Shoyo was no pushover

Kenji Fujima stood 178 cm tall and weighed 66 kg, giving him the build of a traditional guard.

Compared with Ryota Kudo, he looked much smaller and slighter. His only obvious weakness was his lack of strength and weight.

The best way to deal with Kenji Fujima was to use a strong body against him, which would make things very difficult for him.

Shinichi Maki of Kainan, for instance, was practically a natural counter to Kenji Fujima.

But as Ryota Kudo began his attack, he had no intention of using his body. He wanted to beat Kenji Fujima with skill.

What Ryota Kudo had not expected was that Kenji Fujima's defense was far better than he had imagined.

No matter how Ryota Kudo tried to drive past him, Kenji Fujima always managed to stay in front of him through good defensive awareness.

After several unsuccessful drives, Ryota Kudo grew frustrated and inadvertently bumped Kenji Fujima with his body.

That burst of power immediately knocked Kenji Fujima a step backward, leaving Ryota Kudo half a meter of shooting space.

Without any hesitation, Ryota Kudo rose for a jumper, and the ball slipped smoothly through the hoop.

Although he had scored, Ryota Kudo did not look pleased, because this went against his plan not to use his physical advantage.

From one bizarre perspective, Ryota Kudo had actually lost that possession.

Kenji Fujima, who had just been scored on, also noticed something wrong with Ryota Kudo's expression and called out a reminder.

"Don't underestimate me, Kudo. Basketball is a sport where physical ability matters a lot.

There's nothing wrong with using your physical advantage. Come on, Kudo, give me everything you've got!"

Just as Kenji Fujima had said, everyone had their own strengths, and there was nothing wrong with making good use of them.

"All right! Thanks for the reminder, Fujima. Watch out, then."

Ryota Kudo attacked again. After checking his two teammates' positions and finding neither had a good scoring opportunity, he chose to go one-on-one again.

A change of direction in front of his body shifted Kenji Fujima's balance, then Ryota Kudo charged toward the basket at full speed.

This time, Ryota Kudo did not think about using technique to beat Kenji Fujima cleanly. Instead, he leaned his powerful body into Kenji Fujima and drove toward the basket.

He was like a tank charging at full speed. Despite Kenji Fujima's best defensive efforts, there was nothing he could do against Ryota Kudo.

Forcing his way past Kenji Fujima, Ryota Kudo jumped for a layup.

"Not a chance!" Shoyo's center, Toru Hanagata, suddenly rushed over and leaped high to block Ryota Kudo's layup.

Ryota Kudo already had plenty of experience dealing with this kind of help defense from a center.

Without even needing to look for Hanamichi Sakuragi, Ryota Kudo sent a no-look pass into the hands of Hanamichi Sakuragi, who was standing blankly beneath the basket.

Before he had quite registered what was happening, Hanamichi Sakuragi instinctively put up a shot instead of jumping for a dunk.

The moment he saw Hanamichi Sakuragi choose to shoot, Ryota Kudo knew they were in trouble. He hurried to establish position for the rebound, but Toru Hanagata kept him firmly behind him like a wall.

At 197 cm tall and 83 kilograms, Toru Hanagata might have been one of the rare finesse centers, but there was nothing soft about his defense.

Keeping Ryota Kudo boxed out, Toru Hanagata secured the rebound. "Attack!"

With that shout, Toru Hanagata passed the ball to Kenji Fujima, who had already run beyond the three-point line.

It had been a while since Ryota Kudo had played half-court three-on-three, and he had somewhat forgotten the differences between half-court and full-court basketball.

Unlike full-court basketball, where players had to run to the opposing basket to finish, half-court basketball only required the ball to go beyond the three-point line before they could attack.

Already beyond the three-point line, Kenji Fujima calmly raised the ball and shot a three-pointer, sinking it cleanly.

3-2. They had taken the lead.

"Sakuragi, you idiot! You can't even make a wide-open shot!" Hisashi Mitsui shouted angrily, still tussling with Kazushi Hasegawa.

Hanamichi Sakuragi clutched his head in regret and cried, "I'm done for! Now I've really messed up!"

Only Ryota Kudo remained composed. He patted Sakuragi on the shoulder and reassured him, "It was just one basket. Don't let it get to you. Remember the tip I gave you: whenever you're open, finish with a dunk. Never shoot."

Nearby, Toru Hanagata seemed unconcerned, but a sharp glint flashed across his glasses. So this redhead could only dunk and had no shooting ability at all. That made him even easier to handle.

Despite his guileless appearance, Toru Hanagata was actually very clever and adept at exploiting his opponents' weaknesses.

Shoyo continued their attack. This time, Ryota Kudo watched Kenji Fujima with complete concentration. I have to get a stop on this possession!

But Kenji Fujima merely glanced at Ryota Kudo. He did not choose to go one-on-one at all, instead lobbing the ball inside to Toru Hanagata.

Without pausing after the catch, Toru Hanagata immediately turned and rose for a fadeaway jumper.

With his 1.97-meter height, enormous wingspan, and fadeaway, Hanamichi Sakuragi could do nothing as he stood there.

Seeing such an outrageous technique for the first time, Hanamichi Sakuragi began shouting angrily.

"You four-eyed punk, that was a foul! You can't play basketball like that! Give me back the ball!"

Toru Hanagata could not be bothered to explain it to a basketball novice like Hanamichi Sakuragi. He merely gave a haughty huff.

In the end, Ryota Kudo and Hisashi Mitsui held Hanamichi Sakuragi back. It took them a long time to explain that a fadeaway jumper was a very difficult basketball technique, not a foul.

Reluctantly accepting that the previous shot had not been a foul, Hanamichi Sakuragi kept muttering, "Once I get back, a genius like me has to learn that move too."

Ryota Kudo paid no attention to those words, however. With Hanamichi Sakuragi's shooting talent, learning a fadeaway jumper would be impossible without another few years.

The game became evenly matched after that. Kenji Fujima could not stop Ryota Kudo one-on-one, while Hanamichi Sakuragi could not stop Toru Hanagata's unanswerable fadeaway jumper.

Ten minutes later, the teams were tied at 32-32.

There was no point in continuing, so Kenji Fujima suggested ending the game for now. They would meet again at the Prefectural Tournament.

Once the Shoyo players had left, Hisashi Mitsui, so exhausted that he kept dry-heaving, pounded the ground in frustration. "Damn it!"

He was so angry because Kazushi Hasegawa really had shut him down that day. He had scored only two points all game, from a single midrange jumper.

It was not that Ryota Kudo had failed to give him opportunities. Hisashi Mitsui had forced up five three-pointers against Kazushi Hasegawa's defense, but missed every one.

With Kazushi Hasegawa's improvement and Hisashi Mitsui's decline in multiple areas, he really had been locked down by his opponent.

Actually, that also had something to do with the fact that they were playing half-court that day. Individual defensive ability was easier to showcase in a half-court game.

In a full-court game, where the situations were more complicated, Hisashi Mitsui would not have been shut down so easily.

Looking at the dejected Hisashi Mitsui, Ryota Kudo did not know how to comfort him. All he could do was step forward and pull Mitsui to his feet.

"Our game against Shoyo isn't over yet, Mitsui. We'll settle everything with them at the Prefectural Tournament!"