The game continues.
As Kawamoto predicted, Miuradai immediately unleashed a three-man encirclement.
Captain Kengo Murasame, small forward Kazunari Miyamoto, and shooting guard Hiroshi Takatsu seemed to receive mysterious instructions during the timeout.
Even during Miuradai's offensive round, the three players quickly surrounded Kawamoto Kazuki after entering the game.
Kazuo Araki, serving from the baseline, was stunned...
It's our offensive turn! What the hell are you three supposed to be doing, keeping an eye on things?
Who should I pass the ball to now?
Is it Akio Kawasaki, that big, clumsy center?
With no one to receive the ball, Kazuo Araki had no choice but to call center Akio Kawasaki to the baseline to receive it.
Kawasaki's ball control is very poor. Just past the center circle, Shiozaki and Kakuta, who were left unmarked, rushed up to challenge for the ball.
Before he could even pass the ball, it was intercepted by Kakuta.
Kawamoto Kazuki received a pass from Kakuta.
The Miuradai trio on the Murasame side did not waver in the slightest despite conceding a goal.
Upon closer inspection, the three of them actually seemed a little excited!
Hiroshi Takatsu then moved to Kawamoto's left side, spreading his arms to form legs and feet.
Kazunari Miyamoto quickly moved to Kawamoto's right, blocking any possible escape routes for Kawamoto.
It appears to be composed of a torso and arms.
Murasame finally rushed up to Kawamoto, arms outstretched, face contorted in a ferocious grimace, as if shouting...
I will form the head.
The three of them instantly completed the Human-Flesh Fusion Sealing Jutsu against Kawamoto Kazuki!
Six arms swung, three bodies pressed together, trapping Kawamoto firmly at the top of the three-point arc.
This was probably Miuradai's first and only successful team play in the entire match.
"Hahaha! Did you see that? Number 15!"
Murasame let out a hysterical laugh, unleashing his full trash-talking skills. "Your solo show is over! Now we're a trio, you can't move an inch! Keep throwing! Try throwing over my head if you dare! Try using a fake again!"
"Don't worry, Captain, if you can't control your jump, I'll pull you down." Miyamoto grunted.
"That's right, we won't jump together as a group of three. Let's see what you do then!" Hiroshi Takatsu's eyes blazed with anger.
In the stands, Ryonan's Hikoichi Aida stared blankly at his notebook, muttering, "Three... three-man encirclement... this formation... it's kind of like that... Voltron?"
On the Shohoku bench, Hanamichi Sakuragi's eyes widened. "Wow! Are those three playing human pyramid? How despicable! Three against one!"
Kawamoto Kazuki, who was sealed by the Human-Flesh Fusion Sealing Jutsu, showed no change in expression in front of the human wall formed by the three.
He ignored the trio's trash talk and calmly observed the situation across the wall of people.
Shiozaki and Kogure were left empty in the bottom corner, as vast as the Pacific Ocean.
He then glanced at the somewhat comical encirclement, as if assessing the defensive strength of this fusion technique.
This level of double-teaming is riddled with weaknesses.
"Three-in-one?"
For the first time, my usually calm and collected heart stirred.
He almost laughed.
Just as Murasame was shouting the loudest, Miyamoto was exerting the most force, Hiroshi Takatsu was resisting the most fiercely, at the very moment when the three thought their combined seal was perfect...
Kawamoto a move.
There were no forceful collisions, no fancy dribbling.
He only spotted a tiny gap created by Miyamoto's movement.
With a flick of his wrist, the basketball flew through Miyamoto's legs at a tricky angle and bounced off the ground to Tetsushi Shiozaki.
"What?!" Murasame's smile froze on his face.
"Why isn't he shooting!" Miyamoto felt a chill in his groin.
"Passed the ball? Where's the ball?" Hiroshi Takatsu looked down, searching for the ball.
The three, who had been perfectly aligned, were thrown into disarray the moment the ball disappeared.
Shiozaki received the incredible pass at the bottom corner, with nothing in front of him.
Remembering Kawamoto's instructions, he took a deep breath and made his move.
The moment Shiozaki released his shot, Kawamoto, Kawamoto off the ball, rushed out, causing Hiroshi Takatsu to stumble and almost fall.
Kawamoto used his strength to squeeze into the paint area.
"Don't even think about escaping! Stay here!" Murasame roared, reaching out to grab Kawamoto's clothes.
But Kawamoto's speed exceeded his expectations, and he was freed after only managing to grab a small part of the edge of the jersey.
Are Shohoku's jerseys so smooth? Are they made of ice silk?
After shaking off the three brothers, Kawamoto drove straight to the basket to contest for the potential rebound.
Behind him were three heads, torsos, and legs, looking somewhat dazed and even blaming each other for failing to merge.
Someone in the stands couldn't help but burst out laughing.
The whole audience burst into laughter.
What a threesome, it's just a joke!
Shiozaki's shot was slightly flat due to nervousness.
"Bang!"
The basketball bounced off the front edge of the rim.
"The rebound is mine!"
Akio Kawasaki roared inside.
Just as the basketball bounced up, Kawamoto Kazuki leaped high into the air and grabbed the backboard with one hand over Akio Kawasaki's head.
"What?"
Kawasaki felt a sudden darkness above his head, and then the ball was gone.
Kawamoto grabbed the rebound and, without pausing, instantly flung the ball in mid-air towards Kiminobu Kogure, who was left wide open on the other side.
Kogure received the ball at a 45-degree angle on the opposite side of Shiozaki, made a slight adjustment, and then shot.
However, the movements were somewhat rushed due to the fast pace.
"Bang!"
Another missed shot!
"Mine!"
Akio Kawasaki and Satoru Kakuta took off at the same time.
But Kawamoto Kazuki was faster!
His incredible ability to jump repeatedly allowed him to overtake his opponent and grab the offensive rebound once again.
"Asshole!"
Murasame, eyes blazing with fury, roared angrily at the inner line.
" Kawasaki! What are you doing! Are you letting him pad his rebounding stats?!"
Akio Kawasaki almost cried; he jumped!
He really jumped with all his might!
But Shohoku's number 15 jumped even higher and faster!
What could he do?
You have the nerve to criticize me? Even the Voltron we created couldn't defeat this monster!
Kawamoto passed the ball again to Kogure, who was in an open position.
It's still the same location.
With the groundwork laid earlier, Kogure regained his composure after receiving the ball.
Looking at the empty space in front of him, he even had time to recall the muscle memory from hundreds of practice sessions.
Then jump and shoot.
The basketball traced a perfect arc.
"Whoosh--!"
We finally made it in!
20:0!
"Good shot! Kogure- senpai!"
Kawamoto sent words of encouragement.
Miuradai serves from the baseline again.
Fortunately, the Voltron had disintegrated due to the previous failure, and Hiroshi Takatsu returned to his familiar position.
Point guard Kazuo Araki nervously received the inbound pass from Hiroshi Takatsu.
He had only dribbled two steps past the center line when he saw that damn Shohoku's number 15 had already closed in.
The massive defensive shadow instantly loomed over him.
"Damn it! This is never going to end!"
Araki was furious, cursing inwardly, "Couldn't you have waited until I passed this hot potato on before you tried to take it?"
He tried to change direction to protect the ball, but Kawamoto's pressure distorted his movements.
Kawamoto spotted the opening when the ball was dribbling a little too high and used his long arm to precisely steal the ball once again.
"Smack!"
Steal!
"Aaaaaah!"
Araki has gone mad.
After stealing the ball, Kawamoto shook off all the defenders and launched a fast break to the frontcourt, where he suddenly stopped outside the three-point line.
Jump and release.
"Whoosh--!"
The seventh three-pointer!
23:0!
The entire audience was stunned.
It was just a steal followed by a three-pointer, right?
It's just a basic routine for Shohoku's number 15; nothing to celebrate.
Miuradai serves from the baseline again.
This time, shooting guard Hiroshi Takatsu stood outside the baseline, his expression blank with only the emptiness of despair.
He stared at the glaring 23:0 on the scoreboard, then glanced at the white demon in the distance, and suddenly made a move that stunned everyone.
He tossed the ball to Captain Murasame, who was running forward, as if throwing away trash, and then slowly walked towards Shohoku's half of the court.
He was too lazy to even run anymore.
" Takatsu! You son of a bitch..."
Murasame almost missed the ball, and before he could finish cursing, he saw the white number 15 player closing in.
The immense pressure caused Murasame's hand to tremble, and the ball almost slipped from his grasp.
He was terrified, as if he were holding a red-hot iron, and without even looking, he threw the ball to Kazuo Araki was still in shock just past the halfway line.
"Holy crap! Captain, don't get me in trouble!"
Araki was utterly terrified; catching the ball was like catching a bomb.
Without almost a second thought, he immediately passed the ball back to Murasame, who had just crossed midfield, as if they were practicing passing.
Under immense psychological pressure, the two staged a farcical yet pathetic blame-shifting drama.
Murasame was almost in tears.
The point guard didn't want to handle the ball, and that bastard shooting guard Hiroshi Takatsu was still sleepwalking in the backcourt.
He had no choice but to glance out of the corner of his eye and see that small forward Kazunari Miyamoto seemed to have an open space, so he quickly passed the ball to him.
However, Kiminobu Kogure had been preparing for this for a long time!
He spotted Murasame's flustered passing route and suddenly lunged forward to intercept!
"Smack!"
Steal!
Shohoku steals the ball again!
It's not that he has a particularly keen defensive instinct.
With Kawasaki currently trapped by Shiozaki and Kakuta, the only possibility for Murasame to pass the ball is Kazunari Miyamoto.
Without hesitation after intercepting the ball, Kogure forcefully flicked it forward.
The moment he made the steal, Kawamoto Kazuki had already started his run at full speed.
He shook off all the defenders and received a long pass from Kogure outside the three-point line in the frontcourt.
Catch the ball, jump, and shoot.
Its movements were as steady as a machine.
"Whoosh--!"
Eighth three points!
26:0!
"Beep beep beep beep!"
The referee seemed to have had enough and kept blowing his whistle.
It wasn't a foul...
It was Miuradai's head coach who used the last timeout of the first half.
He slumped into the chair, covering his pale face with his hands, as if he had aged ten years in an instant.
Meanwhile, the five players from Miuradai on the field either looked up at the sky or down at the ground, their eyes vacant and their fighting spirit completely gone.
Although they all looked big and burly.
Ultimately, they were just a group of high school students who hadn't experienced the harsh realities of society and were emotionally fragile.
In the stands, the Ryonan members were speechless with any commentary.
As they looked at the zombies at Miuradai, a single thought arose in their minds: trash.
The cheers from Shohoku's bench for Hanamichi Sakuragi were deafening.
Miyagi, Akagi, Mitsui, and Rukawa fell into an even deeper silence.
Less than 5 minutes into the game.
Shohoku closed Miuradai zero at 26:0.
Of those 26 points, 24 came directly from Kawamoto, and the other 2 came from his assists.
On the defensive end, Kawamoto completely dominated steals, blocks, and offensive and defensive rebounds...
It can be said that he single-handedly tore apart a team that was among the top 8 in the county last year, both offensively and defensively.
The match seems to have ended prematurely.
But the timer still showed a full thirty-five minutes and 23 seconds.
There are still more than 30 minutes left, how should we play?
This question was left to Miuradai.