"That was fast!" Fujima exclaimed from the sidelines.
Fujima himself is known for his fast ball passing, and even he says that, which shows how strong Genta Shimizu's skills are.
"Swish!" The three-pointer swished through the net, making the score 3-2.
Yo Aoki thought to himself, "Currently, the Chiba Team is particularly confident in their three-point shooting, and the players' teamwork is quite good, but with this level of skill, it will probably be difficult for them to make it into the national top eight. They definitely have a backup plan."
The game has switched between offense and defense; it's Kanagawa Team's turn to attack.
Facing Uemura's defense, Shinichi Maki took a sudden step forward with his right foot, shifted his weight forward, and pushed off with his left foot, rushing past Uemura's left side in one go! "Ah!" Uemura cried out in fright.
Shinichi Maki skills were so unreasonable that even Yo Aoki couldn't react in time.
"That was way too fast!" The coach nearly dropped his notebook.
Shinichi Maki drove into the paint, completely ignoring the surrounding defense, and forcefully jumped for a layup!
"Don't be so arrogant!" Akashi and Hiroshi Kikkawa rushed forward to stop him at the same time.
Yo Aoki smiled to himself, thinking, "They haven't studied Maki enough!"
In mid-air, Akashi was pressed against Shinichi Maki, but he had no idea that Shinichi Maki was so strong.
"Bang!" The two collided in mid-air. Akashi had clearly violated Shinichi Maki's cylinder rule!
With his superior physical abilities, Shinichi Maki regained his balance in mid-air, flicked his wrist, and sent the ball flying into the basket.
"Whistle! Defensive foul! One free throw!" The referee's whistle blew immediately.
Akashi stared at Shinichi Maki, his face full of disbelief. "How could he still make the shot in this situation?"
"Wow! Maki is amazing!" "As expected of Maki!" A chorus of exclamations erupted from the audience.
The coach breathed a sigh of relief, "We have to stop Maki! Otherwise, we'll definitely lose this game. I thought Uemura could hold on a bit longer, but it looks like we need to adjust."
He turned and shouted to the substitutes' bench, " Akama, go warm up!"
A player on the bench who had been hiding his head with a hat stood up. He took off his hat and was about to speak when the coach added, " Akama," revealing his face— Akama was actually a black man!
Sakuragi, staring blankly at his teammates high-fiving, slowly said, "I'm the core player, right?"
Kiyota immediately noticed Sakuragi's expression and burst into laughter. "Haha, you're the core player!"
Sakuragi yelled, "Then why didn't you pass me the ball?!"
Ten minutes into the game, the score was 27-36, with Kanagawa Team leading by 9 points.
Although Kanagawa's starting lineup has many weaknesses, it depends on who the opponent is. The current Chiba Team hasn't been able to force out their problems yet.
The coach stared at Akama, who was warming up, and felt the time was right.
Akama came to Urayasu Commercial after the National Tournament.
The team was practicing that day when a black man walked into the arena and said he wanted to join the team. The coach immediately became interested.
I asked and found out that the black man's name was Akama, he was 1.88 meters tall, and he was of mixed race. His father was a foreigner and his mother was a local. He had just returned from abroad and it was his first day studying at Urayasu Commercial School.
What excited the coach the most was that Akama had actually played for a foreign school team, and the coach immediately agreed to let him join the team.
But after he arrived, he not only failed to improve the team's strength, but also clashed with his teammates.
The reason lies entirely in Akama's arrogant and disdainful nature.
On his first day with the team, he challenged his teammates, and when he won, he mocked his opponents. Apart from Genta Shimizu, no one could beat him, and as a result, he acted like he was the best in the world all day long.
Almost all the players wanted him to leave, but the coach decided to give him another chance.
"Right now, only Akama can stop Shinichi Maki."
The coach silently prayed, "I hope you can impress your teammates with this game, and I also hope you can change your temperament."
The head coach of Urayasu gripped his tactical board and gritted his teeth. Just as he suppressed his regret, the referee's whistle blew.
"Beep--Blue team requests a substitution! Number 7 out, Number 10 in!"
As soon as Akama stepped onto the field, the sidelines erupted in chaos, with several people pointing at him and whispering among themselves.
Why did they bring in a foreigner for the Nationals Tournament?
"Does the regulation allow foreign players to play?"
"Sure, as long as they are current students."
Akama completely ignored the coach's gestures on the sidelines and went straight up to Sakuragi.
"How did you grow such red hair? Are you mixed race or something?"
Sakuragi retorted, "I'm not!"
Akama raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you say before that you were the core of Kanagawa?"
Sakuragi patted his chest. "Absolutely!"
Akama nodded in satisfaction. "Alright, come on, see if you can defend against me."
Akashi frowned and shouted, " Akama! Your mission is to defend against Shinichi Maki! Don't waste your breath on this weirdo!"
Akama scoffed, "You dare to tell me what to do? You're a piece of trash."
Akashi was furious. "What did you say?"
Genta Shimizu pulled Akashi back, saying, " Akashi, don't bother with him, let's stick to our plan!"
The game resumed, and after Uemura left the court, Shimizu temporarily filled in as point guard. Just past half-court, Akama was heard shouting at the Akama.
Akama roared, "Give me the ball!"
Shimizu initially didn't want to pay attention, but remembering the head coach's instructions, he had no choice but to pass the ball over.
Akama got the ball and beckoned to Sakuragi with his finger, making Sakuragi so angry he was about to pounce on him.
Kiyota shouted first, " Sakuragi! Get back to your defensive position! It's man-to-man defense now, this guy's mine!"
Akagi shouted, " Sakuragi, go defend number 9!"
Sakuragi curled his lip. "Hmph, I'll go after you guys can't hold on anymore!"
Akama glanced at Sakuragi, then at Kiyota, and scoffed, "You two idiots, come at me together."
Kiyota exploded. "Hmph, come on then, you black devil!"
Akama immediately cursed in English and charged straight at Kiyota.
Akama's first step wasn't fast, Kiyota could easily keep up, but Akama suddenly grinned and used his shoulder to firmly block Kiyota.
Ever since Kiyota clashed with Yo Aoki in the preliminaries, he has been training hard to increase his strength, just so he won't suffer the same defeat again.
Although Akama's physical talent was indeed explosive, Kiyota's strength was not to be underestimated either. Akama - he used to rely on his physical strength to overpower his opponents, and this was the first time he had been held back by a small guy.
Akama immediately bristled, and with a slight side elbow, slammed Kiyota hard into the chest, right in the referee's blind spot!
Kiyota cried out in pain and instantly lost his defensive position.
Akama seized the opportunity to rush in and score a layup.
" Kiyota!" Sakuragi rushed over immediately and saw Kiyota kneeling on the ground, retching.
Akama walked over and mocked, "You guys are as weak as chicks, what are you even doing playing ball?"
Sakuragi was so angry that he was about to jump up and punch him, but Shinichi Maki, who ran over, pulled him back.
Shinichi Maki, suppressing his anger, said, " Sakuragi, don't be impulsive!"
Sakuragi yelled, "Uncle! He deliberately bumped into the Wild Monkey!"
Shinichi Maki suppressed his anger. "I know! But the more this is the case, the more we must use our true abilities to win back!"
The Coach Takato on the sidelines shouted at the referee, "He fouled! Didn't you see it?"
The referee shook his head innocently. "I really didn't see it."
Takato was so angry he jumped up and down, cursing, "Bastard!"
Akama, still not satisfied after provoking Sakuragi, turned around and saw Takato complaining, and immediately chuckled.
He swaggered over to the Kanagawa bench, pointed at Takato's face, and said, "You'd better teach your players how to defend properly, instead of letting them end up like this bunch of useless trash."
After saying that, he even imitated a chick pecking at rice before running back to his half of the field, completely satisfied.
Coach Urayasu frowned deeply on the sidelines. He was now truly regretting bringing in Akama. He never expected the kid to be so crazy on the field, and he was getting more and more outrageous.
Although Akashi had raised their concerns before, he hadn't taken them seriously at the time, and now he had no choice but to accept his fate.
Takato called Yo Aoki over and coldly ordered, " Aoki, replace Kiyota with him to face that black man."
"Remember, in this game, don't even think about shooting from the outside; you can only attack the paint!"
Yo Aoki laughed and said, "Teacher, if you do this, you might not have any friends left."
Takato a cold expression, said, "What is Chiba? Daring to provoke us, this is the price for provoking a king!"
Yo Aoki clenched his right fist, pressing his left hand down on top of it, making a crisp "crackling" sound, "Understood, teacher!"
Yo Aoki walked to the technical desk. "Could you please change our player?"
" Aoki is about to enter the game!" Shirota, with his sharp eyes, immediately shouted.
The referee blew the whistle again. "Toot--White team makes a substitution, number 17 goes off, number 15 comes on!"
Kiyota, clutching his stomach, moved closer. " Aoki, that guy plays really dirty, be careful."
Yo Aoki nodded and patted Kiyota on the shoulder. "Don't worry, leave it to me."
Akama caught sight of Yo Aoki entering the game, a smirk spreading across his face as he yelled, "This is the stuff from Kanagawa? A bunch of country bumpkins who've never seen the world! You wouldn't even get a substitute spot on a foreign school team!"
Yo Aoki completely ignored him. He'd heard that kind of trash talk too many times; on the court, skill was everything.
The game resumed, Kanagawa Team attacked. Shinichi Maki passed the ball to Yo Aoki, instructing him to organize the attack.
Yo Aoki glanced at Akama, who was blocking the left side of the penalty area, still staring at Sakuragi, clearly wanting to continue humiliating him.
Yo Aoki dribbled slowly forward, Kenichi Ono was already in defensive stance outside the three-point line.
He figured that Coach Takato had told him to charge into the paint, and he couldn't let him down.
Yo Aoki smiled and suddenly rushed towards Ono!
As he rushed forward, he suddenly switched his right hand to his left and took a small step forward with his right foot. Ono subconsciously followed suit, and in that instant, Yo Aoki!
Yo Aoki pushed off the ground with his right foot, twisted his body, and changed direction, leaving the stunned Kenichi Ono in one step!
"Wow--!" The entire audience erupted in a chorus of cheers!
After breaking through, Yo Aoki took long strides towards the basket, heading directly towards Akama.
"Charge, Aoki!" Shirota shouted from the stands!
Coach Akai gripped the railing tightly, his eyes fixed on the railing. " Aoki, show these guys what level Takezato's ace is!"
Oriyuki Iwasaki smirked. " Aoki's up to no good again!"
Akama caught a glimpse of Ono being broken through and cursed under his breath, "Useless!"
"In the end, it still depends on me!" He immediately shook off Sakuragi and dashed towards the basket.
Yo Aoki saw Akama coming to help defend, his eyes narrowed, and the two collided under the basket, jumping at the same time!
Akama stretched out his arm in mid-air, ready to block, shouting, "I'll teach you what a block is!"
But the next second he froze. He couldn't see the basketball anymore; he could only see Yo Aoki's waist!
It turned out that after the two jumped, Yo Aoki's jump speed was faster, and he was half a body length higher than him!
Yo Aoki crashed into Akama in mid-air, holding the ball in one hand, leaning his body to the side and back, and slammed it down with a straight arm!
"Ugh!" Akama immediately felt a tremendous force coming from the opposite side, and his body was knocked backward!
"Ah!" Akama cried out in alarm, flying sideways as he went!
"Bang!" Yo Aoki slammed the ball into the basket! "Thud!" Akama landed hard on the floor!
"Good!" Coach Takato roared, pumping his fist. "Finally, I've gotten my revenge!"
The Takezato Team coach's notebook fell to the ground, and he stared blankly at the field.
"Am I dreaming? A high school student can hit a shot like that?" Chiba's Shimizu, Akashi, and the others stared at Yo Aoki with their mouths agape.
Who is this person?
"Ah!!" A scream erupted from the stadium!
"Did you see that? His head looks like it's above the basketball hoop!" a student from Kainan shouted in disbelief. "I... I saw it!"
"Is that black man alright?"
"Serves him right! Who told him to be so arrogant!" "Here it comes! That's the kind of domineering dunk he's got!"
The Takezato Team cheered along!
" Aoki's still so fierce!" Hojo exclaimed excitedly.
Terashima stammered, "Aoki... Captain's strength is actually..."
"Hehe, what's the big deal!" Shirota rubbed his nose. " Aoki's abilities go far beyond this!"
Wakamoto excitedly shouted, "Wow! I must be as strong as Captain Aoki!"
"For a team like this, Aoki's performance is truly something to look forward to!" Imamura remarked.
Coach Akai smiled and said, "You guys need to work hard too, and keep up with Aoki!"
"Follow Aoki's footsteps..." Aside from the boisterous Wakamoto, the other players silently shook their heads. "We're all human, how can we become monsters!"
On the field, Akama was holding his head and groaning; he had hit his head when he fell.
Yo Aoki walked up to him. "Are you on the foreign school team?"