Hidden Danger

"All right, everyone, calm down. Starting with this possession!"

Wu Yufei took the inbound pass and slowly advanced, deliberately slowing the pace.

"I won't let you get your way!"

Sendoh had no intention of giving Wu Yufei time to steadily stabilize the situation. He stepped up directly with tight pressure, forcing Wu Yufei to speed up.

Wu Yufei understood Sendoh's intentions well. Rather than rushing to accelerate, he protected the ball steadily.

After ten seconds of stalemate, Wu Yufei finally found an opening and passed the ball to Ishiyama Jun, who had successfully shaken off Koshino Hiroaki.

The moment Ishiyama Jun caught the ball, he pulled up from beyond the three-point line without hesitation.

Duang!!

"Rebound!!"

The instant they heard the clang of iron, the two giant beasts under the basket began battling physically once again.

Yet in the end, Wu Yufei suddenly charged into the paint, snatched the rebound out of the air, and gently tipped it toward the basket in one motion.

Swish!

"NICE!!"

"What a beautiful putback!!"

The spectators in the stands immediately erupted into cheers.

"By the way, how many points does he have in this game now?"

"I can't remember. Around forty, I think?"

"What about Sendoh?"

"About the same, probably. The first ten minutes of the second half were practically just the two of them scoring."

"Get back on defense!! Don't give Ryonan a chance to fast break!!"

After making the putback, Wu Yufei did not celebrate with any of his teammates. Instead, he immediately sprinted back toward his own half.

Seeing this, his teammates quickly restrained their excitement and followed behind Wu Yufei. They soon set up their defense in their own half, ruining Sendoh's plan to launch a counterattack.

Damn it, the gap has widened to seven points again.

The faint hope Ryonan had just begun to feel about turning the game around was once again covered by dark clouds.

Miuradai had already formed its defensive setup, forcing Ryonan to slowly play another half-court possession.

Because of Wu Yufei's defense, Sendoh did not hold onto the ball for long. The basketball moved back and forth among Ryonan's perimeter players, but they could never find the best opening.

After nearly twenty seconds of deadlock, Fukuda Kiccho finally managed to get open and receive a pass from his teammate. Before Ohno Kazuki could fully close in, he burst into the paint and used Looking Back at the Moon to score two points.

Although they had scored, none of the Ryonan players looked particularly happy. They had already wasted too much time.

"Full-court press!! Don't let them keep slowing the pace down!!"

At the sideline, Coach Taoka shouted loudly.

The Ryonan players received their coach's instructions and immediately switched from offense to defense on the spot, taking favorable positions to tightly mark their respective Miuradai matchups.

The instant Wu Yufei received the ball, he was immediately given "special attention" from Sendoh.

"Don't be so impatient. There's still plenty of time left."

"Stop lying. The game is about to end."

"But if you defend like this, it'll be easy for us to exploit the gaps."

Wu Yufei said with a smile. The next instant, the basketball vanished from his hands.

Smack!

Ishiyama Jun steadily caught Wu Yufei's behind-the-back pass, then charged down the right side toward Ryonan's half.

The next moment, Koshino Hiroaki and Uekusa Tomoyuki immediately closed in to trap him, as if they were about to slam the gates shut with two demons.

"Whoa, that's terrifying."

Without hesitation, Ishiyama Jun passed the ball back to Wu Yufei, who had slipped past Sendoh and moved up to support him.

After receiving the ball, Wu Yufei made a sharp change of direction and drove down the middle. Ryonan sent two more players forward, trying to force a steal.

They're really going all out.

Wu Yufei could fully feel the do-or-die determination radiating from the entire Ryonan team.

If that's how it is, then bring it on! A head-on clash, right? Who's afraid of whom?!

Having made up his mind, Wu Yufei crazily squeezed out what little stamina he had left. He once again used Butterfly Through Flowers, shaking off the two Ryonan players in front of him before charging straight into Ryonan's interior.

Just as Wu Yufei planned to finish the possession with an Immortal Guides the Way layup, he caught sight of Sendoh arriving at his side from the corner of his eye.

Wu Yufei played along, maintaining his layup motion as he waited for Sendoh to block him.

The next moment, Sendoh's large hand indeed came swinging over.

Wu Yufei seized the moment to twist his body in midair, avoiding the block before flicking up a layup.

However, at the very last instant, Sendoh still lightly bumped him, causing the hand shooting the ball to tremble slightly.

Duang... Swish!

What left Sendoh speechless was that even though he had risked committing a foul, the basketball still rudely slipped through the net.

Beeep--!

The referee's whistle sounded the next moment.

Sendoh committed a defensive foul. Wu Yufei's basket counted, and he had one free throw!

"Great job! This is called giving him a taste of his own medicine!"

Although Wu Yufei's score was not the same in process or movement as Sendoh's previous 2+1 play, the result was identical, and both the teammates and spectators erupted in cheers.

Ohno Kazuki in particular came straight over and bumped shoulders with Wu Yufei in celebration.

Swish!

Wu Yufei did not waste the free throw opportunity, calmly making the point gifted by the referee.

"Now the gap is back to eight points."

On the way back on defense, Wu Yufei said with a smile as he passed Sendoh.

"What an annoying guy."

Watching Wu Yufei's retreating back, Sendoh said with a wry smile.

Then Sendoh turned his gaze toward the scoreboard by the sidelines.

There were only two minutes and forty seconds remaining in the second half. The score was Miuradai 90, Ryonan 82.

I never thought the road to the National Tournament would be this hard. If this were Tokyo, it should have been much easier than here.

Sendoh thought helplessly.

After quietly venting a little in his heart, Sendoh accepted his teammate's pass and continued organizing the offense.

But I don't intend to accept defeat like this!

Facing Wu Yufei's defense, Sendoh raised his head, his eyes burning with even fiercer fighting spirit!

"Sendoh!!"

Fukuda ran over to offer support, and Sendoh made a motion as if he were passing to Fukuda.

"Hm..."

However, just as Wu Yufei slid sideways to respond, he realized that Fukuda did not have the basketball at all!

Whoosh...

The next moment, after successfully fooling Wu Yufei, Sendoh spun with the motion to widen the distance between them further, then fired directly from beyond the three-point line.

Swish!!

"Ooooooh!!!"

The instant the three-pointer went in, cries of astonishment rang out across the entire arena.

"What a beautiful three-pointer, Sendoh-senpai!!"

85:90. Ryonan had cut the gap back to five points.

As possession changed, Sendoh immediately stepped up to pressure Wu Yufei the moment he received the ball.

It was not just Sendoh. Every Ryonan player defended his respective Miuradai matchup on the spot like madmen.

"Keep moving!"

Wu Yufei was not intimidated. He responded quickly, organizing his teammates to move the ball rapidly.

After a series of quick passes between Wu Yufei, Murasame Kengo, and Ishiyama Jun, the basketball ultimately returned to Wu Yufei's hands. By then, they had successfully advanced into the frontcourt.

Swish!!

With Sendoh defending behind him, Wu Yufei suddenly threaded a straight behind-the-back pass that instantly pierced through Ryonan's not-yet-formed defense.

Naito Tetsuya, cutting straight to the basket, caught the pass and rose for a powerful dunk.

85:92. Miuradai maintained its seven-point lead.

In the final two minutes, both sides unleashed every last bit of energy they had.

Although Wu Yufei's stamina had long since reached its limit, he still forced himself to keep fighting on the court.

He knew that if he came off the court to rest now, Ryonan would erase that seven-point advantage in the blink of an eye—and might even take the lead.