"Hey! Pretty boy! When I make you cry, remember to run home to Mommy."
Ryota Kudo was in a good mood when the opponent standing beside him suddenly started taunting him.
This was Miuradai's point guard, Kazuo Araki. At 186 centimeters tall, he was the team's vice captain and had an equally brash personality.
Ryota Kudo usually couldn't be bothered with opponents who liked talking trash. He merely shot him an icy glare.
"You've got some nerve looking at me like that! I..." Kazuo Araki was only halfway through his sentence when he saw Ryota Kudo shoot away like an arrow.
Takenori Akagi had won the jump ball, and Ryota Kudo launched an attack the moment he received it.
Against Miuradai's poor defense, Ryota Kudo easily broke through their defensive line and delivered an intimidating opening statement with a powerful one-handed dunk.
Ryota Kudo's basket failed to make Miuradai take him seriously. Instead, the arrogant Kengo Murasame roared at his point guard, Kazuo Araki.
"Focus, Kazuo Araki! If you let a rookie like that score on you again, I'll kill you!"
"I know! I just got careless!" Kazuo Araki gritted his teeth and nodded, then quickly ran back to receive the ball and start their offense.
But the provoked Ryota Kudo wasn't about to let him off. Before the ball had even left Miuradai's half, Ryota Kudo was already all over him.
Like a golden cheetah, Ryota Kudo guarded Kazuo Araki so closely that even keeping control of the ball was difficult, let alone dribbling across half court.
Instinctively, Kazuo Araki felt the fear of being stalked by a wild beast. All he wanted was to pass the ball to a teammate as quickly as possible.
But none of his Miuradai teammates had imagined that their vice captain, Kazuo Araki, wouldn't even be able to bring the ball up. They had already run into Shohoku's half.
At this point, unless Kazuo Araki swallowed his pride and called for help, his only option was to force his way through.
With his brash personality, how could Kazuo Araki admit defeat so easily? He drove his shoulder hard into Ryota Kudo, then went all out on a drive to the right.
Just when Kazuo Araki thought he had broken through, a long arm appeared below his waist and stole the basketball.
Kazuo Araki turned around in alarm, only to see Ryota Kudo already leaping for a dunk.
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Ryota Kudo scored four straight points, giving Shohoku a 4-0 lead to open the game.
The game had barely begun, and Miuradai's coach called his first timeout.
Unlike Shohoku's harmonious team atmosphere, Miuradai was rife with players blaming one another.
Kengo Murasame pointed right at Kazuo Araki's nose and swore at him. "What the hell are you doing, you useless idiot?
"Getting destroyed by a rookie like that-how are we supposed to get revenge on Kainan with you playing this way?!"
It was Miuradai's coach who stopped the argument. He took out his tactics board and began laying out instructions.
"Stop arguing. I told you before that this year's Shohoku team wasn't to be taken lightly, but you wouldn't listen.
"The player matched up against Kazuo Araki was the Tokyo district's junior high MVP. He's known as the strongest junior high player. Double-team him when we go back out.
"And Tetsuya Naito, get ready to go in. It's time we taught Shohoku a lesson!"
Tetsuya Naito was actually Miuradai's secret ace. They hadn't planned to send him out so soon.
According to Miuradai's plan, Tetsuya Naito was a "surprise" reserved for Kainan High School.
But now, with elimination possible in the very first round, Tetsuya Naito was getting ready to enter right at the start of the game.
In the stands, the players from Shohoku High School wore grave expressions. They could all see how strong Ryota Kudo was.
Kenji Fujima spoke to the tall boy with glasses beside him. "See that, Hanagata? This rookie is no pushover.
"If we slip up and lose to Shohoku, forget the National Tournament-we won't even make Kanagawa's final four."
Toru Hanagata calmly adjusted his glasses and said confidently, "With you here, Fujima, no one can beat us."
Toru Hanagata trusted his captain, Kenji Fujima, even more than he trusted himself.
Only with Kenji Fujima was Shoyo truly Shoyo. They would show Shohoku why they had reached the national quarterfinals last year.
Among the other Shoyo players, a tall man was watching the players on the court with a serious expression.
But he wasn't looking in Ryota Kudo's direction. His eyes were fixed on Hisashi Mitsui.
This man's name was Kazushi Hasegawa. Hisashi Mitsui had crushed him in junior high, and he had been looking to get revenge on Mitsui ever since.
Unfortunately, Hisashi Mitsui had been injured after entering high school, and Kazushi Hasegawa had never found an opportunity for revenge.
Seeing Hisashi Mitsui this time, Kazushi Hasegawa silently told himself.
Mitsui, this time I'm going to shut you down. You won't score more than five points against me!
The game resumed, and this time an incredibly muscular bald player appeared on Miuradai's side.
The muscles covering his body astonished everyone on Shohoku. Hanamichi Sakuragi looked at the bald player, then at Takenori Akagi.
"Gorilla, you're in trouble. That bald guy looks really strong. You aren't going to get destroyed by him, are you?"
Before Takenori Akagi could answer, Kaede Rukawa took a jab at Hanamichi Sakuragi.
"Idiot. Can't you see that bald guy isn't playing center? You're the one matched up against him."
"What? I'm guarding that bald guy?" Hanamichi Sakuragi couldn't even spare a thought for Kaede Rukawa calling him an idiot. Looking at the bald player, who was a full size bigger than him, he pointed at his own nose with an innocent expression.
Sure enough, Tetsuya Naito stood not far from Hanamichi Sakuragi. He was playing power forward.
Tetsuya Naito received the ball and, without considering anything else, charged straight toward the basket.
Even the physically strong Hanamichi Sakuragi was sent flying by a single collision. Driving into the paint, Tetsuya Naito leaped for a powerful two-handed dunk.
Takenori Akagi, who came over to help defend, was also knocked flying. Tetsuya Naito was simply unstoppable.
Ryota Kudo was the only player on the court who knew the truth about Tetsuya Naito. He was actually a basketball novice who could only dribble in a straight line.
Dealing with Tetsuya Naito would be very simple, but Ryota Kudo had no intention of telling the other Shohoku players in advance.
Because this was precisely the time to train Shohoku's players.
If Ryota Kudo started going all out and playing one against five now, how would the rest of Shohoku ever develop?
If they didn't train against weak teams like this, were they supposed to wait until they faced those strong teams at the National Tournament?
Play restarted. Ryota Kudo had just dribbled across half court when he noticed that the opposing shooting guard had actually abandoned Hisashi Mitsui, the man he was guarding, and chosen to come double-team him instead.
Ryota Kudo was dumbfounded. Was this the opposing coach's tactic?
There was nothing wrong with double-teaming, of course, but the man they were leaving wide open was Hisashi Mitsui, a deadly accurate three-point shooter.
This was the equivalent of an NBA team leaving Stephen Curry open to double-team someone else. Wasn't that asking for death?
All he could say was that Hisashi Mitsui had been away from the court for too long. People had forgotten how terrifying he was.
When Miuradai's second defender came over, Ryota Kudo calmly passed the ball to the wide-open Hisashi Mitsui.
Hisashi Mitsui received the ball, made an adjustment, and calmly took his first three-pointer since returning to the court.
With a smooth release, the basketball dropped cleanly through the net with a swish.
Hisashi Mitsui excitedly clenched one fist in celebration. This feeling was simply wonderful.
In the stands, Hisashi Mitsui's diehard fan, Norio Hotta, immediately waved a flag bearing the words "Flame Man Mitsui."
Norio Hotta shouted through excited tears, "Mitsui, you're the strongest man!"
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