A Pass That Suffocated Shoyo (2)

Chi Tong suddenly raised his hand from beyond the three-point line. There were no unnecessary feints; with a light flick of his wrist, the basketball instantly became a straight streak as it flew toward the wing.

The pass was terrifyingly tricky, threading through the narrow gap between two Xiangyang players. It neither touched the defenders' hands nor veered off course, landing squarely in front of Fukuda Kicchou's cutting path.

Even Fukuda Kicchou was stunned. It was not until a basketball suddenly appeared in his hands that he realized he had received the pass.

But the muscle memory forged through years of training made him instinctively go for the layup. Without slowing down, he drove into the paint with the ball.

The Shoyo players had not yet recovered from the shock of that piercing pass. No one had time to rotate over as Fukuda Kicchou entered the paint, leaped high, and gently laid the ball into the basket with one hand.

For the fourth possession, Yueye Hongming was tightly marked beyond the three-point line by Hasegawa. Their bodies were pressed together, leaving him almost no room even to raise his hands and receive a pass.

Meanwhile, Chi Tong held the ball at midcourt, facing Fujima Kenji's tight defense. He made three rapid consecutive crossovers, successfully shifting Fujima's center of gravity from side to side.

Fujima Kenji was experienced, after all. He forcibly stopped himself from tilting too far, but his feet still froze for an instant.

In that fleeting gap, Chi Tong suddenly made a move no one had expected. He violently snapped his wrist and bounced the basketball between Fujima's legs.

The basketball struck the floor precisely beneath Fujima's crotch.

A sharp bounce echoed, and the ball sprang up from behind Fujima Kenji's legs.

To everyone's surprise, the rebounding ball