't be said that he had no effect; it could be said he achieved nothing.

With 4 fouls already, he was playing cautiously on the court, afraid of committing another foul with a single misstep.

The Miuradai players noticed this and directly adjusted their tactics to target Sakuragi Hanamichi.

As a result, Miuradai managed to catch up in points.

However, this was merely a futile struggle.

Without Qing Junce.

Rukawa Kaede, Mitsui Hisashi, and Miyagi Ryota seemed to have flipped a switch, breaking through the Miuradai players one by one and scoring relentlessly.

Rukawa Kaede, in particular, displayed the strength expected of a Super Rookie, drawing the attention of various high schools and reporters.

It's worth mentioning that at the end of the game, Sakuragi Hanamichi executed a very flashy Slam Dunk, successfully landing it on Naito Tetsuya's shiny bald head.

Naito Tetsuya immediately collapsed, trembling all over, foaming at the mouth, and fainted.

Sakuragi Hanamichi thus received his 5th foul and was mercilessly ejected from the game by the referee.

Beep...

The final whistle finally blew.

The final score between Shohoku and Miuradai was fixed at 125 to 61.

The Shohoku bench players rushed forward to celebrate their first victory.

However, no one noticed that the points scored in the last ten minutes of the second half did not amount to as much as Qing Junce had scored in the first ten minutes.

Thus, Shohoku's first match in the Prefectural Tournament concluded successfully.