Bang...
Bang...
Bang...
Fujima Kenji dribbled the ball, streaking toward Shoyo's half like a black bolt of lightning.
Mitsui Hisashi reacted quickly and moved in to block him at once, but Fujima Kenji's footwork was nimble. With two crisp changes of direction, he slipped through the gaps in Mitsui Hisashi's defense like an eel.
Seeing this, Rukawa Kaede immediately moved to cover, standing like an unbreakable wall and forcibly stopping Fujima Kenji in his tracks.
But Fujima Kenji had clearly planned this in advance. The instant Rukawa Kaede halted him, he flicked his wrist and slammed the ball toward the ground beside him.
It was a precise bounce pass.
The basketball bounced off the floor like a cannonball fired from its barrel, flying straight toward Hanagata Toru at the edge of Shohoku's three-point line.
"Hanagata!" Akagi Takenori had been watching Hanagata Toru closely all along, so he naturally wasn't about to let his opponent receive the ball so easily.
The moment he saw the ball fly over, Akagi Takenori charged forward like a tiger pouncing on its prey, planted his feet firmly, and assumed an impregnable defensive stance.
Sakuragi Hanamichi stood not far away, but he didn't immediately help Akagi Takenori defend.
That happened to give Hanagata Toru a chance to break through.
Hanagata Toru turned smoothly and easily bypassed Akagi Takenori, stepping into Shohoku's restricted area as if no one were there.
Only then did Sakuragi Hanamichi snap out of it. He took off, charging toward Hanagata Toru in a fury, intending to stop the shot before it was taken.
Akagi Takenori also chased closely from behind Hanagata Toru and quickly closed in.
The two figures pounced like hungry wolves, but Hanagata Toru remained calm and steadily assumed a shooting stance.
"You're not shooting!" Sakuragi Hanamichi roared at the