Lightning Speed! Ryota Miyagi's Stage

In the stands.

Coach Taoka of Ryonan had already put away his initial disdain.

He stood with his arms crossed, his gaze blazing.

He stared intently at Kaede Rukawa, who had just completed a putback dunk.

That basket had not merely been worth two points.

It was like a sledgehammer, brutally smashing through Shoyo's seemingly impregnable wall of height.

"The real battle starts now."

Taoka Moichi said in a low voice, a faint, barely perceptible tremor in it.

"Shohoku's momentum is up."

"That Number 11, Kaede Rukawa... he may be a rookie, but he has the ability to break a deadlock."

"That unreasonable basketball talent, along with that nearly obsessive desire to win..."

Taoka Moichi drew a deep breath, as though making a prophecy.

"Unless something unexpected happens, Kaede Rukawa will definitely become an incredible basketball star in the future."

"He might even... surpass Sendoh."

Beside him, Aida Hikoichi's pen had stopped over his notebook, its tip already piercing the paper.

He looked at that cold silhouette on the court, then lowered his gaze to his own slight frame.

A trace of envy, even jealousy, could not help appearing in his eyes.

"How nice..."

"To have that kind of height, that kind of talent."

Hikoichi bit his lip, his heart sour with bitterness.

"Someone like me, no matter how hard I work, probably won't have a chance to become a star like Kaede Rukawa."

"Is basketball... ultimately a sport for giants?"

That thought was not limited to Hikoichi alone.

At that moment, the spectators' attention shifted to Shohoku's other "weakness."

The player wearing the Number 7 jersey.

A figure who looked particularly tiny among the towering players on the court—Ryota Miyagi.

"Hey, look at Shohoku's point guard."

"Isn't he way too short? Is he even 170 centimeters?"

"Probably only around 168."

Several spectators pointed and commented, their voices full of doubt.

"Every Shoyo player is over 190 centimeters. That Number 7 looks like an elementary school kid who wandered into a group of adults."

"If I were Shoyo's coach, I'd keep attacking that spot."

"Exactly. As long as they cut off his passing lanes, or just shoot over his head, Shohoku is finished."

"That short guy is definitely Shohoku's weak point!"

Though the chatter was noisy, some of it still reached the court.

Ryota Miyagi's ears twitched.

He reached up and touched his gleaming earring, a roguish smirk curling across his lips.

"A weak point?"

"A short guy?"

His gaze gradually sharpened, like a dagger freshly drawn from its sheath.

"Looks like... they're underestimating me."

Just then, the situation on the court abruptly shifted.

Shoyo's Number 8, Shoichi Takano, received the ball.

Intimidated by Kaede Rukawa's dunk just moments ago, his movements stiffened for an instant.

As he prepared to dribble and reset his rhythm, his footwork went awry.

"Tweet—!"

The referee's whistle sounded.

"Green Number 8, traveling violation!"

"Shohoku ball!"

An opportunity!

Ryota Miyagi's eyes lit up as he took the ball directly from the referee.

Without the slightest pause, without even waiting for his teammates to get into position.

"Fast break!!"

With a shout, Ryota Miyagi exploded forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.

On the sideline, Fujima Kenji, who had remained composed until then, finally changed expression.

He abruptly rose to his feet and shouted toward the court.

"Ito! Stop Number 7!!"

"Don't let him get moving!!"

Shoyo's point guard, Taku Ito, reacted quickly.

Relying on his 180-centimeter height and long legs, he slid sideways and blocked Miyagi's path.

"Don't even think about getting past me!"

Taku Ito spread his arms like a huge net, trying to cover Miyagi.

In his eyes, that difference in height was enough to seal every route forward for Miyagi.

However, he was wrong.

Completely wrong.

Ryota Miyagi looked at the towering wall before him.

Images suddenly surfaced in his mind of the past few days, when that bastard Lin Bei had tortured him.

[Hey, Miyagi, your dribbling is too slow.]

[Get your center of gravity lower! Are you trying to make yourself a target?]

[Your dribbling needs rhythm. You need to control the opponent's rhythm, too!]

Those hellish special drills, those muscle memories of controlling the ball at top speed, fully awakened at that moment.

"Too slow!"

Miyagi growled.

His body dropped in an instant, his center of gravity sinking to an almost unbelievable level.

The basketball danced beneath his fingertips like a sprite, moving so fast it even left afterimages.

"What?!"

Taku Ito only saw a blur before his eyes.

Ryota Miyagi did not use any flashy crossover at all, only a burst of acceleration.

That explosive power was like an F1 car launching from the starting line!

"Whoosh—!"

The wind howled.

Ryota Miyagi slipped straight beneath Taku Ito's armpit!

Simple, brutal, yet impossibly fast!

Taku Ito tried to turn around.

But his ankles felt nailed to the floor, utterly unable to keep up with the other man's rhythm.

Blown by in one step!

Clean and decisive!

"Waaaahhh—!!"

The entire arena instantly erupted.

"He... he got past him?!"

"So fast! What's with that Number 7?!"

"That dribbling speed just now was like lightning!"

Miyagi charged into the frontcourt, and Shoyo's defensive formation instantly fell into disarray.

Toru Hanagata and Mitsuru Nagano had no choice but to collapse inward, attempting to close the gap and cut him off.

Just as the two mountains were about to meet.

Miyagi gave his wrist an extremely subtle flick.

Without looking at anyone, the basketball bounced off the floor as if it had eyes.

"Bang!"

The ball passed through the gap between their legs, flying precisely toward the open space beneath the basket.

There, a red-haired figure had already been waiting for quite some time.

"Wahahaha! The ball's here!"

Hanamichi Sakuragi looked in surprise at the basketball that flew into his hands.

Though startled, Hanamichi's body reacted no slower.

Catch, jump.

This time, he did not make any unnecessary movements.

Little Man's Layup!

"Gently... put it in."

With a light flick of his wrist, the basketball obediently dropped through the net.

11:8.

"What a play!!"

"That pass was incredible!"

"It was practically a scalpel-sharp assist!"

In the stands, the people who had just been mocking Miyagi's height now all stood with their mouths agape.

"That short guy... he can make a pass like that among all those tall players?"

"That's unbelievable!"

Shoyo had yet to recover from losing that last possession.

Inbound from the baseline.

For safety's sake, Number 9 Taku Ito passed the ball to Number 8 Shoichi Takano, who had come to receive it.

The instant Takano caught the ball, turned around, and prepared to dribble.

A flash of lightning streaked out again.

"Slap!"

The crisp sound of a steal made every Shoyo player's heart skip a beat.

Ryota Miyagi again!

Like an assassin lying in wait in the grass, he had anticipated every one of their intentions.

The instant the ball touched Takano's palm, he reached in and stripped it away.

After stealing the ball, Miyagi did not rush to attack.

He gripped the ball in one hand and stood beyond the three-point line, facing the panicked Shoyo players.

Slowly, he raised one finger and pointed at the basket, an outrageously arrogant smile on his face.

"Come on! Let's score another one!"