"Sakuragi, the rebound!"
Shoyo missed a midrange shot, and Ryota Kudo hurriedly reminded Hanamichi Sakuragi to grab the rebound.
Hanamichi Sakuragi rushed over, but just as he was about to make contact with Toru Hanagata, he hesitated.
Sakuragi thought, If I jump for the rebound, won't the referee call a foul on me? I don't want to foul out with five fouls.
In the end, Hanamichi Sakuragi simply gave up on the rebound. Toru Hanagata tipped it in midair, and the ball dropped through the hoop.
"Nice work, Hanagata!" Shoyo celebrated as they ran back on defense.
Hanamichi Sakuragi stood stiffly where he was, his face dark. He did not even dare look at Ryota Kudo's expression.
Shohoku ran into trouble on offense as well. Ryota Kudo received a pass from Ryota Miyagi.
Just as he prepared to drive, Shoyo's power forward, Shoichi Takano, left Hanamichi Sakuragi to double-team him.
Without hesitation, Ryota Kudo passed through the gap between the two defenders, sending the ball into the hands of the unguarded Hanamichi Sakuragi.
"Sakuragi, drive in and dunk!" Worried that Hanamichi Sakuragi was not thinking clearly right now, Ryota Kudo even shouted a reminder.
Hearing Ryota Kudo, Hanamichi Sakuragi obediently dribbled toward the basket.
Just then, Toru Hanagata suddenly appeared beneath the basket, ready to wait for Hanamichi Sakuragi.
Hanamichi Sakuragi, who had already built up speed, hesitated again. If I force my way up for a dunk, won't the referee call an offensive foul on me?
Stopping in his tracks, Hanamichi Sakuragi inexplicably chose to take a shot, the very thing he was worst at.
The ball slammed into the backboard and bounced away, and Toru Hanagata grabbed the rebound.
"Attack!" Toru Hanagata hurled the ball into Shohoku's half, where Kenji Fujima, who had already started running, caught it.
Now only Kenji Fujima and Ryota Miyagi remained beneath Shohoku's basket, one-on-one. Kenji Fujima confidently drove inside with long strides.
As Ryota Miyagi desperately caught up to him, Kenji Fujima suddenly stepped back for a jumper. Swish! The ball went cleanly through the net.
"Shohoku requests a timeout!" Coach Anzai noticed something was wrong with Hanamichi Sakuragi from the sidelines and immediately called a timeout.
As they walked off the court, Ryota Miyagi complained to Hanamichi Sakuragi.
"What are you doing, Sakuragi? Why do you back off whenever you see that guy with glasses? Dunk on him!"
As Kaede Rukawa passed Hanamichi Sakuragi, he also tossed out a remark. "Complete idiot."
Takenori Akagi and Ryota Kudo were the ones who actually understood what Hanamichi Sakuragi feared, but neither knew how to help him overcome it.
Back on the bench, Hanamichi Sakuragi sat with his head hanging like a defeated rooster.
Unlike his outwardly carefree manner, Hanamichi Sakuragi actually had a soft side.
When he felt he had dragged the team down, he felt more ashamed than many others would.
Ryota Kudo kept watching what Coach Anzai would do next. Coach Anzai was extremely good at comforting players.
As it turned out, Coach Anzai temporarily took Hanamichi Sakuragi out, and Hisashi Mitsui returned to the court.
Normally, when Hanamichi Sakuragi came off, Satoru Kakuta would enter as his substitute.
But a game against Shoyo as crucial as today's naturally left no opportunity for Emperor Kakuta to play, so Ryota Kudo volunteered to fill in at power forward.
Hisashi Mitsui tossed aside the towel on his head. After resting a while and recovering some stamina, he felt alive again.
Back on the court, Hisashi Mitsui continued guarding Kazushi Hasegawa.
He had barely walked up to Kazushi Hasegawa when he heard his taunt.
"What did you come back for, you useless bum? Why not just stay on the bench? You're not going to score a single point anyway."
This time, Hisashi Mitsui did not avoid him. He raised his head and looked straight into Kazushi Hasegawa's eyes. "I remember who you are now. I beat you so badly in middle school that you cried, didn't I?
"Today will be the same. I'll send you off the court crying!"
"Hisashi Mitsui, you bastard!" Kazushi Hasegawa gritted his teeth, but for now, he could only stand in the corner and watch.
Kazushi Hasegawa did not have much of a role in Shoyo's offensive sets. He generally stood in the corner to space the floor.
Inside, Toru Hanagata once again received a pass from Kenji Fujima.
With a smooth shoulder fake, Toru Hanagata went into a fadeaway jumper. Takenori Akagi could not react in time and barely managed to jump, with no chance of blocking it.
Just as Toru Hanagata was about to release the shot, a hand struck the ball.
Smack! Rotating over to help, Ryota Kudo swatted the ball away with a huge block.
Moving to power forward felt like opening the door to a whole new world for Ryota Kudo. He felt even more comfortable.
After all, Kenji Fujima's main role was still passing. The fact that Toru Hanagata was Shoyo's leading scorer had never changed.
That meant Shoyo would be finished as long as they shut Toru Hanagata down.
Rather than stand in the corner with Kazushi Hasegawa and "have a smoke," he was better off double-teaming Toru Hanagata. Ryota Kudo now had a greater impact on the court.
Takenori Akagi secured the deflected ball and immediately passed it to Ryota Miyagi.
The entire Shohoku team broke into a sprint. Most strikingly, Hisashi Mitsui no longer ran as cautiously as before, but sprinted flat out.
If I'm afraid of getting hurt, why even play basketball? Hisashi Mitsui's eyes brimmed with fighting spirit.
With a sudden burst of speed, Hisashi Mitsui pulled half a step ahead of Kazushi Hasegawa, and Ryota Miyagi delivered the ball into his hands right on time.
Leaping high, Hisashi Mitsui saw the hoop as wider than the ocean. He felt utterly confident about this three-point attempt, as though his middle school self had returned.
Landing, Hisashi Mitsui raised his clenched fist as the ball swished through the net.
"Great shot, Mitsui! Nice work!" The most excited of all was Kiminobu Kogure on the bench. He knew Hisashi Mitsui very well.
This was how Hisashi Mitsui had played when he first entered high school, before his injury. That man had returned.
Up in the stands, the Kainan players were watching. They had no game today.
Originally, Shinichi Maki had come to watch their old rival, Shoyo, but now his instincts told him Shoyo might lose.
"What a beautiful three-pointer..." Sitting beside Shinichi Maki was a very handsome boy, Kainan's best shooter-Soichiro Jin.
He currently ranked second in Kanagawa in scoring average, putting up 30.3 points per game, behind only Ryota Kudo's 46 points per game.
Unlike a naturally gifted shooter such as Hisashi Mitsui, Soichiro Jin not only had a soft touch but also trained extremely hard.
Even after Kainan's intense training sessions, Soichiro Jin stayed to make another 500 three-pointers. He was a man who demanded much of himself.
Just as everyone expected, once Hisashi Mitsui caught fire, he was utterly unstoppable.
In just five minutes, Hisashi Mitsui sank ten consecutive three-pointers, leaving his defender, Kazushi Hasegawa, looking as though he had nothing left to live for.
No matter how hard Kazushi Hasegawa worked on defense, he could not stop the Hisashi Mitsui in front of him.
The terror of being dominated by Hisashi Mitsui in his final middle school game returned, and Kazushi Hasegawa felt like crying.
But he was now a third-year high school student, no longer that fragile middle schooler. Kazushi Hasegawa forced himself to hold it in.
"Don't give up! Let's score this one! Shohoku's still a long way from making the final four!" Kenji Fujima shouted, wanting to rouse his bewildered teammates.
Although they were already trailing Shohoku by nearly twenty points, Kenji Fujima still did not want to give up.
This was his last chance to compete in the high school National Tournament. After a year of hard preparation, he truly could not accept falling here.
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