Crisis Finally Appears

The match between Sacred Radiance and Bright Marsh in Episode 18 was still ongoing. Ever since both sides scored a basket each at the start of the match, they seemed to have entered a state of equilibrium, falling into a repetitive cycle of offense and defense where Bright Marsh scored one, and Sacred Radiance immediately returned the favor. Bright Marsh relied mainly on the formidable strength of Eiji Sawakita, who pushed past Sento's defense in one-on-one matchups and forcefully sank the ball. Sento wanted to stop him, but every single time, Eiji Sawakita managed to exploit an opening. However, Sacred Radiance's offense also caught the entire Bright Marsh team off guard. Chi Tong's passes were silent every single time, delivered precisely and accurately into Sendoh's hands. The two of them cooperated seamlessly, spinning the Bright Marsh players around like tops. Even Eiji Sawakita, who had been marking Sento the entire time, found it an absolute headache. Just like that, the players from both teams ended the first half in a stalemate, with Sacred Radiance at 48 and Bright Marsh at 48. When the players left the court after the first-half ratings, Eiji Sawakita cast a deep look at Chi Tong. He had not expected Chi Tong's passes to be so tricky; merely passing the ball had left them feeling frantic and overwhelmed, not to mention his ball-control ability, which made the basketball seem glued to his hands. He recalled what Sento had said to him before the match: We lost to you last year, but it won't be nearly as easy to beat us this year. It looked like they would have to go all out from now on. Eiji Sawakita's gaze turned profound as he thought to himself. Bright Marsh's coach also made some tactical adjustments regarding the current situation. His method was very simple, just as Chi Tong had guessed earlier: Bright Marsh's coach prepared to deploy a double-team against Chi Tong and Sendoh. As for the rest of Sacred Radiance, the first-half match made it obvious that apart from Chi Tong and Sendoh, whose strengths were decent, the others were utterly weak. Bright Marsh only needed to dispatch a single person to basically handle Sacred Radiance's other three players. Chi Tong's biggest worry still happened. The second half of the match began, and sure enough, the moment Chi Tong stepped onto the court, he noticed something unusual on the Bright Marsh side—their players were intentionally or unintentionally closing in on him and Sendoh. Did they really use a double-team tactic? Chi Tong muttered to himself inwardly. He had already guessed this before the match. Sacred Radiance's weaknesses were too obvious, and such targeted play from the opponents was inevitable. If he were Bright Marsh's coach, he would make the exact same arrangement. With one extra defender, Chi Tong and Sendoh immediately felt the pressure, and their range of movement was instantly compressed. Although the expression on Chi Tong's face did not change at all while he was being double-teamed by two players, he felt a surge of pressure in his heart. Even though he feared no double-team, the passing route to Sendoh had been completely sealed off. Because of this, Chi Tong could only direct his passes toward the other three players. Soon, several passing routes appeared in his field of vision. Staring straight ahead without even turning his head, right in front of the two defenders, he swung his arm and tossed the basketball out. The two players guarding Chi Tong also sensed something was amiss. They quickly realized the basketball in Chi Tong's hands was gone, only to discover that Chi Tong had already passed the ball. Under their startled gazes, the basketball landed with pinpoint accuracy into Yamamoto Ryu's hands. He reacted extremely quickly as well, immediately taking strides and charging toward Bright Marsh the moment he caught the ball. Yet right before he reached the three-point line, preparing to shoot in one go, a large hand suddenly lunged out and mercilessly batted the basketball out of his hands. The crisp sound of a block struck deep into Yamamoto Ryu's heart. Yamamoto Ryu's pupils dilated as he revealed a look of utter astonishment. He turned his head to look at the person who had blocked him, and then froze in place. For the one who rushed over to block him turned out to be Bright Marsh—the single person who had not participated in double-teaming Chi Tong and Sendoh. How could this be? He found it hard to believe and difficult to accept such a reality. He had originally thought Bright Marsh using a double-team strategy was a joke; could three Sacred Radiance players really not handle just one person from Bright Marsh? Yet at this moment, he finally realized how naive and ridiculous his own thoughts had been. The basketball dropped to the floor and was subsequently snatched up by the arriving Bright Marsh point guard. Chi Tong prepared to step forward and look for an opportunity to steal it, but the moment he made a move, Bright Marsh's point guard flicked his wrist and passed the ball out, the basketball landing in Eiji Sawakita's hands. Without a moment's hesitation, Eiji Sawakita changed pace and sidestepped around Sendoh. Another player happened to act like a wall, helping Eiji Sawakita block Sendoh. At this moment, only Koichi Kobayashi remained to stop them for Sacred Radiance. Eiji Sawakita broke through Koichi Kobayashi's defense without the slightest effort, charged straight into the paint, and ultimately tossed the basketball into the hoop. The basketball went through the net: Sacred Radiance 48, Bright Marsh 50. Chi Tong and Sendoh furrowed their brows simultaneously. Following this recent exchange of offense and defense, the two of them immediately sensed the problem—the thing they feared most had happened. Possession returned to Sacred Radiance's side, and Chi Tong dribble-advanced once again. As expected, he once again encountered Bright Marsh's double-team, and the passing routes surfaced in his mind. Facing the double-team, Chi Tong cleverly passed the ball out once more. This time, the basketball landed in Kirie Sondo's hands. Kirie Sondo advanced with the ball, pushing his speed to the absolute limit, yet a single figure was chasing up from behind at an even faster pace. Kirie Sondo sensed the anomaly behind him and instinctively glanced back over his shoulder. Not looking would have been fine, but one look filled him with mortal dread. Startled like this, the movement of his hands deviated accordingly, and the basketball suddenly slipped away from him just like that. Hmph! Damn it! Kirie Sondo wanted to salvage the play, but the speed at which the ball slipped away was ultimately a beat too fast. Just like that, the basketball rolled directly out of bounds. Seeing this scene, Chi Tong had no idea what kind of feeling was stirring in his heart. It felt as though some foreign object had suddenly appeared inside him, making him feel quite awkward. Possession fell to the Bright Marsh side, and true to form, Eiji Sawakita once again breached Sacred Radiance's defense, scoring another 2 points. In the subsequent matches, Sacred Radiance's offense seemed completely stagnant. Kirie Sondo, Koichi Kobayashi, and Yamamoto Ryu managed to receive Chi Tong's passes every single time, but every single time, Bright Marsh's players disrupted or intercepted them in various ways. No matter how much Chi Tong wanted to be understanding toward his teammates, he inevitably generated the urge to curse. As for what Sendoh was thinking, only he himself knew. Chi Tong was completely rendered speechless by his three foolish teammates. The opponents were just one person; with even a tiny bit of cooperation and ball-passing, things wouldn't have degraded to the point where they couldn't even score a single basket. As a result, these three fellows only knew how to blindly charge forward after receiving his passes. Now you know how foolish your previous thoughts were! Right at that moment, within Chi Tong's conscious mind, the voice of his alternate personality finally rang out once again. Chi Tong, currently being double-teamed by two people, paid no mind to the voice echoing from within his consciousness. The alternate personality's voice continued: I can sense that you've already started to waver in your previous thoughts. Abandon that impractical idea; relying on teammates will ultimately leave you with nothing but the taste of defeat. Just look at the score right now!