The Madness Begins

"Oda!!"

"Oda, are you okay?"

His teammates immediately rushed over to ask with concern.

Wu Yufei's block just now had been so fierce that it had sent Oda sprawling to the floor along with it.

That move also successfully ignited the furious cries of most of the Martial Garden girls in the stands.

"Who the hell is that number ten? That was way too rough!!"

"What a waste of such a handsome face!"

"That was completely a malicious foul!!"

Boo~~

Faced with the sudden chorus of boos from the stands, Wu Yufei gave a wry smile and spread his hands with a shrug.

No wonder this place was known as one of the county's devilish home courts. Its reputation was well deserved.

The spectators might not understand basketball, but the referees were not fools. Wu Yufei's entire block had been clean and crisp, so he was not ejected as those girls had demanded.

The game continued. Since Wu Yufei had swatted the ball hard out of bounds, possession still belonged to Martial Garden.

Wu Yufei actively disrupted Dai Ming as he prepared to inbound the ball, preventing him from making a clean pass.

With the clock about to run out, Dai Ming had no choice but to force the ball out. It was a close call, but Miura Shota still managed to secure it.

Every Miuradai player defended with tremendous intensity, and Martial Garden's movement could never tear open their defense.

In the end, Miura Shota's buzzer-beater clanged off the rim. Naito Tetsuya, who had established position under the basket early, smoothly collected the rebound, officially bringing Martial Garden's attack to a failed end.

"Fast break!!"

Knowing Naito would grab that rebound, Wu Yufei had taken off toward Martial Garden's half a step ahead of everyone else.

Naito looked up after grabbing the rebound and found that Wu Yufei had already sprinted to the center circle. Without hesitation, he swung his arm and hurled the ball straight toward Wu Yufei.

A chase immediately unfolded on the court. Wu Yufei raced far ahead in front, followed by two Martial Garden players, with Murasame Kengo close behind them.

Since Naito's pass had flown a little too high, Wu Yufei had to jump to catch it. But that allowed Dai Ming and Oda Ryusei, who had been trailing behind him, to overtake him and get back on defense first.

Wu Yufei showed no fear at all and drove directly toward the center of the defense formed by the two of them.

"Don't underestimate us!!"

"We won't let you through!"

Dai Ming and Oda immediately roared as they stepped up to meet him.

Just as the trap was about to close, Wu Yufei gave a light laugh and pulled the ball behind his back.

When Wu Yufei's right hand came back out, Dai Ming and Oda could no longer see where the basketball was.

Smack!

Catching Wu Yufei's brilliant behind-the-back pass, Murasame Kengo cut diagonally into the paint from the left and rose for a one-handed slam dunk.

"Nice dunk."

"Nice pass."

On their way back downcourt, Wu Yufei and Murasame exchanged a high-five in celebration.

Damn, was this the strength that had carried a team into the national middle school tournament's top eight all by himself last year?

Dai Ming panted lightly as he watched Wu Yufei retreat on defense, inwardly marveling.

Naturally, he knew of Wu Yufei's reputation.

After all, it was hard for an achievement as brilliant as taking an obscure county team to the national top eight within a single year to go unnoticed.

Dai Ming would bet that Wu Yufei had not glanced to either side even once before making that pass!

In other words, that pass had come entirely from absolute confidence and trust in his teammate.

He had believed that his teammate would definitely reach that spot at that exact moment and catch the pass.

That kind of chemistry was absolutely not something that could be developed so easily.

"Good! Hold them on this possession and keep widening the gap!"

Murasame Kengo loudly rallied the team.

"Roar!!" All his teammates answered with furious shouts.

Keep widening the gap? Don't underestimate us!

Dai Ming was getting a little angry. He felt that both he and his team had been deeply insulted!

So Dai Ming wanted to help Martial Garden win back some pride!

The next moment, Dai Ming made a gesture to his teammates. When the Martial Garden players saw their captain's signal, they did exactly what the Miuradai players had done before: they pulled their defenders apart to both sides!

Dai Ming was going to take Wu Yufei one-on-one and avenge what had just happened!

"Hmph! He wants to go one-on-one with Yufei? He's overestimating himself."

Murasame Kengo laughed and proactively followed the Martial Garden player out toward the perimeter.

Very quickly, the stage for their one-on-one duel was set.

Dai Ming cautiously protected the ball while his eyes kept shifting from side to side around Wu Yufei, searching for the best point of attack.

However, Wu Yufei's defense was extremely tight, giving Dai Ming no good opportunities at all.

"Go, Captain Dai Ming! Go, Captain Dai Ming!"

The fans in the stands began cheering loudly for their player.

Five seconds passed, and Dai Ming still could not get anywhere.

Ten seconds passed. Dai Ming executed a crossover, but Wu Yufei did not bite on the fake and successfully stopped his drive.

"Tch!"

A bead of sweat ran down Dai Ming's temple. He had not expected the guy in front of him to be not only skilled at scoring and razor-sharp with his passes, but also airtight on defense.

In the end, unable to break through, Dai Ming could only use his riskiest move. He feinted a hard drive, successfully drawing Wu Yufei backward, then immediately pulled up for a jump shot.

Clang!!

He had rushed the shot, and it had come from so far away. It was only natural that it hit the iron.

Sigh~~

A wave of sighs immediately rose from the sidelines.

"Haha! Then I won't hold back!!"

Under the basket, Naito Tetsuya leaped high and pulled down the rebound.

"Get back on defense!!"

Having just suffered from Wu Yufei's fast break, every Martial Garden player hurried back decisively this time.

With the fast-break opportunity gone, Naito could only shrug helplessly. He handed the ball to Wu Yufei, then ran toward the frontcourt.

Wu Yufei did not rush either. He slowly brought the ball up only after all his teammates had gone ahead.

He was not anxious. They had already begun to quietly seize control of the game, and all they needed to do now was follow their most familiar rhythm and gradually take complete command of the match.

Once all his teammates were in position, Wu Yufei came to the top of the arc. He dribbled as if carelessly while observing the situation on the court.

The next moment, Wu Yufei signaled to Ohno Kazuki in the paint. Seeing Wu Yufei's gesture, Ohno immediately came outside to set a pick for him.

Uzaki Kenichi, who was matched up against him, hurried out as well and positioned himself in front of Wu Yufei, trying to disrupt the pick-and-roll.

Seeing Ohno get into position, Wu Yufei immediately drove to Dai Ming's left.

Just as Dai Ming tried to fight through, he slammed into a wall of flesh and could not move.

"Don't even think about it!!"

Uzaki immediately roared as he stepped up to Wu Yufei. At the same time, Dai Ming came around Ohno Kazuki, preparing to trap Wu Yufei together with Uzaki.

But both of them were too focused on Wu Yufei alone and had completely forgotten about Ohno Kazuki.

And to prove that he existed, Ohno immediately ran toward the basket.

The next moment, a direct pass from Wu Yufei instantly pierced through the trap before it had fully closed, delivering the ball into Ohno Kazuki's hands as he charged into the lane.

Ohno Kazuki caught the pass and finished with a textbook three-step layup, calmly placing the ball through the hoop.

6:0. Miuradai's advantage was expanding step by step.

"Damn it!!"

Oda gritted his teeth.

He had actually seen Ohno Kazuki's movement just now and understood the play between Ohno and Wu Yufei. But when he tried to rotate over for help defense, he found himself firmly boxed out by the big guy named Naito in front of him. He could not go support them at all and could only watch helplessly as Ohno scored the layup.

Damn it! We have to score first! Otherwise...

Dai Ming brought the ball up with a touch of impatience, thinking to himself.

But he had forgotten that against an opponent like Wu Yufei, it was dangerous to let his focus slip and still have the mind to think about all sorts of other things!

Smack!!

Seizing the moment when Dai Ming's dribble rose slightly too high, Wu Yufei shot out his long arm and instantly poked the ball away.

Only after losing control of the ball did Dai Ming come to his senses, his heart filling with endless regret.

But Wu Yufei was not about to return the ball just because his opponent realized his mistake.

Slipping past the stunned Dai Ming, Wu Yufei smoothly retrieved the basketball and immediately launched a fast break toward Martial Garden's half.

How could the Takezato players have expected their captain to lose the ball like that? Not a single one of them reacted in time, much less got back on defense.

Thus, before their eyes, Wu Yufei easily charged into the paint, soared into the air, and hammered down a powerful dunk to widen the gap once more.

Beep--!!

"Martial Garden requests a timeout!!"

Seeing the gap between the two teams about to reach double digits, Coach Mifune finally could not remain seated and called the first timeout of the game.

And less than three minutes had passed since the game had begun.

Not even three minutes: 8:0. The pace of the game had not been particularly fast.

Miuradai was playing with ease, but that ease was torture for Martial Garden, like being carved apart by a dull blade.

"You're playing very well! Especially you, Yufei, your performance has been excellent! Keep it up and don't give them any chance to catch their breath!"

After returning to the bench, Coach Harada immediately said with a delighted expression.

Being able to toy with a team as strong as Martial Garden like this was already enough to show that Miuradai possessed, at the very least, the strength of a county top-eight team.

In less than three minutes, Wu Yufei had already posted a perfect stat line of 4 points, 2 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal. Every point Miuradai had scored was directly related to him, so Coach Harada's excitement was only natural.

On the other side, Martial Garden's bench was shrouded in gloom.

Dai Ming covered his head with a towel. He felt too ashamed to meet his teammates' eyes.

He was the captain. He should have been the one his teammates relied on, yet during the past few minutes, he had become their greatest culprit.

"Dai, lift your head. If even you are like this now, how can we keep playing?"

The coach's gentle words reached Dai Ming's ears.

"Yeah, Captain Dai, please pull yourself together!"

"That's right! It's only eight points. We can definitely catch up!"

His teammates immediately spoke up to comfort him.

Dai Ming lifted his head, looked at his teammates, and nodded firmly.

Martial Garden's coach watched the scene before him with satisfaction, then used the remaining time to begin laying out their tactics.

"After we inbound the ball, Dai, you'll... Then, Oda, you need to..."

Beep--!!

The one-minute timeout quickly ended. With the referee's whistle, both teams returned to the court, ready to resume their battle.

The game had only just begun.