After a brief timeout, the game resumed.
Ryota Kudo looked terrible. He had always thought he was already unbeatable among Japan's high school players.
He had never expected a full-court press combined with double-teaming to shut him down.
It infuriated him. He would have to put in extra training after today's game.
Ryota Kudo was actually exhausted by now, but his expression remained frighteningly serious.
Back on the court, with the normal rhythm of the game restored, Ryota Kudo became an unstoppable force once again.
Solo tomahawk dunks, midrange pull-up jumpers, three-pointers right in defenders' faces, fadeaway jumpers-Ryota Kudo executed every kind of offense to perfection.
His defender changed from Kenji Fujima to Kazushi Hasegawa, then to Ryoji Ikegami, but none of them had any effect.
Ryota Kudo went on an absolute rampage, scoring 30 points in just ten minutes. He was utterly unstoppable.
Tweet! The final whistle sounded, and every player on the court breathed a sigh of relief.
Forty minutes of high-intensity play had left everyone exhausted.
In the end, the Shohoku Team defeated the Combined Team 87-78, a reasonably respectable victory.
Yet Ryota Kudo felt none of the joy of winning. Something weighed heavily on his heart.
He knew this had become a mental block. If he could not find a way to break the full-court press,
then when they faced Sannoh Industrial High School, the Shohoku Team would still be relentlessly suppressed.
Ryota Kudo even had an uneasy feeling. Surely I won't end up suffering an unexpected defeat when the time comes!
With his emotions in turmoil, Ryota Kudo had no desire to keep training.
After asking Coach Anzai for some time off, Ryota Kudo left Shohoku High School.
As soon as he walked out of Shohoku High School, Ryota Kudo spotted a sunny young man