"You're not getting past me!" Akagi roared, holding his position firmly and giving Sun Zhongkuan no chance to help on defense.
Meanwhile, Liu Chuanfeng showed his ability as an elite defender. Like a shadow, he stayed in front of Zhu Xingda, using his lightning-fast footwork and outstanding defensive awareness to cut off every route for Zhu Xingda to receive a pass.
Zhu Xingda tried several times to shake off Rukawa, but Rukawa stuck to him relentlessly, leaving him unable to receive the ball.
With that, Aichi's two aces were tied down by Kanagawa's two defenders, completely freeing up Mitsui Hisashi and Jin Soichiro.
This was the strategy Takato Riki had devised from the start: use Takenori Akagi and Liu Chuanfeng's individual abilities to contain Sun Zhongkuan and Zhu Xingda respectively, giving the two elite shooters, Mitsui Hisashi and Jin Soichiro, easy shooting opportunities. In the first half, however, Akagi had been overwhelmed by Morishige Hiroshi, while Liu Chuanfeng had yet to find his rhythm, so the strategy had failed to take effect.
But now, everything was different. Although Aichi's other three players were working hard, their individual abilities were nowhere near those of Zhu Xingda and Morishige Hiroshi. Against shooters of Mitsui Hisashi and Jin Soichiro's caliber, their defense struggled to keep up.
As a result, Mitsui Hisashi and Jin Soichiro began firing away with almost no pressure.
Fujima Kenji also began orchestrating the offense. As one of Kanagawa's calmest floor generals, he keenly spotted the holes in Aichi's defensive system. He repeatedly used his drives and passing vision to create opportunities for Mitsui Hisashi and Jin Soichiro. His passes were as precise as a scalpel, always delivering the ball to an open teammate at exactly the right moment.
The second half had barely begun when Mitsui Hisashi and Jin