Takenori Akagi stood beyond the baseline, veins bulging on the backs of his hands.
He could clearly feel his teammates' confidence crumbling.
Their last hopes in him as their captain were teetering, too.
Kakuta's eyes darted away, Yasuda's face was pale, and Shiozaki was breathing rapidly. Even Kogure, the steadiest of them all, had completely lost his fighting spirit.
This couldn't go on!
Akagi took a deep breath, a glint of resolve flashing in his eyes.
He had to take this possession himself!
He had to score!
Even if it was only two measly points, he had to break through this suffocating score gap.
He had to salvage a shred of the team's wavering morale!
"Captain Akagi!"
Yasuda called from beyond the baseline, looking for someone to receive the inbound pass.
Without hesitation, Akagi raised his arm and growled, "Give me the ball!"
Yasuda froze for a moment.
Normally, a baseline inbound would go to the point guard first to set up the offense.
Passing directly to the center was a risky choice.
But faced with Akagi's almost blazing eyes and the desperate situation on the court...
Yasuda gritted his teeth and lobbed the ball high toward him!
The basketball flew straight toward Akagi.
Akagi caught it securely, his feet planted firmly on the floor.
He intended to bring the ball up himself from the backcourt.
His ballhandling was only average, but he had no other choice.
They desperately needed a basket to break the deadlock.
He intended to rely on his individual ability to attack what he considered the opposition's weakest link.
He would force an opening through their center, Sasaoka.
"The captain's going one-on-one!"
A flicker of hope rose in Kogure's heart.
But just as Akagi prepared to advance...
"Switch!"
A calm yet unquestionable voice rang out.
It was Kawamoto Kazuki!
Almost as soon as he spoke, Kawamoto, who had been guarding Kakuta, stepped in front of Akagi!
Sasaoka understood immediately and quickly switched onto Kakuta, who posed no immediate threat.
A defensive mismatch!
Kawamoto Kazuki was personally matching up against Shohoku's ace center, Takenori Akagi.
A wave of stifled gasps instantly swept through the gym.
At 197 centimeters, Takenori Akagi was one of the prefecture's top power centers.
Kawamoto Kazuki stood 192 centimeters tall.
He was five centimeters shorter than Akagi, but when he spread his arms in front of him...
That intangible pressure actually made Akagi's breath catch!
Akagi's expression grew incredibly grave.
He knew better than anyone what terrifying strength lay within the silent first-year before him!
It was the overwhelming strength that had sent him flying like a toy during morning practice!
Trying to overpower him head-on had almost no chance of success!
He couldn't force it!
Akagi made his judgment in an instant.
He decided to rely on the post footwork he had honed for years and his solid fundamentals to try to break through Kawamoto's defense.
As a center, his driving skills might not have been as flashy as a guard's.
But they were solid and steady, more than enough to handle ordinary interior players.
Akagi lowered his center of gravity, dribbling with his right hand and bending his left arm.
He pushed his elbow slightly forward, trying to put some pressure on Kawamoto with his body.
But the force he applied vanished like an ox of clay sinking into the sea.
Kawamoto's base was rock solid.
Akagi's heart tightened, and he immediately changed his rhythm.
He executed a quick crossover in front of his body, trying to shift Kawamoto's balance with footwork and feints.
A feint left, a cut right!
Then a behind-the-back dribble, a sudden stop, and a shot fake.
The sequence was fluid and quick, displaying the fundamentals that made him the team's core.
Unfortunately, it was all futile!
Kawamoto Kazuki's defense always cut off Akagi's preferred driving lane half a step in advance.
Those eyes seemed to see through every fake, piercing straight to Akagi's true intentions.
No matter how Akagi feinted, changed direction, or spun, Kawamoto remained firmly in front of him.
He completely shut down every offensive possibility!
Pressure!
Despair-inducing pressure!
Fine beads of sweat began forming on Akagi's forehead, and his breathing grew heavy.
The seconds ticked away. Any longer, and it would be a 24-second violation!
Just then, Kawamoto Kazuki spoke, his voice utterly calm.
Yet it struck Akagi's already taut nerves like a sledgehammer:
"You're not getting past me."
"Either pass..."
"Or I'll steal it."
"You bastard!!! Stop looking down on me!!!"
Takenori Akagi's reason finally snapped.
The immense humiliation and the pressure of his responsibilities as captain...
Mixed with his anger at Kawamoto's unfathomable strength, they erupted completely.
He let out a beastlike roar and abandoned all technique.
Relying on his last advantages in weight and strength, he barreled toward Kawamoto Kazuki's right side.
With his head clouded, he intended to carve a path through with sheer force.
It was the most primitive, and most helpless, form of offense.
However-
He had underestimated Kawamoto's speed and judgment!
The instant Akagi exerted himself for the drive, Kawamoto Kazuki moved.
Rather than meeting him head-on, he took a precise half step back.
As he deftly redirected the force, his right hand shot out like lightning!
"Smack!"
Another exceptionally crisp sound rang out.
Kawamoto's fingers struck the basketball precisely, knocking it out of Akagi's control!
A steal!
The one-on-one clash between aces ended in Akagi's complete defeat!
"What?!"
Akagi's pupils contracted sharply, his face filled with incredulous horror!
Having secured the steal, Kawamoto Kazuki did not hesitate for an instant!
He accelerated immediately, tearing toward the frontcourt!
"Get back!!"
Kogure let out a desperate shout.
But it was already too late.
Kawamoto was too fast!
The upperclassmen had just gone from hope to despair in an instant and had no time to react!
They could only watch helplessly as that figure left everyone in the dust!
The court ahead was wide open!
Kawamoto Kazuki dribbled across half-court, crossed the three-point line, and took two strides inside the free-throw line.
All the strength in his body gathered in that instant, and he launched himself into the air with everything he had!
Holding the basketball high in one hand, he traced an arc of brutal beauty and hammered it toward the rim-
A tomahawk dunk!
"BOOM!!!"
The rim groaned violently.
It also completely shattered the upperclassmen's last psychological defenses!
11-0!
The glaring crimson numbers on the scoreboard stabbed into every upperclassman's heart like blades.
Satoru Kakuta slumped to the floor, Yasuharu Yasuda looked utterly lost, and Tetsushi Shiozaki clutched his head in both hands.
Even Takenori Akagi stood frozen in place, his eyes empty, as though that dunk had torn out his soul.
They had broken.
Confidence, morale, dignity...
Everything had collapsed.
Kawamoto Kazuki landed easily and turned around, his face expressionless.
His gaze swept across the dejected upperclassmen, their heads hanging like defeated roosters, his eyes perfectly calm.
He walked into the midst of his teammates. His voice was quiet, yet its cold decisiveness carried clearly to every ear:
"Their fighting spirit has already broken."
"Don't hold back."
"Finish this in one push."
"Crush them!"
That icy pronouncement sounded the final death knell for this practice game, which was little short of a slaughter.
Flames burned in the first-years' eyes, ready to end the game.
In the upperclassmen's eyes, only endless gloom and despair remained.
[PS: Guys, don't think this is too exaggerated. It's mainly because the protagonist is set up to be too strong. Going by the original, Akagi's mentality really is prone to crumbling. Hanagata rattled him with fadeaways, Uozumi rattled him, and at nationals, Masashi Kawata outright shattered his Dao heart.]