First Battle (3)

"If you really want to say something, it's whoever scores more wins," the middle-aged man wearing sunglasses said playfully.

"Dad!" the short-haired girl was speechless. "Isn't that obvious?"

"Then aren't you asking the obvious? I just got here, how would I know?" the middle-aged man said as if it were natural.

"Hmph!" The girl, rendered speechless by his retort, hugged her arms in anger and turned her attention to the court, no longer bothering with her unreliable father.

At this moment on the court, Teiko Junior High School had successfully defended against Seihō Junior High School's two consecutive possessions. Seihō, on the other hand, had repeatedly failed to score, with Daiki Aomine and Ken Kaneki scoring two consecutive baskets. The score on the court had reached 11-2. Seeing the unfavorable situation, Seihō's coach quickly called a timeout.

"Damn it!" Tomoki Tsugawa angrily slammed the bench as soon as he stepped off the court. "That blonde guy is too arrogant!"

It turned out that just moments ago, Tomoki Tsugawa had confidently approached Ken Kaneki to defend him. The hot-headed Tomoki Tsugawa had naturally hurled some harsh words like, "I'm going to lock you down," and "You won't score a single basket over me." However, Ken Kaneki's expression remained unfazed, as if he were dismissing Tomoki Tsugawa's threats as nothing. He simply took the basketball from Shuzo Nijimura, used a Flash Step to break through and throw Tsugawa off balance, then followed up with a Crossover to the left that completely sent him tumbling.

But that wasn't what angered Tomoki Tsugawa the most. What angered him most was that after being completely thrown off balance, Ken Kaneki didn't immediately shoot. Instead, he slowly took two steps back, to the three-point line, before shooting. He then turned to celebrate without even watching the ball, as if he were certain it would go in—and of course, it did.

This almost humiliating act made Tomoki Tsugawa furious. He turned around, wanting to go one-on-one against Ken Kaneki. Unfortunately, before he could even shoot, Ken Kaneki swatted his shot away with a Big Block, and Daiki Aomine grabbed the rebound for a fast break.

"Alright, Tsugi, don't be so impulsive later. Don't try to go one-on-one with them; it won't work," Kōzō Shirogane said after gulping down some water. "If you don't play according to the strategy, I'll ask the coach to substitute you out!"

"Sorry, senpai!" Tomoki Tsugawa apologized.

"Alright, I won't waste any more words. For the rest of the game, the only thing we can do is strengthen our defense. Even if we don't score, we can't let them score easily!" Seihō's coach concluded.

"Yes!" Seihō's players responded in unison.

"Wow, their morale is high," Ken Kaneki said, looking at Seihō's bench.

"Should we shout something too?" Daiki Aomine asked, looking at the passionate Seihō team, feeling a bit excited.

"No, it's too embarrassing."

"No, it's too tiring."

Shintaro Midorima and Atsushi Murasakibara said in unison.

"Alright, alright, stop messing around. Let's adjust the lineup," Kōzō Shirogane said with a smile. "Nijimura, you can rest for a bit. Haizaki, you'll replace Nijimura."

"Coach, are you planning to play Run and Gun?" Ken Kaneki asked, after a moment of thought, understanding Kōzō Shirogane's intention behind the substitution.

"Yes," Kōzō Shirogane said, squatting down to look at Ken Kaneki. "In this lineup, you're the core. You'll move to point guard, and Haizaki will take your spot at power forward. We'll use speed and strength for oppressive defense, forcing them into constant offensive and defensive transitions."

"Yes, Coach," Ken Kaneki nodded, wiping his face with a towel, and responded calmly.

"Beep beep~ Timeout is over!" Just as Kōzō Shirogane was about to give Ken Kaneki some more instructions, the referee's whistle blew.

"Don't worry, Coach, leave it to me," Ken Kaneki said, casually tossing the towel onto the chair, a bright smile on his face as he looked at Kōzō Shirogane. "I will lead them to victory."

Kōzō Shirogane, who had been a little worried, felt his mood instantly relax upon seeing Ken Kaneki's confident expression. He patted Ken Kaneki on the back without saying anything.

"Let's go, everyone!" Ken Kaneki clapped his hands and roared as he walked onto the court. The Teiko Junior High School team responded in unison: "Yes!"

"Yo, this kid's got some spirit!" the middle-aged man on the sidelines said with interest, watching Ken Kaneki.

"Are you talking about that kid with the golden hair? He's really strong. Teiko Junior High School's first seven points were all scored by him," a young man beside him said familiarly to the middle-aged man. "Especially that opening dunk, he's unbelievably strong for a junior high student."

"A dunk?" The middle-aged man looked thoughtfully at Ken Kaneki on the court. He was currently defending Koichi Sakamoto at the top of the arc.

As the starting point guard for a team that reached the top four in the prefectural tournament, Koichi Sakamoto definitely had skill. However, as Ken Kaneki began to guard him and increased the defensive intensity by one level, Koichi Sakamoto started to show clear signs of discomfort. Seeing this, Tsutomu Iwamura moved to the top of the arc, preparing to set a screen for Koichi Sakamoto.

"It's no use, I already saw it." Just as Koichi Sakamoto was about to break through using Tsutomu Iwamura's screen, Ken Kaneki's figure seemed to turn into nothingness. Both of them only felt a blur before their eyes. The two, who were supposed to be executing a pick-and-roll, unexpectedly collided with each other, while Ken Kaneki easily completed the steal.

"Fast break!" Ken Kaneki's voice was like the starting gun of a hundred-meter race. The Teiko Junior High School players streaked across the spectators' vision like meteors. Ken Kaneki briefly observed the players' positions and threw a No Look Pass directly into Shintaro Midorima's hands. Shintaro Midorima, upon receiving the ball, did not delay and shot a three-pointer on the spot. It wasn't until the basketball reached the apex of its arc that the Seihō players who had retreated on defense finally reached Shintaro Midorima. The ball, under their desperate gazes, crashed down into the net with a resounding thud.

"Let's go home, Reiko," the middle-aged man said, taking off his sunglasses, feeling a bit bored.

"Huh? Aren't you watching anymore, Dad?" the girl called Reiko asked curiously, quickly standing up to follow her father's footsteps.

"The game is already decided. Seihō is going to lose," the middle-aged man said confidently. "Seihō is a defensive team; their offense isn't strong. This means if they can't defend against the opponent's offense, they are bound to lose."

The middle-aged man seemed to think of something, stopped, and looked at Ken Kaneki on the court. "But with that young man here, Seihō might score a few scattered points at most. It's impossible for them to create a wave of counterattacks. There's no need to pay attention to this game anymore. We just need to see how many points Teiko wins by against Seihō in tomorrow's newspaper."

Ken Kaneki, whom the father and daughter were discussing, seemed to sense something and looked up in the direction of the middle-aged man.

"This kid has sharp intuition!" the middle-aged man thought to himself, watching Ken Kaneki look his way. "It's the misfortune of basketball players to be born in the same era as this kid..."