The Game Begins—This Is My Team!

"Beeeep—!"

With the referee's long whistle, Shohoku's practice match against Ryonan officially began amid the deafening cheers of the entire crowd!

Ryonan's home gym was nearly packed to capacity. Most of the spectators were Ryonan students dressed in blue, waving flags and banging cheering sticks, creating a home-court atmosphere like crashing mountains and roaring seas for the home team.

"Ryonan! Victory! Ryonan! Victory!"

Under the pressure of that momentum, even the Shohoku players felt it was a little hard to breathe.

"Hmph, what a noisy bunch." Ryota Miyagi curled his lip, though his tightly clenched fists still revealed his inner tension.

"Jump ball!"

At center court, Takenori Akagi and Jun Uozumi, two towering figures, faced each other with their knees slightly bent and lightning in their eyes.

The referee tossed the ball high into the air!

"Hah!"

The two roared at the same time and sprang upward with all their strength!

Akagi's leap was still faster. His fingertips reached the basketball first!

"Smack!"

He accurately tipped the ball toward his own backcourt!

"Nice one, Captain!"

Ryota Miyagi shot forward like an arrow loosed from its bow, beating Ryonan's guard to the ball and catching it securely.

Shohoku had the first chance to attack!

"Fast break!"

Miyagi shouted, dribbling at top speed as he charged toward Ryonan's half!

Ryonan got back on defense quickly, instantly creating a two-on-one situation in the frontcourt.

"Calm down, Miyagi!"

A lazy voice came from behind Miyagi.

It was Shirakawa.

At some point, he had already caught up—and even run ahead of Miyagi.

Running backward, he made a pressing-down gesture toward Miyagi.

"Don't rush. Let's have some fun with them."

Seeing how unhurried Shirakawa looked, Miyagi's heart, which had been racing from the opening tip, miraculously calmed down as well.

He slowed his pace, steadily brought the ball across half court, and then, under everyone's gaze—

he passed the ball to Shirakawa.

The instant Shirakawa received the ball, the entire arena's attention focused on him.

Shohoku's starting lineup had caught everyone completely off guard.

Their point guard was not Ryota Miyagi, the "Lightning Flash," but this unknown white-haired Number 1!

"What's going on? Shohoku changed point guards?"

"Who's that Number 1? I've never seen him before!"

"What is Coach Anzai thinking? He put a rookie at point guard in such an important game?"

The stands erupted into discussion.

Ryonan's coach, Mitsuyoshi Taoka, also frowned.

Coach Anzai, what are you up to this time?

Still, he did not care much. In his eyes, Shohoku's tactical cores would always be Kaede Rukawa and Akagi. Changing point guards was nothing more than a minor adjustment.

On the court, the man assigned to defend Shirakawa was Ryonan's starting point guard, Tomoyuki Uekusa.

Looking at the opponent before him, half a head taller than himself but seemingly rather lazy, he was full of caution.

Anyone who could take the starting spot from Ryota Miyagi was no ordinary player!

Uekusa lowered his center of gravity, spread his arms, and stared intently at Shirakawa's every move.

Yet Shirakawa had no intention of attacking at all.

He merely stood beyond the three-point line, casually dribbling the ball again and again, his gaze sweeping across the court like radar.

Akagi was battling Uozumi in the paint.

Kaede Rukawa was tightly entangled with Sendo at the forty-five-degree angle, the two engaged in an intense "exchange" with their eyes.

Miyagi was moving on the other side, trying to shake off his defender.

Kogure waited in the corner, ready to catch and shoot at any moment.

Everything was clearly reflected in his eyes.

So this was... what it felt like to command the entire court?

A strange feeling rose within Shirakawa.

He felt like a chess player, with both teammates and opponents on the court as his pieces.

He could decide which piece would play what role, and at what time.

This feeling of having everything under control was far more satisfying than scoring by himself!

"Hey, kid, what are you spacing out for? Too scared to attack?"

Seeing Shirakawa remain motionless for so long, Uekusa could not help provoking him.

"Attack?"

Shirakawa suddenly smiled.

He glanced at Kaede Rukawa, who was being tied up by Sendo, then at Akagi, who was battling Uozumi in the paint.

"Who said the core player had to attack himself?"

Before his words had even faded, Shirakawa suddenly moved!

His first step was unbelievably fast!

A simple crossover in front of his body, without a single flashy move!

"Whoosh!"

Uekusa only saw a blur before Shirakawa swept past his right side like a gust of wind!

"What?!"

Uekusa was shocked. He had never expected this seemingly lazy guy to possess such terrifying explosiveness!

He could not even manage to reach out and grab him!

One step, and he was past him!

Shirakawa easily broke through Ryonan's first line of defense!

Ryonan's help defenders immediately rotated over.

Facing the help defense, Shirakawa did not slow down in the slightest and charged straight toward the paint!

Seeing this, Uozumi immediately abandoned Akagi and stood in front of Shirakawa like a wall!

"You're not getting past!" Uozumi roared, raising both hands high and sealing off every possible layup route.

Just when everyone thought Shirakawa would force his way through Uozumi or kick the ball out to the perimeter—

Shirakawa, speeding forward, suddenly flicked the ball behind his back toward his rear side in an odd posture!

A no-look behind-the-back pass!

Like a precision-guided missile, the basketball threaded through several defenders and flew accurately into someone's hands.

That person had been waiting in the corner for a long time.

It was "Glasses" Kiminobu Kogure!

There was not a single person within three meters of him!

Because all of Ryonan's defensive attention had been drawn to Shirakawa's drive!

It was an absolutely perfect, wide-open opportunity!

Kogure took a deep breath, caught the ball steadily, then calmly rose and released it.

His form was textbook-perfect and smooth.

The basketball traced a beautiful arc through the air.

The entire arena fell silent.

Everyone held their breath, watching the ball soar.

"Swish!"

A crisp, pleasant sound rang out.

Nothing but net!

Three-pointer good!

3:0!

Shohoku had scored the first points of the game in a way no one had expected!

After a brief silence, the entire gym instantly erupted in shocked cries.

"Ho... holy hell! That pass!"

"How did he see Kogure in the corner? Does he have eyes on the back of his head?"

"Who... who exactly is that Number 1?!"

The confident smile on Coach Taoka's face instantly froze.

He stared dumbfoundedly at the white-haired boy who did not even celebrate after the assist, merely running quietly back on defense. His mind was completely blank.

What... what kind of play was that?

Where was the ace, Kaede Rukawa?

Where was the inside force, Akagi?

Why... had the first basket gone to the most inconspicuous Kogure?