The Gorilla Returns

To complete the task, Wu Yufei not only had to win the game, but also hold Rukawa Kaede to under 25 points. Both conditions had to be met.

Otherwise, no matter by how many points Miuradai won, it would still be a failure for Wu Yufei!

I have to slow the pace of the game!

As long as he dragged the tempo down as much as possible and kept both teams' scores low, Rukawa Kaede's chances of putting up a high score would naturally decrease.

With that in mind, Wu Yufei deliberately began slowing the game down. The ball was under his control, after all, and he had the ability to dictate the pace.

In the half-court offense, Wu Yufei constantly observed the court and directed his teammates, steadily organizing the entire team. He dragged the possession past twenty seconds before finally making his move.

After a series of crossovers successfully fooled Rukawa Kaede, Wu Yufei drove headlong into Shohoku's paint.

But just as Wu Yufei broke into Shohoku's restricted area and prepared to go up for a layup, Sakuragi Hanamichi suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Hmph hmph hmph hmph!!!"

"Eh?!"

Facing a defense like an impenetrable wall, Wu Yufei froze on the spot.

No way! Sakuragi Hanamichi can actually pull off that Hmph-Hmph Defense?

That was right. The move Sakuragi Hanamichi had brought out before Wu Yufei was none other than his signature technique, the Hmph-Hmph Defense.

By constantly making strange noises and hopping around, it disrupted the offensive player's mindset and created an opportunity for himself or his teammates to steal the ball.

Normally, such a move could only work on one person once. After experiencing it, the opponent would be mentally prepared and much easier to deal with.

And this happened to be Wu Yufei's first time truly facing that defensive move, so Sakuragi successfully bluffed him.

Smack!!

By the time Wu Yufei came to his senses, Miyagi Ryota had already stolen the basketball.

Wu Yufei had only frozen for less than a second, but that was enough for the sharp-nosed Miyagi Ryota to ghost around behind him and make the steal.

"Damn it!"

Wu Yufei turned around, intending to steal it back, but Miyagi had already hurled a long pass toward the sprinting Rukawa Kaede.

Of all people, it had to be Rukawa Kaede!!

Wu Yufei was horrified and immediately sprinted after Rukawa Kaede as if his life depended on it.

But once Rukawa Kaede had picked up speed on the fast break, how could Wu Yufei, already several steps behind, possibly catch him so easily?

In the end, Wu Yufei could only watch in despair as Wu Yufei charged into his own restricted area, leaped easily, and slammed it down for another two points.

Damn it, I got careless!

Wu Yufei was filled with regret.

Letting Shohoku claw back two more points was a minor issue. Miuradai still held a ten-point lead, after all.

The real problem was that Rukawa Kaede was gradually finding his rhythm. Keeping his total score under 25 points for the game had just become much more difficult.

No, he couldn't let Rukawa Kaede keep going like this!

Having made up his mind, Wu Yufei sought out Murasame Kengo.

With Miuradai in possession, Wu Yufei continued carrying out his previous plan, slowly grinding things out against Shohoku and reducing the pace.

I have to knock down their morale!

After dragging the possession out for over ten seconds, Wu Yufei exploded into motion. He forced his way into Shohoku's paint against Rukawa Kaede, stopped sharply outside the restricted area, and rose as though preparing for a fadeaway jumper.

Rukawa Kaede did not hesitate either, flying forward to obstruct Wu Yufei's vision.

But in the next instant, Wu Yufei pulled the ball back in midair and sent it around the other side of Rukawa Kaede's arm.

Smack!

The basketball reached Naito Tetsuya, who had established good position beneath the basket.

Naito caught the pass securely. After a brief adjustment, he turned and jumped while powering through Sakuragi Hanamichi's defense from behind him.

His 120 kilograms of weight erupted in an instant. Even a monster like Sakuragi Hanamichi could not withstand it and was shoved aside by Naito.

With nothing left in his way, Naito Tetsuya rose easily and hammered home a two-handed dunk, brutalizing the rim.

Shohoku's ball.

When Miyagi Ryota brought the ball into the frontcourt, he discovered that Murasame Kengo was now guarding him. Meanwhile, Wu Yufei clung to Rukawa Kaede like a stubborn piece of taffy, cutting off every possible chance for him to receive the ball.

In the end, Shohoku's possession succeeded with a mid-range jumper from Mitsui Hisashi.

That did not matter much to Wu Yufei. As long as Shohoku's points were not scored by Rukawa Kaede, he could completely accept it.

Whatever points you score, I can get them back on the next possession. As long as Miuradai maintained the lead, the momentum would always remain on their side!

Once Wu Yufei focused most of his energy on defending Rukawa Kaede and shared the scoring burden with his teammates, Miuradai once again firmly seized control of the court.

The outstanding performances of Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede, the pair of first-year teammates, did revive the entire team's morale to some extent and briefly gave their teammates hope of mounting a comeback.

But with Wu Yufei's proper response, Shohoku once again fell into the cycle of being unable to further close the gap.

The pattern was basically this: Shohoku would struggle to claw back two points one possession, and Miuradai would immediately answer on the next.

Although Mitsui Hisashi's two consecutive three-pointers once cut the deficit to just six points, giving the entire Shohoku team hope of turning things around.

Wu Yufei still led his teammates in shoring up their interior defense, steadily widening the gap again basket by basket.

Ishiyama Jun was tasked with wearing down Mitsui Hisashi's stamina as much as possible, while Wu Yufei took responsibility for draining Rukawa Kaede's stamina.

Shohoku's two most relied-upon star players both happened to have weaknesses in terms of stamina, and that was a crucial part of Wu Yufei's plan to defeat Shohoku.

As the game continued, the two sides traded blows and put on a highly entertaining contest, leaving the spectators thoroughly exhilarated.

But veterans like Taoka Moichi and Koto Riki understood very well that Miuradai had once again firmly taken control of the initiative on the court, just as they had during the opening six minutes.

When the game reached the fifteenth minute of the first half, the score stood at Miuradai 36:28 Shohoku. Miuradai still held an eight-point lead.

Wu Yufei had already posted a double-double of 12 points and 10 assists. He had scored only 4 points over the past few minutes, but he had successfully held Rukawa Kaede to 9 points.

Not only that, he had also drained a large amount of the opponent's stamina, initially achieving his expected objective.

And with Rukawa Kaede locked down, the burden of scoring for Shohoku fell entirely on Mitsui Hisashi alone. So far, he was the only player on the entire Shohoku team to reach double figures.

The cost of that was that before the first half had even ended, Mitsui Hisashi was already tired enough to start panting.

"Akagi, after watching for so long, I trust you've calmed down by now."

At the sidelines, Coach Anzai slowly spoke from the bench.

"Yes..."

Akagi the Gorilla replied.

"Look, you're only down by eight points right now. Your teammates are strong too, aren't they? Ho ho ho~"

Coach Anzai said teasingly.

"Now it is time for you to repay their efforts. You don't need to have any concerns. If the situation goes wrong, I will substitute you out. I believe in you, so you must believe in me too."

Coach Anzai turned his head, looked into Akagi's eyes, and spoke firmly.

"Yes!!"

Akagi immediately responded.

On the court, after Wu Yufei assisted Murasame Kengo on another successful layup and pushed the difference back into double digits, Shohoku called their second timeout of the first half.

"Look over there!! Shohoku's number four captain is finally coming back in!"

"Ohhh! If he can recover the form he showed against Kainan University Affiliated High School last game, Shohoku absolutely has a chance to come back!"

"As expected, Shohoku still has to rely on him! Akagi, the Big Black Pillar!!"

"Akagi! Akagi!! Akagi!!!"

When Akagi high-fived Kogure and returned to the court, the spectators gave him a generous round of applause and cheers.

Although Akagi had been substituted out earlier in the game due to his poor performance, his excellent showings in the previous rounds had already left a deep impression on everyone.

The spectators all desperately hoped that he could return to his best form and once again become the Gorilla who could suppress Kainan University Affiliated High School's Takasago even while dragging around an injured foot.

"Yo! Gorilla, you don't actually need to force yourself. It's only eight points. With the strength of the genius Sakuragi, I can turn this around within five minutes!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi welcomed the Gorilla's return with his usual goofy words, only to receive everyone's eye rolls.

"Akagi, are you sure you've recovered?"

Mitsui, standing nearby, also asked with a serious expression.

"If you come back and still hesitate, affecting our game, I won't let you off!"

"Hmph, Mitsui. Instead of worrying about me, you should think about how not to get carried off on a stretcher before the first half ends."

Seeing Mitsui drenched in sweat and panting far more heavily than the other players, Akagi did not spare him with his words.

"Sorry for making you all watch that embarrassing display earlier. I won't lose my composure like that again."

Akagi spoke in a deep voice, then swept his gaze across the teammates before him.

"Defeat Miuradai! Advance to the National Tournament as champions! Then..."

"Rule the nation!!" XN

With Akagi's return, Shohoku's morale instantly soared to its peak. That was the important role Akagi played as the team's Big Black Pillar.

All he had to do was stand on the court, and the entire Shohoku team would inexplicably feel reassured.

On the other side, Miuradai's players also sensed the change in Shohoku's momentum.

"Get your heads in the game, everyone!! Shohoku's fiercest wave of offense is coming! Hold them off!"

Wu Yufei roared loudly as he issued his orders.

"Roarrr!!" XN

Beep...

The timeout ended, and under the referee's urging, both teams returned to the court.

There were now four minutes and thirty seconds remaining before the end of the first half.