Rising Fame

Inside the Kanagawa gymnasium today, it felt as if it were under some kind of curse.

The entire basketball arena was enveloped in a heavy sense of oppression.

The noisy discussions, the cheers of encouragement, the players' calls, and the coach's commands...

All sorts of sounds were as if forcefully suppressed by an invisible power, completely turning into a silent zone of absolute quiet.

Only the friction of sneakers on the floor as the players ran and the thud of the ball being dribbled remained.

Everyone's gaze was fixed, staring blankly at the figure rapidly dribbling the ball on the court.

Thump...

Thump...

Thump...

Swish...

The basketball slid through the Koryo hoop.

Qing Junce landed back on the ground under everyone's dumbfounded watch.

The entire gymnasium fell silent at that moment.

The spectators swallowed hard, their eyeballs almost bulging out.

They watched in disbelief at everything unfolding below.

"Hey! How many balls is that already?"

"That number 9 is too strong!"

"The five players on the opposing team are being dominated by him alone."

"Is he really a high school student? Even professional players aren't this strong."

"If we encountered an opponent like this, how could we possibly win?"

Fifteen minutes of the first half had already passed.

At this point, the people from various high schools in the stands were all drenched in sweat, cold sweat beading on their foreheads, looking as if they had seen a ghost.

In these 15 minutes, Qing Junce had single-handedly, in a 1v5 crushing display, silenced everyone.

At first, people were just watching the game normally.

But as time gradually passed, their expressions slowly began to change.

When Qing Junce scored the first basket, their expressions were indifferent.

When Qing Junce stole the ball and scored again, their expressions were scrutinizing.

Qing Junce charged with the ball, the Koryo players desperately chased, but in the end, they not only failed to catch up but were left further and further behind.

At this point, their expressions had turned to astonishment.

When Qing Junce stole the ball and then broke through the defense of five opponents consecutively for a slam dunk, These people were completely shocked.

What made everyone tremble even more was Qing Junce's speed on defense and his defensive plays.

It was too exaggerated.

He blocked Koryo's shots without a single miss.

How exaggerated, how incredible this was.

Although the Koryo players weren't particularly strong, they were being utterly dominated by one person, unable to fight back.

This level of skill had already surpassed their expectations of Qing Junce.

This number 9 from Shohoku was more troublesome than they had imagined.

Seeing Qing Junce's dribbling speed, the members of the basketball teams from various high schools felt a chill run down their spines.

Is this the speed a human can run?

What a joke!

He was running faster with the ball than without it.

Was this guy a monster?

Many schools were already starting to feel nervous.

What should they do if they encountered Shohoku next?

If just this one player from Shohoku was this strong, what would happen if the others joined in? They would be unstoppable!

In this game, Qing Junce had only used some ordinary shooting and dribbling moves. He hadn't used his Formless shots, nor his Super-high-speed dribbling.

As I said before, he felt it wasn't necessary.

He was simply using his speed to rampage through Koryo.

By the end of the first half, the spectators were still a bit dazed.

Hiss...

Recalling the shocking scenes they had just witnessed, gasps of awe began to echo from all corners of the stadium.

After a long while, someone finally noticed the score.

Everyone looked up at the electronic scoreboard above the court.

Shohoku 74, Koryo 14.

Hiss...

Another round of gasps.

Of course, 65 of those 74 points were scored by Qing Junce alone.

Looking at Qing Junce as he walked off the court, appearing relaxed and nonchalant.

Some of the less resilient individuals were already trembling, their faces etched with fear.

Sitting on the floor in a corner, Kiyota Nobunaga and Jin Koichiro were no longer as composed as they had been at the start.

Their gazes were extremely serious.

Qing Junce's strength had far surpassed their imaginations.

He was incredibly strong, not just ordinarily strong.

However, thinking of their own captain, they felt a little more at ease.

They still had Maki Shinichi.

Even though Qing Junce's displayed strength was surprising, their captain was no ordinary player either.

"I didn't expect him to have such strength. It seems Shohoku needs to be watched carefully now," Jin Koichiro said.

Kiyota Nobunaga said with some jealousy, "Where did this guy even come from? Why haven't I heard of him before? Damn it! I should be the best newcomer."

Jin Koichiro glanced at him and then asked, "Based on the strength he just showed, do you think you could beat him?"

Hearing this, Kiyota Nobunaga opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word.

While the Koryo players weren't strong, making him fight five opponents alone would still be difficult. Even if he could manage it, it wouldn't be as effortless as Qing Junce's performance.

In a certain section of the spectator stands.

Hanagata Toru stood there in silence.

Uozumi, standing beside him, spoke with a mix of schadenfreude, probing curiosity, deliberate teasing, and a desire to see some drama: "So! Hanagata, are you feeling the pressure?"

Hmph...

Hanagata Toru snorted, it was unclear if he was being stubborn or genuinely unfazed.

He replied calmly, "I admit he has some skill, but that's all. Many people could achieve a 1v5 against a weak team like Koryo."

He paused, then continued, "Also, Shoyo is Shoyo, and Shohoku is Shohoku. Only Shoyo will be victorious."

With that, Hanagata Toru stopped paying attention to Uozumi and turned to leave.

Watching Hanagata Toru disappear into the tunnel, Uozumi couldn't help but smirk, thinking to himself, "He's really not honest!"

On the Shohoku bench.

When Qing Junce returned to the bench, he saw Sakuragi Hanamichi and Mitsui Hisashi sitting on the seats.

Mitsui Hisashi's face was bruised and battered, as if he had been beaten up.

Sakuragi Hanamichi was still his usual self, boisterous and persistently pestering Coach Anzai to let him play.

"Good work," Shimizu Kanon came up to Qing Junce and handed him a bottle of water.

Qing Junce took the water and said, "I'm not interested in this game anymore. Since they're here, let them play!"

Shimizu Kanon turned to look at Mitsui Hisashi and Sakuragi Hanamichi and nodded, "Alright then!"

There was no suspense left in this game anyway, so it was better to give the opportunity to others.

Sakuragi Hanamichi still needed more game experience to grow.

This suggestion was naturally approved by Coach Anzai.

Coach Anzai could see clearly that Qing Junce no longer needed to get accustomed to the game's atmosphere.

Leading Koryo by 60 points at halftime, the Shohoku players were all very excited.

In contrast, the Koryo players had their heads down, looking dejected and dispirited, as if they had overindulged.

The Koryo coach naturally knew that victory was impossible.

He sighed, offered some words of comfort to his team, and then decided to treat the rest of the game as a training session for the new players.

The second half of the game began.

Koryo's starting players were all substituted off the court.

Shohoku's side could also tell that the opponent had already surrendered.

Therefore, Shohoku's offensive firepower also weakened considerably in the second half.

In the end, Shohoku defeated Koryo with a score of 133 to 26.

However, by this point, no one was paying attention to the score difference anymore.

On this day, Qing Junce's name truly echoed throughout Kanagawa Prefecture.

All the covers of Basketball Weekly were filled with reports about Qing Junce.

[Kanagawa's Super New Star Scores 60 Points in One Half]

[Dominates Koryo 1v5, Shohoku's Miraculous Number 9]

[The Man Stirring Up Kanagawa's Basketball Scene, This Year Kainan Might Fall From Its Throne]

Although these reports were very eye-catching, the basketball teams of all the major high schools focused their attention on another report.

[Shohoku's Next Opponent, a Top 8 Team, Tsukitake!!!]

The opponents Shohoku had faced before were all minor players.

But Tsukitake was a Top 8 team from last year's Prefectural Tournament, a team with genuine strength.

Everyone wanted to know if Shohoku's match against Tsukitake would still be a triumphant march like before, or just a fleeting moment of brilliance.