After the basketball was knocked loose, Seijuro Akashi immediately picked it up and launched an attack.
Shintaro Midorima reacted as well, quickly chasing after him and spreading his arms to defend.
Seeing this, Seijuro Akashi smiled faintly. Then he dribbled twice in quick succession, throwing Shintaro Midorima's center of gravity off before suddenly pulling the ball back and moving into a fadeaway shot.
The moment Shintaro Midorima saw it, he immediately stepped forward and jumped.
Seijuro Akashi smiled slightly. His motion changed in an instant, turning the shot into a pass.
The basketball flew to the baseline and landed in Reo Mibuchi's hands.
Reo Mibuchi did not need to adjust at all, because the pass felt perfect in his hands.
The moment he caught it, he shot immediately, his motion incredibly smooth.
The instant the basketball left his hands, both Reo Mibuchi and Shintaro Midorima knew it was going in.
So Shintaro Midorima shouted:
"Otsubo-senpai!"
Taisuke Otsubo reacted at once, immediately giving up on fighting for the rebound and moving out of bounds.
At the same time, Shintaro Midorima sprinted toward the frontcourt.
Seijuro Akashi quickly turned to follow him, but Kazunari Takao suddenly appeared directly in his path.
With no other choice, Seijuro Akashi shouted:
"Hayama! Mayuzumi-senpai!"
Kotaro Hayama and Chihiro Mayuzumi immediately rushed after Shintaro Midorima.
Swish!!!
The moment Reo Mibuchi's shot dropped cleanly through the net, Taisuke Otsubo picked up the basketball and hurled it high into the air with all his strength.
In the frontcourt, Shintaro Midorima's eyes changed at once, becoming incredibly sharp.
Then he sprang up, raising his right hand high and catching the basketball out of the air.
After landing, Shintaro Midorima did not hesitate at all. He jumped again and went straight into his shot.
Kotaro Hayama and Chihiro Mayuzumi jumped with him, but they could not even come close to reaching Shintaro Midorima's release point.
Shintaro Midorima's release point was simply too high. So high that they had no way to defend it!
The next moment, Shintaro Midorima released the ball smoothly. The basketball arced high through the air, then dropped steadily into the basket.
Swish!!!
Three-pointer, good!
...
Off the court.
Miyamoto Tokima watched the situation on the court, shook his head, and said:
"Midorima has lost."
Shogo Haizaki was stunned and asked in confusion:
"Tokima-san, the game just started. Midorima's already lost?"
Miyamoto Tokima did not answer. Instead, Makoto Hanamiya replied:
"Haizaki, saying you're not smart would be a compliment."
"Shintaro Midorima's side only has one offensive threat, and that's him. His firepower is completely fixed too. Three-pointers!"
"But Akashi's side is different. As long as he wants to, they have five offensive threats!"
"And don't forget, Akashi can make his teammates enter the zone!"
Sure enough, just as Makoto Hanamiya finished speaking, the situation on the court changed.
Every member of Rakuzan High School, including Seijuro Akashi, all five of them entered the zone!
On top of that, Rakuzan High School directly assigned two players to smother Shintaro Midorima.
Seeing this, Shintaro Midorima did not panic at all. He still decided to use the method he had used before to break through.
Air battle!
Shintaro Midorima suddenly jumped, and Kazunari Takao immediately passed the basketball to him.
Seijuro Akashi quietly watched the scene, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
Midorima, you have to land eventually, don't you? When you land, no matter who you are, you'll instinctively control the basketball so it doesn't slip out of your hands.
And that will be your opening!
Chihiro Mayuzumi and Kotaro Hayama did not jump. Instead, they stared fixedly at Shintaro Midorima's hands.
The instant Shintaro Midorima landed and instinctively held the ball with both hands to control it, Kotaro Hayama and Chihiro Mayuzumi reached out at the same time and stole the basketball from him.
Shintaro Midorima's pupils shrank. He had never imagined this move would be broken like that!
Once Rakuzan High School took possession, they had no intention of showing Shintaro Midorima any mercy. They went straight into a fast break and finished with a three-pointer.
In the following stretch of the game, Rakuzan High School took control of the rhythm on the court.
During that time, Shintaro Midorima also realized there was only one way to break through.
The alley-oop three-pointer!
Possession changed.
Shutoku High School had the ball.
Under the defense of Kotaro Hayama and Chihiro Mayuzumi, Shintaro Midorima moved into a shooting motion.
The moment Seijuro Akashi saw it, he immediately understood what Shintaro Midorima was trying to do.
So he used his actions to crush Shintaro Midorima's hope completely.
He intercepted Kazunari Takao's pass!
Seijuro Akashi had taken his position in advance, and the instant Kazunari Takao passed the ball, he cut it off.
"Midorima, in the end, you can only shoot with your left hand. The path of your alley-oop three-pointer is fixed too. Stealing a ball like that is even easier than an ordinary steal!"
Seijuro Akashi's words stabbed deep into Shintaro Midorima's heart.
At that point, the match was completely under Rakuzan High School's control.
Rakuzan High School's full pseudo-zone firepower erupted, tearing Shutoku High School's defense apart.
But Shintaro Midorima did not give up. He entered the zone as well.
As long as Shintaro Midorima got the ball, the shot was guaranteed to go in!
However, under Rakuzan High School's suffocating defense, even with Shintaro Midorima maintaining a one-hundred-percent shooting rate, the score still remained behind.
After all, Shutoku High School's overall strength was far below Rakuzan High School's.
In the end, Rakuzan High School defeated Shutoku High School, 133 to 102.
After the match, Shintaro Midorima looked like he had been fished out of water, sweat dripping from him in streams.
Four straight quarters of high-intensity three-point shooting had nearly drained him completely.
Seijuro Akashi wiped away his own sweat as well, then held out his hand and smiled.
"Midorima, good game."
Shintaro Midorima took several deep breaths, then shook Seijuro Akashi's hand.
"You won, Akashi."
Seijuro Akashi shook his head with a bitter smile. Then he looked toward a certain spot in the stands and said:
"Not really. Second place is the biggest loser. I failed to beat Miyamoto."
Hearing this, Shintaro Midorima's eyes dimmed slightly. In the end, he had never beaten Miyamoto Tokima either.
At that moment, Seijuro Akashi said something that was difficult to understand.
"Midorima, in the future, let's challenge Miyamoto together."
Shintaro Midorima froze for a moment, seeming unable to understand exactly what Seijuro Akashi meant by that. So he asked:
"You......"
Seijuro Akashi smiled faintly but said nothing. He simply turned around and slowly walked toward the players' tunnel.
Shintaro Midorima still had not quite recovered, his eyes fixed on Seijuro Akashi for a long time, unable to calm down.
...
...
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