"That just now... was Kagetora Aida?" Ken Kaneki stared at the middle-aged man's oddly familiar back and pondered.
Back in his younger days, Kagetora Aida had been a national team player for Neon Country. Though he'd been retired for years and now only ran a gym, he was still not to be underestimated. In the original timeline, he'd developed Junpei Hyuga's signature move: the "Unassailable Shot."
"Never mind. The important thing is to focus on the game we're playing now." Ken Kaneki shook his head and turned his attention back to the ongoing match against Seihō Junior High School. With Ken Kaneki leading the way, Teiko Junior High School had unleashed a relentless offense throughout the first half, wave after wave of attacks leaving Seihō Junior High School scrambling to keep up. When the buzzer sounded to end the half, Teiko Junior High School headed into the break with a 63–28 lead.
"What a letdown. I was so excited last night for nothing." In the locker room, Daiki Aomine gulped down water and spoke smugly. "I could play a game like this all by myself with my eyes closed."
"Man..." Ken Kaneki took a small sip of water, then turned to the listless Atsushi Murasakibara beside him. "Remember, you always have to use your head when you play. If you don't, you'll end up like Aomine your whole life."
"Huh? What'd you say?" Daiki Aomine curiously leaned in.
"Ken-chan said you're brainless," Atsushi Murasakibara said succinctly.
"Murasakibara, you bastard..." Ken Kaneki gaped at Atsushi Murasakibara's bluntness.
"Huh? You're slandering me! Both of you are slandering me!" Daiki Aomine looked from Atsushi Murasakibara to Ken Kaneki, his face red with anger—though you couldn't tell.
"Do I really have to spell it out, Aomine?" Ken Kaneki said helplessly. "Those first two shots against Takakatsu Kasuga were great, but later, when we got bogged down in half-court offense, you kept insisting on going one-on-one. By the end, Seihō was openly betting you wouldn't pass—and they were right."
Thinking back to the last possession, Ken Kaneki shook his head and continued, "If we hadn't covered for you, you would've turned the ball over twice. You can't play like that. We're teammates. You have to learn to work with us."
"Hmph..." Daiki Aomine realized that he'd been playing like a ball hog, but, always the proud one, he stubbornly replied, "I can win on my own! The only person who can beat me is me!"
"Yeah, sure. You almost beat yourself just now," Ken Kaneki retorted without mercy.
"All right, quiet down." Kōzō Shirogane rapped his hand against the tactics board and spoke up. "Overall, we played pretty well in the first half, but there are still a few things we need to work on. Midorima, you seemed uncomfortable facing their number 12. You hesitated before shooting, and you were also slow to react when defending him."
"I'm sorry, Coach. Their number 12 really is a bit strange. His defensive skills are certainly part of it, but I can't shake the feeling that something about him is off." Shintaro Midorima lowered his head, looking a little embarrassed.
"Yeah, Mido-kun's right. I thought the number 4 I was matched up with was weird, too. I didn't like him." Atsushi Murasakibara recalled going up against Tsutomu Iwamura on the court, his brow furrowing. "I've got plenty of strength and tricks, but that guy was still a pain to deal with."
"Kaneki, what do you think?" Hearing the complaints from two of his key players, Kōzō Shirogane didn't answer right away. Instead, he turned his gaze to Ken Kaneki.
"Coach, have you heard of traditional martial arts?" Ken Kaneki asked, without directly answering Kōzō Shirogane's question.
"Ken-chan, are you saying they're like the samurai or ninjas from novels?" Hearing Ken Kaneki's words, Atsushi Murasakibara perked up with unusual excitement. "The kind who vanish in a puff of smoke?"
"Haha, it's not that dramatic, Murasakibara." Ken Kaneki laughed and corrected him. "I watched number 12 and number 4 closely. The reason their movements seem so off is that they're using the Namba Run, a technique from traditional martial arts."
"Namba Run?" The others crowded around curiously, eager to hear Ken Kaneki explain.
"What is this, a little class from big brother Kaneki?" Seeing everyone gather around him, Ken Kaneki couldn't even think of where to begin complaining.
"I've heard of the Namba Run, too. It's basically a matter of training hard until you move with the same arm and leg on the same side in unison," Kōzō Shirogane mused. "The only time it saves is that instant when your body twists."
"That's true, Coach, but even that instant can make up for a lot of the gap in athletic ability." Ken Kaneki took a sip of water and continued. "That's why Seihō's number 4 and number 12 made Murasakibara and Midorima struggle so much. Their reactions are about as fast as an ordinary person's, so Murasakibara and Midorima kept playing against them as they would against anyone else. But because of their training, even though their reactions are slower, they save a fraction of a second—and that lets them move a little faster than a normal person. That's why Murasakibara and Midorima had such a hard time. And because that split second is so brief, it's hard to notice. That's the odd feeling they were talking about."
"Haha, Kaneki, you've done an excellent job gathering information," Kōzō Shirogane praised him with a laugh. Clearly, he'd already known that Seihō's players used the Namba Run.
"So how do we deal with it?" Shintaro Midorima asked humbly.
"There are two ways." The corners of Ken Kaneki's mouth lifted slightly, a teasing glint in his eyes.
"Oh? Let's hear them." Kōzō Shirogane was a little surprised. He'd already prepared a way to counter the Namba Run, but he only had one plan and was eager to hear Ken Kaneki's ideas.
"The first way is to watch their toes. One weakness of the Namba Run is that when they move in a particular direction, the toe of the foot on that side has to move first," Ken Kaneki explained. "But that takes a long time to observe. We might win the game before we've figured anything out."
"That would be far too slow. What's the second way?" Shintaro Midorima asked curiously.
"Whether the second way works..." Ken Kaneki looked at Shogo Haizaki, who was dozing off, his expression playful. "That depends on whether our Haizaki can come through."
"Huh? Me?" Hearing Ken Kaneki bring him into the conversation, Shogo Haizaki jolted awake and pointed at himself in disbelief.
"Think about it, Haizaki. Doesn't it tempt you to take a technique that's so troublesome even ordinary people can learn it and make life difficult for us?" Ken Kaneki said with a smile. "If you can pull it off, it's yours."
"Tch. Don't talk to me like I'm a little kid." Shogo Haizaki snorted. "A skill that gives you all a headache? That's exactly the kind of thing worth stealing!"
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