Miyagi Ryota opened his mouth, but for a moment, he had nothing to say.
His expression turned utterly awful, his fingertips trembling slightly. He was both annoyed by his own oversight and shocked by Chi Tong's unbelievably fast steal. A wave of frustration surged through him.
Chi Tong, having completed the steal, did not even spare Miyagi Ryota another glance. He simply turned around calmly, quickly retreated to Ryonan's half court, and began heading back.
As though that clean, decisive steal had been nothing more than an utterly ordinary little matter.
"All right, stop standing around. Get ready for the next possession."
Akagi spoke in a deep voice, cutting through everyone's shock. With a single sentence, he forcibly put the matter behind them, trying to steady the team's morale.
Though he said that, an inexplicable unease rose within him.
The Shohoku players quickly adjusted themselves, rallied, and launched another attack.
"Attack!"
Ryota Miyagi took a deep breath, his gaze becoming exceptionally focused. He steadily received the inbound pass and prepared to organize the offense.
The Ryonan players quickly took their positions and formed a defensive setup.
On the surface, their positioning looked no different from an ordinary defense, with no special arrangement in sight.
Yet for some reason, as Shohoku advanced, they vaguely felt an invisible pressure. It was as though they had fallen into thick mud; every movement and every pass carried a little more resistance than usual, leaving them stifled.
Miyagi Ryota had thoroughly learned his lesson this time.
From the instant the attack began, his eyes locked onto Chi Tong's position like a radar, not daring to relax in the slightest.
Seeing Chi Tong merely standing firmly in his own half without actively stepping up to pressure him, he did not let down his guard. Instead, he