Besides, the one getting hit was Yoko, of all people!
Shirasawa had arrived a little late, but he had still seen everything that happened.
That nickname, Scumbag Oda, really wasn't for nothing, he thought.
Still, this unexpected little episode wasn't bad. Things seemed to be moving in the direction he had anticipated... Was Sakuragi really about to have his luck turn around?
The uproar made halftime fly by.
For the second half, the teams switched ends.
The score was 65-37, and Shohoku took the court with a massive 28-point lead.
On Takezono's side, every player hung his head, as though they had already conceded defeat in their hearts. Apparently, their coach hadn't come up with any decent solutions during halftime, either.
That was hardly surprising.
If that coach really had any ability, he wouldn't have treated Tatsumasa Oda like a treasure or set his sights on the national tournament...
As an inside player, Oda was only above average in both ability and potential. Especially potential-that determined how far a player could go.
Hanamichi Sakuragi was the type whose potential was bottomless.
Oda couldn't compare. At most, he was a plug-and-play player who could contribute right away.
After that incident, Oda hated Sakuragi even more, his teeth itching with anger as his eyes stayed practically nailed to him on the court.
Sakuragi felt the same.
He no longer merely disliked Oda. He found him disgusting and despicable from the bottom of his heart.
From the jump ball that opened the second half, the two clashed again, fighting for possession even more fiercely than in the first half.
Shirasawa also began deliberately feeding Sakuragi, helping create opportunities for him.
It was just that Sakuragi's finishing was truly something else...
No matter how brilliant Shirasawa's passes were, Sakuragi struggled to put the ball in the basket every time.
Shirasawa dribbled laterally and delivered an exquisite behind-the-back pass near the free-throw line. The ball threaded between two defenders and landed securely in Sakuragi's hands.
Sakuragi smiled confidently, seized the opening, and raised his hands to shoot.
The ball clanged off the back of the rim.
Watching from the sideline, Miyagi tugged at his hair and shouted, "Xiao Bai, don't waste another chance on him! This guy's a real 'terminator'-he terminates scoring opportunities!"
Two possessions later, Shohoku launched a fast break.
From near midcourt, Shirasawa sent an exceptionally long bounce pass slicing through the retreating defense. It bounced up right in front of Sakuragi.
Sakuragi caught it and went straight into his steps for a layup.
Clang... clang!
The basketball bounced twice on the rim and fell back out. Just like that, a perfect fast-break opportunity was gone.
Ayako shook her head helplessly on the sideline and sighed. "Honestly... Sakuragi's ridiculous. He's wasting all those great passes Xiao Bai's going out of his way to give him."
Coach Anzai chuckled instead. "Sakuragi's only been playing basketball for a little over a month. He's already improving very quickly. We need to be more patient. Give him time, and we'll definitely see results."
Shirasawa was a little speechless too, but he wasn't out of options.
In that case... you'll just have to take flight!
On Shohoku's next possession, Shirasawa gave Sakuragi a meaningful look.
Sakuragi understood immediately and began moving actively.
In terms of agility, Oda wasn't remotely in Sakuragi's league. Whenever Sakuragi started running, Oda was always half a beat behind.
After several changes of direction, Sakuragi finally shook free, and Shirasawa's pass arrived instantly.
The ball arrived right as he did!
Hanamichi Sakuragi pulled off another alley-oop, slamming the ball into the basket!
At last, he had vented some frustration. He shot Oda a disgusted glare and spat, "Trash!"
Over the next few possessions, Shirasawa continued directing the offense.
He delivered another three brilliant assists in succession, helping Shohoku keep adding to its score.
The players on the bench had already begun marveling at Shirasawa's passing. They discovered that passing could be a visual treat during a game, making the entire offense so fluid that it was a pleasure to watch.
That series of passes also completely extinguished Takezono's last traces of fighting spirit.
Apart from Oda, who was still battling Sakuragi, the other players had essentially given up resisting.
With eight minutes left in the second half, the score reached 97-52. Shohoku led by a full 45 points!
Coach Anzai decisively called a timeout, ready to pull his troops back.
He substituted out every starter except Sakuragi. After all, this was only a practice game, and there was no deep hatred between the teams. It was time to quit while they were ahead.
If they kept winning like this, it really would be kicking a dog while it was down...
Actually, even making substitutions now was a little late, but Coach Anzai had also wanted to enjoy Shirasawa's passing a little longer and watch more of the team's flowing offense.
Takezono's coach nodded gratefully toward Coach Anzai.
This counted as showing mercy. If they kept losing like this, the team would truly suffer a humiliating loss of face.
More than half the spectators had already left Takezono's gym, their so-called "hellish home court."
The girls had their pride too. Too many of them couldn't bear watching such a complete thrashing.
Tatsumasa Oda slammed a fist against the chair beside him and growled, "Why?!"
"How can there be such a huge gap between us and Shohoku?!"
"And you guys have no fighting spirit at all! How many baskets did you just stand there and watch them score?!"
Oda was throwing his usual tantrum, but this time, his teammates weren't indulging him.
One player replied coldly, "That's enough out of you. This loss isn't entirely our fault. As our ace, just how many points have you scored yourself?"
Those words left Oda speechless. His mouth hung open for a long time, but not a single word came out.
When a team suffered a crushing defeat, if its ace fought with everything he had and scored thirty or forty points, they could at least claim an honorable defeat. But Oda? He had scored just 16 points so far on a full 28 attempts! He either bricked his shots or got blocked. On defense, he had been beaten so thoroughly he couldn't even get angry. As the final barrier inside, he had actually let Shohoku score nearly 70 points in the paint. It wasn't so much that he had contributed nothing as that he couldn't stop them at all...
Only when the coach spoke did the agitated atmosphere settle. "Enough! Stop blaming each other. Everyone bears responsibility for this loss." He paused. "We need to accept defeat, train harder when we get back, and make sure this doesn't happen a second time!" With that, he sighed and sat back down.
That was what he said, but he knew perfectly well that this crushing defeat was all down to one person-Shohoku's number nine, Shirasawa. That guy's ability was absurd, and the 27 assists on the stat sheet were proof! And he hadn't even attempted a single shot all game... Most likely, Coach Anzai was deliberately going easy on them. Otherwise, the game probably would have been a blowout by halftime. This year's Shohoku is incredible... It looks like we'll have to postpone our plans to make nationals.
For the final eight minutes, the coach agreed to put Oda back in at his insistence. Shohoku had left a starter, Sakuragi, out there anyway. Since those two had been battling all game, he might as well let them keep at it. That would give the spectators more for their time than watching the reserves flail at each other in garbage time.
After coming off, Shirasawa picked up the stat sheet and checked it again. Twenty-seven assists-it looked like that would be his final tally for this game. There was nothing he could do. If anyone was to blame, it was Takezono for being so disappointing...
"Xiao Bai, I've noticed you seem really concerned about your stats." Ayako studied him curiously. Shirasawa really was an unusual player. She had never seen anyone go an entire game without attempting a single shot, focusing solely on passing, and caring so much about his assist count. Sometimes, as he looked at it, inscrutable expressions would even unconsciously cross his face.
The question left Shirasawa a little embarrassed. You people don't understand my world... "Uh... I just enjoy looking at it," he said, spouting nonsense with a perfectly straight face. "Every assist means one of our players scored. It's a feeling of sharing, and it's wonderful."
Ayako thoughtfully tapped her chin with her pen and murmured, "The feeling of sharing is wonderful... So that's how you see it." She sat beside Shirasawa with her legs crossed. With her arm raised, the contours beneath her top also showed. "Just how wonderful is it that you keep looking whenever you have a moment?"
The sight left Shirasawa a little dazed, and he blurted out instinctively, "As beautiful as your curves."
The moment he said it, two patches of red swiftly rose on Ayako's face. Her alluring eyes darted toward Shirasawa. He thought she would be embarrassed or angry, but instead, the corners of her mouth lifted, and she said quite openly, "You've got a good eye." Then she walked away, grinning.
Shirasawa couldn't help nodding. Now that's broad-minded.
Back on the court, the game had long since ceased to be about winning or losing. It had become an outright physical battle between Sakuragi and Oda. Fighting for every ball, Sakuragi fully displayed his abundant stamina. He had completely gained the upper hand and grew more excited as he played-because he was watching Oda lose to him little by little!
Oda was filled with frustration, but his body had reached its limit, and Sakuragi was completely overwhelming him. With just over two minutes left, Oda received the ball at a forty-five-degree angle and faced Sakuragi. After several probing moves, he finally got Sakuragi into the air with a fake. He immediately put the ball on the floor and drove inside, using the last of his strength to rise for a dunk! In his mind, if he made this dunk, he had won!
Without time to think further, he slammed the ball toward the rim! But an enormous force stopped it! Oda was shocked. Hanamichi Sakuragi! I just got past him! How is he here again?!
"Hah!" Sakuragi growled, mustering all his strength to swat the ball down! With his stamina exhausted, Oda lost his balance at the same time and crashed to the floor with the ball. With a thud, the basketball rolled out of bounds.
Oda lay motionless on the floor. His body was still alive, but Sakuragi had already killed his heart.
Hanamichi Sakuragi stood before him and said, enunciating every word, "You've already lost to me at basketball. If you want to fight, I'm ready anytime."
With his teammates supporting him, Oda rose weakly to his feet. The light had left his eyes, leaving only utter defeat written there.
With the referee's whistle, the one-sided slaughter finally ended. Takezono's players exhaled in relief-every second had been torment for them. Shohoku, meanwhile, celebrated a long-awaited victory. A practice game arranged with ulterior motives had ended up becoming a convenient favor for Shohoku...
Of course, the greatest beneficiary was undoubtedly Shirasawa.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing 27 assists!] [Received 27 ability points and 500,000 yen in cash.] [Reached 10 assists in a single game. Bonus reward: 5 ability points and 30,000 yen in cash.] [Reached 20 assists in a single game. Bonus reward: 5 ability points and 30,000 yen in cash.]
As the notifications flashed through his mind, Shirasawa felt thoroughly satisfied.
Now he could give himself a proper upgrade.
Especially his ball handling!
Still, when all was said and done, today's game could never have gone so smoothly if Takezono hadn't been so weak.
Once he improved his ball handling, that really would be icing on the cake!
At the sideline, Takezono's players and the handful of remaining fans quietly left. Only their head coach came over to Shohoku.
He bowed respectfully to Coach Anzai.
"Thank you for making the trip and teaching us such a valuable lesson."
Coach Anzai chuckled twice, looking utterly unruffled.
"You have some promising youngsters on your team too. Let's both do our best in the prefectural tournament. I hope we'll have a chance to meet again."
The corners of Takezono's coach's mouth twitched involuntarily.
I don't want to meet you again at all...
"That number nine on your team is the truly talented one. If you don't mind my asking, where did you recruit him?"
He genuinely couldn't figure it out.