Then, remembering something, Yo Aoki said with a smile, "You're so beautiful, chicken!"
Akama didn't understand what Aoki meant and thought he was being called a weakling, so he angrily blurted out a string of English words starting with F.
Yo Aoki glanced at him; after he fell, none of his teammates paid any attention to him, clearly indicating that the rest of Chiba Team didn't consider him a teammate.
Yo Aoki shook his head slightly. "How pathetic." He turned and left after saying this.
Akama had never been so humiliated!
He glared fiercely at Yo Aoki: "I will make you pay!"
Then he stood up and shouted angrily, "Pass it over here!"
This shout startled Kikkawa, who was preparing to serve from the baseline.
Kikkawa was Tomifusa's friend and didn't know much about Akama's background. Seeing that he was eager to get the ball, he passed it to him.
Actually, Akama is quite skilled. He inherited the athletic talent of Black people, and his playing style is the same as that of foreign players, with beautiful movements.
But he has a major flaw: he loves to use dirty tricks, believing that's the essence of basketball.
But the high school basketball here uses very rigid, formulaic moves, which are completely out of their depth.
Akama completely ignored his teammates' advice, dribbled the ball across the halfway line, and specifically asked Yo Aoki to practice one-on-one.
He was seething with anger, secretly vowing to make Aoki taste the bitterness of being betrayed by his teammates, but on the surface he still pretended to be righteous and indignant.
As he spoke, he turned his back to Yo Aoki and nudged towards the basket. Yo Aoki didn't fight him head-on, but followed him and shuffled to the basket.
Seeing the basket, Akama grabbed the ball, turned around, and raised his elbow to bump into Yo Aoki's chest.
Just as their elbows were about to touch, Yo Aoki suddenly yelled and fell backward onto the ground.
With a "beep," the referee blew his whistle, "Blue number 10, foul for charging!"
Shirota angrily cursed, "Damn it! That black man framed Aoki!"
Oriyuki Iwasaki pouted, "You've only known Aoki for a few days? Is he really that weak and frail?"
Shirota paused, then asked, "You mean, Aoki did it on purpose?"
Oriyuki Iwasaki blinked, " Aoki has a lot of tricks up his sleeve!"
Akama was stunned. Looking at Yo Aoki, who was lying on the ground clutching his chest and his face scrunched up like a bun, he quickly shouted to the referee.
"I didn't touch him! He's faking it!"
The referee pointed to his eyes, "I saw it clearly, raise your hand! Another disturbance and you'll get a technical foul!"
"Damn it!" Akama cursed, but still raised his arm, muttering, "You have to raise your hand to break a rule? I've never seen such a stupid rule!"
Sakuragi and Kaede Rukawa watched the whole thing from the sidelines and both gave Aoki a thumbs up.
"His acting was absolutely superb!"
Aoki jumped up and grinned at them, "That's what we'll do every time we run into Toyotama!"
Before his transmigration, Yo Aoki had seen many elderly people make a living by faking accidents. In the basketball world, players like Harden and Varejão were also skilled at faking accidents, and he learned many tricks from them through observation.
However, he used to think this tactic was underhanded and never used it, but it was perfect for dealing with Akama.
Akama committed a foul, and possession of the ball went to Kanagawa. Akagi was on the sideline preparing to inbound the ball Aoki moved closer.
" Akagi, give it to me."
Akagi's heart skipped a beat when he saw him smile, thinking to himself that this kid was up to something again.
Aoki dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, Akama stopped guarding Sakuragi and moved over to defend him.
Akama thought to himself, "Hmph, I have my own tricks for defense too. Just you wait and see."
Aoki had the ball on the outside when Akama suddenly reached out and slapped his face, intending to scare him but not actually hitting him.
Unexpectedly, Aoki leaned back, pretending to have been fouled, and then, as if to make matters worse, covered his chin and squatted down.
"Beep! Blue number 10, another foul!"
Akama stood there dumbfounded, his eyes wide with innocence. "I really didn't break the rules..."
The referee, too lazy to waste words, simply pointed to his own eyes.
Akama began to question his existence, muttering to himself, "How do these country bumpkins know this trick?"
Kanagawa serves the ball out of bounds, Aoki serves from outside the sideline, and Akama, who is positioned opposite him, comes over to interfere.
Aoki smiled at him, Akama was taken aback. Suddenly, Aoki pushed with both hands, and with a "whoosh," the basketball grazed Akama's face and flew to the side.
Akama realized what was happening and looked down. Kaede Rukawa had already received the ball, jumped, and made a mid-range shot, which went in smoothly.
The score became 27-40, with Kanagawa leading by 13 points.
Akama wiped his sweat in a disheveled manner, his arrogance completely gone. He had almost been hit in the face by the ball just now, and he could feel the force of it. If Aoki hadn't controlled it properly, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
The teams switched sides, Chiba continued his attack. Akama the ball across half-court and headed towards the baseline.
As soon as he reached the sideline, Aoki pressed close behind, gave a sinister smile, and whispered, "Come on then."
Akama suddenly felt scared. This guy was practically a demon. He never wanted to face him again and wanted to run away.
His attention was momentarily distracted, and Aoki seized the opportunity, decisively stealing the ball with a snap.
Aoki caught the ball and held it in his arms; Shinichi Maki had already started his run.
Aoki gripped the ball in his right hand and swung it forward. The basketball bounced off the ground and landed right in front of Shinichi Maki.
Shinichi Maki received the ball without slowing down and easily scored a layup, making it 27-42.
"Beep! Blue team requests a pause!"
The coach called a timeout; the score had already widened to 14 points.
The guy who just came on in Kanagawa gave Akama the creeps.
Whether it was the ferocity of his dunk over someone or the dirty tricks he used to draw fouls afterward, it all made him tremble.
But as soon as the Chiba Team returned to the bench, they all squatted there silently, not uttering a sound.
Akama felt he had lost face and was determined to get it back, so he started criticizing his teammates.
"You guys are so bad! You can't even coordinate with each other!"
Akashi was annoyed and retorted directly.
"Cooperate with you? So we have to prevent you from getting the ball stolen, huh!"
"Looking for death?" Akama jumped up, ready to fight Akashi.
"That's enough!" the Coach Tokito shouted at him.
But what happened next blew Akama away.
" Akama, you should go off the field and rest!"
"Are you fucking out of your mind? Do you even know anything about basketball? How dare you switch me out!"
Akama pointed at the coach and cursed.
Genta Shimizu heard this and grabbed him by the collar, yelling.
"How dare you talk to the Tokito- leader like that? Are you tired of living?"
Akama flung Zhang's hand away and spat.
"With your kind of performance, you'll never even make it to the quarterfinals. No matter how much you train, it's all for nothing. You're a bunch of useless trash!"
As soon as he said that, all the Chiba Team glared at him.
Akama suddenly felt a little guilty, took half a step back, and asked with a forced smile.
What are you trying to do?
At this Coach Tokito signaled everyone to calm down, his face as stern as an iron plate, and said in a deep voice.
You're fired!
Actually, the coach didn't want to kick him out at this time. Although Akama was talented, his character was really too bad. He originally wanted to give him a chance, but these words finally made the coach make up his mind.
"Huh?" Akama thought he had misheard.
"You're fired. You can get out now!"
"Our team is a unit; no one is above the team. No matter how good you are, we don't need you!"
Akashi scoffed.
Besides, you're not that great.
"Go back to your foreign school team, we don't need you here!"
I get annoyed just looking at you!
"Get out of here!"
" Akama is probably the first player in the entire national high school basketball world to be kicked out during a preseason game."
"You guys..." Akama turned bright red.
"They're all country bumpkins! You'll regret this!"
Then he slammed the door shut and turned to leave.
The Coach Tokito breathed a sigh of relief and said to the Chiba Team.
"I'm so sorry everyone, I should have dealt with this sooner!"
Genta Shimizu said with a smile.
"Brother Tokito, it's not too late now!"
"We all know that the Tokito- leader wanted to improve the team's strength!"
Although the coach had the memory of losing to the Aiwa Academy in last year's national tournament etched in his mind, he realized that the team's reliance on outside shooting had reached a dead end. Long-range shots alone could not break through the dead end, so he wanted to try a different tactical style.
Akama's joining the team initially gave him a glimmer of hope. Although the boy was morally flawed, he was patient enough to give him time to change. However, this patience made Akama think he was irreplaceable, and he became increasingly arrogant.
"I'm so sorry for making such a mess of the game," the Coach Tokito apologized again.
But the first half isn't over yet; the second half is where we'll shine!
"Yes! Brother Tokito, we can't give up!"
"They're a tough opponent; it would be a shame not to give it our all!"
Hearing his students' words of comfort, the Coach Tokito finally came to his senses.
"Alright! Let's use our best tactics! Let's show Kanagawa our true strength!"
"Let's go, everyone!" "Go for it!"
On the other side, on the Kanagawa bench, everyone turned to look at Chiba, seeing Akama being kicked out.
Kiyota said happily.
"That kind of scum should have left long ago!"
"Alright everyone! Stop worrying about other things!" Coach Takato said.
"But we can't let our guard down in the upcoming matches!"
Then Coach Takato glanced at Aoki and said with satisfaction.
" Aoki, you did very well. Mitsui will take your place next. You should rest well; I don't want to reveal your true strength too early."
"Yes, teacher!" Aoki replied.
Coach Takato said again.
"In that case, you can decide the rest of the matches yourselves; I won't interfere."
"After his anger subsided, Coach Takato clearly remembered his previous arrangements."
Everyone looked at Aoki, waiting for him to speak.
Aoki rolled his eyes and said.
"Don't look at me! Teacher Takato said I'm going to rest now, I don't care anymore."
Everyone immediately rolled their eyes at Aoki.
"But I have one more hint for you all: don't forget who the key person is today!" Aoki said with a smile.
"Ah!" Sakuragi jumped up and shouted.
"It's me! I'm the core!"
Sakuragi rushed up to Kaede Rukawa and pointed at him.
" Kaede Rukawa, don't shoot! Pass the ball to me!"
Kaede Rukawa leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and ignored him.
"You damned Kaede Rukawa, did you hear me?!"
At this moment, Kiyota asked Aoki in a low voice.
Why did you make Sakuragi the core player?
Aoki raised his chin and pointed to the stands.
Look there!
Kiyota looked up and saw a female student staring at them from a corner on the second floor of the basketball court.
"Isn't this the girl who likes Sakuragi?"
Kiyota slapped his thigh and shouted, "So you made Sakuragi the core player just so he could show off in front of that girl?"
Aoki scoffed, "What else could it be for?"
The game resumed, and after Chiba Team removed Akama from the squad, their overall strength not only didn't decrease, but actually increased. Genta Shimizu hit a long-range three-pointer, bringing the score to 30-4.
When it was Kanagawa Team's turn to attack, Sakuragi finally received the ball. Mitsui couldn't stand Sakuragi's loud noise any longer, so he had no choice but to pass the ball to him. Sakuragi happily held the ball and was about to break through Shimizu's defense when Kikkawa Kokorozashi, who was originally guarding Mitsui, suddenly rushed over and double-teamed him.