"Pushing foul, Meihou Industrial High School, number 15!" The referee blew his whistle, calling a foul on Hiroshi Morishige.
The moment the foul was called, Hiroshi Morishige shot him an icy glare. The referee was so frightened that he stumbled back two steps and immediately fell silent.
But Hiroshi Morishige only glared at the referee. He offered no verbal protest, simply dropping the ball and preparing to get back on defense.
On Meihou Industrial High School's next offensive possession, Ryota Kudo had continued to double-team Hiroshi Morishige.
Unable to get the ball, Hiroshi Morishige grew impatient and shoved Ryota Kudo.
Unable to control his own strength, Hiroshi Morishige sent Ryota Kudo straight to the floor, and the referee immediately blew his whistle.
"You okay, Kudo? Great job on that play!" Hisashi Mitsui stepped forward and pulled Ryota Kudo up, his eyes full of excitement.
They were completely shutting down Meihou Industrial High School, a fellow seeded team, even with Kaede Rukawa and Hanamichi Sakuragi off the court.
Shohoku was truly strong this year. Perhaps conquering the nation was no longer just a slogan.
Taking Hisashi Mitsui's hand and standing up, Ryota Kudo patted him on the butt and spoke quietly.
"Mitsui, let's bring out our specialty. It's time to rain threes on them!"
When things went well, they looked to Kaede Rukawa; when things went badly, they looked to Hisashi Mitsui; when all seemed lost, they looked to Hanamichi Sakuragi. This had already become the norm at Shohoku High School.
For some reason, in those moments, Hisashi Mitsui's desire to attack was not particularly strong. Most of the time, he played the role of a solid 3-and-D player.
Hisashi Mitsui's defense was much better than Soichiro Jin's, but he took considerably fewer three-point shots.
One debate about Slam Dunk was