Hisashi Mitsui's brow furrowed slightly, and the vortex of inner conflict surged once more.
On one hand, he felt jealous and resentful towards Akagi and others from the Shohoku Basketball Club for "betraying" him.
But on the other hand...
His remaining conscience and love for basketball prevented him from fully condoning the use of violence to bully an innocent junior who might simply be a fan of basketball.
His heart tightened, especially when he saw the undisguised ferocity in Tetsuo's eyes.
"Hey, Tetsuo..."
Hisashi Mitsui finally couldn't help but speak up, "Have some restraint... when you do it."
Upon hearing this, Tetsuo grinned, revealing a meaningful smile.
He patted Mitsui on the shoulder, quite firmly. "Don't worry, Mitsui. We won't really do anything to him; at most, he'll have to stay in the hospital for a few months."
His words were casual, yet chilling.
Hisashi Mitsui's face paled, and he opened his mouth, but ultimately remained silent, which was taken as agreement with Tetsuo's words.
The five men, led by Tetsuo, then chased after him, forming a semi-circle to block Kawamoto Kazuki's path.
The atmosphere on the path, bathed in the slanting rays of the setting sun, suddenly became tense.
Kawamoto Kazuki stopped in his tracks.
He stood quietly in place, his gaze calmly sweeping over the faces before him—some fierce, some arrogant, some indifferent.
Finally, the image focuses on Tetsuo.
Experience told him that in such situations, only the most dangerous one deserves attention.
Tetsuo's height of over 1.8 meters, his muscular physique, and his cold eyes all spoke volumes about his danger.
What do you want?
Kawamoto Kazuki spoke, his voice devoid of fear or anger, as if he were questioning an ordinary passerby.
To Noriyuki Hotta, this extreme tranquility sounded like blatant provocation and contempt.
He was already seething with anger because of Sakuragi and Kaede Rukawa.
Being ignored like this by another first-year student in the basketball team, his anger flared up instantly.
"These first-year students at Shohoku High School are really not cute at all."
Noriyuki stepped forward, closing in on Kawamoto, and glared at him, shouting, "Is this how you treat your senior?"
Kawamoto Kazuki merely glanced at him indifferently before returning his gaze to Tetsuo.
This disregard drove Noriyuki completely into a rage.
"Damn it! Didn't you hear what the senior was saying to you?!"
With a roar, Noriyuki could no longer contain himself and clenched his right fist, slamming it down on Kawamoto Kazuki's face.
He was a burly man, and this punch, delivered in anger, was quite powerful.
If an ordinary person were hit in the face, a broken nose would be the least of their worries.
Takashima and the others standing nearby wore excited smiles, as if they could already see the utterly miserable state of this arrogant freshman.
Kawamoto Kazuki did not dodge the swiftly approaching punch.
He didn't even make a blocking stance; just as the fist was about to strike, his right hand shot out like lightning and grabbed Noriyuki's wrist with perfect precision.
"Um?"
Noriyuki was stunned, feeling his right hand being tightly gripped by a pair of iron pincers.
He tried to break free, but found that the other person's fingers were like cast iron, and he couldn't break free at all.
Immediately afterwards, Kawamoto Kazuki squeezed his five fingers together slightly.
"Ouch--! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!!"
Noriyuki instantly let out a pig-like scream, his entire face contorted in agony.
A sharp, tingling pain shot through my arm and spread throughout my body in an instant, leaving my entire right arm powerless and my fist numb.
Kawamoto Kazuki stared expressionlessly at Noriyuki, who was grimacing in pain, before releasing his grip.
The backward momentum caused Noriyuki to stumble back several steps before falling flat on his backside.
He touched his right wrist, which was throbbing with pain, and looked at Kawamoto with eyes full of fear.
What kind of superhuman strength is that? Is there not a single normal person in the basketball team?
Takashima and the others were also dumbfounded. Noriyuki was crippled in a single move?
They didn't share Noriyuki's feelings, so they couldn't possibly know how terrifying Kawamoto Kazuki's strength was.
But seeing their Noriyuki brother, Tokuo, suffer a loss, the two of them almost instinctively rushed towards Kawamoto Kazuki.
"Damn it! How dare you lay a hand on Brother Noriyuki!"
Takashima struck first, lunging at Kawamoto Kazuki from the side.
With his right fist clenched, he thrust straight at Kawamoto's waist and ribs.
If that hit lands squarely, it would be enough to instantly choke someone and render them unable to fight.
He roared, "Don't underestimate me! I'll show you the rage of a third-year student!"
The tall, thin man was a few seconds later, and he also lunged forward from the other side.
He raised his leg and kicked Kawamoto in the lower body.
He hissed, "Lie down!"
Although their teamwork wasn't exactly seamless, their pincer attack still effectively shut down most of Kawamoto Kazuki's escape routes.
Faced with this sudden attack from both above and below, Kawamoto Kazuki's expression did not change in the slightest.
When Takashima attacked from the left, Kawamoto merely shifted his upper body back slightly.
Takashima's fierce punch grazed the hem of his school uniform and missed.
Just as Takashima missed his punch and his body leaned slightly forward due to inertia,
Kawamoto's left elbow "lightly" bumped into Takashima's cheek at a tricky angle.
"Ugh!"
Takashima felt a sudden loss of consciousness, rushed a few steps forward, fell face down to the ground, and passed out.
The kick that came from the right side only arrived at this moment.
Kawamoto kicked out with his right foot, the sole of his leather shoe striking the shinbone of the tall, thin man's incoming kick!
"Snap!"
A soft cracking sound was heard.
"Ah--! My leg!"
The tall, thin man let out a piercing, distorted scream and collapsed to the ground instantly.
Tears and snot streamed down his face as he clutched his throbbing leg and rolled on the ground in agony.
Three out of the five were instantly crippled.
Only Tetsuo and Mitsui remained standing on Tetsuo's side.
Noriyuki sat on the ground, supporting his right wrist. He watched his two companions being instantly killed, and was so frightened that he forgot the pain in his wrist.
Hisashi Mitsui stared in disbelief, trembling all over, whether from anger or fear, he couldn't tell.
The air was eerily quiet.
Just then, a burst of laughter broke the silence.
"Hahaha! Interesting! Really interesting!"
It's Tetsuo.
He wasn't angry because his companion had suffered a loss; instead, his eyes gleamed with the excitement of a hunter seizing an opportunity.
He spent years on the streets, got into countless fights, and met all sorts of people.
He could tell at a glance that this high school student named Kawamoto Kazuki was no ordinary person.
Surrounded by five people, his face showed not a trace of fear, not even a flicker of emotion.
Tetsuo was certain that it wasn't a feigned composure, but genuine fearlessness.
It was as if, in his eyes, these few fierce-looking delinquents were no different from roadside weeds.
This kind of temperament, Tetsuo had only seen in a few truly ruthless people.
Moreover, Kawamoto's counterattack just now was fast, accurate, and ruthless!
Without any unnecessary fancy moves, it is the most effective way to defeat the enemy.
That kid's got some skills.
Tetsuo felt his blood begin to boil slightly.
Looks like today won't be boring.
He stepped forward and stood face to face with Kawamoto Kazuki.
The two are nearly ten centimeters apart in height, and their auras are completely different.
Tetsuo was like a blood-stained dagger drawn from its sheath, exuding a chilling aura.
Kawamoto is like a bottomless, icy pool, with unknown terrors lurking beneath the calm surface.
"Hey, kid."
Tetsuo cracked his wrists and neck, making a series of snapping sounds.
"Looks like you're no ordinary basketball rookie. I'm itching to play, want to join me for a game?"
Kawamoto Kazuki looked at the young man in front of him, whose fighting spirit was soaring and whose murderous aura was overflowing.
He raised his hand again to glance at the time on his digital watch.
That unchanging expression finally changed.
He frowned slightly for the first time.
It wasn't fear, but rather a feeling of guilt.
He still has to go to work at the fish market, Boss Kobayashi is probably getting impatient.