"Ah!!" Takasago fell to the Takasago, his head almost hitting the basketball hoop. A girl next to him was so frightened that she quickly covered her eyes and couldn't bear to look. Uozumi shouted loudly, " Yo Aoki, what are you doing!" Even in the game against Ryonan, Yo Aoki only dunked on him at the beginning, and his performance after that was quite "lukewarm".
But right now, Yo Aoki is like a mad bull with bloodshot eyes! As soon as he penetrates Kainan's paint, he can knock the defenders off their feet!
At that moment, Sendoh suddenly spoke up. Sendoh said, "This is Takezato's only chance to defeat Kainan! If it were me, I would do the same!"
Upon hearing this, Hikoichi Aida's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and he asked in a loud voice, "What weakness could Kainan possibly have?"
Coach Taoka then slapped his thigh in realization, and then exploded in anger, "Oh, I see! But this is way too reckless! It's practically playing with the players' futures!"
Hikoichi Aida hurriedly pressed, "Teacher, what exactly is Kainan's weakness?"
Coach Taoka stared at the Kainan Team's banner and said in a deep voice, " Kainan's weakness is these two words—constant victory!"
Hikoichi Aida frowned and asked, "Why is being invincible a weakness?"
Coach Taoka explained, " Yo Aoki did this to try and 'trade injury for injury.' If Kainan Team's key players get injured in this match, it will definitely affect their performance in the national tournament a month later!"
"This is absolutely unacceptable to Kainan, which has ambitious goals for the national competition!"
"But if we take some of our key players off the Takezato Team!"
"That's why they assigned Yo Aoki to defend Soichiro Jin, just to prevent Jin's three-pointers from widening the score gap and keeping the game close!"
"This is the real tactic for the Takezato vs. Kainan match!"
Hikoichi Aida swallowed hard. He had never imagined that a basketball game could be played in so many different ways!
The Kainan Team members swarmed around, scrutinizing Takasago to check his condition.
Takasago struggled to her feet. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
"Damn it!" Kiyota cursed angrily, raising his leg to rush up and settle the score with Yo Aoki.
Soichiro Jin reached out and grabbed him. " Kiyota, calm down, this is normal physical contact!"
"This is normal? Takasago- senpai almost died!"
Shinichi Maki interjected, "Instead of just making a fuss from the sidelines, why not go on stage and get back on your feet?"
The entire Kainan team glared fiercely at Yo Aoki.
Coach Takato on the sidelines saw Takasago fall to the ground and his heart jumped – a center forward is not as agile as a guard or forward, and a fall can easily result in a broken bone.
He was about to wave goodbye to Takasago when he reconsidered. "If Takasago gets injured, the national tournament will be difficult. We've already qualified, so there's no need to take the risk here in Takezato."
But then it dawned on him, and he slapped his forehead. "Wait! Could this be what Takezato is planning?"
Yo Aoki had been thinking about tactics to deal with Kainan, and he came up with several plans, but rejected them all because those tactics were simply beyond the capabilities of his Takezato skills.
The strategy against Ryonan was to force Sendoh to stop organizing the offense and fight him one-on-one, thus bypassing the weakness of Takezato's other players' lack of strength. The strategy against Shohoku was even simpler. Shohoku's starting five were all playing their own games and were internally divided, relying entirely on Akagi to hold them together. Once he targeted Akagi, the remaining four lost their backbone, and Shohoku collapsed.
But Kainan is different. They have a strong team spirit and excellent teamwork. Even if Yo Aoki and Shinichi Maki were to trade blows, Kainan still has formidable figures like Soichiro Jin and Nobunaga Kiyota, so Takezato simply cannot win. Scientific training and talent reserves are what have created their undefeated championship foundation for sixteen years!
"Invincible?"
When Yo Aoki wrote those two words, he suddenly remembered the game between Shohoku and Sannoh. Sakuragi had fallen and hurt his back while saving the ball, but stubbornly insisted on going back on the court. Coach Anzai stopped him, saying, "I want to see you play better and better on the court. As your coach, I failed in my duty and almost made a mistake that I will regret for the rest of my life." He wanted to substitute Hanamichi Sakuragi.
" Kainan has now qualified for the national competition. Will they give up the national competition in order to maintain their 'victory'?"
"Maybe this trick really will work!"
On the court, Yo Aoki was being stared at by a group of people with dagger-like eyes. He just chuckled and said, "Now I'm the villain, aren't I?"
"Then I'll do what villains do."
So Yo Aoki yelled at the top of his lungs, "Is this all the King of Kainan can do? They're so weak!"
He then gave a thumbs-down gesture. Looking at the furious Kiyota and the others whose faces had darkened, Yo Aoki chuckled, "Get angry! Lose your temper! Takezato's chance has arrived!"
The referee confirmed that Takasago was alright and blew his whistle to restart the match.
Shinichi Maki dribbled past half-court and saw Kiyota waving for the ball, so he smiled and passed it to him directly.
Kiyota, being watched by Shindo, suddenly dribbled to the right. He abruptly pulled the ball back, executed a crossover dribble, and changed direction, rushing to the left!
Shindo was thrown off balance by this series of rhythmic changes, and Kiyota charged straight at him!
"Oh no!" Shindo exclaimed in alarm, turning around to give chase, but just as he turned, Kiyota had already driven to the basket and was about to make a layup.
"So fast?"
Kiyota leaped into the air, reaching out to slam the ball in! "Don't underestimate the king's strength!" Suddenly, Soichiro Jin's voice boomed in Kiyota's ears!
Kiyota glanced around and thought, "Damn it, that damned Yo Aoki is coming again!"
Seeing Kiyota shake off Shindo, Yo Aoki immediately shook off Soichiro Jin and drove to the basket.
Although Kiyota jumped really hard, his height and strength were far inferior to Yo Aoki's.
Just as Kiyota jumped, Yo Aoki leaped up and reached out to block. With a muffled thud, Yo Aoki's large hand slammed down on the ball, forcefully pulling it back as if grabbing an offensive rebound, snatching the ball from Kiyota's hands.
With a thud, Kiyota was knocked to the ground again by Yo Aoki.
The crowd erupted instantly. "Holy crap! Aoki!! Aoki!!"
"That's amazing!!"
"That Yo Aoki actually beat Kainan to a pulp!"
The four from Nagashima haven't changed their expressions since they came on stage. Although their relaxed, spectator-like demeanor when they first arrived is long gone, they originally came to observe the younger generation, but now they've turned into pilgrims!
Am I dreaming?!
"Have we come to the wrong venue? This is a professional-level competition!"
"What's going on?!" Coach Takato couldn't hold back any longer!
Kiyota has already been knocked down three times by Yo Aoki, but the match has only been going on for less than five minutes!
It's easy to imagine how Aoki will "take care" of these people from Kainan next.
"He's not qualified for the national tournament anyway, so it doesn't matter if he gets injured, right? That's too unfair, Akai!"
Actually, this kind of physical contact is very normal in basketball nowadays. Not to mention the NBA, even the intensity of the CBA is not something that ordinary people can withstand.
If Aoki knew Takato was thinking, he would definitely scoff. "This level of intensity is nothing, the real challenge is yet to come!"
After all, basketball has never been a gentleman's sport in Aoki's eyes!
"Beep—" The referee blew the whistle and stopped the game!
Because Kiyota was still lying on the ground and hadn't gotten up!
The referee glanced at Kiyota's condition and immediately waved to the Kainan bench, telling them to carry Kiyota off the bench for treatment.
After all, Kiyota is only 1.78 meters tall, so he is inherently weak in aerial combat. He lost his balance immediately after being blocked by Aoki's big block, and before landing, he subconsciously used his left hand to brace himself against the ground, causing his elbow to dislocate in the opposite direction.
While the Kainan were carrying Kiyota away for treatment, Aoki gathered his teammates together.
Aoki spoke up, "I reckon Kainan will send Maki to defend against me next."
Shindo nodded with a smile, "Yes, if you keep going like this, where will Kainan put its face?"
Aoki smiled and said, "If Kainan replaces Kosuge Kiyota someone else, we'll stick to our current defense; but if Kainan brings in number 15, Miyamasu, then I'll keep an eye on Maki."
Hojo said with a wry smile, "Then I really hope that Kainan will Miyamasu."
Aoki patted Hojo on the shoulder. "Don't be discouraged, Hojo- senpai. Maki is one of the top guys in the country. It's perfectly normal that you can't defend against him. If you could, you'd be an overnight sensation."
Hojo laughed and scolded, "It's not as easy as you make it sound."
Mizuki interjected, " Aoki, isn't that Yoshinori Miyamasu the guy you mentioned whose three-point shooting ability is second only to Soichiro Jin?"
Aoki nodded. "Yes, it's him. I can only try my best to prevent Maki from passing on to Soichiro Jin, that's all I can do, so Hojo- senpai, you'll have to keep a close eye on him."
Hojo nodded. "Don't worry, I'll keep a close eye on him."
In Kainan, after Kiyota received some basic treatment, the pain in his arm subsided somewhat.
Coach Takato breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Kiyota was alright.
"We can't keep dragging this on!"
Having made Takato shouted directly, " Kiyota, you go off the field and Miyamasu for a bit. Miyazu, you come on!"
Kiyota panicked. "Coach, I'm fine! I can still play!"
Takato shook his head. "No, you should go off the field and observe for a while. We'll decide whether you can go back on once we're sure everything is alright."
Seeing that Takato's attitude was firm, Kiyota stomped his foot angrily and sat down on the bench.
Takato turned to Miyamasu and said, " Miyamasu, once you're on the court, shoot three-pointers whenever you have the chance, and try to widen the score gap!"
Miyamasu nodded. "Yes!"
Takato shouted at Shinichi Maki again, " Maki, go and guard against Yo Aoki!"
Shinichi Maki smirked. "I've been waiting impatiently for a long time!"
The referee immediately called out, "White team makes a substitution! Number 10 goes off, number 15 comes on!"
As expected, the change of personnel made Aoki's plan work.
Upon seeing Miyamasu enter the arena, Aoki turned to look at Hojo, Hojo nodded.
The referee blew the whistle, and the game restarted.
Shindo throws the ball in from the sideline to Hojo, Hojo dribbles it to the frontcourt and finds himself being defended by number 15, Miyamasu, who has just come on as a substitute.
Hojo laughed and shouted towards Aoki, " Aoki, you really are a prophet!"
Aoki stepped forward to ask for the ball, Hojo immediately raised the ball above his head and passed it to Aoki right in front of Miyamasu.
As soon as Aoki received the ball, a deafening cheer erupted from the sidelines! It turned out that Shinichi Maki had moved next to Aoki and was finally starting to defend Aoki!
The audience erupted instantly. These two—one the king of Kanagawa, the other a rising superstar who emerged this year—and more importantly, both renowned for their strength, what would happen if they faced off?
The audience gets excited just thinking about it.
Unlike the excitement of the audience, Aoki and Shinichi Maki on the field remained incredibly composed. Both knew that giving the other even the slightest opportunity would be fatal.
Aoki bent over, lowering his center of gravity, and held the ball at his sides, ready to break through at any moment.
Everyone had the same question: Could Aoki break through Maki's defense?
Just as everyone was waiting to see what method Aoki would use to break through.
Mizuki suddenly rushed towards Yo Aoki, and as soon as she got close, she set a screen for Yo Aoki.
Yo Aoki pushed off the ground with his left foot and lunged towards the gap next to Mizuki.
However, Shinichi Maki had already sensed something was amiss and immediately bypassed Mizuki, sticking close to Yo Aoki.