Miyagi's pass seemed to have been pre-calculated, flying perfectly to Kawamoto, who was already airborne.
Facing an empty basket, Kawamoto slammed it home with a powerful dunk.
2:2!
From the baseline serve to the powerful dunk, the whole process was breathtakingly fast, almost a carbon copy of Shoyo's fast break.
The Kainan players stopped in their tracks, watching the expressionless red number 15 run back to their own half of the court.
That's too fast.
I can't keep up at all.
"Cheer up, everyone!"
Maki's deep voice rang out, instantly dispelling the nascent wavering.
He received the ball from the baseline, but instead of making a quick advance, he steadily controlled the ball past midfield.
He wanted to slow down the pace and respond to Shohoku's pure talent bombardment in the way Kainan was best at.
Kainan has been selected.
Shohoku defended a 2-3 zone defense, with Akagi anchoring the paint.
Hisashi Mitsui was tightly positioned in front of Soichiro Jin at the strong side corner.
After a brief exchange of glances with Mu, Jin began to run without the ball.
He suddenly started moving, using Kazuma Takasago's screen from the strong side corner, quickly passing under the basket and cutting straight to the weak side.
Mitsui didn't notice Jin running.
When he came to his senses...
Jin has taken advantage of this brief gap to get a good open space in the weak side corner.
When Mitsui gave chase again, he was blocked by Takasago once more.
At the same time, Maki executed a simple and efficient pick-and-roll with Tadashi Muto at the top of the key.
Muto's cover was solid, Maki instantly broke free of Miyagi, creating space for a breakthrough.
Shohoku's zone defense was forced to contract, and the strong side instantly became a four-man defense consisting of Maki, Muto, Takasago, Jin against Miyagi, Rukawa, and...
Akagi has a 4v3 advantage.
On the weak side, only Mitsui, who had just broken free from cover and was chasing after them, and Kawamoto, who had intentionally or unintentionally led Kiyota to the corner.
However, Maki did not break through. After attracting enough defensive attention, he pushed the ball horizontally with one hand, and the ball flew towards Jin, who had just positioned himself in the weak side corner.
Jin caught the ball without the slightest hesitation.
Bend your knees, jump, and release the ball.
"Swish"
Hollow core into the net.
Kainan 5:2 Shohoku.
There was no roaring, no celebration.
The Kainan players quickly retreated to their defensive positions, maintaining a disciplined formation.
A perfect execution of tactics.
He responded with a powerful dunk using teamwork, precise passing, and top-notch shooting skills.
The textbook-perfect shift between the strong and weak sides punished Shohoku's momentary lapse in defense.
Riki Takato gently fanned himself, his expression calm.
This is what basketball in Kainan should be like.
Anzai's expression was serious.
Kainan is definitely not Shoyo.
They won't be thrown off balance by a single individual performance; they have a complete and mature system to deal with all kinds of challenges.
Shohoku launches another attack.
Miyagi advanced quickly, and without hesitation after crossing half-court, he flicked his wrist, sending the basketball flying towards Kawamoto once again.
Kawamoto Kazuki received the ball at a 45-degree angle on the right side, Nobunaga Kiyota almost pressed his entire body against him in an instant.
He kept waving his arms, trying to disrupt any possible offensive options.
Don't even think about going there!
Kiyota growled, his eyes filled with a fierce determination to fight to the death.
Kawamoto dribbles with his right hand, his body slightly leaning to the right.
Just as Kiyota's center of gravity shifted, Kawamoto's right wrist suddenly jerked.
Behind-the-back dribble!
The basketball bounced precisely to his left hand, and with the force of the bounce, he quickly pulled himself to the left.
Kiyota's balance was completely misled, and he slipped.
When he tried to move to cover, Kawamoto had already used pure explosive power to forcefully run over him from the side!
"Too fast!"
A gasp rippled through the stands.
However, Kainan's defenses did not collapse.
Shinichi Maki instantly filled in to cover, positioning himself between Kawamoto and the basket.
The king of Kanagawa has finally faced the newly born monster in person.
This was the first time the two faced off directly on both offense and defense.
The air seemed to freeze and pressurize at that moment.
Kawamoto neither slowed down nor immediately passed the ball.
He controlled the ball with his left hand, and when he was a step away from Maki, he suddenly stepped forward with his right foot.
Maki lowered his shoulders, his center of gravity slightly reduced, and remained as still as a mountain.
Kawamoto pulled his foot back, adjusted his dribbling, and took another probing step, this time with a larger amplitude and a more realistic shoulder shake.
Maki made extremely subtle adjustments to his defensive footwork, but his core strategy remained stable.
Now!
The moment Kawamoto retracted his second probing step, he pivoted on his left foot and suddenly pulled his body back to the right, while simultaneously swinging the ball quickly downwards with his right hand, as if preparing to break through from the right!
This exaggerated pullback combined with the ball-driving motion is extremely deceptive.
Maki's defensive focus was inevitably shifted to his left side.
Kawamoto caught the fleeting shift in the center of gravity.
His left foot, poised to strike, exploded out like a spring, not to the right, but with a cross step, breaking through to the left front with all his might!
Maki's reaction was top-notch; he immediately moved sideways and slid in an attempt to block.
However, Kawamoto's move was too explosive and wide, and coupled with the fact that his center of gravity had been lured earlier, Maki was already half a beat behind.
At the same time, Tadashi Muto, who was originally helping on the weak side, rushed over and stretched out his long arm to carry out a fierce card-swiping defense.
Kawamoto Yoko combination shot to force his way through the gap that the two players were about to form.
However, Kainan's defense chain has not yet broken.
Kazuma Takasago, the towering figure guarding the basket, had given up on defending Akagi and roared as he jumped with all his might.
He spread his arms wide, like a wall blocking all shooting angles.
But Kawamoto still had the energy to adjust in mid-air.
With his terrifying core strength, he engaged in a physical confrontation with Takasago in mid-air, forcefully blocking Takasago's take-off space.
At the same time, switch the ball from your right hand to your left hand, slightly turn your body to the side with the contact, and gently flick your left wrist.
The basketball, grazing Takasago's fingertips, spun rapidly as it flew towards the basket.
"Bang—swish!"
Molding and frame installation.
5:4.
The entire offensive sequence, from dribbling past Kiyota with a back dribble, to facing Maki's two probing steps and crossover dribble breakthroughs, to dealing with Muto's card swipe and Takasago's help defense, and finally finishing with a hand switch—
It was executed flawlessly, brimming with power, speed, skill, and calm judgment.
Kawamoto landed.
Without even glancing behind him at Kiyota and Muto, whose faces were ashen, Maki with a grave look in his eyes, and Takasago, who was still in shock, he silently ran back to his own half of the court.
Looking at that red figure, the people from Kainan felt for the first time clearly and directly what it meant to have an overwhelming talent combined with a high level of technical skill.
This monster isn't just good at fast break dunks and pull-up three-pointers.
He can also use the most solid, sharpest, and most unreasonable breakthroughs in positional warfare to tear apart Kanagawa's top-tier defensive chain.
An eerie silence fell over the entire county stadium.
It wasn't the deathly silence that comes after being utterly defeated, but rather the bewilderment that arises from having one's understanding instantly refreshed.
Immediately afterwards, a buzz of discussion spread like a tide from every corner, growing louder and louder.
In the stands, most people actually couldn't understand those complex probing steps, crossover steps, weight shifting, and defensive slides.
But they can understand the outcome.
That red number 15, surrounded by the four people from Kainan, was like a red ghost without a physical form.
With a series of dazzling, almost ground-hugging movements, she dodged and weaved, and then—
The ball went into the basket.
"How—how did he get there?"
"It wasn't forced open?"
"It's not like you just jump up and shoot—"
"He just... he twisted a few times and then it went in?"
"Invincible----"
Someone murmured that word, though no one knows who it was.
Soon, the word spread like a virus among the spectators who didn't understand football.
Yes, I can't understand the details.
But the visual impact of effortlessly taking the head of a general amidst a vast army conveys only one message...
Invincible!
The press box.
The pen in Sanae Nakagawa's hand fell onto the notebook with a thud.
She opened her mouth, forgetting to pick it up.
That last shot...
That wasn't the way she knew Kawamoto Kazuki scored.
It wasn't a domineering three-pointer, nor a brutal collision.
That's art.
It is a killing art of rhythm, deception, footwork, feel, and extreme calmness.
"He—he didn't use any of these when he played against Shoyo before—"
She suddenly realized that her report on the Kanagawa Monster might have only captured a small part of his terrifying power.
Yayoi Aida next to her, covered her mouth, her eyes wide with surprise.