A Genius's Reactions, Beyond Ordinary Men

Takenori Akagi's thunderous dunk was like a boulder thrown into a deep pool, sending up a brief splash.

The score became 6:2.

Yet Shoyo's waters ran deeper and colder than Shohoku had anticipated.

After the brief cheers died down, Shoyo's rhythm remained completely undisturbed by that dunk.

Fujima Kenji still sat calmly on the bench.

He had not even taken off his jacket, merely making a calm gesture.

"Settle down. Play a half-court offense."

Shoyo's point guard, Taku Ito, nodded and dribbled the ball across half court.

Facing Ryota Miyagi's harassment.

He used his height advantage to protect the ball steadily, giving Miyagi no chance to reach in.

"Damn it, he's holding the ball too high!"

Miyagi gritted his teeth. Like a hunting dog being toyed with, he darted around Ito but could never reach that orange basketball.

The ball was lobbed high into the paint.

Shoyo's number eight, Shoichi Takano, caught it.

Just as he raised the ball to look for a teammate, a red figure lunged at him like an out-of-control beast.

"Witness this genius's superhuman reflexes!"

Hanamichi Sakuragi's pupils contracted, his body launching forward before his brain could even issue the command.

His eyes held only the ball. His hunger for possession seemed practically carved into his DNA.

Slap!

A crisp sound rang out.

It had not hit the ball, but Takano's hand squarely.

Tweet—!

The referee's whistle pierced the air.

"White number ten, hand-checking foul!"

Sakuragi froze in the middle of his swinging motion, then landed with an indignant look on his face.

"What? A foul?"

"Old man, did you even see that clearly?!"

"My hand was just too fast! I hit it before the ball even left his hand! How is that a foul?"

"That was obviously a genius steal!"

His eyes wide, he pointed at his own nose and shouted at the referee.

Thump!

An iron fist slammed down on Sakuragi's head, raising a wisp of smoke.

"You giant idiot! That was a hand-check!"

"Don't reach in whenever you feel like it! Defend properly!"

Takenori Akagi withdrew his fist with a dark expression, the veins at his temples throbbing.

"Ow, ow, ow..."

Sakuragi crouched on the floor, clutching his head as tears streamed from the corners of his eyes.

Yet he still muttered stubbornly under his breath:

"Damn gorilla..."

"My reflexes were obviously just too good. Ordinary people's eyes simply can't keep up..."

Kaede Rukawa gave him a cold glance and spat out two words. "Idiot."

Hisashi Mitsui rubbed his forehead helplessly. "Is this guy really here to play basketball?"

The game continued as Shoyo inbounded from the sideline.

The green formation in the stands once again erupted with a unified cheer.

"Shoyo! Attack!"

"Shoyo! Attack!"

Under this suffocating road-game atmosphere, the ball returned to Toru Hanagata's hands.

As Shoyo's ace center, Hanagata adjusted his glasses.

Facing Akagi's defense, a confident curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Akagi, your strength is indeed impressive."

Hanagata backed into Akagi, feeling the rock-like resistance behind him.

"But basketball isn't just about strength."

Before his words had even faded, Hanagata suddenly pivoted on his left foot and spun backward.

Akagi immediately followed, raising both arms high to seal off every shooting angle.

Yet Hanagata did not jump to shoot. He gave a pump fake, then spun again, leaning his body dramatically backward.

It was an incredibly smooth fadeaway jumper.

Akagi leaped with everything he had, his fingertips only a few centimeters from the basketball.

But those few centimeters became an uncrossable gulf.

Swish!

The basketball traced a high arc and dropped cleanly through the net.

The movement was elegant and soft, completely different from Akagi's violently beautiful style of play.

At courtside, Ryonan coach Taoka Moichi's expression turned grave.

"So it's begun."

"Toru Hanagata is the representative of the finesse center. His range and technique are perfectly suited to counter traditional centers like Akagi."

"If Shohoku's big pillar, Akagi, can't stop Hanagata, this game may become completely one-sided."

"Once the paint falls, the pressure on the perimeter defense will multiply."

As if to confirm Taoka's words.

On the next possession, Shohoku failed to score.

Shoyo counterattacked swiftly.

Hanagata drew a double-team from Akagi and Sakuragi in the paint.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, he kicked the ball out to Taku Ito on the perimeter.

Ito stood beyond the three-point line, completely unguarded.

He jumped and released.

His form was textbook-perfect.

Swish!

The three-pointer went in.

The numbers on the scoreboard changed mercilessly.

11:2.

Shohoku had fallen into a scoring drought, while Shoyo's offense rolled on endlessly like the tide.

"Damn it!"

Ryota Miyagi stared at the scoreboard as sweat slid down his cheeks.

Possession returned to Shohoku.

Miyagi dribbled forward. Looking at Ito, who still loomed over him like a mountain, his eyes sharpened.

"That move from before, one more time!"

He lowered his center of gravity, looking to the right while sharply pressing his wrist downward.

He attempted the same trick again, trying to send a bounce pass through his opponent's legs.

However, Shoyo was not the kind of team that stumbled in the same place twice.

The instant the ball struck the floor, a long arm appeared from nowhere.

It was Shoyo's number seven, Mitsuru Nagano!

He had already anticipated Miyagi's intentions. Taking advantage of his long reach, he intercepted the basketball directly in midair.

"What?!" Miyagi's face changed drastically.

"Too naive, Shohoku's short point guard." Nagano sneered and immediately hurled a long pass downcourt.

Toru Hanagata caught the ball and flowed straight into a fast break.

Takenori Akagi desperately raced back on defense and stopped Hanagata beneath the basket.

Hanagata raised the ball as if to shoot.

Akagi roared and leaped with all his strength to block it.

"Now!"

A faint smile touched Hanagata's lips. It was merely a convincing pump fake.

He pulled the ball back, sending Akagi flying past him, then prepared to rise calmly for a second jump shot.

Just when everyone believed the basket was certain.

A dark shadow silently emerged behind Hanagata like a ghost.

There were no footsteps, no breathing, not even the flow of air seemed disturbed.

The instant Hanagata prepared to shoot, a hand precisely chopped down on the basketball.

Slap!

The ball was knocked away!

Hanagata froze as the weight in his hand vanished in an instant.

He whirled around and saw only a figure wearing number eleven, already scooping up the basketball and streaking toward the other end like black lightning.

Kaede Rukawa!

"What was that?"

"That stealing motion... why does it look so familiar?"

Akira Sendoh narrowed his eyes slightly in the stands, the lemonade in his hand suspended in midair.

Lin Bei, sitting on Shohoku's bench, had been yawning.

When he saw that scene, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

"This kid..."

"He learned that trick pretty fast."

It was the move Lin Bei used to steal the ball during team practice.

He used Gaze Induction and his opponent's blind spot to make steals from behind.

On the court, Kaede Rukawa had already charged into Shoyo's paint.

Shoyo's defensive recovery was extremely quick.

Kazushi Hasegawa and Shoichi Takano closed in to double-team him at the same time.

Like two iron doors about to shut, they tried to trap Rukawa outside.

"Pass it, Rukawa!" Miyagi shouted from behind.

But in Rukawa's eyes, there was only the basket.

Facing the double-team.

Not only did he not slow down, he accelerated again.