Even Shinichi Maki had specifically asked to come watch him.
That made Nobunaga Aota very, very unhappy!
"I really don't get what Maki's thinking," he snorted. "Shohoku might not even make the final four. What's the point of watching them?"
Jin shook his head helplessly.
"Stop complaining," he said mildly. "Doesn't Maki always say you can be confident, but not arrogant? I think that applies pretty well to you."
"We need to learn about any potential opponent. Otherwise, how do you think Kainan managed to dominate Kanagawa for sixteen years?"
He looked toward the arena entrance, curiosity in his eyes.
"And honestly, I'm pretty interested in seeing just what kind of player this Shirasawa is."
Nobunaga Aota curled his lip in disdain.
Right now, "Shirasawa" was practically the name he hated hearing most.
"Jin, get this straight." He raised his chin, his tone certain. "There's only one strongest rookie in Kanagawa this year-and that's me, Nobunaga Aota!"
Thirty minutes before tip-off.
The doors to the players' tunnel burst open.
With everyone watching,
Takenori Akagi led the Shohoku Basketball Team onto the court in long strides!
"Shohoku! Give us another huge win today!"
"Look! That's Shirasawa! Wow... he's even more handsome than in his photos!"
"He's been ridiculously popular these past two days, but you know what they say-the hottest favorite always crashes! I bet he might flop this game."
"..."
The media section was already packed.
Reporters from every outlet had flocked over, scrambling for a piece of Shohoku, the fresh new hot commodity. Quite a few had brought assistants, who clicked away with their cameras, all hoping to capture a shot worthy of the headlines.
Judging by this turnout, their early bet on Shohoku had paid off. Shirasawa and the team really had become overnight sensations, the hottest topic around.
What concerned their fellow reporters even more was that even Yayoi Aida from Basketball Weekly had come in person, with two or three assistants trailing behind her.
Anyone with eyes could tell from that entourage that Basketball Weekly was getting anxious.
The more anxious they were, the more it proved just how frightening Shohoku's current popularity was.
And Basketball Weekly had clearly fallen a step behind. With this opportunity before them, whoever produced an in-depth report first might just stand out from the crowd.
Wasn't that what they were all fighting for-a head start?
As for Sanae Nakagawa, one of the people working behind the scenes to make all this happen, she was no longer a reporter, so she could only sit quietly in the stands and watch.
Still, she seemed perfectly at ease.
Things were developing just as she had expected, and she could watch Shirasawa play in comfort. What was there not to like?
Yayoi Aida also noticed Sanae in the stands.
It was actually hard not to notice her, because the male colleagues beside her were making rather a lot of noise discussing her...
Today, Sanae wore her long hair loose and a pair of sunglasses that did nothing to hide her beauty. Her cropped short-sleeved top showed off her figure even more, drawing frequent sideways glances from those around her.
When Yayoi Aida's eyes met Sanae's, Sanae lowered her sunglasses a little, curved her lips into a smile, and waved.
That alone made the men beside Yayoi Aida stare, all lamenting what a shame it was that Sanae had left.
Yayoi Aida merely nodded politely before turning back around.
Objectively speaking, Sanae's departure had removed a rival from her path to promotion, but she still had not figured out what Sanae hoped to gain by resigning.
Still, seeing how relaxed Sanae looked now, she imagined the answer would not remain hidden for long.
"Shohoku!"
"Let's go!!"
With the game about to begin, Takenori Akagi led the whole team in a mighty shout, instantly overwhelming Kakuno High School's side.
The starting players from both teams took the court.
This time, Shohoku brought out all their main players, fielding all five starters and telling everyone plainly: this was their strongest lineup!
That opening lineup from the previous game had just been them fooling around...
After stepping onto the court, Hanamichi Sakuragi never stopped scanning the stands, searching for Yoko Shimamura.
But with the stands packed with people, how could he make her out?
The longer he failed to find her, the less certain he felt.
Shirasawa patted his back. "Focus. Even if Yoko's here, what do you want her to see?"
Sakuragi froze, then suddenly caught on.
"My genius performance, of course!"
"I even went to Mitchy for special training just for this!"
After saying that, he gave Hisashi Mitsui a smug waggle of his eyebrows.
Mitsui forced out a smile and replied weakly, "Your wrist... keep it soft."
He hardly believed Sakuragi could accomplish anything with practice, and he had given up after less than three minutes of halfheartedly conducting that so-called special training.
He only hoped Sakuragi would not get too confident later...
The game officially began!
The basketball went up, and Takenori Akagi leaped high, slapping it straight into the frontcourt!
Normally, the tip went toward the backcourt, but Akagi did the opposite. That alone showed how much he trusted his teammates.
The Kakuno players were stunned for a moment. Was that ball... meant for us?
Before they could figure it out, Ryota Miyagi shot forward like lightning, caught the ball cleanly in the frontcourt, and charged straight toward the basket!
Kakuno had no time to react. Only the point guard who had originally been standing in the backcourt managed to give chase behind Miyagi.
Miyagi rushed beneath the basket with no one in front of him, planted a foot, and jumped!
Kakuno's point guard also sprang up from behind, trying to use his height advantage to block the shot.
Just then, Miyagi gently sent the ball straight upward.
His body, however, had already begun to descend.
Kakuno's point guard froze. With the ball going straight up and down, wouldn't that be an air ball?
While he was still puzzling over it, a deafening roar suddenly erupted around him.
The entire crowd drew a sharp breath.
Because behind him, Shohoku's number 9, Shirasawa, had already soared into the air, flying toward the airborne ball like a falcon swooping on its prey!
Shirasawa snatched the ball with one hand, completely ignored the descending Kakuno point guard, and hammered it toward the rim!
BANG!!
With a tremendous crash, the basketball blasted through the hoop!
At the same time, Kakuno's point guard was bent over awkwardly, clutching his head-the ball had slammed squarely into his arm.
At a sight like that, there was only one thing to say: what a great block!
Only five seconds into the game.
Ryota Miyagi and Shirasawa had set the entire arena ablaze with an alley-oop.
Blazing speed, perfect coordination, and an utterly overpowering dunk!
The whole arena instantly erupted!
"Great play! Amazing! That was an absolute monster!"
The stands exploded, the roars swelling wave after wave. Some people were shouting that Shirasawa's head had gone above the backboard. It was just absurd.
Beneath the basket, a man was furiously pressing his camera's shutter with his head lowered, then hurriedly checking the screen. His grin grew wider and wider, and he could not stop nodding.
It was the photographer, Eiichi Harada. He chuckled, thoroughly pleased with himself. Another great shot in the bag.
The score was 2-0. In those few seconds, Shohoku had reassured the entire crowd: their tickets had been worth every penny!
Sanae Nakagawa watched Shirasawa on the court and clapped softly. Her movements were elegant, and a faint fragrance drifted from her, distracting several nearby spectators and making them swallow involuntarily.
Sanae shifted her gaze and spotted Eiichi Harada behind the basket, excitedly giving her a particularly conspicuous thumbs-up.
The media section was in an uproar too. Plenty of reporters were asking their assistants, "Did you get it?" "Is it clear?"
Naturally, some were delighted while others were disappointed. Compared with Eiichi Harada's skills, theirs fell short by far more than a little. Expensive did not necessarily mean good, but cheap usually meant bad. Even if they stood right beside Eiichi Harada, their photos would not have the same quality.
It had to be said that Sanae had shown real foresight in hiring this photographer. Once this game was over, the photography world would probably be buzzing for a while too.
On the bench, another gaze followed the action intently. Ayako had pinned up her hair and put on a baseball cap backward, giving her a playful air. Her large eyes sparkled, her beauty a different style from Sanae's.
If one had to name a similarity... it would probably be that both had long, slender legs.
Ayako rested her chin in her hand, tapping a fingertip lightly beside her lips, as though savoring that last play or waiting for the next spectacle.
On the court, the deafening cheers had become a pressure cooker for Kakuno. Every player's heart pounded. They could not even hear their teammates calling out, and their minds felt dazed.
Shirasawa's alley-oop dunk had completely disrupted their rhythm. This was home-court advantage. The gym had practically become Shohoku's territory, and it had fully ignited the entire team's fighting spirit.
Before Kakuno could inbound from the baseline, Takenori Akagi had already led his teammates back to their own half and set their formation. His powerful shout of "Defense!" rang out.
The Kakuno players were already feeling intimidated.
Tweet-!
Kakuno was called for a five-second violation. On their first possession, with no one pressuring them, they had failed even to inbound the ball...
Their head coach furiously hurled his tactics board down, pointing onto the court as he launched into a tirade.
Possession changed hands.
Shirasawa inbounded from the baseline. Sakuragi and Miyagi crossed paths outside the free-throw line, throwing the defense into confusion. Mitsui stayed at the three-point line and shook off his defender with a quick change of direction.
Shirasawa locked his eyes on Mitsui, looking ready to send the ball his way.
Kakuno's help defender had already started moving.
But with a flick of Shirasawa's wrist, the ball flew in the exact opposite direction!
"Raaah!"
Beneath the basket, Takenori Akagi sprang straight up! Only then did everyone understand Shirasawa's intention.
Although the passing angle was extremely tight, almost behind the backboard, the ball's trajectory was perfect. Akagi caught it with both hands in midair and used his momentum to hammer it through the hoop!
CLANG!
The basket support shook. The cheers, which had only just begun to subside, instantly peaked again.
Two consecutive thunderous alley-oops had the spectators shouting in delight.
After landing, Akagi raised his arms and roared, as though pronouncing Kakuno's death sentence.
Momentum rose on one side as it fell on the other. From that moment on, Shohoku began nearly ten minutes of merciless domination.
43 to 2!
Ten minutes, a staggering 41-point lead! Even Kakuno's two points had come courtesy of a foul by Sakuragi. They had absolutely no way to fight back.
But the Shohoku Five Tigers had no intention of showing mercy. Miyagi accelerated and launched another round of bombardment.
There were two especially satisfying kinds of basketball games to watch. One was a fierce battle that kept the outcome uncertain until the very end. The other was something like this... a one-sided massacre!
Shohoku's show continued.
Drives, thunderous dunks, three-pointers, alley-oops-the variety never ended. Shirasawa switched freely between scoring and passing, making Shohoku's offense both ferocious and fluid, a dazzling sight to behold.
In the stands, Soichiro Jin still wore his mild smile, as though the massacre unfolding before him could not affect his mood at all.
"Shohoku really is good this year," he commented softly. "Their offense and defense rank among the better teams in Kanagawa. Their offense especially-Shirasawa has it running in perfect order. Even with such a big lead, no one out there is playing recklessly. Everything's under his control."
He paused, then continued, "Looks like Maki was right. This rookie is no ordinary player."
Hearing that, Nobunaga Aota immediately turned his head away in disdain.
"Tch, they're just average." He curled his lip. "If that were us at Kainan, we'd already be leading by over a hundred."
Aota folded his arms and added, "Jin, stop talking other people up all the time. And I'll say it again-I'm way better than that Shirasawa!"
Jin could only shake his head with a wry smile.
He could do little about Aota. Probably the only person on the team who could keep the kid in line was Shinichi Maki. Still, Jin rather admired that confidence of his.
For all his usual mild manners and harmless appearance, Jin was also a starter for the reigning kings, Kainan. Tempered by the national tournament, his ability had long since placed him among Kanagawa's top five.
Jin off the court and Jin on the court were entirely different people.