Countering Every Move

What smooth teamwork.

Watching Tsukubu move the ball with effortless precision before Takushiro finished the possession with an accurate three-pointer, Wu Yufei could not help but praise them.

Praise aside, Wu Yufei had no intention of letting Tsukubu build any momentum!

Miuradai's possession.

Wu Yufei drove forward with the ball at high speed, and Natsume Hiroshi's defense was practically nonexistent to him.

After a series of crossovers shook Natsume off balance, he changed direction and charged into the paint. Drawing two opposing interior defenders into a double-team, Wu Yufei directly tossed the basketball toward the hoop.

There was no way such a reckless shot could go in!

"Rebound!!"

As an outstanding shooter, Takushiro instantly judged that Wu Yufei's wild floater had no chance of going in, so he immediately called for Nango under the basket to fight for the rebound.

Yet before Nango could respond, a massive shadow had already leaped into the air, blotting out the sky above everyone's heads.

"Hah!!"

Naito Tetsuya caught the basketball Wu Yufei had tossed in midair and viciously slammed it through the hoop in front of him.

That was not a shot, but an alley-oop!

"There it is!! Yufei and Naito's alley-oop slam!!"

"No matter how many times I see it, it never gets old! That was insane!"

The substitutes on the bench enthusiastically erupted in cheers.

"Miuradai! Miuradai!! Miuradai!!!"

The students in the stands, who had come to the gym on the weekend to support the home team, joined in with a wave of cheers, shouting in celebration of that spectacular play.

"Ono, in a moment, you..."

While retreating on defense, Wu Yufei went over to Miuradai's power forward, Ohno Kazuki, and exchanged a few brief words with him. Ohno nodded in understanding.

The possession changed hands.

Tsukubu continued with their previous tactics. The ball kept moving between their players, Nango created pressure inside, and Takushiro roamed beyond the three-point line, searching for a chance to strike decisively.

But then, Tsukubu's players were shocked to discover that Nango in the paint was being surrounded by two Miuradai players at once, leaving him no room to receive the ball!

Double-teaming Nango? Then...

Mine Kenta immediately shifted his gaze away from Nango and began searching for his captain.

He quickly spotted Takushiro Tomokazu. There was no Miuradai player in front of him, meaning he was wide open!

A great chance!

Without the slightest hesitation, Kenta immediately passed the ball toward Takushiro.

At the same time, Takushiro Tomokazu, having gotten free, was ready to shoot the moment he caught it.

Slap!!

But in the very next instant, a large hand suddenly appeared in the ball's path and forcibly intercepted it.

What?!

In an instant, Mine Kenta and Takushiro Tomokazu both stared in shock at Wu Yufei, who had completed the steal.

Your intentions are far too easy to read...

Wu Yufei did not hesitate after the steal. He floored it and raced away toward Tsukubu's half.

Once Wu Yufei got up to full speed, not a single Tsukubu player could catch him. They could only helplessly watch as he charged into their paint, took off, glided through the air, and threw down a dunk.

At the end of the day, although Tsukubu looked like a team where everyone passed and everyone posed a threat, they only had two reliable offensive finishers: Nango Koichiro and Takushiro Tomokazu.

In other words, as long as they focused all their attention on those two and targeted them relentlessly, Tsukubu's offensive efficiency would absolutely plummet off a cliff!

On the third possession, Tsukubu did not lose heart over their previous failure and continued running the tactics they knew best.

Miuradai countered every move. Against Nango inside, Naito constantly battled him and boxed him out, making Nango extremely uncomfortable and never allowing him an easy opportunity to receive the ball. Ohno Kazuki was also nearby, ready to provide support at any time.

As for Takushiro Tomokazu, Wu Yufei took the initiative to switch defensive assignments with Murasame Kengo and took responsibility for guarding Takushiro himself.

Whether in physical ability, agility, footwork, or anything else, Wu Yufei was superior to Takushiro Tomokazu. Takushiro now had no chance whatsoever to get open and shoot upon receiving the ball.

The moment Takushiro Tomokazu got the ball, Wu Yufei immediately came up and stuck to him with suffocating, clingy defense.

Though he was currently only 188 centimeters tall, Wu Yufei had remarkably large hands and an outstanding wingspan, allowing him to handle any opponent with ease on the defensive end.

Having devoted most of his energy and time to practicing his shooting, Takushiro Tomokazu's ball-handling and driving skills were rather mediocre. In the end, he was only a fairly good shooter.

Unable to get past Wu Yufei's defense, Takushiro Tomokazu could only helplessly pass the ball back out.

Miuradai successfully shut down Nango and Takushiro, Tsukubu's two most dependable scoring options, bringing Tsukubu's offense to a standstill.

In the end, with the thirty-second shot clock about to expire, the basketball returned to Takushiro Tomokazu's hands, leaving him to make the decision.

Feeling his teammates' trust and expectations, Takushiro Tomokazu gritted his teeth and faced Wu Yufei's defense. He made a terribly clumsy fake, and when Wu Yufei did not bite, he simply turned the fake into a real move and forced up a shot.

Slap!!

The result was obvious.

As mentioned before, Wu Yufei surpassed Takushiro Tomokazu in every respect: height, build, wingspan, hand size, jumping ability, and more. His defensive attitude was also exceptionally tough and aggressive.

Forcing up a shot under those circumstances could only end one way: Wu Yufei planted an Old Sichuan Hotpot right on his forehead with a block.

"Counterattack!!"

After the block, Wu Yufei immediately charged toward Tsukubu's half, not caring in the slightest whether his teammates had successfully secured the ball.

Ishiyama Jun successfully picked up the basketball. Seeing that Wu Yufei had already crossed midcourt, he immediately fired off a long pass spanning the entire court.

Outside the three-point line, Wu Yufei caught Ishiyama Jun's pass, then charged into Tsukubu's completely empty paint and ended the possession with a soaring slam dunk.

In less than two minutes, Miuradai scored six straight points and forcibly snuffed out the morale Tsukubu had gained from Takushiro's three-pointer.

Since Tsukubu had failed to gain momentum, it was now Miuradai's turn to build some!

Under Wu Yufei's stifling defense, Takushiro Tomokazu had gone cold. Tsukubu could only shift their focus inside, hoping to find a way to break the deadlock through Nango, the team's superstar rookie.

That was a fairly smart decision. After all, Nango was matched up against Naito, whose defense was not particularly strong. Nango was thus able to display his excellent under-the-basket skills and forcibly drag the entire Tsukubu team forward.

Tsukubu had lost its sharpest sword, while Miuradai's blade remained as sharp as ever.

On defense, Wu Yufei took the initiative to seek out Takushiro Tomokazu for a showdown between aces, but on offense, the one guarding Wu Yufei was still the undersized Natsume Hiroshi.

Wu Yufei could sum up Natsume's defense in just four words: take whatever he wanted.

Whether he called for his teammates to clear out so he could play one-on-one, drove and kicked the ball out, or drove without passing and charged straight into the paint to show off his moves, Tsukubu had no answer for Wu Yufei. They could only watch helplessly as he scored again and again or handed out assist after assist.

By the tenth minute of the first half, the score had reached 26–11. Miuradai had extended its lead to fifteen points.

The advantage was already obvious, and it was slowly beginning to turn into a winning position.