Qing Junce Exerts His Strength

The play transitioned from offense to defense.

Akagi Takenori stood at the baseline, cradling the ball with both hands.

The situation on the court suddenly became rather delicate.

It was Shohoku's possession.

His gaze, sharp as lightning, swept across the court before finally locking onto Qing Junce.

At this moment, Qing Junce was being heavily double-teamed by two Tsukitake players, and the situation looked grim.

Akagi Takenori began to second-guess himself. Should he trust Qing Junce's judgment?

Passing the ball blindly like that was far too risky.

His instincts urged him to trust Qing Junce, but his rational mind screamed that it was a suicidal move.

But then, he gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

Recalling Qing Junce's previous performances, he decided to take a gamble.

In a flash, Akagi Takenori whipped his arm, and the basketball shot towards Qing Junce like a cannonball.

Nangou Koichiro saw the incoming ball and sneered, "Idiot, I told you I wouldn't let you touch the ball!"

With that, he and Mine Kenta lunged towards Qing Junce, intending to trap him tightly and immobilize him.

But as they moved in, the two players froze, feeling nothing where they expected contact. They hadn't touched anything at all.

What was going on?

They quickly looked, but Qing Junce was nowhere to be found. The person who had been there just moments before had vanished without a trace.

While they were still staring in disbelief, a large hand steadily caught the basketball Akagi Takenori had thrown.

The one who caught the ball was none other than Qing Junce, who had somehow escaped the double-team.

The sight stunned everyone in the arena.

How had Qing Junce, who was just moments ago tightly guarded, suddenly appeared on the path of the pass?

Many spectators hadn't even registered when Qing Junce had broken free from the double-team.

The Tsukitake players looked bewildered and lost.

It wasn't just them; the Shohoku players were exchanging confused glances, completely baffled.

Nangou Koichiro and Mine Kenta noticed the strange looks from those around them and quickly looked up in the direction everyone else was staring.

But before they could get a clear look, a gust of wind swept past their faces, followed by the receding sounds of a basketball dribbling.

Thump...

Thump...

Thump...

What?

Nangou Koichiro and Mine Kenta gasped in shock and turned around, bewildered.

They saw the figure dribbling the ball and sprinting away was none other than Qing Junce, whom they had been desperately trying to guard just moments before.

"How... how did he do that?" Nangou Koichiro's eyes were wide with disbelief.

Mine Kenta was equally stunned, his mind completely blank.

Seeing this, Godai Tomokazu immediately shouted, "Get back on defense!"

The Tsukitake players snapped back to reality and scrambled to chase after Qing Junce.

Izumi Takashi, who was closest to his own basket, gritted his teeth and abandoned his defense on Rukawa Kaede. He sprinted forward, positioning himself under his basket to cut off Qing Junce before he reached the paint.

However, he hadn't anticipated that Qing Junce's dribbling speed would far exceed his expectations.

Qing Junce seemed to teleport, reaching Izumi Takashi in an instant.

Izumi Takashi flinched in shock. Before he could react, he found Qing Junce had stopped right in front of him.

The scene gave Izumi Takashi the unsettling illusion of a skipped frame, it was incredibly bizarre.

At the same time, after his sudden stop, Qing Junce didn't hesitate. He leaped high into the air, ball in both hands, aiming for Tsukitake's basket.

Izumi Takashi snapped out of his daze and, without thinking, jumped up as well, stretching his arm out in an attempt to block the shot.

But he seemed to have forgotten the significant height difference between himself and Qing Junce. His hand barely reached Qing Junce's forearm.

In the end, Izumi Takashi could only watch helplessly as Qing Junce released the ball.

The basketball sailed over his head and into the net behind him.

Swish...

The ball went in.

Shohoku 4 - Tsukitake 8.

For a moment, the entire arena fell into a silence so profound you could hear a pin drop.

A good while later, the audience erupted in enthusiastic gasps and murmurs.

"So fast! Is that Shohoku's number 9?"

"My goodness! I think I just saw a red blur flash by, and the ball went in!"

"How can he dribble that fast? Didn't you notice? The Tsukitake players can't seem to keep up with him at all!"

"His name is Qing Junce, right? I heard he's even better than Rukawa Kaede, and it looks like that wasn't just talk!"

"That sudden stop just now was so cool, like there was a wall in front of him. I've never seen anything like it."

As the saying goes, experts see the skill, while amateurs see the spectacle.

Most of the audience, seeing Qing Junce's sudden stop, would simply find it pleasing to watch.

But to those who understood basketball, it was a completely different story.

Take Maki Shinichi, Fujima Kenji, and Hanagata Toru, for example.

These three were all basketball connoisseurs with unique insights into various basketball moves.

Qing Junce's sudden stop had just left all three of them stunned.

That extreme contrast from high speed to instantaneous stillness was not something ordinary people could achieve.

The composed expressions they had while watching the game instantly turned serious.

The offense and defense switched again.

It was Tsukitake's turn to inbound the ball.

Tsukitake continued to use their previous strategy.

The ball was passed quickly between their players, crossing half-court in the blink of an eye.

Nangou Koichiro immediately drove into the Shohoku paint, eagerly awaiting a pass from his teammate.

At this moment, the ball was passed to Mine Kenta.

Just then, Qing Junce suddenly flashed in, instantly blocking him.

Mine Kenta quickly adopted a triple-threat stance, facing off against Qing Junce.

The two stared at each other from a distance.

Mine Kenta wanted to try and break through Qing Junce's defense.

But after several attempts, not only could he not shake the opponent, his own space to maneuver was shrinking.

A drop of cold sweat trickled down Mine Kenta's forehead. 'How can this guy's defense be so strong?'

He changed direction, switched hands, and used all sorts of fake moves, but no matter how he struggled, he couldn't get away from Qing Junce.

Seeing his teammate unable to break through, Natsume Hiroshi quietly circled behind Qing Junce, intending to pin him from behind and help Mine Kenta break free.

Mine Kenta saw Natsume Hiroshi's movement, his eyes lit up, and he quickly lured Qing Junce towards Natsume Hiroshi.

Their coordination was quite covert.

Just when everyone thought Qing Junce would collide directly with Natsume Hiroshi, In a flash, at the very last second before impact, Qing Junce executed a sharp 360-degree C-turn to his right, smoothly weaving around Natsume Hiroshi and reappearing in front of Mine Kenta on the other side.

The entire sequence of moves was executed flawlessly, as if he had completely ignored Natsume Hiroshi, not even considering him.

With a "snap,"

Before Mine Kenta could even react, Qing Junce stretched out his hand and directly stole the ball.

What?

Mine Kenta hadn't recovered from his shock at seeing Qing Junce again before the ball was suddenly stolen.

His teammate, who was supposed to be setting a screen for him, had somehow become an obstacle blocking his vision.

Could anyone believe this if they heard it?

The play was so sudden that Mine Kenta had no time to react at all.

Whoosh...

A gust of wind brushed past Mine Kenta's face. It wasn't until he heard the receding sound of the ball bouncing on the floor behind him that he snapped back to reality.

"Too fast, I couldn't react at all." He stiffly turned his head back, his eyes filled with astonishment and dread.

Qing Junce transformed into a red streak of light, driving straight for Tsukitake's basket.

Seeing this, Godai Tomokazu turned and began to chase, as he was the only one who could catch up to Qing Junce in the shortest amount of time.

However, it was a nice thought, but reality delivered a harsh blow.

He did catch up to Qing Junce, but the moment he did, Qing Junce suddenly broke to the right, followed by a sharp stop, then a change of direction and hands, making a fake move to break left.

Qing Junce's movements were too fast for Godai Tomokazu to follow. Seeing the sudden change of direction, he instinctively assumed the opponent was changing his breakthrough path and forcefully adjusted his defensive direction.

But in the next instant, although Qing Junce switched the ball to his left hand, his breakthrough direction remained towards the right.

The series of moves was lightning-fast and impossibly smooth.

Godai Tomokazu hadn't expected the opponent to pull off such a fake at this point; it simply defied logic.

In the end, Godai Tomokazu could only watch as Qing Junce broke through his left side.

"Stop right there!" Just then, Nangou Koichiro caught up from behind, shouting.

Qing Junce completely ignored him and drove the ball straight into Tsukitake's paint.

Sensing Nangou Koichiro closing in, Qing Junce didn't slow down. He reached the side of the paint and decisively jumped.

"You're not shooting that!" Nangou Koichiro, seeing this, didn't care about anything else and quickly jumped too.

He spread his arms like an octopus, blocking Qing Junce's shooting lane as much as possible.

But once he jumped, he was stunned.

Nangou Koichiro realized the distance between himself and Qing Junce was actually widening.

His eyes widened, a look of confusion on his face. "What's going on? Why is he jumping in the opposite direction?"

Seeing Qing Junce jump away from the basket, Nangou Koichiro was momentarily dazed, then a smug smile spread across his face.

He believed his defense had worked.

The opponent must have been forced to jump in the opposite direction out of necessity.

Not only him, but the other players and spectators all thought the same.

At this moment, Qing Junce had already created some distance from Nangou Koichiro in mid-air.

Although half of his shooting lane was blocked, the other half remained open.

In mid-air, Qing Junce's body suddenly twisted, straightening himself to face the basket.

The next second, right in front of the still smug Nangou Koichiro, he cradled the ball in one hand and tossed it directly towards Tsukitake's hoop.

The motion was as casual as tossing a crumpled paper ball into a trash can.

Clank...

Swish...

Under the astonished gaze of everyone on the court, the basketball hit the backboard and then bounced into the net.

The ball went in.

Shohoku 6, Tsukitake 8.